A south-east London NHS trust has refuted claims it is turning away coronavirus patients, as health services in the capital grapple with an influx of patients due to the deadly virus.

An article published in The Telegraph on Thursday claimed that Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust had been forced to transfer patients from University Hospital Lewisham due to a shortage of beds.

According to the paper, a senior clinician at the trust said that at one stage this week only one patient had been admitted to intensive care out of an eligible group of five.

The assertions made in the article were sharply refuted by the trust, which stated on Friday: “These claims are not true”.

Commenting on the coverage in the The Telegraph, a spokesperson for Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust told the local democracy reporting service: “These claims are not true. We are not turning COVID-19 patients away from University Hospital Lewisham (UHL) and we have not done so. We have provided intensive care treatment – including ventilation – to all COVID-19 patients who have needed it, unless the patients themselves, or their families, have declined this course of treatment.”

A source at a neighbouring trust, however, said the claims didn’t come as a surprise as health workers across the city are stretched by ballooning numbers of the virus.

“I can confidently say it wouldn’t surprise me if that information is true, if they are running out of resources (or) if they are at capacity,” the source, who works as a nurse in Accident and Emergency at another London trust, said.

She said it was a “terrifying position” to be in as a nurse, saying that Government instructions to practice social distancing and avoid pubs and gatherings was being ignored by the public.

“The community is not listening to us , they are not practising social distancing, they simply don’t care,” she said.

“We are running out of resources and capacity for patients rapidly and it’s a terrifying position to be in as a nurse to not know what is yet to come if we keep going at the rate we are at.”

It comes as Northwick Park Hospital in north London earlier this week declared a “critical care incident” due to a surge in patients with Coronavirus.

According to the Health Services Journal, leaders at the north London Hospital told staff no critical care capacity was left at the hospital, and confirmed it had contacted neighbouring hospitals about transferring patients

As of Friday morning, the UK’s death-toll stands at 184 – with 3269 confirmed cases.