Hospital promises to change paperwork after grandma who caught coronavirus there handed notes saying she was 'Covid positive on admission'

Anna Rafferty, 87, of Mossom Lane in Bispham, was taken into A&E on November 10 where she was prescribed a round of antibiotics for a chest infection.

She tested negative for coronavirus three times during her stay, but on December 5, the day she was supposed to return home, she was told she had been infected.

Despite fears that she would not survive, she made a good recovery and was discharged later that month.

However, she and her family were surprised when they looked at her paperwork they noticed the words ‘Covid-19 positive on this admission: Yes’.

A spokesman for Blackpool Victoria Hospital has now explained that the ‘admission’ referred to Mrs Rafferty’s whole four-week stay at the hospital, and not the actual point of admission on November 10.

Dr Jim Gardner, Medical Director at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “There does seem to have been a misunderstanding about this and we are sorry for any anxiety this may have caused.

“On the back of this feedback we will be reviewing our processes and making some improvements to address issues.

“We would like to reassure people that the Trust takes all infections – where a virus is passed between staff and patients within the hospital – extremely seriously.

“In relation to Covid we are testing patients on admission and staff on a regular basis, even where they don’t have symptoms.

“A recent visit to the Vic by a regional NHS team focusing on infection prevention was very positive and number of areas of good practice identified. Patient safety is always our number one priority.’’

Earlier this month, an investigation by The Gazette revealed that hundreds of patients are believed to have contracted coronavirus while being treated for other conditions at Blackpool Victoria Hospital or Clifton Hospital in St Annes.

Last June medical director Dr Jim Gardner put the figure at around 100, while figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) told of another 219 hospital-acquired cases between November 2 and December 28.

In one week alone, they made up 36 per cent of new cases, with 26 out of 71 deemed to have come from inside the hospital.

Anna’s granddaughter, who did not want to be named, said: “It’s a bit deceiving really because she wasn’t Covid-positive on admission, so to say that she was is an unfair representation. A friend of mine actually passed away and she caught Covid-19 while she was in hospital, so I have to wonder if her records will be the same as my nan’s. I know it’s a pandemic and these things unfortunately do happen, but it’s just so sad.

“I do think people will be confused by this. If they are like my nan and they come home happy and healthy, that’s great. But for others who have died, it would be wrong. If people have passed away and their notes say they were Covid-19 positive on admission when they weren't, I think it would be wrong.

“The hospital staff did a wonderful job and my nan was made to feel welcome, and the nurses were as hard-working as they could be. We don’t want to criticise the NHS, but at the same time people need to be aware that there is a Covid-19 risk in our hospitals.”