Addenbrooke’s Hospital staff praised for ‘enormous amount of effort’ after Lassa fever incident

Staff at Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge have been praised for the “enormous amount of effort” they are putting in as the hospital continues to a major incident.

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust declared a major incident on February 11 which was preceeded by NHS England and NHS Improvement for the East of England region the day before after a patient with Lassa fever was treated at Addenbrooke’s.

The patient was transferred to a London hospital, but staff who had contact with the patient during their stay are required to undertake a precautionary isolation period of 14 days, and not have patient contact for 21 days.

The impact of this led to the temporary closure of a ‘substantial portion’ of the hospital’s critical care capacity which has been impacting clinical services.

A message to staff today (February 21) said: “Thank you to our staff, partners and regional colleagues who have helped us to adjust our critical care capacity in line with current staffing levels. An enormous amount of effort has been undertaken to ensure that patients who are safe to leave our hospitals have been discharged, with some patients moving to other appropriate clinical settings.”

Staff had previously been told: “We want to assure you all that cases of Lassa fever are rare in the UK and it does not spread easily between people. The overall risk to healthcare staff and other patients is very low.”

The hospital has also offered support for staff who were feeling “worried or anxious” during the “difficult time”.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed three individuals from the same family had been diagnosed with Lassa fever in the East of England. All of the cases were linked to recent travel to West Africa.

UKHSA advice is that some staff at the hospitals where the patients have been treated may need to undergo testing and wear more personal protective equipment (PPE) than normal.

A statement by NHS England and NHS Improvement said: “Because of the impact this will have on staffing key services in our region we have declared a regional major incident. This allows the region’s healthcare systems to work together to keep services running safely.

“Some hospital services will be affected, with a number of services either postponed or moved to a different location. Patients that are affected by this will be contacted directly.”