My local hospital is overwhelmed

[WeirdWomble]

Local hospital has tonight said that is struggling with the number of covid 19 patients and is asking people to think carefully whether they actually need to go to hospital.

I'm so worried. Surely the Christmas mixing when we're already in trouble is going to be an absolute disaster?

The vaccine has been such good news yet it still feels like we've got so much further to go.

Not sure why I'm posting, just needed to vent

@ImAllOut thank you .

To all those saying scrap the Christmas mixing, have you given the slightest thought to how many people that would affect mentally? How it would affect the economy? People have made their plans and to cancel that, I'm sure, would see suicides rocket even more than they already have

@MadameBlobby

I feel so sorry for Wales, what a pigs ear that guy Drakeford has made of it all.

Tbh I don't think any leader has handled this particularly well.

@StylishMummy

To all those saying scrap the Christmas mixing, have you given the slightest thought to how many people that would affect mentally? How it would affect the economy? People have made their plans and to cancel that, I'm sure, would see suicides rocket even more than they already have

Have suicides rocketed? Can you link to those statistics please. I was listening to a discussion on radio today and the doctor on that said the suicide rates are unchanged. I can't remember which programme now, but It would useful to see the stats.

Up 200 (approx) first quarter, down 500 (approx) second, up 4 3rd, provisional figures show. So no, they haven't at all. Unless I'm misreading the data.

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/deathscausedbysuicidebyquarterinengland

Sorry, up 13 first quarter. So overall the rates are down. Something to be grateful for.

@StylishMummy

To all those saying scrap the Christmas mixing, have you given the slightest thought to how many people that would affect mentally? How it would affect the economy? People have made their plans and to cancel that, I'm sure, would see suicides rocket even more than they already have

If someone would commit suicide due to Christmas being cancelled for one year they have bigger problems than a family Christmas would solve in the first place.

True @ballsdeep

I certainly don't think many police officers will be spot checking people's houses on Christmas Day

Wouldnt go down very well round here after they took three hours to get to a domestic abuse callout and the victim died.

Our local hospitals are also on black alert but not just because of Covid. It’s more that they’ve run out of beds

@StylishMummy

To all those saying scrap the Christmas mixing, have you given the slightest thought to how many people that would affect mentally? How it would affect the economy? People have made their plans and to cancel that, I'm sure, would see suicides rocket even more than they already have

Suicides haven't 'rocketed' so I'm not sure where you've pulled that bollocks from. A link to stats would be nice to back up such bold (and incorrect - have you been reading the Daily Mail?) claims in the future.

What exactly do you think we SHOULD do then?

Allow people to die on stretchers outside in the snow gasping for their last breaths because there's no room inside? Because that's where we're headed if this virus continues to spread - which it will if people are mixing.

Nobody wants to cancel Christmas plans but fuck me, these aren't normal times if you haven't noticed, and we need to do whatever we can to protect our NHS!

Those working in A&E won't get their nice jolly family Christmas, either way, will they?

"we need to do whatever we can to protect our NHS"

Why arent the misogynists and perverts having to do this.
Strip clubs are open in tier 2. (dont know if this is true in Wales) but the sheer hypocrisy of this is galling.

@MadameBlobby

I feel so sorry for Wales, what a pigs ear that guy Drakeford has made of it all.

It would seem he was right to take the situation very seriously back in October, though.

I'm Welsh but live south west family still Wales.
Has nhh totally downgraded a and e and intensive care as nephew had to go children's a and e grange 2nd day they opened and it was extremely busy.
They really could done with keeping them all open the issue is they forcing people travel round more just to access healthcare.
I assume the hospital ebbw Vale has no emergency department and they go merthyr?
One of my parents had crap time in the gwent in the past and I was so relieved when got transfer to the heath.
Nhs is devolved in Wales so it's mark and gethin who are to blame.

Any idea why its so bad? I have assure my mam other than work education or fact they live in Wales work in England that not many English are chosen go Wales for a jolly.
I get irrational angry when mark says don't go England when they have lower r rates on the borders than many Welsh counties.

Whys the firebreak failed.cabt believe they won't shut schools..
Mam says khs has so many year groups out as do other Monmouthshire schools yet their communities cases are low.

A&E changed in Aneurin Bevan when the Grange opened but to be honest I really don't think they've explained the changes well. They said they'd sent leaflets out to every house, except noone I know received them in Torfaen, where the hospital is actually located. It has been all over social media though luckily.

Basically the Grange is a critical care unit with a proper A&E for life threatening emergencies like strokes, heart attacks, severe chest pain, difficulty breathing and serious bleeding/traumatic car crash type injuries, and for children under 1. The Gwent is now minor injuries like the other hospitals in the health board, staffed by emergency nurse practitioners (I think that's their proper name?)

Admittance to the Grange is supposed to be via ambulance only, to the extent that it's actually quite hard to find A&E when you arrive. I sat in reception there last week and two people came in saying they couldn't find it. If people present at the Gwent with severe injuries they can be taken via ambulance to the Grange.

ABUHB are telling people to avoid the Grange if possible, but the main symptom of bad cases of covid is severe chest pain. And given the number of cases in the health board are probably the worst in the UK, it's not really surprising that there are lot of people turning up there in ambulances.

Also in ABUHB and seeing the desperate messages from The Grange. Bit worrying that a hospital only a month old is already struggling so badly. I think Welsh politicians desperately want to cancel the Christmas loosening (and from a health point of view should). The rule that a single person should be able to bubble with one household should stay in place as that would prevent anyone being alone who doesn't want to be but that should be it for mixing imo.

Yes my assumption is that the Welsh government have been forced into the Christmas rules as it really doesn't fit with what they've been doing at all, and Vaughan Gething in particular doesn't seem happy about it. England's case numbers are a month behind ours though really as their lockdown ended under two weeks ago and Welsh cases mostly rocketed about two weeks after everyone rushed straight to pubs and shops on the first weekend.

@ImAllOut

Yes my assumption is that the Welsh government have been forced into the Christmas rules as it really doesn't fit with what they've been doing at all, and Vaughan Gething in particular doesn't seem happy about it. England's case numbers are a month behind ours though really as their lockdown ended under two weeks ago and Welsh cases mostly rocketed about two weeks after everyone rushed straight to pubs and shops on the first weekend.

So many were calling out for same firebreak approach in England. But if all it’s done is push Wakes ahead by that month or whatever it is it wasn’t a good approach.

So I agree with you basically

Hospitals are overwhelmed every winter, we see headline photos of people on trolleys in corridors etc. This year plenty of people already in hospital are contracting covid, and maybe there are less in with winter flu (because it doesn't seem as easy to spread and people are taking covid related precautions) and they are replaced by covid patients. I'm unconvinced that hospitals are more overwhelmed than any other winter.

So both gwent and nhh are only minor injuries units now?
Does pc merthyr still have a full a and e.
As issue is the grange is far away from lots town in the valleys and I guess not good public transport links if you don't drive maybe putting greater pressure on the ambulance service.

My sisters experience was travel to some medical centre or cottage hospital not in Aber get 3 year old s bloods taken.
Then panicked call later that day saying worrying results go to grange immediately as that's all children's a and e pediatrics and think maternity now too.
She was there most night waiting in busy waiting room to see triage nurse she said it was absolute chaos got there just before 7 not let go until 3am.
Repeated bloods they were fine obviously issues at other place bloods taken.
She couldn't get bloods taken at local surgery or nearby nhh so had travel torfean twice.
If anything during this pandemic they need a extra a and e but guess staffing is major issue

Yes Prince Charles still has A&E I believe.

The point they've made is that the relocation of critical care to the Grange shouldn't be an issue because it is for incidents so severe that you should only be arriving by ambulance. You shouldn't need to arrive by car. It's also about 15 minutes' drive from the Gwent so I've not quite understood the issue with distance as it really isn't that far away. But then I live in Torfaen so it's obviously different for me! Children can still be treated at minor injuries units unless their injuries are severe or they're under 1 as neonatal intensive care is at the Grange too.

Friends who work at the hospital (pharmacists doctors radiologist) say that too. It’s worse than first wave. South west tier 2. Major incident declared turning ambulances away.

My local hospital also overwhelmed. Yesterday they had nearly 60 patients in a&e, 38 of whom were waiting for beds on the wards! This is a medium size hospital with 550 beds so 38 people needing beds on one morning is significant. Staff shortages are so bad due to covid that the army have been brought in and are staffing the wards with military medical personnel.

So people saying it’s no worse than any other winter are very, very wrong. I’ve never known it be anywhere near this bad and I’ve worked in the nhs for 20 years.