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.

So by such simple reasoning if lockdown has worked it should be all over by the end of this week as ye Virus won't be circulating will it|?

But it's not proper "lockdown" as key workers are still working and people are going to supermarkets. Proper lockdown would be everyone welded in to houses, deliveries only and key workers all in hazmat suits, Wuhan-style.

I actually think the NHS is terrible, twice I've been referred to hospital for diagnostics and after a 4 month wait, I had a 10-min appointment with a quick prod of my stomach to say the same thing the GP had said, no further tests. Another time I had a scan and they said "it's inconclusive", no further tests, the end. What's the bloody point? In other countries you would have had a lot more diagnostic tests but here unless you're dying, they're not interested, you just have to get on with it.

Ironically the only thing I've had a good experience of was MH services, as both times I got referred within a few months and counselling was good.

Also I don't see how we can have "green" and "red" hospitals when about 50% of cases are asymptomatic and we don't have any sort of accurate instant test.

@MarshaBradyo

But who is saying we overreacted and let's end lockdown? The posts I've read from fellow HCP are just explaining they are not currently busy and when you are frontline NHS that is very unusual!

I work in the NHS and agree that in our patch Trusts are quiet in their non-covid areas. It needs to be addressed urgently, not only for the impact on non-voice patients but also students and their placements.

Why on earth are we wasting so much resource on trying to get retirees back when we don’t need them.

I really think this is the end of the NHS.

NurseJ the op re overreaction and others re lockdown should end - although I’m not trawling through posts to find quotes. There have been some.

NurseJacques no-one on here is identifiable or verifiable.

West Herts NHS Trust have confirmed the story about the fake account.

@rosiepony we have retired staff returning and our existing bank staff can't get shifts as everywhere is fully staffed

@maria860 You need to find someone who is prepared to take care of you. Have a look on here www.birthrights.org.uk/covid-19/ and contact them if you do not find the answers you need. At 20 weeks, you have a right to be seen and cared for in the same way as all other pregnant women do, regardless of the coronavirus situation. I hope you manage to get an appointment with someone soon.

To add, NurseJ I have no problem with numbers if falling and HCP are merely describing (if genuine), more of an issue with the extrapolation on what should happen. Feels like agenda pushing.

Also it’s patchy so no one can say - it’s happening everywhere as all my friends I know say it is.

no-one on here is identifiable or verifiable.

Welcome to the internet.

8People with covid are waiting too long to present. If you get breathless then for goodness sake come in*

I thought you needed clearance from 111 or 999 to come in though?

I had thought that if it were one of my family, I would take them to my nearest A&E (or ask them to take me) but ask a neighbour/friend to go in a separate car and go into the A&E reception and tell them we were waiting outside and needed help. I am not prepared to wait until it's too late before seeking help, but the system certainly seems to be set up to keep people away.

As for non covid stuff I thought the whole point of the Nightingale hospital was to have a covid positive setting so that people could go to other hospitals with some confidence that they would not catch covid.

If people are more worried about covid than they are about heart attacks and bad stomach pains, they are being a bit silly. You need to weigh up the risks.

If there was full traffic in hospitals, how would the non-Covid areas be kept free of infection given that there are so many asymptomatic cases?

Well I'm not pushing an agenda as I have no idea what should happen next! And I'm a senior nurse with postgrad qualification in infection control and prevention!

I feel completely stumped as to how to proceed and it's scary!

50% of cases are asymptomatic where is the evidence for this please? Clearly there's a period when you don't have symptoms at the beginning of an infection but once your body realises it's there and starts fighting it, you are going to have some sort of symptoms, even if they are really mild and you write them off as something else (even a mild cold).

'love the way loads of HCP have shared their experiences of the current NHS situation on this thread and then posters have either replied 'that's not true because my neighbour sisters aunt is working in a busy a&e' or even better that these are fake accounts as part of a government conspiracy'

Who has said a 'neighbours sister aunt'? The anecdotal experience of anyone, be it here or relayed from relatives working in the NHS is equally valid.

The fact is some places are busy and some aren't and there was no way of knowing exactly which areas would have the biggest demand, so therefore all routine stuff had to be paused. If we had gone the way of Italy with doctors having to choose who received ICU then that would have been shocking.

It is still early it is only what week 4? Routine NHS services will resume as admissions with Covid19 and deaths reduce. A&E, gp plus urgent out of hours care is still there.

Haven't read the full thread - how does this square with lack of PPE

Doctors and nurses will just become spreaders if routine NHS work opens up without modifications. If there is insufficient PPE then we should consider changing our clothes between patients and cleaning rooms.

There are lots of non specific presentations of Covid such as rashes, abdo pain, lethargy, enlarged lymph nodes to name but a few. If GPs surgeries fill with these (their usual workload) they could become effective infection hubs.

Anyone can add doctor or nurse to an user name but when their accounts directly contradict all the available verifiable information then most people would question their agenda.
Luckily, 8 pages in, their agenda is blatantly clear. I hope they continue. I can't think of anything that will push all those swing voters away from the Conservatives quicker than trying to undermine people's faith in the NHS in the middle of a pandemic.

theconversation.com/coronavirus-bmj-study-suggests-78-dont-show-symptoms-heres-what-that-could-mean-135732

edition.cnn.com/2020/04/01/europe/iceland-testing-coronavirus-intl/index.html

Even if the asymptomatic-ness doesn't last forever, if people are asymptomatic for a significant length of time, how will that work in keeping a "covid-free" hospital if we have no accurate and fast tests?

@TheMagiciansMewTwo

See my earlier post, I have no agenda and no suggestions... I'm scared about what happens next!

Also, If you would like to check the figures for Lincolnshire where I live and work you will see that my account does match the 'verifiable information'

Yes ThaMagicians - loads of givaways in posts too! How is this cheaper than testing, Boris?

Also, that Guardian article someone linked above - why are NHS staff banned from talking about their work?? Surely that is worrying in itself.

What is definitely clear is that, at the end of all this, the hospitals will have to change their hours and work weekends to catch up.

I'm going to bow out of this thread as not quite sure what people are actually arguing about and insinuating

I'm a nurse. I'm not currently busy due to living in an area with low covid cases, low current inpatient numbers and extra staffing. I go to work, do my best for my patients, go home, hope I haven't brought covid back with me. These are facts, and I would have thought not very controversial facts that smell of conspiracy

I dont have an agenda, I was interested in this thread as found lots of other HCP commenting on their current NHS situation and their experiences echoed mine!

Peace and love

Where is The Daily Mail when you need it?
Surely this makes a nonsense of the the whole lockdown situation...

The NHS health advisers on the daily briefings have been very clear from the start that they DO want people who might otherwise die to go into hospital and A&E. The problem some have is getting ambulances to come out in some areas.

I expect it is a mixed picture across the country. our hospital Northwick Park was pretty full at one point and lots of covid deaths. I don't know how busy it now is now that London is slightly quieting down. There will also be fewer car accidents as people are out less but more domestic violence and murders at home.

I did read today one poor man had had with his young son to spend 90 minutes pulling out his very very painful tooth as there is virtually no dentistry provision despite claims to the contrary - many dentists have no PPE so cannot work and they can just give pain relief prescriptions and antibiotics but not do the work that needs to be done. I am sure some are working and I don't know if private dentists are.