NHSers - how are we doing / feeling? Calm before the storm?

[treebarking]

I'm in a low incidence area but even our covid ward has reopened with patients. No one on ITU but starting to see sicker covid patients coming in. Bigger regional hospital has a full unit already. No reduction in general admissions and if anything, they are more complex. Services were slowly getting back to normal, working through waiting lists etc but lags of 6 months for input. Infrastructure slowly going back to normal. Massive staff shortages as loads off with mental health sickness absence. Heating has gone on...hating mask life etc.

Today everyone suddenly realised that we might be going back to March or something similar. All the covid area processes again alongside running an acute service for non covid patients (as everyone won't stay at home this time round). Incorporating covid into the running of the hospital etc. Everyone has been in good spirits but today....really flat. Not sure we've got enough reserves to do it again.

We're therapies btw so go all over the hospital rather than ward based.

How is everyone else doing? Does anyone know what the plan is for the nightingales? 🤷‍♀️

@Singinginshower

I am happy to be a team player in the NHS, but I didn't sign up to be cannon fodder

Don't you mean covid fodder ☹️

Not NHS but know quite a few people who are - and doing what I can to counteract the stupidity that spreads this/ any negative comments I see about the NHS. I value what you have done and will do.

Something positive - the measures taken against Covid are reducing the burden of flu so maybe that will help in the coming months www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6937a6.htm

And please - take your vitamin D supplements between October and March. The evidence mounts all the time journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0239252#pone-0239252-g002

My son was admitted to hospital, hes 10 and had an operation and was scared. I was with him the whole time and cant thank all of the lovely staff enough. They were all fantastic with him and me ( I was a very teary mess) i always knew our NHS were fantastic and seeing it for myself again in this COVID times brought it home once more how you lovely NHS staff are!

Retired nurse here. My heart is breaking for all you NHS staff having to face this dreadful time. I've worked on the frontline but I can't even begin to imagine, what it must be like for you. The word dread keeps coming up. I'm so very sorry you're having to face what's coming.

I so wish the general public weren't so bloody stupid.

I'm feeling the same OP. In mental health, was redeployed to acute care and more recently trying to pick up the pieces from that since I've been back at usual work. Lots of people didn't get the care they needed.

I've been asked to take all my leave that I couldn't take the last 6/12 asap.

Back in March we were all nervously laughing about if our big conference was going to go ahead at one MDT meeting and by the next we were in lockdown. It feels a bit like that again. Everyone making sure to visit family while they still can, etc.

I feel tired and a bit depressed and I don't know where I'll be in another 6 months.

Do you think we’ll all be redeployed really suddenly like last time, and in the same vast numbers?

It was really nerve-wracking and I don’t think I’ve ever been so stressed going to work every day, not sleeping properly etc.

Now we’re back trying to catch up on our normal work but the atmosphere has changed again like it did last time. The worst thing for me is the unknown.

It's one thing being moved within my trust, a nationwide contract would see me leave the NHS. I love my job but I am more than just a number.

I’m an ICU and to be honest, at the moment I feel nothing and that frightens me. I was furious and now... nothing. The government and my managers ask for more and more, and give us nothing. A significant portion of our staff are off sick, shielding or with stress - which puts an increasing burden on those that are left. All the redeployed staff have gone back. We use loads of agency staff (high cost and you can’t do it in your own trust) but they won’t give their own nurses bonus payment for working overtime or bank which would actually save them money.

The usual elective cancer ops aren’t happening, so the backlog must be huge. Ditto the cardiac valves/cabg patients. This is before winter pressures which normally hit hardest in jan- March. Just after brexit. I hope the government has deals arranged to keep the ppe and medications coming into the country. It feels like we are just bouncing from near miss to near miss. And so many of my friends who are not medical seem so clueless- enjoying their working from home and furlough, saving money on the commute and having extra time for hobbies. Completely ignoring the financial disaster and social chaos we are walking into.

Gah. Sorry for the rant but I feel much better! And as a positive most of my colleagues are great and we will work as hard as we can. We have free at the point of access healthcare which so many do not.

I'm in community care, trying to keep my motivation up for the teams I manage, but I'm tired. I spent the first few months of lock down worrying about my team, worrying about getting the call that one of them was in ICU (didn't happen in my teams, but did in others), and now that anxiety is coming back. Combined with trying to keep morale up while work load is increasing, talk of emptying the hospitals again, plus flu season. My work week has gone back to normalish hours, but I can see me going back up to 50-60hr weeks trying to make everyone safe and working out how to staff a service amongst staff isolating, off because of childcare and near impossibility to get tests.

I'm in a low incidence area too, I cannot even imagine how NHS services are managing in high incidence areas.

I am absolutely dreading the next 6 months and hoping and praying all the extra plans along side winter plans won't be needed, I'm not sure I can manage another 6 months like the last.

Emergency Prehospital Care.. we were never so quiet during Covid.. and never seen A&E departments so quiet either! Plus never had so many private contracts offering me work.. unpopular opinion but.. keep it going!

Nightmare. Desperately upset suspected skin cancer patients needing face to face appointments and me powerless to help them.
Hundreds of angry patients with chronic conditions needed prescriptions from consultants having their appointments delayed again sometimes for the third or fourth time.

I feel a sense of impending doom, we are back at alert level 4.

I am now subject to verbal abuse on a daily basis due to operations being cancelled, (non emergency ones) because really sick patients need to go on the list first. I don't know if I can carry in like this. It's getting personal too it's so soul destroying.

I just saw on the news that hospital admissions are doubling weekly and vented patients have increased by 43 over night from 130 odd. I feel sick actually. It doesn't feel like much will be done to stop this overtaking hospitals again and we'll just be expected to pick up the pieces again.

Waiting to hear from the trust about service restrictions and stepping down non essential work etc. Hideous.

Same here, admissions more than quadrupled in 2 weeks. Atmosphere tense again. Shielded staff only just returned 😩.

Covid wards are opening again and there is low morale and the feeling of dread. Last time around it was scary heading off to work and it wont be any different this time around, i just hope it doesn't reach the heights it did then.

@Rupertpenrysmistress. Exactly this. One of my nursing team has been on the receiving end of abuse from two patients today. She can't control operating slots - that's my responsibility and, actually, I don't have a magic wand either but she's the first person they speak to, so... She's superbly dedicated and very stressed.

I get why patients are so frustrated. I really really do. But the system was all out of resilience even before Covid hit, because staff and resources have been cut to the bone for years. We were on our knees anyway, and Covid just broke us.

But it's all an 'overreaction'. And pubs closing early will fix it.

This winter is going to be beyond imagining.

I don't really know what we're supposed to do about the shielded - they've only just come back and we need them, especially over winter or we will have to redeploy from other areas again which stops other services.

I keep hearing we need to 'live with it' but I don't really understand what that means for hospitals?

I'm not NHS, I'm a student nurse and haven't faced anything covid related yet. I just wanted to say a huge thank you

Utter dread from me. I'm an ICU nurse and do agency, normally 1-2 shifts a week. During Covid I was working a minimum of 4-5 shifts per week. We're only meant to take one patient but at it's worst we had to take 3 patients with back up from theatre staff as not enough qualified ICU nurses. Thanks so much to all the nurses from other areas who came in and supported, it was a terrifying situation out of your comfort zones but you all stepped up - amazing!!

I need to say though I'm sitting here questioning whether I'll do it again. I have a daughter who is vulnerable and I spent last time not going anywhere near my kids. Really am praying this doesn't escalate like last time but sadly it's not looking good.

Community nurse
Utterly exhausted and demoralised. We have been picking up the pieces caused by patients being discharged from secondary care too soon or never getting therein the first place as the GPs haven't been seeing anyone. Already seeing an increase in end of life patients.
Have been treated like plague carriers by the general public and 'disposables' by the government

Personally I feel okay, not sure if that is genuine feeling of calm or denial. Guess I will soon find out.

I think I may have literally run out of any worry or anxiety at this point tbh.

I work.in a GP setting as a GP
We are busy as anything. A partner retired last year we havnt been able to recruit for.
And this week another partner handed in their resignation.
Not sure what will happen with this.
But literally yesterday I tested had a positive pregnancy test.
If we cant recruit the surgery will probably collapse.

Though I have told myself that if it is as bad as last time (as in lack of PPE, support from management and feeling like cannon fodder), then I will be handing in my notice, and either join an agency or potentially leave nursing all together.

I've written my notice letter, and set up a savings account called "running away from nursing fund", and so far have saved enough to cover my basic costs for 4 months. So bit selfish but I think knowing that I have a choice to leave if it gets as bad as last time is helping.

keep hearing we need to 'live with it' but I don't really understand what that means for hospitals

Most people who say that mean they would like to just get on with things, with no regard for the implications on others of that route. In other words, selfish.