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Covid: London's largest hospitals warn of operation cancellations

London hospitals are preparing for all possible eventualities

Operations may need to be cancelled in the coming weeks at some of London's biggest hospitals.

Imperial, Guy's and St Thomas' and Barts NHS Trust have all confirmed "routine and non-urgent" operations may be cancelled.

The trusts said they were making preparations for staff sickness and higher demand due to the Omicron surge.

They stressed normal services were running currently but cancellations would be likely in the new year.

On Wednesday daily Covid cases in the UK exceeded 100,000 for the first time.

Alistair Chesser, chief medical officer at Barts Health, said services were currently running as normal but contingency plans were in place.

He said they were anticipating a "significant number of admissions" of people with Omicron in the coming weeks, but did not know how many, so were "preparing for all possible eventualities".

"We are only able to respond to this next challenge because of our dedicated staff who are prepared to do all they can to care for our patients, with many taking on extra shifts," he added.

Staff at Barts Hospital
Services at Barts Hospital are currently running as normal but contingency plans are in place

Prof Tim Orchard, chief executive of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said staff were being redeployed to cover absence, currently running at about 7% of the workforce, and the trust was planning with limited data.

He said: "The concern is that, given the rapid spread of the variant, even if severe disease continues to be more limited, a small proportion of a large number could still have a big impact on the NHS, most likely beginning in early January.

He added that they had already decided to limit non-urgent planned surgery into January and were now considering longer-term implications.

He said they were also asking some staff to consider moving annual leave or to work additional shifts.

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Which hospitals are affected?

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

  • Charing Cross Hospital.
  • Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital
  • Hammersmith Hospital.
  • St Mary's Hospital.
  • Western Eye Hospital.

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

  • Guy's
  • St Thomas'
  • Evelina London Children's Hospital
  • Royal Brompton
  • Harefield Hospitals

Barts Health NHS Trust

  • The Royal London Hospital
  • St Bartholomew's Hospital
  • Whipps Cross Hospital
  • Newham Hospital
  • Mile End Hospital
Getty Images Hospital wardGetty Images
About 10% of staff at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Trust are off sick

Guy's and St Thomas' Trust (GSTT) runs five major hospitals in the capital, including the Evelina London Children's Hospital.

The BBC understands GSTT is looking at standing down much of its routine operations and non-urgent surgery to redeploy staff to areas, including the most high priority surgical operations.