What is the real situation in hospitals?

[Purplehaze34]

It’s hard to tell from the media and I have no friends or family who work for the NHS.

Does anyone work in a hospital? What is it like regarding the Covid situation there? Are ICUs/critical care extremely busy?

[TheYearOfSmallThings]

Less activity than usual (London). Quite a few staff off because they have to isolate or wait for a clear test. With routine procedures being pushed back, we are storing up waiting list headaches for next year.

On the bright side, there is certainly capacity for anyone who needs urgent care.

[BiscuitsUnited]

Spoke to Dr friend this weekend who told me the hospital she works in (north west) is around 20% COVID patients but like pp said it's a huge hospital with big maternity and mental health wards so I think 20% is quite high.

[shesellsseashells99]

@wonkylegs

This was DHs tweet on the subject this morning after a very busy on call weekend
"I can’t be the only healthcare professional deeply apprehensive about talk of lockdowns easing and multiple houses mixing at Christmas. Our COVID numbers aren’t falling - flat yes and not rising. It feels too soon and with staff sickness we’re close to breaking."

This.

I honestly can't believe they are thinking of letting multiple houses mix for Christmas.

[wonkylegs]

This was DHs tweet on the subject this morning after a very busy on call weekend
"I can’t be the only healthcare professional deeply apprehensive about talk of lockdowns easing and multiple houses mixing at Christmas. Our COVID numbers aren’t falling - flat yes and not rising. It feels too soon and with staff sickness we’re close to breaking."

[VikingsandDragons]

Our local hospital yesterday had 159 beds of a 458 bed hospital in use by covid patients. Bear in mind some of those 458 beds are the neonatal unit and very large maternity ward (covers a 40 mile radius)

[CherryPavlova]

Intensive care bed capacity increasing over weekend with all trusts now expected to have opened escalation areas.
Good amounts of ventilators but staffing an increasing concern. Much higher absence levels that previously due to fatigue and requirements to isolate. Many trust moving to 1:2 ratio rather than 1:1.
Some hospitals struggling with guidance requiring two negative tests before discharge to care homes meaning beds are blocking with patients who are fit for discharge.
Trusts will be opening theatres as intensive care settings but most trying to keep elective work ticking over. The problem is with complex elective surgery where people would routinely go to intensive care post op.
It’s busy. Some trusts with 60 minute plus ambulance handovers, some with overcapacity in their ITU, diverts in place sometimes.
You’ll hear less because there is a far greater emphasis on management at a regional level and systems ‘consuming their own smoke’. National sign off needed for suspension of elective work over 48 hours.
People are trying really hard to stay on top of the situation with earlier intervention using NIV.

[RayOfSunshine2013]

I can’t speak personally for this time around as I’ve been stopped from working due to pregnancy.. however I’ve never seen hospitals so empty first time around when the news was saying they were packed, overrun, “save the NHS” etc..

Colleagues are still saying the same.. there’s patients there however it’s not like the news. People are forgetting that people die everyday, of things other than COVID

[PrayingandHoping]

It won't be quite yet when this lockdown to have effect with hospitals. It will start effecting positive cases now and hospitals in next week or so and the deaths after that

[WhoWants2Know]

This thread has been quiet for a few days. Has anything changed or improved as the restrictions take effect?

[VikingsandDragons]

This blog is really interesting to follow

www.nomoresurgeons.com/

It's written by an ICU consultant working in a hospital in the North East, it's very honest, funny at times, but it's shocking to be honest. In that one local hospital there are currently 123 people on the covid wards, 16 in ICU (and at least another 14 who usually would be, but there isn't an ICU bed for them). That is just so many beds devoted to one illness and we're not even into the usual winter flu season yet where that pressure will be added in too, his post today talks about all the retired colleagues who are coming back to work this week to try to help them deal with the winter. Even if you're not based in the North East it's a really eye opening read.

[Carrotcakeforbreakfast]

Acute trust west Midlands.
Things very, very bad.

[stairway]

I work in a hospital in the south west. We have 130 positive patient in 4 covid wards and 3 wards are shut due to outbreaks. There are beds available surprisingly. I think they’ve stopped elective surgery. Staff shortages are a problem though.

[tigerbread20]

I work full time bank shifts in a large hospital in the South East. Last week I was in ICU, it was full, they had to refuse very poorly post surgical patients because there simy wasn't room. I came home and cried, I think most people forget there's other really poorly people who don't have covid, let alone the ones that do.
Out of the 80 beds on the respiratory wards there were 3 available.
People who think it's all a lie or media hype make me feel sick.

[Fouroclockonamarblemorning]

A friend who works in our main major trauma centre hospital in the north has said they have more Covid patients currently than they had in the peak of the crisis earlier in the year.

[mrsanflowerpot]

DH is in a London hospital, he said there was a gradual uptick across October and the last two weeks are back to very difficult to manage levels with outbreaks in wards, large admissions through A&E and a full mortuary.

[dustyknickers]

@missmeg3leg unfortunately I'm still pretty much in the thick of it. Hoping to turn the corner soon though.

[JacobReesMogadishu]

Terrible.

150 covid positive patients in a mid size rural hospital which has a bed capacity of 370. ICU is full. We’ve run out of space in the mortuary and are moving bodies to other hospitals. No visitors, no elective stuff. Annual leave has been cancelled. Hundreds of staff off sick or isolating. Office staff are been put in scrubs and put on the wards to help with stuff like cleaning, moving patients, answering phones and buzzers.

[missmeg3leg]

@dustyknickers...hope you’re on the mend!

Very busy at my hospital (North West) 3 full covid wards, full covid ITU & non-covid patients in recovery, worked last wave in ITU (redeployed from theatres) worked full pelt theatres from July & this week we are re-deployed back again with non-urgent surgery cancelled & working extra to clear our cancer back-log...staffing v hard hit, trauma from last wave, exhaustion, many off sick/isolating etc....Really don’t know how long this can last 😢 turned down an extra shift tomorrow as I’m 😴 yet feel guilty 😢

[dustyknickers]

I'm currently in hospital in the SE with covid. There are wards given completely over to covid patients, there are definitely a lot of us about.

[GreatBigBeautifulTommorow]

East Yorkshire situation is dire here.
Surgery and outpatients cancelled.
So many wards flipping into covid wards.
For the first time in my twenty year career I’m scared that capacity will be exceeded

[Madhairday]

I talked to my friend earlier who is an A and E nurse in our local hospital (west midlands.) She says it's dire, they're struggling for beds and have repurposed several general and surgical wards to covid wards. Patients are waiting in ambulances as no room in a and e and when they get to a and e they are there hours longer than usual waiting for beds which are at capacity. They're all really worried about the winter. She does say more are recovering which is good but ICU is full of both covid and non covid. Lots of staff are really struggling with it all. It's not good.

[joystir59]

My close friend is a nurse in West Yorkshire and in his hospital.theu have two icu's full to capacity and other areas of hdus have become icu's. They have 7 wards given over to CV19 and the staff are burnt out, scared and increasingly thin on the ground. The staff working in Muslim cemeteries say they are struggling to keep up with demand for burial plots.

[CherryPavlova]

In south occupancy is very high overall with an escalation strategy for trusts to support neighbouring trusts. Kent is particularly struggling with very long ambulance handover times and limited capacity to divert. South Hampshire also challenged in ED and CCU. Peak is anticipated at 27 November.

[donttouchmyhair]

Really picked up suddenly in the last 2 weeks in my hospital. Several covid wards open now. I'm in ITU and both our units are at max capacity. Not only are we admitting more covid patients but we're continuing with our elective surgery too unlike with the last surge.

[Tyzz]

I live near Hull. Currently the highest rate of infections in England at well over 700 per 100000.
188 covid patients and 14 in ICU according to local press.
Far worse that at the peak of first wave. The local hospital boss has asked for schools to close in Hull.
All routine surgery cancelled. Someone I know in his 20s had an operation cancelled hours before. He has waited a year in extreme pain and has no new date.