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? 🤷‍♀️

[Bellamybells]

Thank you NHS staff!

[mosscarpet]

@ValancyRedfern

That's awful mosscarpet. Do you think there is a better way things could be done than closing down therapy groups and face to face services? I feel they should be allowed despite Covid restrictions.

I really, really hope this time round the guidance from Gov is better and allows us greater felxibility to continue more. Otherwise it is going to be truely awful. We are trialling virtual groups (using microsoft teams and other apps) and video calls etc...but IMO it is not really a substitute to seeing someone face to face. A lot of our oatients dont want phonecalls or video calls etc... they need to sit in a room with a human being and discuss things properly. I have always loved my job, but right now I am broken and exhausted and dreading the next 12 months.

[Humphriescushion]

@ cross, that was hard to read, so sorry and words fail me so .
Thank you nhs staff, as others have said hope you all get more than a clap this time, and some real support.

[bloodywhitecat]

I want to able to thank the NHS I really do, I used to be proud to work for them but our experience of DP developing jaundice and the subsequent discovery of a tumour on his bile duct has left me horrified at the way he's been treated (or not treated). We know it's most likely cancerous, his consultant has told him that but unless we push and push no-one is doing anything. We've been in this limbo land since the beginning of July and botched biopsy after botched biopsy has meant we are no closer to a diagnosis.

[SparklingLime]

That is appalling, @crosser62. The frustration of no outside really knowing or understanding must be huge.

[Pomegranatepompom]

The key worker thread is really upsetting, basically the majority stating that no support should be given to help people continue to work in hospitals/ gps etc bet these people are still happy that we risk our lives/ our families by continuing to work in high risk areas.
It’s awful to see such a level of selfishness and entitlement on these threads 😢

[Pomegranatepompom]

@bloodywhitecat that’s awful and simply not good enough. Have you written to the service manager? Spoken to pals?
Sorry you are going through this. PM if you want to say which trust and I’ll see if I can find contact details.

[whydoesitalwayshappentome]

I am an NHS Crisis Support Worker and we have been doing face to face work and there have been Microsoft teams therapy sessions but the last few months have been horrendous, we are all exhausted and struggling to keep up with all the work. The mental health situation is a nightmare and I don't think I could get across just how bad things are.

[Redolent]

You are all incredible. Thank you for your efforts.

So many people talk about knowingly taking their own risks, as though the discussion is now closed. But it’s not. This right here is the crux of the matter: healthcare workers (which are a precious finite resource) and the system itself. Are healthcare workers able to actually manage this extra burden? Are they motivated or demoralized? How much can we feasibly expect them to go through? What do they ‘owe’ society in a pandemic, and do we have a responsibility to reciprocate in any way?

[ChestyNut]

Flat, dejected and anxious for what’s to come.
Not sure any of us have the resilience to do it all again, staff still waiting for psychological therapy for PTSD from the first wave.
Still working on increasing to pre covid levels and hoping services don’t stop again.

Worried for my patients, my loved ones and my team

The clapping and rainbows have definitely stopped and the abuse over attending appointments alone and masks has started.

I’m trying to stay off social media as the people saying it doesn’t exist and they won’t follow rules makes me feel despondent.

I hope you all have lovely colleagues and are supporting each other

[ChestyNut]

@Redolent you’ve hit the nail on the head.
We were all motivated and ready to take on the “battle” and the public were pulling together back in March. Now some of us are emotionally burnt out and normal winter pressures are coming too

[OnceBitten25]

Charge Nurse here - how are we feeling? Absolutely desolate. Have hit a brick wall - our service ramped up during lockdown, cancelling our appointments was simply not an option.

My staff have worked so hard and have done everything we have been asked to do and more. We are on our knees. Lots of my staff are struggling with stress and the uncertainty about what is coming absolutely terrifies us. We deliver vaccinations as part of our daily role and are concerned that we may have to drop existing work streams to deliver Covid vaccine should it become available.

Lots of parents on our team - if the schools close this will cause many problems as many have used annual/parental leave already. Our service simply cannot run without the nurses. I suspect that the nursing and AHP workforce across the UK will be severely compromised due to so many factors - I suspect they may say "enough is enough" a round of applause just doesn't cut it. We need support and the infrastructure just isn't there.

[Redolent]

[quote ChestyNut]@Redolent you’ve hit the nail on the head.
We were all motivated and ready to take on the “battle” and the public were pulling together back in March. Now some of us are emotionally burnt out and normal winter pressures are coming too [/quote]


People talk about having ‘moved on’ from the state of mind they had in March, in terms of willingness to abide by restrictions. But understandably, NHS staff have moved on from their state of readiness too. I can’t imagine we’re going to see 5000 workers come out of retirement again, as they did in the first wave.

[felineflutter]

Already an outbreak in local care home involving staff members. I definitely feel a sense of unease and that this might be worse than March.

[kirstyvw]

As someone in a completely different profession I just want to say I am in awe of all of you and sincerely hope for all those who need your help over the coming months and further into the future you manage to find the strength and resilience to carry on. We may not be clapping anymore as a nation but we as a family pray every day for you and are so grateful that you are there for us. On a personal level anyone I come across who dismisses the virus and its impending rise again is quickly point right and I unload a barrage of science on them!😉 Good luck all and God bless! xx

[reikizen]

I am a midwife and COVID has totally passed us by in terms of women becoming ill (good news!). Lots of staff have been off sick, some for a couple of months which was difficult at the time. Now the pressures are different, staff claiming they cannot work clinically when they actually can is a big one. But mostly it’s morale, seeing news stories about how women can’t have partners with them- they can - and crap like that. Endless changes, training, updates, emails about how amazing our senior managers are doing but I had to watch a YouTube video to see how to do a COVID swab. Staff being told they had to come to work if family members were symptomatic and awaiting swab results. In an all female profession schools being closed has a massive impact. Lots of midwives are the main wage earners in their families and husbands have lost their jobs. So stress and the subsequent effect on staffing is at breaking point. It has finished me actually and I am taking a career break. Lots of midwives who were thinking of leaving have done the same, it’s the final push we needed.

[CrunchyCarrot]

Another non-NHSer here, this thread is a devastating read, it should be required reading for everyone, especially the general public who think it's all an over-reaction and the virus isn't really that bad.

A heartfelt thank you from me, please be kind to yourselves.

[Greysparkles]

The day I realised the public stopped caring was VE day.
I'd been on an early shift. I basically spent the whole day transferring deceased covid patients to our temporary mortuary, it was soul destroying.

On the drive home, all the people that were out clapping and pot bashing for us every week were out in the street having parties. No social distancing at all, drunken hugging and singing all grouped together.
I just got home and cried

I'm terrified of a second wave, I'm not mentally over the first one.

[Bufferingkisses]

I'm really worried about my staff. The tide has definitely turned now and we are starting to get a lot of abuse for not being "back to normal". People can see no reason why we are not working at normal levels and all caught up. Sadly catching up from March will take us until around November - assuming nothing else happens - and we are lucky, many departments will be far longer. My staff are taking daily slatings, sometimes call after call after call. It's awful seeing the effect it has on people who have worked so hard through all of this to keep people being cared for. All the news articles accusing the NHS of failing patients were bad enough but now it seems we are getting the public backlash of that horrendous reporting. I predict that covid round 2 and flu season will hit and people like my team will throw in the towel and go off sick. No one can be expected to deal with this day in day out long term. I have done what I can trying to get support for my team. There simply isn't any. There's no spare staff, no spare capacity, no spare funds. I actually feel tearful and defeated writing this. IMO the government has finally got what it wanted, the NHS all lined up for a public scapegoating.

[Heffalooomia]

@CrunchyCarrot

Another non-NHSer here, this thread is a devastating read, it should be required reading for everyone, especially the general public who think it's all an over-reaction and the virus isn't really that bad.

A heartfelt thank you from me, please be kind to yourselves.

I completely agree.
In my local area the overwhelming majority of people of all ages take the virus very seriously and are very grateful to NHS workers

[Howmanysleepsnow]

A&E MH. We saw a drop in attendance at the start of lockdown, then a huge increase. This week it’s dropped again, and I fully expect another increase when lockdown hits.
I’m quite concerned we ran out of masks and sanitizer at the start of the week and had to borrow from a ward, which is less than ideal!

[Littlemiss74]

@reikizen are ladies allowed to have their partners with them at the birth?

[colouringindoors]

to all working in NHS and caring roles. I'm so sorry to hear how very hard this is. I'm also doing my best not to catch Covid.

Thank you so much for all that you do.

[Etinox]

@PerkingFaintly

Lots more love from a non-NHSer here.

I'm still doing my best not to spread CV and to be as little a problem as possible to you in every other way.

Thank you for being there.

👏🏼👏🏼
THAnk you

[labellesusage]

@labellesusage

Dreading it.

Quoting myself. I typed out some many posts but deleted each one because I couldn't put how I feel into words.
I carried on with my nurse associate training during the peak of the pandemic. Was on a elderly ward. My patients were dropping like flies, followed by staff. We fought on like rabbits in headlights. New clinical skills learnt. New ways of nursing. I will admit I was vomiting with anxiety before my shifts. Had too many days of firsts. I had covid in June. I'm still struggling with the after effects now.
Staff moral is low. We are scared and worried about winter. Many staff have ptsd due to what they saw and had to do. I admit on the covid ward in 15 yrs of acute nursing I have never felt so useless.
I can not put into words the despair , defeat, death, and feeling like we were used as fodder.
I don't think the general public understands what this has done to us as a nhs family. Over 600 nhs staff died from covid. Possibly many more from suicide.
People are fed up. We all are. But when I read threads on here saying they are no longer going to isolate/obey the rules/ and basically be a responsible adult I could cry.
We are trying our best to get services back in their feet. The abuse staff get . We don't have a magic wand. I am sorry people died due to cuts in services. I am sorry people died due to covid. I am sorry people's mental health has suffered.
We are in for a tough ride