Hiding Good News

We have tried to get discharge figures from hospitals in Kent, to bring you a good news story, like we did in mid April.

However, in a response for the East Kent Hospital University Foundation Trust a spokesperson has said covid-19 discharge figures from EKHUFT will not be disclosed and they

• “cannot go against instructions from [their] manager and director, who are acting on instructions from NHS England“

Yet on the same day as the reply from the spokesperson at EKHUFT, Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust released the following information

• How many covid-19 patients went to ITU = 48 patients.

• How many have recovered sufficiently to be discharged = 38 have been discharged or moved to other wards.

• Total covid-19 patients discharged from M&TW NHS Trust = 212

• 8 Patients have returned once discharged; however please note that this may be the same infection rather than a second infection of COVID-19.

Now how could it possibly be that MTW NHS Trust can release discharge data when EKHUFT can’t. If the policy is give no covid-19 discharge numbers out as per NHS England diktat, then when are MTW NHS Trust breaching a diktat from NHS England?

Or could it be that NHS England have never given such a diktat? Perhaps they have and they simply do not want you the public to know how many people have survived covid-19 by NHS Trust in Kent and the UK.

After months of daily death figures, it is time we know the covid-19 discharge figures. Releasing them will show that not everyone who has had the disease dies. It will bring hope and it will bring openness and transparency to the people of this county and country to know members of their communities live to fight another day because of the NHS.

The Shepwayvox Team

Release the Figures