England considers putting Covid patients in hotels, as study reveals deep trauma among ICU workers - CNN

The news came as UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said authorities are considering putting recovering Covid-19 patients into hotels as a "backup plan," such is the intense pressure being placed on hospitals by the latest surge in infections.

The UK marked its second deadliest day since the start of the pandemic on Tuesday, with 1,243 new coronavirus-related deaths.

The UK government and senior health officials have warned that many hospitals are on the verge of being overwhelmed.

At a news conference Monday, Hancock said the variant was "putting the NHS [National Health Service] under very significant pressure," with Covid-related hospital admissions up 22% on just the previous week.

The study -- which has not yet been peer reviewed -- was published Wednesday by researchers at King's College London.

The researchers found that doctors consistently reported better health than nurses.

The study, led by Neil Greenberg of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London, was published online in the journal Occupational Medicine.

"Our results highlight the potential profound impact that Covid-19 has had on the mental health of frontline UK staff," the study says.

"(The) probable PTSD rate we report was around nine times that found within the general population and more than double that found in recent combat veterans."

Greenberg tweeted that the study "shows clearly that many ICU staff are understandably having a very tough time." He urged them not to feel stigmatized and to seek free help if needed through the NHS.

The researchers note that ICU staff have experienced many stressors during the pandemic, including staff shortages, fears of contracting the virus and endangering their loved ones, concerns over a lack of personal protective equipment, and distress relating to the loss of patient lives despite their best efforts.

Staff 'burnt out and exhausted'

Psychotherapist and author Owen O'Kane, who previously worked as an NHS clinical lead for mental health and as a palliative care nurse, said he was not surprised by the study's findings although they were "quite shocking" to read.

"It's been a relentless year so it didn't surprise me that staff are struggling," he told CNN.

So we know that those pressures on the NHS are going to continue to build over the next couple of weeks," he added.

Hancock said the temporary Nightingale hospitals set up by NHS England amid the first wave of the pandemic were there as a fallback for hospitals.

Asked about what kind of patients would be sent to hotels, the Health Secretary said it "would be for step-down patients or patients who have been in hospital, who no longer need the full hospital treatment but aren't quite ready to go home."

London and southeast England are among the areas worst affected by the new variant, although it has now spread across the UK and has been detected in at least 50 more countries, including badly-hit Ireland.