The hospital I work in is so quiet

[QuietHospital]

London hospital.
Half empty. Some wards have less than a handful of patients, some wards are closed. Most staff have been moved to wards so are falling over selves. While their regular work goes undone.
A&E very quiet. I’ve sent patients there who are seen immediately. The heart attacks, strokes and appendicitis cases are presenting too late. People with covid are waiting too long to present. If you get breathless then for goodness sake come in. I’m so cross at the initial advice to stay home until struggling.
Had a look through covid ward lists and vast majority patients are aged over 70. Hardly any patients under 60, those who are have underlying health problems for the most part. Lots more men than women affected.
It’s just a snapshot but echoed by colleagues in other hospitals.
I think we can / should start to move back to normal life soon for the well young people among us. I fear for the short and longer term economic hit. It’s crazy to have all these young well people furloughed or made redundant.

People on mumsnet think the whole thing is grossly over exaggerated and everyone should go back to school and work.

Haha is that serious? Aside from this thread (which to be fair ending lockdown has only been mentioned sporadically), the majority of people on here seem to want to stay inside and nothing return to normal before a vaccine, which may or may not come to fruition. And let's not even mention schools going back. I do agree that caution needs to be applied to threads like this, not sending shade to any poster in particular, but as always online you never know if someone is who they say they are and that the information they are giving is factual. It's still interesting to see a different side and to discuss and question things though, as long as it's not taken as gospel.

80s cancer patients are particularly vulnerable to CV19. Does you agree with this?

Whether cancer wards can be sealed off is another thing. Would be interesting to hear from a medic.

The experts on newsnight last night even made the presenter look a bit startled! I don't normally sit up to watch it but I was on this thread and I caught some of it : they had a very different point of view.

Or is he ranking a heart attack above someone with an aggressive blood cancer? It seems ridiculous to me. How are you supposed to judge whether your condition should be treated?

The reason a lot of cancer treatment has stopped is it’s a balance of risk, and continuing treatment is a greater risk.

Cancer treatment tends to destroy the immune system. Then you drag that immunocompromised patient into Hospital, the place you are most likely to contract COVID, and meet medical staff who are likely vectors.

Basically your chance of dying because you’ve contracted CV during chemo is far, far higher than not having the chemo and leaving your immune system intact.

It’s shit, and the hospitals should be explaining this, but it’s the choice...

@Bubbles I just don't think over 65 is that old though. Sorry. Plus it is killing younger people. My friends 30something step son has been on a ventilator for 3 weeks. Turns out he has thus far undiagnosed diabetes.

I just don't think any government could get away with sending younger people back to work when active case numbers are so high. You need the curve to start to drop again before you can do that.

I can only speak for my hospital but colleagues in London all saying the same. It feels like a massive overreaction.
I don’t understand this mentality. It looks like an overreaction surely because the battle is being won. An under reaction looks like those regions in Italy, Wuhan, New York, which were caught unawares. Chaos. The fact that the vast majority of the public has been and still is following the social distancing rules means that your hospital doesn’t look like a war zone. Put it another way - a football team doesn’t stop playing in the final just because they are a couple of goals in the lead with twenty minutes to go.

@SarahInAccounts

If you will “probably die if you get it” isn’t there an enormous array of infectious illnesses that would also mean you would “probably die”?

I’ve heard the same from a couple friends who are doctors in the US. Surgeries are postponed, private hospitals aren’t making money so salaries are beginning to get cut.

The field hospitals in NYC are not being used either.

I think the hospital in Brooklyn got so much press is because it might have been up to capacity at a point? Not sure. Brooklyn is densely populated and I don’t think they have many hospitals.

One interview I found about hospitals not being overrun in California:

I can see why cancer patients have had their treatment suspended but as others have pointed out it seems wrong. I haven't any answers. I wished I did!

@The80sweregreat why & what point of view? Thanks

There is only one firm of communication though. We have been brainwashed into thinking the only Illness hospitals are treating is COVID. We don’t hear anything else mentioned by medics or at the press briefings. There has been a lack of clear communication about other illness and “Save Our NHS” is the only mantra you hear.

It’s like “Get Brexit Done”, “Take Back Control” was persuasive in the minds of voters. Three word slogans are very powerful.

The Protect the NHS tag line the Government thought up and have been using constantly @BovaryX ? Stay at home and Save lives, being the other two key messages the Government are using.
I presume someone in Government decided these were the best messages to use to get people to adhere to the lock down conditions. Flatten the curve never seemed to cut it, didn't seem to elicit the same response, possibly not catchy enough or too linked to science and epidemiology ?

The US system for health is so different from here, is it relevant?

We need lockdown, just look at the figures but we need to also be thinking of a phased exit.

I'd hate to think where we would be if we hadn't locked down.

Lock down should continue indefinitely

Ludicrous suggestion. Maybe for the most vulnerable but otherwise once it’s clear the NHS is able to cope then it needs to start being lifted.

I have a child with severe autism and learning disabilities who attends complex needs school. I am part of several online groups of parents of children with disabilities- many having 30k plus members - and I haven’t seen one single post about anyone receiving a DNR for their child or even mentioning it. I’m not saying this isn’t happening in certain areas but it’s certainly not a widespread policy. I think the media has blown the whole DNR for disabilities way out of proportion.

My mum had a DNR at 70 before she went into a hospice for terminal bowel cancer last year. That was absolutely the right thing to do. Personal circumstances matter in these situations. DNRs are not issued without proper consultations with medical professionals and agreed to by all those involved.

I think people are really scared to go to hospital with anything at the moment incase they get Covid 19. I have severe asthma and Addison’s disease and in the health groups I am in people are self medicating - often making mistakes doing so - because they are so desperate to avoid going to hospital. If we are all sitting here saying it’s not as busy or as dangerous as the media / government is making things out to be then that’s dreadful. People will die because they just won’t seek help when they should.

People who are struggling to breathe obviously need medical help. But they shouldn’t be permitted to expose others to their infection in the process of getting that help.

Well then the NHS needs a better system of allowing people to.access care. Until then, people who are serious ill will (and should) continue to try to access care the best way they can. Apparently most a and e centres are divided into covid and non covid at the moment so going to the covid part of a and e is reasonable to me.
Of course you take the risk that your breathing problem.is not covid related but that is a risk for you, not others in a and e

I find it hard to take the op at face value surely an HCP realises that lockdown has averted massive over demand. And that this is not over yet so we cannot make statements such as it was all an overreaction.

The governments byword appears to be "capacity" . I hear it all the time. We have the "capacity" to do 35,000 test - but we only did 18,000 today - no demand - lots of fudging - who is going to take the blame for this - nurses, care workers not bothering? And i think i would prefer to see the hosptials reaching their capacity if more people are saved. I do understand they cant be swamped but .....

To the detractors would you actually want to go into hospital for treatment that wasnt for Coronavirus?

Yes. They are the key messages but the cost will be felt by others with very serious conditions. These people will have been failed by lack of early detection and lack of timely intervention.

Tartan, I'm shocked at the fact cancer treatment has been suspended for most people. I wasn't aware of this until I came on this thread. I can see why they have gone down this route of course but it also feels wrong.

@Micah I know it very well. My dad is dosed up on the highest doses of chemo for one of the most aggressive NHLs there is. He's been on it for about 14 months. I know the disease and treatment impacts very well through him, my mum, my grandad, etc etc. I also know that he will take the chemo if offered it, knowing all the risks, because with his cancer if he doesn't have the chemo he will die pretty quickly anyway. With the chemo he has a chance, not at being cured, but at being around for another 5, 10, 15 years. On the plus side, his WBC count is super and whenever it's not he responds well to the injections so although severely diminished he has some semblance of an immune system left. Probably not enough to save him if he catches COVID sadly.

Plus, here the chemo is dispensed at a local facility with no COVID patients and where the risk is low - not non-existent I grant you. The phone triage system here is excellent and people with suspect symptoms are only directed to certain health facilities. Sure, people are asymptomatic etc but I don't agree that you can shut down a healthcare system in the way it sounds like the UK has.

We've been to Central London A&E twice since lockdown started (first time because DS smacked his head on a table and second time DH was having chest pains). Both times it was super quiet with only one other person waiting to be seen. Not many staff although those that were there were working efficiently and there were enough to serve the quiet patient levels. First time we were in and out in 30 minutes including glue to DS''s head. Second time DH had lots of scans, blood tests, hooked up to machine to monitor - he was in and out in 2 hours.

I do wonder what all the other staff who would normally be there or treating out patients are actually doing...

The breast surgeons must be getting anxious about their patients.
i am concerned for some specialties which may struggle for funding in future.
however it could have been much worse.
it is a wicked virus.