The NHS has collapsed.

[brahmahda]

It's great that no Covid wards have been overwhelmed for lack of ventilators - Clap Clap. But ...

1. My regular preventative treatment for a chronic condition has stopped, with no sign of it restarting.
2. My 13yo son needs diagnostic tests for symptoms he's had for several months, but the diagnostic clinic is closed, again with no sign of it restarting.
3. A vital service that the GP would normally provide has been redirected to a "hub" with a convoluted appointment booking process and a very long waiting list.
4. My elderly, isolated/ing mum who urgently needs a face-to-face with her GP due to a sudden decline in her health has been messed around with a complicated process that changes depends on who she speaks to (she was phoned and told she'd need to get a Covid test 10 mins before setting off for the appointment, so had to cancel it).

Of course issues of delayed cancer treatments etc have been widely reported in the news, but it's clear that they are just the tip of the iceberg. The problems must be impacting almost every family in the country to some extent, and there's no sign of them being temporary. I just can't see the NHS getting back onto it's already-shaky track in the foreseeable future.

Anyone else find this terrifying?

The 5000 a day suffering fatal heart attacks have been left out in the cold all in the name of Covid!

People have died of heart attacks because they're too scared to go to hospital in case they catch Covid. It is not because they were refused treatment.

We're in Scotland and have had fantastic experiences with the NHS this year.

I needed complex gynecological investigation/tests/exams and a.l procedure. Because they weren't particularly urgent was expecting a long delay.

They told me the outpatient clinics were fairly quiet and I got everything done super quick.

DD broke her elbow and needed surgery. Again, every single follow-up appointment, physiotherapy etc. has been quickly booked and treated seamlessly.

We had to change GP surgeries (moved house and NHS trusts) and the process was painless, with phone registrations and online repeat prescriptions for the whole family.

I was diagnosed with kidney stones, seen, scanned and treated within 3 hours.

Wow, DP was in A&E almost 7 weeks ago due to horrendous pain. He was told most likely kidney stones but as he attended during the weekend could not scan. He was told to go home and that a scan would be arranged urgently. 7 weeks on he is still in pain and had no scan and didn't even get an appointment yet. He is on a waiting list and God knows how long it might take to be seen.

Cancers are still being treated - and diagnosed if people go for testing. False claims that it isnt happening just make people stay home more when they could be diagnosed and treated. Lies can kill

Pretending everything is fine when it isn’t can also kill.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/health-52382303

www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(20)30388-0/fulltext

Well OH urgent op March, was chased up in June, July, August, they blanked us every time not responding once. Got MP involved he has been blanked too. Now I know this hospital friend works there she is very busy in ICU not with covid but other life threatening conditions. Colleagues are still twiddling their thumbs being told to take leave and await the second wave. They even gave an interview to the BBC to that effect. So health boards do vary in their approach.

As a senior chemo nurse who has worked her arse off for the last 6 months keeping many, many people alive, this over simplification of putting cancer patients out to die really pisses me off. Decisions to suspend patients was made on an individual basis, weighing up risk versus benefit in PALLIATIVE patients. Honestly, the media have so much blood on their hands.

I'm not sure that it has collapsed. My dad has had investigations into a health issue over the last month, he was sent for one scan and when that showed something concerning he was very quickly sent for other tests. Within 2 weeks he was diagnosed with kidney cancer and has a consultant appointment booked regarding a possible treatment for next week. It's been very fast, I wouldn't have expected quicker if he'd gone private (not that he could have afforded to, but hopefully you see what I mean).

I haven't seen some of the experiences that others have had though, I wonder if it depends on where in the country you are.

People have died of heart attacks because they're too scared to go to hospital in case they catch Covid. It is not because they were refused treatment.

DH has familial high cholesterol and 2 heart attacks already. He rang the GP in March, as he had chest pain, breathlessness and generally exhausted. We wondered if he had a 3rd blocked coronary artery. The GP told him there were no outpatient appointments (his follow up appointment and cardiac rehab for the 2nd stent had been cancelled already) and there was nothing they could. So we could only wait and see if DH suffered another heart attack and maybe died?

How could he prevent another possible heart attack, when they already know he has stenosis, which needs watching, if he cannot get an outpatient appointment and angiogram due to Covid? It was nothing to do with being afraid of going to hospital!

@DarkMintChocolate

People have died of heart attacks because they're too scared to go to hospital in case they catch Covid. It is not because they were refused treatment.

DH has familial high cholesterol and 2 heart attacks already. He rang the GP in March, as he had chest pain, breathlessness and generally exhausted. We wondered if he had a 3rd blocked coronary artery. The GP told him there were no outpatient appointments (his follow up appointment and cardiac rehab for the 2nd stent had been cancelled already) and there was nothing they could. So we could only wait and see if DH suffered another heart attack and maybe died?

How could he prevent another possible heart attack, when they already know he has stenosis, which needs watching, if he cannot get an outpatient appointment and angiogram due to Covid? It was nothing to do with being afraid of going to hospital!

He would be treated if he had a heart attack though. With regard to prevention it is a bit more difficult the benefits of surgery may be outweighed by the fact that the risk of catching Covid from hospital would have been high in March and has risk of dying from it also high. I know someone who had heart surgery after catching covid (which nearly killed him) but obviously he had some immunity to covid at the time of surgery so safer. My point is that the lack of treatment in your DH's was not due to the fact that the surgeons were sitting around twiddling their thumbs.

|@Belladonna12 Read peoples testimonies and you will be surprised as to how many have actually been refused vital care as the wards are shut down.These people are scared only because their gp and specialists are not treating them.

@justasking111 How awful! I sincerely hope your Husband gets his vital treatment asap as waiting that long is not acceptable.

I know someone who had a similar situation with needing stents. They were able to have it done privately inside a fortnight, by the same surgeon they would have done the operation on the NHS. So it can't have been a safety issue because but a long waiting time issue.

@Signalbox Thank you for the information. I have been reading peoples personal testimonies and its very bloody sad for those who have been ignored or refused their much needed treatment.

[quote nicky7654]|@Belladonna12 Read peoples testimonies and you will be surprised as to how many have actually been refused vital care as the wards are shut down.These people are scared only because their gp and specialists are not treating them.[/quote]
I have not been given treatment myself so I am well aware that it happens. I don't believe that urgent, vital treatment is being refused in most NHS trusts at the moment unless it is because the risks outweigh the benefits.

He would be treated if he had a heart attack though.

One of his arteries with a short stent and more stenosis is the LAD. The second hospital said they would have put a long stent in. Isn’t the LAD called the Widowmaker, so if he dropped dead with a heart attack, it’s no consolation to him or me that he was being protected from Covid!

@caughtalightsneeze

I know someone who had a similar situation with needing stents. They were able to have it done privately inside a fortnight, by the same surgeon they would have done the operation on the NHS. So it can't have been a safety issue because but a long waiting time issue.

That doesn't mean there wasn't a safety issue unless the surgeon did the operation in an NHS hospital.

It seems to vary massively from region to region.

That doesn't mean there wasn't a safety issue unless the surgeon did the operation in an NHS hospital.

But realistically, how could an operation be so risky in one theatre and fine in another? Presumably they use the same equipment, the same number of staff and a day procedure so no issues with overnight wards.

In any case, it wasn't necessarily Covid related, the waiting list was incredibly long even before Covid struck.

@caughtalightsneeze

That doesn't mean there wasn't a safety issue unless the surgeon did the operation in an NHS hospital.

But realistically, how could an operation be so risky in one theatre and fine in another? Presumably they use the same equipment, the same number of staff and a day procedure so no issues with overnight wards.

In any case, it wasn't necessarily Covid related, the waiting list was incredibly long even before Covid struck.

It may not the theatre itself that is a problem but the fact that the patient would need intensive care afterwards (if the ICU are filled with people with Covid).

It may not the theatre itself that is a problem but the fact that the patient would need intensive care afterwards (if the ICU are filled with people with Covid).

But the waiting list pre-dates Covid. And it's a small day procedure anyway, not open heart surgery.