NHS worker here - Please self isolate.

[DollyDaydream70]

I'm an NHS worker and today was the absolute worst day of my working life.. Staff and patients are dropping like flies, everyone's confused, stressed out and scared, we don't have the equipment that we need to protect ourselves properly, and it's only going to get worse. We weren't even close to being prepared for the events of the past few days, things have escalated so quickly.

Please self isolate NOW and try to slow down the spread of this virus, we don't have the facilities or staff to contain it. Everyone should be doing their bit to help, even if it is just by staying inside as much as possible.

If the things I've witnessed in the past few days are a sign of things to come, your NHS will buckle under the strain of this. We didn't have a plan..... Stay safe everyone.

Thank you for all your hard work @DollyDaydream70.
I work in a GP practice and it's bedlam too. We have had to close our doors but our phones are open for doctors, nurses and us to talk to, get advice, prescriptions, sick notes, blood forms which we are posting/emailing etc. Understandably the phones are manic with patients getting annoyed so coming to the surgery banging on the door wanting to be seen/advice/prescriptions etc. I understand their frustration but these are exceptional circumstances now and can't be helped. The patients are panicking, scared and angry - we're all trying our best though

@ScreamingLadySutch and what's wrong with me saying "passed away" exactly?

Some people will find any reason to pick at people. How depressing.

I've just had a thought...and I am a health worker. What about bounty? Visitors are being limited to one per bedside and kids not allowed..but bounty are going from bed to bed taking pics using same equipment for all babies and it seems unfair that they're allowed at bedside but the woman can't have her child. As it isn't a necessary service and is a risk should they still be working on the wards?

Can we try not to use the euphemism 'passing away'?

This "verbal perfume" is easier for family members than saying 'sorry, your father died last night.'

We didn't have a plan.....

and

The failure is not a failure to prepare. I don't think anyone could have anticipated a global pandemic of something so infectious that would require so many respirators.

This makes me so furious. When I worked in private sector healthcare, 15 years ago I led business continuity planning for a 50-bedded hospital. Our insurance company required robust, realistic plans in order to provide business interruption cover. They suggested we get an expert member from the Business Continuity Institute to help draw it up and they got their own in to evaluate the plans.

The very first thing that any ground up planning starts with is an analysis of risk, and the very first thing that anyone remotely connected to healthcare starts with is the risk of pandemic flu. It is absolute nonsense that no-one could have anticipated this... everyone involved in continuity planning anticipates this day in, day out, and has done for decades.

SARS was a big wake-up call, or it should have been. The 2009-10 swine flu should have sent red flags flying up everywhere. By then I was in the NHS, in the second of two Trusts which refused to do pay anything more than lip-service to planning for it.

If I wasn't under an NDA about this very subject I'd say a lot more, but I would nevertheless testify under oath that NHS directors in my first Trust wilfully ignored concerns I raised about business continuity planning, specifically relating to what would happen if a pandemic prevented staff getting to work or caused long-term disruption to supplies. One was then a COO and is now CEO of a large Trust in the North West and I hope she is choking on it. Her words were "we have a perfectly good major incident plan which worked last year". Not the same thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By the time I was at my second NHS body, a document on a shelf that had "business continuity plan" in the title that was enough. That it was written by someone recalled from gardening leave after being made redundant, with absolutely no buy-in from any of the senior management says it all. If it doesn't, the fact that I submitted it with "alien invasion" as risk number one in the accompanying risk register and was never questioned about this says slightly more.

If it didn't meet targets or whatever was top of the NHS Bullshit Bingo list of the moment then people did not want to know about it. That has been the culture in the NHS for years. I have every sympathy for front-line staff slogging their guts out (or up) in this, but I have not believed in the NHS as a sensible way of organising health care provision for as long as I've known it, and I am sad to say that there are a great many people drawing vast, vast salaries from the exchequer without taking any responsibility or accountability for anything in return.

A massive and heartfelt thank you for everything you and your colleagues are doing.

I’m working from home and not going out.

But people die. Its a death. You live, and then you die.

Euphemisms don't make you feel better, they are just irritating and twee.

"A euphemism is an innocuous word or expression used in place of one that may ... suggest something unpleasant. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the user wishes to downplay."

You can't downplay death. We should respect it more.

It’s just been announced schools are shutting from Friday but I’m keeping mine off from today and isolating us. Dh coming home and staying home. We are lucky we can do this.
Just hope my Tesco delivery comes - I’m hoping we’ll live for a few weeks on what we have and I think by then measures will be in as in Spain/Italy that only one person will be allowed out at a time to get food.

Thank you DollyDaydream and all nhs workers. Also all supermarket workers - they must feel at risk too. The poor lady on the till in Waitrose last night looked utterly shattered and bewildered - no chance of people in these roles WFH either.

@Otherpeoplesteens what a powerful post, thank you

I've just had a thought...and I am a health worker. What about bounty? Visitors are being limited to one per bedside and kids not allowed..but bounty are going from bed to bed taking pics using same equipment for all babies and it seems unfair that they're allowed at bedside but the woman can't have her child. As it isn't a necessary service and is a risk should they still be working on the wards? I totally agree if you can self isolate then do! X

I feel your pain and fully agree. I'm police, my husband is NHS. We have no other childcare. We were already working around to clock to allow us both to work, and now the schools and nurserys are shut. I'm on nights tonight and had 2 hours sleep today with worry. Our job seems to have no contingency plan, people are dropping like flies and I really don't believe the streets are safe anymore.

No idea how this is going to pan out, but know how fortunate we are to be in jobs that are safe and thinking of all those who aren't. Dark times ahead

Spot on @Otherpeoplesteens especially the NHS Bullshit Bingo list.

Euphemisms don't make you feel better, they are just irritating and twee.

This is subjective; your reaction to the expression.

I know from first hand experience--very, very recently bereaved family members react differently to the the word 'dead' than to the expression 'passing away.' It really is kinder and far less blunt.

I work as a HCP in the NHS and so many people have been in tears this week. Today especially. We're scared too, but we still have to go to work to care for our patients. It's so hard to keep a brave face on and keep doing what we're doing.

Been front line nhs staff today..most of my patients didnt turn up so down huge deep clean of cupboards etc. Im vvv worried about the patients that didnt turn up as i work to stop further problems and can see most of my patients doing to a&e in couple of weeks. All i phoned said its because the gov told me to stay at home. Very stressful day. My colleagues are worn out.

And my colleagues are terrified too as some also at risk but we there to help patients

For anyone having zero success convincing somebody of how important it is they play their part in fighting the spread:

Show them this 14 second film (all visuals, no words), which bangs home the message very cleverly.

www.instagram.com/p/B9wTo4SnjuH/

but bounty are going from bed to bed taking pics using same equipment for all babies and it seems unfair that they're allowed at bedside but the woman can't have her child

Have they not been banned yet?

Thank you to all those at the front line, and I promise I am doing all I can to avoid getting ill

My dsis has been told to go in after 7 days if isolation she said the guidline is 14

If symptomatic then it is 7 days if you are well again. Family members need to be isolated for 14 days to see if they go on to develop symptoms

if you live with others and you are the first in the household to have symptoms of coronavirus, then you must stay at home for 7 days, but all other household members who remain well must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection

Not to derail the thread...

But if someone has a temperature due to an infection (99% sure it's the cause) and on antibiotics.
And a child with a cold - definite cold - snotty nose, chesty cough, no temp.

Do they self isolate?

Sorry to say but the govt. needs to get a lot stricter regarding self isolation. My town has a lot of retired people and they are in no way staying home. The cafes are more full than usual as they are not on holiday or on cruises.

Nope still going