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? 🤷‍♀️

Please know that as a non-NHS person I am and will be doing everything I can to keep my family as safe as possible, and I know lots of others are doing the same. So while I recognise that there is a proportion of the population who are 'bored' of the virus and not prepared to follow the rules, there are lots of us who are. I really hope that means things won't get as bad as before. I admire every single one of you who go into work every day for the NHS

I'm sad and glad that I started this thread.

Sad because so many of my NHS family are struggling already and I'm so cross that this is happening to us again. I have no idea how we can keep cancer services and acute elderly care going while also having a covid stream in the hospital. They've only just moved back in!

I'm glad that this is being talked about. I think the NHS inner workings are quite under talked about on MN and the focus is always schools so if reading this alters a few thought processes about covid, it's been worth it.

Please do keep tlaking about it.

Its certainly not made clear to thebpublic what nhs staff are going through or have been through, and certainly not what you're all beig told is coming isn't public knowledge.

I have just finished work it's manic we are seeing covid admissions coming back, lots of sick patients who are non covid and A&E attendance up. I noticed our FFP3 masks were out of date in 2019 and pulled them out to return to stores, noticed a label underneath saying they expired in 2014!! When I asked about this I was told they were deemed safe to use as they are a different type!! Yeah right just like it's ok for me to give out of date drugs 🤔. We have been advised today to keep an eye on staff who are parents as their child needs more than 1 symptom to be off school, I explained my children's school policy will send them home with one, I asked was the concern related to lack of staff isolating, apparently not it's because there are no tests and we need to prioritise who gets them.

Our sickness levels are climbing due to stress and exhaustion. I love my job but am beginning to go into work with a put if dread in my stomach and my colleagues feel the same.

It's lovely to see the support on this thread so thank you, alot of my patient's and relatives are so appreciative and do as we ask but some, are so rude it's as though they see me as a HCP and assume I am immune to covid and can't possibly have any of own worries. It feels worse to me this time. I am so exhausted I would never recommend my DC going into my profession.

I am so grateful for everything you do. As a family we never even really came out of lockdown, because I knew this was coming.

Is there anything practical that people can do to support? Apart from just following guidance?

Lobbying MPs? I can’t think of anything else. My first thought was to send something nice in to the local hospital, but that just feels like too much of a drop in the ocean.

@Rupertpenrysmistress I did this with our ffp3 back in March 3 different dates back to 2014 but apparently they are fine! Feel so safe!

Keep this thread going. So many are telling us it’s our jobs to suck it up and get on with it so they can live ‘normally’ but none of us signed up for a pandemic on this scale and for this timeline. It’s

People have short memories of spring, or believe conspiracies or are just bored so don’t really care anymore. When it affects them it will be flu written down as Covid.

NHS Staff know this is very real and bare the scars. Winter is hard enough this will break people.

Not an NHS worker here, my family and I have been living by the rules since the beginning but reading this thread has really brought it home just how serious the winter and early spring are going to be for EVERYBODY, I don’t understand why people, many posters on here cannot see it, so much denial and so many people turning on each other.

My mother had to go into hospital for a procedure last week and she had nothing but praise for the care she received, she had a follow up call the day after by her designated nurse and received her results a week to the day of the procedure (all good news, thank goodness)

I feel helpless and angry at those who think they are special and exempt from the rules because they are ‘fed up with it now’.

I don’t know what else to say except I think you are all very brave, I could not do what you all did back in the first wave and I couldn’t cope with the anxiety of waiting for it to crank up again.

💐 for all NHS workers.

Covid ward nurse, we've had no positive cases for a while and now got 3. Low incidence area but things are on the rise and there is definitely concern in the air

Thank you everyone for all that you have done and will do. I'm trying to do my bit to remain healthy : flu jab yesterday, vitamins, exercise , mask wearing etc

Thank you so much for all you do all NHS workers.

I appreciate you so much. I didn't just clap, I wrote to my MP, we've not gone anywhere inside near people, just outdoor, open spaces with at least 2m social distancing and sometimes also masks (the kids have discovered that actually they don't need fancy theme parks to have fun). We've been so careful until we were forced to send our kids back to school without any safety measures in place. I do wear masks at drop off and pick up (though currently isolating until we get a test result).

I can't believe how badly you've been failed by this government.

I hope so much something is done soon to improve things. I continue to write to my MP.

My Dad's been in hospital twice this summer - both times all the staff were outstanding. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

@ChasingRainbows19 same with the very basic FRSM - some of ours had expired in 2015 but apparently fine for use 😳

Numbers who are suspected are rising. A&E end up having to keep these patients because there isn’t the room to ‘isolate’ the numbers coming whilst accommodating those who are clear. Lots coming in because they haven’t had outpatient appointments and want to be seen as emergencies and on top all those who demand testing for work or school, all the while maintaining the usual services. It’s going to be a hard winter at this rate.

My hospital admissions for COVID+ patients has gone from 10 to 20 in 12 hours, and we are not even in a high volume area. Scarily fast.

I'm in primary care, and shitting bricks to be honest. Can't look at social media with all the conspiracy nuts/I won't wear a mask/flu jabs cause autism bollocks it makes me want to cry.

Good god this is the thread that the Media should be writing about. What a harrowing read. I'm so so sorry. Hearing about your experiences and feelings, is simply humbling.

Thank you for all you do, you lovely lot.

Not NHS staff (but hoping to be very soon, interview this weekend)

Thankyou for all that you've done and continue to do through out this pandemic (and before and after). Never had a bad experience. My lovely dad had his pacemaker changed during the first wave and the hospital & all the staff were amazing.

@eeyore228

Numbers who are suspected are rising. A&E end up having to keep these patients because there isn’t the room to ‘isolate’ the numbers coming whilst accommodating those who are clear. Lots coming in because they haven’t had outpatient appointments and want to be seen as emergencies and on top all those who demand testing for work or school, all the while maintaining the usual services. It’s going to be a hard winter at this rate.

What do you do with those who turn up to a and e demanding tests for work and school? It must be so frustrating.

I am a Nurse on HCE ! Dreading it! You can see it coming like a Tsunami but powerless to stop it! Think with "winter pressures" added to the mix the next 6 months are going to be Hell! Don't think any clapping or rainbows are going to help this time with boosting morale because when the second wave is gone just like before the Government will screw us over again! Ah well! Just hope I can do my best and support those I care for and those I work with!

Thanks all you wonderful people.

Funeral Director here. I am dreading the next few months. Having dealt with so many bereaved families this year in the worst possible situations it’s really hard to not get frustrated at people not sticking to rules or using common sense.

@Motherstongue - huge respect to you and your colleagues.

Thank you to you all.

@Chestergirl39 my hospital is seeing lots of people turning up at the hospital swabbing service (angry) and getting turned away (directed to the gov site with a sorry - not allowed, only prebooked for the trust / service users etc) but then they go round to A&E and chance their arm there (even more angry). There is no service for this there so they get turned away (shouting)

Not front line, but therapy team. We can’t cancel all of our appointments and clinics again. We’re massively playing catch up and seeing as many as we can but our patients have deteriorated so much since March. We won’t be able to get them to pre-March fitness again in most cases and it has massively accelerated their diseases by not having regular therapy.

We’re nervous tbh.

[quote treebarking]@Chestergirl39 my hospital is seeing lots of people turning up at the hospital swabbing service (angry) and getting turned away (directed to the gov site with a sorry - not allowed, only prebooked for the trust / service users etc) but then they go round to A&E and chance their arm there (even more angry). There is no service for this there so they get turned away (shouting) [/quote]
Omg that sounds horrible

I just don’t understand why none of this is being talked about in the media. This is so terrifyingly opposed to the bullshit they are spewing about how services are back to normal, cases are rising but it’s just young people who barely have symptoms etc etc etc.