Thread for NHS staff

[LucheroTena]

How prepared do you think your place of work is? I work clinically in large teaching hospital and not at all confident we’re ready. Outside of wards there is very little planning and yet we have massive outpatient services. Elective stuff is being limited now but nowhere near enough capacity will be created. Millions in deficit so we’re operating on skeleton workforce and even when we can recruit no one wants to work here. Dozens of calls to our small team each day from worried patients, it’s taking up so much time to answer them all on top of already manic workload. Loads of staff with symptoms that are concerning but we’re not swabbing them and 111 uninterested unless they’ve travelled. Admin staff gleeful that they might soon be ‘working’ from home when truth is it’s difficult to get them to do much work on site let alone unsupervised. It doesn’t feel as though there is much consideration for clinical staff and now we’ll no doubt also be burdened with doing the jobs of admin. Never been as close to saying stuff it and quitting.

Our Trust doesn’t know whether the guidance on long term conditions applies to staff so they will be seeking guidance but I expect staff with COPD/Asthma etc will be expected to rock up to work like anyone else. I have also been told I will be moved to critical care when it all kicks off....never worked a day in critical care in my life

@WhenYouveAFirstInEnglish

Just heard from a colleague at a neighbouring trust that they are being told the 14 day isolation for family symptoms doesn’t apply to them and they are to go in....

How can that be? Is it because you are classed as emergency personnel - like in the military?

Well I was back at work today and for once am kind of impressed with my usual shit show of a trust.
They are taking the government guidance very seriously. No one is to be made to feel guilty or pressured about having to self isolate and the full 14 days must be adhered to. Management are compiling a list of all high risk employees and each will have an individualised plan on how they are going to manage this. They are anticipating high sickness rates so have added additional shifts thsy agency can pick up now so we are currently over out numbers in case people need to leave or ring in last minute.

We're also looking at fast track discharge (it's a mental health trust) so we can close off parts of wards to act as isolation areas should we get positive cases.

We have been assured extra ppe is coming. More worrying is that all nurses (mostly RMNs) will be getting additional training asap in managing patients who become physically unwell and require more hands on care. The acute trust has said that managing restricted mental health patients who need 2+ escorting staff is not feasible so we are likely going to have to keep patients here unless they get really bad. We obviously have the basics of care but I wont lie this is something I'm nervous about.

It seems the change in gov guidance really has put a rocket up my trusts arse, of things still seem clear as mud but I'm cautiously optimistic that they seem to be managing this better than they have up to now.

The patients have been fucking horrendous about it all though, entirely predictable but hey ho.

My Trust is putting pressure on pregnant frontline HCPs to continue working frontline.

Just heard from a colleague at a neighbouring trust that they are being told the 14 day isolation for family symptoms doesn’t apply to them and they are to go in.

This applies where I work too so I was told today.

Yes, I've heard the same re a hospital trust telling staff to ignore the 14 day self isolation if someone in your household is ill and instead to only isolate if you yourself are symptomatic.

Any staff member that is not showing any symptoms of a high-fever or new continuous cough should still come into work. This means staff should NOT be self-isolating if they are ASYMPTOMATIC irrespective of who has symptoms at home. Formal Trust advice will be published later today so please check your emailscarefully.

My trust have sent all pregnant women home to self isolate for 12 weeks, until told otherwise by PHE. Can’t quite believe it. They have never seemed to have our best interests at heart before this.

I’m pregnant, and relieved I’m being looked after, but actually feel incredibly guilty. I only work part time, but was prepared to come back full time and work wherever needed as things get worse. Feel a bit useless now, whilst all my colleagues will be dealing with what is to come.

@Sipperskipper my trust have done the same too. I’m also feeling incredibly guilty as had planned on going in and supporting from the office rather than being based on the wards but have been told I’m not even allowed to do that. Part of me feels relieved they are taking this seriously and looking after us, but feeling guilty for not being in work to help and also a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of being stuck at home for 12 weeks!

@Sipperskipper my trust have interpreted the advice as pregnant women aren't really higher risk it's just a precaution (which is true from RCM) so we are to work as normal and be socially distant outside of work. If a woman comes in with symptoms or confirmed CV (I'm a labour ward MW) I'm not to look after her

So much inconsistency between trusts - I'm hearing of pregnant staff being sent home until further notice, some who have been moved to more admin roles, and some like me who are to carry on as normal in a hospital with confirmed cases!

@FormerlyFrikadela01 that’s interesting to hear. I’m community MH nurse and while there have been whispers of redeployment no seems to know where or what it will look like. I probably should start preparing myself to care for CV19 patients somewhere along the way!

I do find it confusing that different trusts are implementing the policies differently. And I'm taking about the same type of trusts, for example, hospital trusts rather hospital versus community trusts, iyswim.

formerly I also work in a mental health trust and I agree, one of things concerning me is how manage a very unwell (as in mentally unwell) patient on a mental health ward if they also have COVID. For some patients eg those requiring restraint or seclusion I can see they could not be managed on an acute physical ward, but also mental health staff will not be trained in PPE etc but will still be in close contact with the patient. (no sign of any PPE here for us yet either....)

but also mental health staff will not be trained in PPE etc but will still be in close contact with the patient. (no sign of any PPE here for us yet either....hmm)

Apparently we're getting extra training and the CEO said yesterday the ppe is coming. I'll believe it when I see it.

The plan seems to be to reduce the number of inpatients therefore reducing the risk of transmission and ease staff pressures (3 calls today for people isolating giving us a total it 5 out of 30 on my ward so far).

Community staff are being prepared for redevelopment but this is a last resort maintaining a community presence, even if it's just phone contact as it mostly is now, is essential for the plan to reduce inpatient number to work.

My trust is saying that pregnant staff are not classed as high risk and should remain at work but not provide direct care to positive or suspected patients. Immunosupressed staff should remain at work but be allocated other duties. Those with underlying conditions should discuss with manager and may be relocated.

@MooChops89 it’s crazy isn’t it. I feel like there really is no point social distancing for my own protection out of work, when in work I’m surrounded by it.

In my trust, just been informed that all over 70’s, pregnant women and anyone with underlying conditions are not going to be sent home. Their stance is It’s your choice on what you want to do. I am currently working in outpatients and I am in third trimester, I have to be in close proximity with my patients. I commute across London to get to work. My husband and I have taken the decision, that I won’t be in until the guidance changes. A lot of of my patients are cancelling or DNA’ing( a lot are over 70) I have seen 3 patients all day. And management is reducing clinics. I think in my situation, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

We’ve been told today that clinical staff are to come in even if a member of their household is symptomatic. While non clinical staff must isolate for 14 days. Clearly clinical staff must have some inbuilt immunity!!

Our hospital has moved whole departments around the hospital to ensure that COVID-19 patients are being treated in as much isolation as possible. Anyone who is coming through A&E to be tested is being kept in isolation until they can get results through. There's a worrying lack of communication from management though. It's difficult to find hand sanitiser, masks etc. Psychs and similar staff have been told to stay off the wards but to remain in the hospital on stand by and all student doctors and nurses have been taken off the ward.

We have a lot of student nurses and doctors but now all the universities have closed and they've mostly been sent home so it's very quiet. There is talk of rushing final year student nurses and doctors through qualification just to get more staff on the ground but that remains to be seen.

I am in a role that I suppose falls under admin. We haven't been told to work from home even though we absolutely can and it's very frustrating that we've been told to stay put as we feel like having all of our staff here is creating an unnecessary risk. We could easily manage with one person in per day but yesterday we had 4 staff members because one person in management isn't taking our concerns (our the government's advice) seriously.

Personally, I work in a role where we carry out research on behalf of clinical staff and we are currently working hard to provide up to date medical papers and research regarding COVID-19 to various staff members who are using this to inform the treatment of their patients. We provide this service year round in order to free up valuable working time for clinicians so they can keep up to date with fast-changing evidence-based advice without having to spend hours looking for it themselves and focus on treating their patients instead. I understand we are not as valuable as front line staff but I just want to give admin staff their due because ours are working very hard.

Our trust also expects us in unless we ourselves have symptoms.

We are also still moving patients from ward to ward willy nilly without swabbing them first. I feel like I’m in the middle of some future Channel 4 whistleblowing documentary today. Nobody seems to have a clue.

I'm so sorry to type this but I'm a nurse and I'm so scared, I'm panicking at going back in tomorrow.

I feel ok at home watching the news, but the situation in work is horrific. I wish I did another job, I wish I could stay home and be safe.

I'm sorry to sound so selfish but keep seeing all this 'dedicated NHS staff' stuff. No one knows what's going on, everyone is stressed and our thin aprons and paper mask are supposedly going to protect is from something that's taking over the world.

I'll still go to work, I'll work hard and to the best by my patients and colleagues. I'll take charge and so my best to make people feel safe but inside I'm falling apart .

I work in nhs but not technically frontline. We will be face fitted for masks.

Good luck with getting masks. Family member is hospital doctor expected to train medical staff in how to face-fit those masks correctly. Only there are no face-fit-masks arrived yet, for them to use. The covid patients have arrived though.

It’s shit and the treatment of NHS clinical staff is appalling. If the schools shut then we’re fucked.

I retired from hospital pharmacy in January, but went on the bank list. I have just been emailed to ask if I'm interested in working.

The schools are shutting on friday in Scotland

Friend of mine works as a prison nurse and rang nhs England for some FIT masks and got told they wouldn't be getting any until they had a confirmed case of coronavirus in the prison but that they weren't sending anyone out to test .

We've run out of fit masks where I work so we're now using surgical masks which are fucking pointless but someone stole thousands of masks this week from A&E. just strolled in wearing scrubs and told the staff they were moving them to icu and took off with them.