The trust which runs the hospital says ‘do not recognise’ the claimsChris Slater Senior Reporter and Liam Thorp Political Editor
08:45, 25 May 2026
A police car accompanies the bus carrying the British passengers and crew being repatriated from the MV Hondius as it makes it’s way to Arrowe Park Hospital on May 10(Image: Getty Images)
Staff at a ‘stretched’ Merseyside hospital have raised concerns over patients from the ship at the centre of the Hantavirus outbreak being ‘prioritised’. A number of Brits who had been on board the MV Hondius vessel are staying at an accomodation block on the grounds of Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral in order to complete their isolation period.
It is the same block that was used to house those who returned from the Chinese city of Wuhan at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. However those working in the hospital’s A+E department claim they are ‘drowning’ as attention and resources are focussed on those in the block.
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One long-serving emergency department worker told the Liverpool Echo: “We are still coming in every day to so many patients lining the corridor. Last week we had that many on the corridors that they were blocking all the doors and we had to hold people in the back of ambulances because we physically ran out of space.
The patients are being housed at an accomodation block on the hospital grounds(Image: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
“At one point we had 95 patients in the waiting room. They were all on trolleys around the corridors all the way round the back of the department. It’s just horrendous.”
They added: “This is in the summer. This is supposed to be our quiet season. All the escalation beds are supposed to be closing now because we don’t use them once we hit spring. But we’ve just got nowhere to put anybody. It’s just ridiculous. It’s so dangerous.”
The Wirral University Teaching Hospital Trust, which runs Arrowe Park, said that while A+E remains busy, there have been ‘significant improvements in four hour and 12 hour performance.’
Several hospital staff were living in the block which the isolation patients moved in to. The hospital trust says four members of staff were given 24 hours’ notice to move their possessions in to alternative accommodation.
A staff member said: “One person I know has lived there for years. That’s their home and they suddenly had to move all their stuff out. They were in the middle of a shift at the time.”
Staff have claimed the isolating Hantavirus patients are being ‘prioritised'(Image: Jamie Lashmar/PA Wire)
Hospital staff said they felt resources were being focussed on the hantavirus project, when more help for their situation in A+E is badly needed.
One team member said: “We were on duty that day when they all arrived. We had matrons, managers that are coming in on a Sunday, all running round getting stuff to meet and greet our guests.
“Meanwhile we’ve got patients on the back of our corridor that have got no nurses and no care. We’re holding patients in the back of ambulances, we’re asking the trust to send us staff because we’re drowning.
“One hundred percent they are being prioritised. There are matrons working over there. Why aren’t they working in our department? Why aren’t they working on our wards and helping our sick patients? We’ve got patients that are coming to harm every day because we are so stretched.”
The trust insists the hantavirus isolation project is a nationally-led response and insists there has been no prioritisation as all hospital services have continued to run as normal.
The trust added that all staffing reviews and safety huddles are and were completed every day and say the average ambulance handover time remains positive and has been less than an hour throughout the month of May.
Staff insisted they did not blame the isolating patients. One worker said: “We get that these patients have to go somewhere and they have to be housed and that’s okay.
“But it is the way this trust goes about it that we don’t like. People being kicked out of their accommodation. Secondly they should be prioritizing the sickest people and they are in our department. We think more people should be running around after them.”
A Wirral University Teaching Hospital spokesperson said: “We do not recognise the claims made. The welfare of our staff is a high priority for the Trust.
“Throughout our support to the national hantavirus response, the Executive Team held daily briefings face-to-face and online so that staff could raise any concerns, ask any questions and share feedback which was overwhelmingly positive.
“We continue to encourage our staff to raise concerns through the established internal channels so that they can be addressed appropriately. We would also take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to our staff, partners and the general public in support of the response.”