Matt Hancock, what is your opinion of his Cancer treatment speech? *edited by MNHQ at OP's request*

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Is anyone else as angry as me right now over what that absolute to&&er has just said regarding cancer patients ? I'm actually scared of what is unfolding. He is truly evil.

@Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow No one is saying it in anyway "trumps" cancer whatever that means. But clearly if there are more people in hospital requiring care due to Covid/ flu/ any other illness those people are taking up beds/ resources that would otherwise be able to be able used for other illnesses.

That is before you get into if hospitals are full of covid patients they aren't actually safe places for people with cancer. The treatment leaves you very vunerable to the worse affects of covid.

I say all of this as someone who is all too aware of the needs of cancer patients by the way.

@Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow

For those of you who think it’s ok - why does covid trump cancer? I find this remarkable.

I am horrified by what he said but also not surprised.

It's not top trumps though. It's just a shit situation where the health service will not be able to treat cancer patients in hospitals overrun with covid, with staff shortages due to covid. This doesn't mean covid patients are more valued than cancer patients. It's not one or the other - everyone loses in this scenario.

You are horrified because it is horrific, but Hancock is not evil for telling you that.

He's stating a fact.
It's no different or more 'evil' than telling someone that if they smoke, they're likely to shorten their life.

It's very simple. If Covid is not contained, people won't be able to access hospital treatment - be it for Covid, cancer, or anything else. Unless they have a special magical power.

The hospital beds will be full and the staff off sick (potentially for months and months with Long Covid).

I think the government are incompetent but I'm unclear what's wrong with what he said. It's just a statement of reality. Calling him "evil" is just hyperbole.

It's a shame that Hancock and his fellow MPs didn't realise this sooner. Had they done so, perhaps we'd have used our island advantage, like Australia and New Zealand did. Their hospitals are open as normal now. Because they took effective containment measures.

Here he is doing parkour.

I don’t think he’s evil, just terminally incompetent.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=vXr5g7JYsAc

I think it's a warning that needs to be made.

Not least because those on active cancer treatment are on the 'shield' list, and the number of people who say quite openly that those people are going to die soon anyway is quite staggering. And to me it's a more evil way of thinking than trying to keep services going, but giving a blunt warning that if we can't keep numbers down some treatments will become just too risky as hospitals will not be safe

I am going to sound like an absolute *** here but 1 he is actually right how safe to you think hospitals would be for cancer patients if covid is rife in them but I have to admit it is starting to get to me that the only illness anyone seems to be mentioning or worried about in terms of treatment etc is cancer. ..... there is many other illnesses that are just as life deliberating and some more so but people are only using cancer treatment as a priority.

He said: 'It’s critical for everybody to understand that the best way to keep cancer services running is to suppress the disease, and the more the disease is under control the more we can both recover and continue with cancer treatments
That seems quite a sensible thing to say tbh. There are so many people who think the rules don’t apply to them, that covid doesn’t matter, That there next door neighbours, best friends, elderly aunty had it at the age of 92 and was fine, so everyone else will be too. They are bored of staying in, what harm would there be in having a little house party. It’s so frustrating! And now with bloody trump going on that covid is a little more than an inconvenience-that doesn’t help either.
The best way to keep hospitals running as they should be is of course to keep on top of covid. It’s not rocket science! And maybe these messages need spelling out more simply so that everyone actually understands. Part of the problem is, I think, that not everyone is willing or able to read between the lines of what politicians Are saying. So don’t get that if covid cases rise, things like cancer treatments will have to stop. It’s absolutely crap, but true.

@Newjez

I'll just add I'm certainly not a Tory fan or a Hancock fan. But people need to be responsible, and it's clear from many comments on the threads on here, especially the holiday ones, that people don't give a damn.

Winter shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone.

Where are the police then? People are responsible when they're made to be responsible.

What happened to the vaunted Covid marshals?

People aren't behaving because they're getting away with it.

GalesThisMorning posted:

"It's not top trumps though. It's just a shit situation where the health service will not be able to treat cancer patients in hospitals overrun with covid, with staff shortages due to covid. This doesn't mean covid patients are more valued than cancer patients. It's not one or the other - everyone loses in this scenario.

You are horrified because it is horrific, but Hancock is not evil for telling you that."

Totally agree with this statement. Don't shoot the messenger (who is in an impossible position, under attack from all sides no matter what he does).

The man is an arse. The whole thing is getting beyond a joke. This group of scientists, virologists and doctors are starting a campaign to call for a focused control of the situation. To me it makes perfect sense and I urge you to have a read and sign it.
gbdeclaration.org/

The whole thing is getting beyond a joke.

oh well in that case, I'm sure the virus will stop being a bother and slope off in embarrassment.

@ScrapThatThen

At the height of the pandemic my Dad's cancer consultants would have had to make the choice between having him in for a procedure that might benefit him, but might infect him with COVID, or delaying it. There wasn't a right answer because both courses of action were risky. A pandemic disrupts life. It is a statement of fact.

Of course this time we know more, but really how does that help us? COVID free hospitals? Well, due to asymptomatic spread that's not going to help a lot.

This is the main reason cancer treatments have been affected. We bring people in and we could kill them with Covid when they would have survived. It's a balancing act and Matt Hancock is correct in saying if we have a second wave cancer treatment will be affected.

He's not evil, I mean, come on. He's clearly a perfectly normal man in presently one of the world's least desirable jobs.

Transcript here - which bit is evil?

hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2020-10-06/debates/81312F07-53F3-4861-A50E-49E65505D150/CancerOutcomes

@PicsInRed

He's not evil, I mean, come on. He's clearly a perfectly normal man in presently one of the world's least desirable jobs.

He's a really good guy just doing his best, thrown into a real bad situation. It's beyond heartless to name call him.

For those of you who think it’s ok - why does covid trump cancer? I find this remarkable.

Because people with compromised immune systems are at risk in hospital when the covid numbers are rising again.

I know someone who works as a carer with vulnerable and disabled adults. Spends a lot of time with them and they are in and out of hospital all the time. She has just tested positive for covid, but had been working unawares all week with no symptoms

It isn't just other patients who might spread covid in a hosputal but unknowingly, asymptomatic, staff as well

He's being factual, pandemics are very inconvenient and lead to all manner of people making sacrifices that they don't want to. The key to reducing the sometimes life-limiting sacrifices made by the most vulnerable, is for those who are taking the biggest risks to calm down and follow the guidelines to reduce transmission.

I've found the perfect mask for OP.
www.funkybunky.co.uk/Item/Matt-Hancock-Mask

Why not? Look at Germany and how they coped. That was because the system as a whole as more capacity. More capacity for hospitals, test and trace, PPE. Routine treatment there resumed long time ago. GPs haven been open for the normal folks for ages now, when the UK is still telephone only unless the GP thinks you need to be seen.

Angela Merkel was quite clear back in May, I think, that if the R number was allowed to rise even by what seems like quite small amounts, the German healthcare system will be overwhelmed.

The NHS isn’t going to get overwhelmed with Covid just because of cuts, although they won’t help. It will get overwhelmed because of the nature of the virus.

Whitty & Valance made the same point as Hancock in their press conference the other week.

Maybe a few more will follow the rules now rather than ignore them, we can but hope.

Hospitals can only cope with so much, that’s not evil it’s the truth.

They need to be as virus free as possible so those needing other treatment can do so safely.

I don't like Matt Hancock. I don't like Tories. I don't like what the Tories are doing to the NHS.

However, what he has said is true. I imagine he's trying to promote compliance with measures to reduce Covid-19 rates, rather than that he hates people with cancer, or whatever your bizarre take is.

[quote Whyisitsodifficult]The man is an arse. The whole thing is getting beyond a joke. This group of scientists, virologists and doctors are starting a campaign to call for a focused control of the situation. To me it makes perfect sense and I urge you to have a read and sign it.
gbdeclaration.org/[/quote]
This seems really sensible. Thank you for sharing.

Angela Merkel was quite clear back in May, I think, that if the R number was allowed to rise even by what seems like quite small amounts, the German healthcare system will be overwhelmed

Their health system is far more better equipped and funded than ours, their population trusted Merkel so complied with requests rather than new laws.

The NHS isn’t going to get overwhelmed with Covid just because of cuts, although they won’t help. It will get overwhelmed because of the nature of the virus

Clearly Hancock thinks the NHS is about to overwhelmed if it cannot treat people with very serious illnesses,
Rather than evil, he has just admitted the NHS has and will be overwhelmed in the future, should CV rates increase.
Of course his Govt's handling of testing, trac and trace is partly responsible for these rises.