Hospital stays for Covid patients are getting shorter in huge boost for struggling NHS, new data suggests
- From May 1 last year, over 80s were usually hospitalised for 11 days, data shows
- But since December 1 they have typically required a bed for around just five days
- It is a similar story for those who are in the 50 to 69 and the 70 to 79 categories
The average length of a hospital stay for Covid patients over the age of 80 in the UK has more than halved in a major boost for the NHS, figures suggest.
During the third wave, from May 1 last year, over 80s were usually hospitalised for 11 days.
But since December 1 – and the onset of the Omicron wave – they have typically required a bed for around just five days.
It is a similar story for those in the 50 to 69 and the 70 to 79 categories. During the third wave, those aged 70 to 79 required a hospital bed for eight days and those aged 50 to 69 for seven days. Now they too are on five days.
Th average length of a hospital stay for Covid patients over the age of 80 in the UK has more than halved. Pictured: Ambulances outside the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel
During the third wave, those aged 70 to 79 required a hospital bed for eight days and those aged 50 to 69 for seven days
The good news also extends to those under 50, with the length of a hospital stay falling from four days to three.
The more rapid recovery and discharge in December is likely to be due to the protective effect of vaccines, drugs and the milder Omicron variant.
In another development, MailOnline analysis showed that Covid mortality rates had dipped twenty-fold – at around 0.15 per cent of cases now compared with over 3 per cent at the pandemic’s worst.
The positive data could be a game-changer for the NHS, with government advisors saying that a halving of the length of hospital stays effectively doubles capacity and reduces the risk of the health service being overwhelmed.
Health experts in South Africa, where the Omicron variant first exploded, have also reported a reduced length of hospital stays since the variant emerged.
South Africa was able to lift its night-time curfew for the first time in 21 months in December after the Omicron wave peaked without overwhelming hospitals.
A study on hospital admissions in the country revealed it may be ten times less deadly than previous variants.
Doctors reported fewer patients needing oxygen or mechanical ventilation and far fewer were being admitted to intensive care than in previous waves.
Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said: ‘The UK appears to be mirroring South Africa, with Covid patients now staying in hospital for a shorter period of time and becoming less ill.
‘This is great news for the NHS because discharging patients sooner frees up a bed for someone else to be admitted and effectively increases capacity.’
The UK Government has not published data on the length of hospital stays but the Spectator magazine used a specialist scanning technique to extract information from graphs presented to Sage on December 23.
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