How many people have been failed by the NHS during lockdown?

[Polnm]

My DH has cancer.

His appointment in April was by phone
His appointment in August was postponed until October

How is this acceptable? Hospitals are empty whilst patients can’t access care.

GP appointments by zoom with a 2 week wait for a basic blood pressure check in person or to take bloods

Why isn’t there more publicity and outrage about this?

We can’t be the only family going through this surely?

Yes been waiting 4 months for an "urgent" cancer referral for my DH. Inoperable brain tumour diagnosis was given over phone. Zero support from anyone.

Yes. Only minor issues for us luckily but I've had my dds nut
allergy testing cancelled. Already waited 3 years.

Also dentist and orthodontist appointments have been dire non existent.

I have not seen a doctor in real life since this started for a small skin complaint.

I feel for you and I hope your DH gets the treatment he needs.

My brother was due to start a different chemo treatment in March but all new treatment was put on hold due to COVID. Unfortunately he went down hill very quickly and died less than a month later.

I’m under no illusion it would have saved him but I do believe it would have given him a bit longer, he was doing so well in himself and was so positive. He was 36 with a 9 year old son

I think this is very much a trust to trust basis. My trust tried and continued emergency and urgent care throughout. This included oncology. We facilitated private hospital beds too. Lots of appointments via video calls or in community facilities away from the hospital where possible too. But also so many people were redeployed at the start too to help in covid areas.

Please be aware we are under NHS England and the government and not everything was allowed to happen because of regulations imposed. Lots of arrangements/meetings and plans have been trying to be put in place for weeks and weeks to get services like electives back to some normality but it takes so long.
Everything has changed to try and protect patients and staff: to be covid safe, people have to be swabbed and wait 2 weeks isolation prior to surgery, red and green areas for safety, social distancing so less people admitted.

Can’t win tho. If people had come into hospital caught and died from Covid then the NHS would still be to blame.

Nothing to add apart from I’m saddened and appalled at some of the situations that some of you and your relatives are in.
I’m truly sorry.
I’m also extremely angry to read them as clearly there is a so called post code lottery at work .
I’m in Scotland. Over the past 4 months ,6 members of my extended family have been treated exceptionally well for various things within the NHS locally . One was for a life threatening condition- cardiac .
The care was excellent and we all commented on how surprised we were at how well things were given the current situation.
My own out patient appointment, I honestly expected to be cancelled , could easily wait for 2 years even ... I’m in pain but not all the time and easily manageable.
It should be like that for all of the country ...
This does need more publicity...

I should say my friend was treated for a bad leg break and her care was atrocious.. so not perfect.

I wish you all well and your families too

I’m with you OP......it’s scandalous! Open pubs/restaurants etc but people will die because everything has been directed to Covid! I wish your husband well, I’m sorry for the worry you’re both facing.

I don’t think anyone is denying things had to change, and initially the stopping of things was understandable. However we are now nearly 6 months down the line and things do need to start getting moving again.

Yes lots can be done virtually and that’s great when it can. Going forward I am expecting lots of DS review appointments to be done virtually because if they are just the check in type appointments then this can work really well. However some things just can’t be done properly without a hands on approach.

You're being failed by the government, not the NHS. I'm so sorry that your husband is ill 😣

Waiting to move. I'm very sorry. How awful

Op , thank you for starting this thread . I think the reason there isn’t outrage is that a lot of people don’t know how bad it is . The stories here horrify me . We all need to start shouting louder ; complain to MPs, tell the papers , get it on Twitter . There should be outrage and it should be discussed at the highest level . My heart goes out to everyone who has shared on this thread .

Routine screening has restarted where I live and I have a mammogram tomorrow.
I can see why GPs would prefer to do telephone appointments as I imagine they largely deal with very routine things, and phone appointments would cut down the frustrations arounfld people who just don't show up or hypochondriacs who like a weekly trip to see their GP but as other posters have said they can't take temperatures or feel for lumps etc I was reading about one GP who diagnosed Parkinson's in a patient who had come in for something else entirely as he could tell by the man's gait. I don't know what the answer is.

My mum. Mild anxiety got worse, couldn't see a doctor. Lots of chased phone calls, led to a prescription of antidepressants. No follow up, couldn't get hold of them. They started making her worse, led to them changing them over the phone 5 times in 8 days. Her system have up, ended up catheterised and on a psych ward as she was suicidal.

She is now home, just, but still can't see her GP in person. Still has a catheter. Very low and has aged 10 years.

Bear in mind we are on the Isle of Wight, when this happened we hadn't had any cases at all in weeks and weeks.

On a much smaller note, I still can't get my B12 injection and feel like crap.

@chromis

Yes been waiting 4 months for an "urgent" cancer referral for my DH. Inoperable brain tumour diagnosis was given over phone. Zero support from anyone.

I am so sorry. That is the most shocking story so far on what has been a harrowing thread

Is there no way of getting any treatment? Have you tried your MP? Have you tried to speak to the consultant? I have found that the consultants secretaries are usually really great and desperate to help.

There are some heartbreaking stories here.

My 69 year old dad was told in mid-March that he couldn't be moved onto the next phase of his cancer treatment because the hospital was preparing for a wave of Covid cases and everything was being put on hold indefinitely. He died 4 weeks later. I didn't clap for the NHS.

Polnm. ..
I spoke to my eye consultants secretary last week, she said it is a nightmare at the minute trying to rejig appts, as a priority I am on her soon as poss list and next appt could be December, but no guarantees.
My sister has restarted chemo, but due to regrowth has now been restarted on iv treatment which is having nasty side effects, but at least it's a treatment.
I give up with my gp, it's like banging your head on a wall !!
Such worrying and sad posts.

@Waitingtomove

I feel for you and I hope your DH gets the treatment he needs.

My brother was due to start a different chemo treatment in March but all new treatment was put on hold due to COVID. Unfortunately he went down hill very quickly and died less than a month later.

I’m under no illusion it would have saved him but I do believe it would have given him a bit longer, he was doing so well in himself and was so positive. He was 36 with a 9 year old son

I am now in tears. I am so sorry for your loss

@LunaMuffinTop

The NHS bashing didn’t take long to rear it’s ugly head again did it yes things could be better but at the end of the day we are still trying to deal with the pandemic and nothing is back to normal yet. It’s not the hospitals fault that people can’t be seen at the minute you want to try blaming the government not the hospitals that are trying their best. Bet everyone complaining on here about missed hospital appointments and blaming the NHS are the same people who where stood on their door step thanking them not that long ago. What happened to thank you NHS or has that gone out the window now that they aren’t quite so important anymore. Is it not better that your DH is being kept safe from coronavirus by having to wait a bit longer for a face to face appointment or would you rather have him laying in a hospital bed alone dying from coronavirus. No one is getting to see a doctor at the minute it’s shit but I think the idea behind it might be to try and stop the spread of the virus again you know so that millions people don’t end up dead.

I suspect one of the reasons there isn't as much outrage is because people who speak up about their experiences get responses like this.

I agree it's scandalous how other medical services have been stopped due to Covid as that is the only thing that matters now.

Obviously this is different in areas but lots of people are having their operations and diagnostic tests postponed.

I know 3 a&e nurses, and two HCAs and an NHS occupational therapist who have been apparently twiddling their thumbs through all of this. Their words not mine

Can I also add that the NHS is underfunded and has been for years. You can only do so much with that little. It was already on its knees believe me. But get angry with government regulations and funding neglect.

Absolutely get angry with lack of care but please dont always blame the staff, we have had a nightmare winter straight into the unexpected pandemic which has left icu staff and others with PTSD with what they’ve dealt with. I wasn’t on a official covid ward but have dealt with it and also the impact on my role. I’ve now developed anxiety and we’ve winter to go get. No one working in the NHS claimed to be heroes btw that was a government spin. People were doing their jobs. Doesn’t mean it’s not a ridiculous time.

We want to care for patients as much as you want to but it’s not always cut and dry. We are trying our best we really are.

My trust is not quiet it was quieter back in March/April bar the hundreds of covid patients and other emergency admissions. After that it slowly filled up as people started coming back. We have been at capacity Beds wise at times with well over a hundred patients back in a&e at any one time.

Also what puzzles me is we’ve worked throughout in hospitals face to face with hundreds of patients . Why are Gp and community staff still allowed to be restricted access? It’s frustrating.

I have been incredibly lucky, all 3 members of my family have had excellent care from the nhs throughout lockdown. DD needed a medication review, it was done over phone consultation and we had a blood test done at the hospital the same day as the phone consultation.
I had an orthopaedic appointment cancelled, I called to check on things and was given another appointment within a free weeks at our local Covid free (as in not taking Covid patients onto wards etc) hospital. Had a face to face appointment with my consultant and have made a plan for the future.
DH had his consultant appointment by phone, and a further GP one also by phone and his treatment plan was organised.
We also have speech therapy sessions for though video link.
Personally I find moving appointments to phone or zoom is not a bad thing at all. Appointments will be more efficient and I don't have to go and waste time waiting at the surgery.
I can understand why some cancer treatments were cancelled in the beginning and why routine appointments and operations were cancelled, however I do now think things should be getting back to normal, however things will take time now because there's a backlog to clear.

People saying they are being failed by the government not the nhs. Sorry but it’s the management of the nhs that is too blame. Largely bloated and mediocre and treats their clinical staff like crap. That system of putting non-clinical mediocre management in charge of everything was put in place by the labour government. You can’t blame the government for everything. Blame the nhs for not managing their side of everything properly yes. This is nothing to do with being underfunded. The government do not run the nhs.

What happened to thank you NHS or has that gone out the window now that they aren’t quite so important anymore.

I never started and I most certainly wasn't out banging pots either.

Especially after being told by a Doctor that our local hospital was a lot quieter than normal and continues to be that way.

I empathise so much with this and don't understand.

It seems to be luck of the draw/down to surgeries and trusts to an extent?

My family seem to have received the other end of the spectrum but I can't see rhyme or reason for this.

My Mum had her second life saving cancer surgery just as CV was growing and then finished her chemo. There was talk of it being put off (she likely would have died) but it carried on until after Easter. She is now clear.

Also, my Nan has been diagnosed and treated for uterine cancer (including a hysterectomy) all through lockdown - beginning in May. A number of appointments have been on the phone but she has had surgery and attended hospital a few times. Hospital arranged and sent private transport for her because she had to go alone, and she had a nurse with her constantly. I don't understand how this seems to be down to luck?! It's not fair and I feel so bad for the families on the other side of this.

OP I'm so sorry about your husband. I can't believe this has been allowed to happen.

My DH was due to have surgery but postponed due to lockdown. We are still waiting. His mental and physical health deteriorating quite rapidly because of the postponement.