Omicron: North Yorkshire leaders surge planning to keep critical services running

North Yorkshire’s partner agencies which form the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum (NYLRF) - the county and district councils, the NHS and emergency responders agencies - are all involved in surge planning as Omicron disrupts services with increasing numbers of the workforce infected.

North Yorkshire County Council’s Health and Adult Services has stepped up emergency planning to manage significantly reduced staffing levels across critical care services and the wider care sector.

Staff have been reorganised into different roles, taken on different duties and worked extra hours over the holiday period and into the New Year.

However, the council is now calling on its wider workforce in non-critical services across highways, planning, and back-office jobs to volunteer to step into social care roles should they be needed to help keep people safe and well as Omicron continues to spread and reduce staffing levels further.

Richard Flinton, who chairs NYLRF said: “We believe putting our workforce on an emergency footing in this way is vital to ensuring our partners in the NHS can function, enabling patients to be discharged from hospital into care settings as needed and freeing up beds for people waiting to be admitted.

“These emergency plans will only be used if needed but will hopefully provide sufficient volunteers to get us through the Omicron wave which may see as much as a 40% reduction in available care staff due to illness or self-isolation.

“Staff would be deployed in such circumstances on a range of different duties supporting care delivery in our elderly person’s homes and extra care settings to free up care colleagues to deliver direct care.

“So we are looking for colleagues to help with roles such as cooking, cleaning, helping people eat and drink and social activities/interaction, including helping people stay in touch with families virtually or answering telephone calls.”

The council is providing training and support as needed and will match new duties to normal working patterns

As hospital numbers rise from the impact of the Covid-19 Omicron variant, the region’s leaders are urging people to renew their resolution to get vaccinated and boosted.

Residents across North Yorkshire and York redoubled their efforts to turn up to vaccination sites and get boosted over Christmas - but numbers coming forward have now dipped despite the Omicron spike and increasing hospitalisations.

Cases have been surging across the region since the turn of the year and there are currently more than 2,400 people with Covid-19 in Yorkshire and North East hospitals – the most since last February.

However, many of those who are needing hospital treatment because of Covid-19 have not been vaccinated or have not had their Covid-19 booster.

Health and care leaders say booster vaccines remain the best line of defence against serious illness caused by coronavirus.

There are approximately 90,000 people in North Yorkshire and York who currently meet the eligibility criteria for a booster jab but have not yet received the top-up vaccine.

Amanda Bloor, Accountable Officer for the NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group said: "There are lots of walk-in and booked appointments now available for booster vaccinations as we go into 2022.

"I would encourage everyone to take up the offer and make arrangements as they become eligible.”

Louise Wallace, North Yorkshire’s Director of Public Health said that the rate per 100,000 of the population for North Yorkshire (1623) and York (1698) was fast approaching the England average (1769).

She said: “These rates are unprecedented, higher than any since the start of the pandemic.

"But there is much we can do to protect each other.

“The priority is for all eligible people to get boosted and vaccinated and also to follow essential public health guidance as we head into the difficult winter months - wear face masks when required; keep rooms ventilated and open to fresh air when meeting indoors, wash hands regularly and take a test when you go out to meet people.

“We need to pull together on this and each and every one of us can play our part.

Amanda Bloor urged "each and every" eligible person to get their jab.

"If you're one of those people who were initially hesitant about getting vaccinated against COVID-19 but have since changed your mind, it's not too late to come forward," she said.

"The vaccination remains available to everyone 12 and over and I would encourage those who have not yet received a vaccination to take up the offer to protect themselves and others.

“Boosters are available to people aged 18 and over and 16 and 17-year-olds who are at high risk from COVID-19, together with frontline health and care workers, three months on from their second vaccine dose.

“We've seen extremely high take-up across all parts of North Yorkshire and York and even over the festive period, people came forward in their thousands for their booster or third vaccine dose.

"We are hugely grateful to our NHS and pharmacy colleagues and the scores of volunteers who gave up their time over the holiday period, as well as the thousands who came forward for their vaccination."

Sixty eight per cent of the population aged 12 and over in North Yorkshire - almost 400,000 people - and 58.4 per cent of the population aged 12 and over in York are now triple-jabbed – among the highest rates in the country.