DOCTORS and staff are “prepared” to deal with the peak of the coronavirus pandemic as Royal Berkshire Hospital sees nearly 500 patients recover and go home to their families.

In an exclusive interview with the Reading Chronicle, hospital chief executive Steve McManus expresses his positivity and how prepared the hospital is to deal with more Covid-19 patients.

He told the Chronicle: “We have been pretty static over the ten days or so which is consistent with the national figures each day. We have got 135 patients that are Covid positive in the organisation being cared for and of those, 19 in the intensive care unit (ICU).

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“In total, there are 280 to 300 a day that are being tested or awaiting results.”

On Wednesday, April 22, a total of 496 patients were treated and discharged from hospital which is a “positive figure often not talked about enough”, says Mr McManus.

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“As of today, the start of this pandemic we have treated 496 treated and discharged patients home or in a community setting and its a figure we don’t talk enough about. Every figure is a patient and a story and we are really mindful of that. It makes us feel really postive and makes me feel really proud about the work of our team, serving the community during this period.

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“It’s important for the staff on the frontline to know the successful job they are doing. Two patients who were critically unwell have been discharged and it’s a great example that people are recovering and getting to go home.”

The hospital has also scaled up from having 14 ICU beds to 56 beds for critically-ill patients needing ventilated support.

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The chief executive added: “It’s hard to say if we’ve absolutely reached the peak. We significantly scaled up to provide that level of care and we have still got that availability and have the space and kit to manage that if we got to that position.”

Despite this, the hospital boss has seen “pressures” with getting the right PPE for staff. He said: “We are in a good position and we have got stock and supplies coming in through the national supply chain and like many organisations across the country going into the weekend - particularly - the fluid repellent gowns were a challenge for the whole of the NHS.

"As of Yesterday, we had a forward stock of at least one and a half days and have a delivery of over 1,000 gowns a day and see that particular pressure for us on those particular items of PPE.”