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.

[Gin96]

There needs to be some sort of plan to start treatment for non covid patients, even for dentists. The back log is going to be huge, the NHS will be more at risk and overwhelmed from everyone wanting treatment at once than the coronvirus

[effingterrified]

Noraclavicle - I already agreed with you that John O'Connell has a history of anti-Semitism.

That doesn't mean he's wrong on this though. I'm Jewish, btw.

You seem keen to try to prevent sensible discussion on the issue, namely why ending lockdown now when the disease is still raging in many parts of the country and the UK is still in the throes of the first wave, and there are no plans in place ie tests bought and ready, contact tracers hired, trained and ready or sufficient stocks of PPE bought and ready, to be in a safe position to lift the lockdown.

You can rant and rave as much as you like but it doesn't make your argument stronger.

[effingterrified]

ToffeeYoghurt - here is the link to the John O'Connell Twiiter thread about government sockpuppet accounts purporting to be nurses etc, including stealing photos from genuine HCPs, to push the line that lockdown should end soon.

twitter.com/jdpoc/status/1252266724449230848

[noraclavicle]

effingterrified

Please point me to any posts in which I’ve argued for - or even suggested - ending lockdown.

Please stop exaggerating, it’s not helping anybody.

[The80sweregreat]

It's so hard isn't it? People want clarity and some kind of timetable to work towards but that just isn't possible at the moment.
The nhs must be worried about how it will manage once we are out of lockdown.
That will be just as testing for them as this current situation is or maybe even worse? ( I hope not , but nobody knows)
Doesn't help that so many ministers and experts all say different things every day and the economy is taking such a pasting and will do for years I suppose.
It makes my head hurt thinking about it all.

[ThereIsTooMuchConfusion]

Sorry if this is a duplicate post I haven’t managed to read all of them. I read this interesting article about heart attacks And lockdown/Covid.

www.tctmd.com/news/mystery-missing-stemis-during-covid-19-pandemic

Not sure if that link will post. But seems the missing CVA’s and MI are not unique to UK.

Also to add I work in a big trust and we are trying to keep Covid and non Covid areas, although as pp have said this is tricky at times. But we are quiet in the non Covid areas and admission units. And busy in the Covid areas.

I hope this is a sign we have prepared well. We have sent all our cancer care patients to our local private hospital along with our haem patients who are all still receiving Nhs treatment there.

In regards to CPR. CPR only really works on a person if there heart stops suddenly and the first organ to fail. In most cases when someone dies the heart is the last to stop, most organs have shut down by that point therefore CPR hugely unsuccessful and leads to a violent horrible death. However if your heart stops first due to trauma or heart attack then there is more chance of success. Hope that makes sense and isn’t telling everyone what they already know. When I was a student that analogy helped me to understand why DNR’s are essential to maintain dignity and respect to individuals. It certainly doesn’t mean we give up on anyone.

[trumpisaflump]

For those referencing the hospital on news at ten last night, I'm a bit confused. The hospital shown was Wishaw hospital which is in Lanarkshire health board and the nurse said the ICU was extremely busy. The official government figures of ICU patients in Scotland today states there are currently 24 covid ICU patients in the whole of Lanarkshire. There are three hospitals in Lanarkshire health board Wishaw, Monklands and Hairmyers. All large teaching hospitals. So roughly 8 covid ICU patients per hospital. Considering all bowel cancer surgery has been cancelled (as an ICU bed can't be guaranteed) so green ICU beds are lower, I don't think 8 covid patients per hospital seems like the Armageddon this was made out to be.

[The80sweregreat]

Maybe the hospital they had on the tv last night was being filmed last week? Did it have a date up in the corner or anything?

[trumpisaflump]

Yes it may have been filmed last week. I wasn't watching too closely as I work in a covid ICU so don't want to be reminded of work when I'm at home! I think most viewers would have presumed it was filmed on the day it was shown or maybe the day before.

[The80sweregreat]

Just a thought there , but I can imagine having film crews in must make life even more stressful for everyone.

[Cary2012]

I take this thread with a pinch of salt. Before I hide it, just a couple of things that make me question it: firstly the Opening post was quickly agreed with by many other HCP, or friends/ relatives off, quite oddly so.
Also, the timing.
If these HCPs are genuinely experiencing this, wouldn't they be spending their time tipping off the press, rather than being on here? I would.

[trumpisaflump]

@Cary2012 I wouldn't risk my job by tipping off the press. I wouldn't even know how to! Also even though I'm worried about the provision of non covid healthcare in my hospital I don't know what the answer is. So why would I tip the press off? I don't know what I would want to happen if the press gets hold of the story!-

[NurseJaques]

@frumpety I think we usually run at 80/90 percent occupancy (although of course it feels more!)

Some elective stuff is cancelled when pressure is on or icu beds are scarce but not on this scale I mean, no outpatient clinics etc running must be
storing up a huge backlog. And I wonder about all the 'bread and butter' things like blocked catheter, chest pain, off legs, stoma problem, tia, sudden onset confusion, abdo pain, dramatic weight loss, swallowing problems... Where are they all?? Maybe at home afraid to come in

[MarshaBradyo]

Cary I’m not sure about the tipping off but agree with the weird vibe of so many rushing in to post thank you same here.

The issue I have is some posters are making CV19 patients the bogeyman. How dare they overtake other care. When this is not the issue. As Toffee said. The issue is how do we keep vulnerable non-CV19 patients safe.

[MarshaBradyo]

Oh and the other big one. How do we ensure CV19 patients get timely access to care.

[rosiepony]

It’s early not that simple Cary as we were genuinely expecting a horrific Easter weekend and it seems like the tsunami didn’t happen but we’re all still rattled and nervous.

If it makes you feel any better, we in the SE are starting negotiations on when to start to resume ‘normal’ practice and I should imagine it’s happening nationally also.

The thing is, this is so new, it’s difficul to know when to move. This is the first week that I have started to become more concerned for cancer etc patients than Covid, but that is just my hunch and I don’t have any stats to base it on yet.

But yes, I can categorically say that most non-covid areas of the NHS are alarmingly quiet.

[effingterrified]

Well, this thread can fuck right off.

Went onto my Facebook and in my local group, my local hospital was asking for PPE of any type, as the nurses there only have plastic aprons.

My local hospital has been one of the hardest hit.

I am so fed up of the lies.

Everything is not just fine. Two nurses have ALREADY died at that hospital due to lack of PPE and being made to work when sick because of staff shortages and it's still happening.

And people here have the gall to say everything is fine and dandy and nothing to see here.

It is NOT FINE. We are not a third world country. Why are we sending our nurses to die in plastic aprons??

[NurseJaques]

I haven't read the threads about 111 etc. but definitely our covid admissions have not been blue and gasping for breath and no patients have said anything about 111 giving bad advice, which surprises me as usually if they've had a bad time with 111 or a long ambulance wait they will tell you about it at length! Quite a few of our covid patients came in with non covid symptoms but had a positive swab result. We have had patients from care homes too, although anecdotally everyone seems to be saying they are not admitted?!

Lincolnshire is probably not typical of much of the UK though, I accept that?!

[ChardonnaysPetDragon]

Well, this thread can fuck right off.

Went onto my Facebook and in my local group, my local hospital was asking for PPE of any type, as the nurses there only have plastic aprons.

My local hospital has been one of the hardest hit.

I am so fed up of the lies.

Are you suggesting many posters here are lying?

The situation in your local hospital might be different from other hospitals, can you not accept that?

[MarginalGain]

And people here have the gall to say everything is fine and dandy and nothing to see here.

An advanced search of the OP reveals she was talking about being a nurse in 2017. What do you think her motivation is?

[nellodee]

I don't think it's unlikely that what the OP says is true.

The peak is not like a wave that hits the country at various times. The peak is a function of when you shut down, and how many cases you have at the point you go into lockdown. If everyone shuts down on the same day, everyone gets the peak on the same day, but it's lower for those who had less cases at the point that happened.

Parts of the country who locked down when they only had 1 or 2 deaths are going to look a lot more like New Zealand than Ecuador: they managed to lock the gate before the horse bolted, which is great. I don't think it would have been effective to lock down one part of the country and let another remain open, so you were always going to get places that were relatively spared.

[effingterrified]

MarginalGain - I have no idea.

What do you think the OP's motivation is?

Is this a riddle?

As she's not returned, we can't ask her.

[MarginalGain]

What do you think the OP's motivation is?

To discuss the fact that her hospital is not busy.

Why are you so outraged?

[noraclavicle]

effingterrified nothing is keeping you here against your will.

And people here have the gall to say everything is fine and dandy and nothing to see here.

That is not what is happening on here. You are simply making stuff up as you go along. I want a discussion about Covid and non-Covid outcomes and improving those. You’ve lied about me, who I am, my motivations, what I’ve said. Just made it up. Cut the hysteria and have an adult discussion or go and scream on FB.

[MarginalGain]

She had dozens of posts on the first few pages, I"m not sure why you think this is so strange.

Maybe she's at work now?