HOSPITAL bosses will not be releasing details of how many Covid-19 patients are being discharged in Herefordshire.

The Wye Valley NHS Trust was also asked how many beds it has available to treat coronavirus patients and how many ventilators it had at its disposal as of April 20.

The trust says it will not be providing such information as it could confuse the general public.

However, the trust did say it has enough personal protective equipment and that no county patients were being sent to the temporary Nightingale Hospital in Birmingham.

While the trust would not say how many beds were available, they did say they could use all of their beds for Covid-19 patients if needed but it would depend how well or sick the patient was.

Currently, the beds are not all set up for coronavirus use as it’s not necessary.

They said the number of people being discharged was not a simple number as people are being discharged into homes, care and community hospitals.

The number of ventilators would flex up and down and would reflect demand.

The trust says NHS England communication nationally governs what they can and can’t say and because of this there is a presumption against giving figures out.

According to the trust the figures are complicated and are more likely to lead to confusion in what is already a very complex situation. Hence the very basic national figures published on a daily basis regarding numbers being tested, numbers being positive, deaths.

They said the key thing at the moment is that the public are heeding the social isolation message and keeping demand down so we’re keeping on top of demand.

Elsewhere, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been publishing the number of Covid-19 patients they have discharged safely home.

They issue regular updates on the number of discharged patients via Twitter.