Covid: Up to one in four admitted to hospital for other reasons
New data from the NHS suggests 23% of patients with Covid infections were admitted into hospital for other reasons.
The government has denied the numbers were previously overstated due to NHS pressures, with each patient being tested for Covid whenever they come into hospital, regardless of the reason. This measure has been said as "still the most important" by the The Department for Health and Social Care because of the impact patients who have tested positive can have on NHS capacity and workforce pressure.
"The main role for hospitalisation statistics is to indicate the pressure on the NHS. Patients with Covid have to be treated in a resource-intensive way, whether Covid was the primary reason for their admission or not, and even if they caught it in hospital. Therefore the total number in hospital with Covid seems an appropriate overall summary statistic, although this new breakdown does provide additional information." Says Prof Sir David Spiegelhalter, from the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication at the University of Cambridge
Source: BBC News, 31 July 2021