Kim Rye says conditions inside William Harvey Hospital were shocking (Image: TIM MERRY)
It’s the epicentre of a public health crisis that has the UK firmly in its grip, and sadly one NHS hospital in Kent has found itself at the centre of an urgent fight to contain a sudden outbreak of MeningitisB.
One concerned visitor likened conditions inside a hospital William Harvey Hospital in Kent to a war zone as medics responded to an outbreak of the “invasive” meningycoccal disease that has that left two people dead and 13 more in hospital. Fifteen cases of the deadly infection have been reported to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) in the county.
Kim Rye, 66, from Lydd, took her husband, Graham, 74, to the hospital in Ashford, Kent, on Monday suspecting he had suffered a mini-stroke. Kim said they were advised by 111 to head to the hospital, but on arrival they were confronted by a “dystopian hellscape” as the A&E department was overrun with crowds of people.
She told the Daily Express: “I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. It was full of people in crowded rooms, virtually all masked up. A lot of them were attached to drips.
“There was a woman in her twenties who was crying her eyes out in pain. I could hear people whimpering. I could not believe what I was looking at.”
Kim, a freelance journalist who worked at this publication in the 1980s, described people sitting in a waiting area with saline bags hung from poles placed next to them.
She recalled some telling her there were no beds and one woman saying she had been waiting for a staggering 28 hours.
Writer Kim said: “I’m still shocked at what I saw. It was a dystopian hellscape. It was really traumatic. It reminded me of a field hospital in a war, all these people groaning.”
UKHSA was told of the first case on March 13 (Image: PA Images)
After waiting about half an hour to be seen, Kim and her magazine editor husband decided they couldn’t stand it any longer and returned home, despite concerns for Graham’s health.
Kim said: “We both wanted to get out of there. I would have preferred Graham to have been assessed, but it wasn’t a 999 job. There’s no way we’re going to go back there. I’m just in complete shock. It’s really rattled me. It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen inside a hospital.”
She said the couple were still waiting for a call back from a GP while Graham was resting in bed after the health scare.
Hospitals in Kent are on the frontline of the UK’s response to the meningitis outbreak, which claimed the lives of a sixth form student in Faversham and a University of Kent student.
Amelia McIlroy, Headteacher of Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Faversham, confirmed one of its Year 13 pupils had died. The youngster was named by the school only as Juliette.
Some of the 15 cases identified by Tuesday (March 17) were confirmed as meningitis B. Hundreds of people were being urged to get antibiotics to help curb the infection’s spread.
Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam from the UKHSA said the outbreak had been “unusual”, but she did not believe there was a current risk to anyone outside the Kent region.
She told the BBC: “It’s really important to reassure people across the country that there’s no evidence of wider spread at the current time.”
The expert urged parents to make sure children are fully up to date with the vaccines available and to be alert to the signs and symptoms of meningococcal disease.
These can include fever, headache, rapid breathing, shivering, drowsiness, vomiting and very cold hands and feet.
Hundreds of people who visited Club Chemistry in Canterbury on March 5, 6 or 7 were told to come forward for preventative antibiotic treatment as a “precautionary measure”.
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust warned its emergency departments were “very busy” and urged people to think carefully about where they go for treatment.
NHS Kent and Medway said anyone who develops symptoms of meningitis or septicaemia should seek urgent medical help at their nearest A&E or call 999.
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust has been approached for further comment.
It is estimated up to one in every 10 cases of bacterial meningitis is fatal, according to the NHS. Viral meningitis rarely causes long-term problems.
The NHS said most people with bacterial meningitis who get treated promptly make a full recovery, but some will be left with “serious” problems.
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
