Our Chief Executive, Matthew Trainer (above), was interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, talking about how we’ve been dealing with the Omicron variant, and the current situation at our hospitals.

Matthew shared how while dealing with the new variant had been ‘tough’, it did not lead to the significant numbers in hospital and severe illness feared in December.

He said: “We’ve got the vaccine to thank for that. We weathered it better than I thought we might when looking at the modelling in December. It’s a relief that the vaccine and treatments we’ve got now have made a real impact.

“Staff sickness was challenging and got to around seven per cent, however, we were at 25 per cent last year. Our staff rallied round, we had our critical care leadership come in overnight. Covid numbers are now falling, and the vast majority of patients we’re seeing in critical care continue to be unvaccinated.”

Matthew also commented on how the removal of Plan B measures will not change how we continue to protect staff and patients in our hospitals, with mandatory masks remaining; and shared some of the innovative work our teams have been doing to help reduce backlogs caused by the pandemic.

He added: “There’s been some really interesting learning, particularly in surgery who at the start of wave one were told we were stopping planned care. It’s given us this great initiative of change and innovation which is helping us tackle our backlogs. They’ve seized this innovation the pandemic showed them they’re capable of and are turning that into business as usual. We’ve got to keep hold of that learning.”

Listen to the full interview below: