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?

[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

[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.

[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)

[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."

[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.

[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.

[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.