We are now in disaster mode

[lovelemoncurd]

“We are now in disaster medicine mode,” it said.
“We are no longer providing high-standard critical care, because we cannot. While this is far from ideal, it’s the way things are, and the way they have to be for now.”

I see that this means rationing medical care. So those who would have previously been given a chance will now not.

This is really significant!

@Raspberry681 Really no need to thank me I'm just doing the job I love and I was trained to do,

BUT, in the 30 years I have worked in the NHS I have never seen anything like this- staff are physically and mentally exhausted and the infrastructure that allows us to do our jobs are being pushed to absolute breaking point.

During the first wave, patients were mainly in the 60+ age group, this wave we are definitely seeing more younger patients 40+ and many have died too.

It also going to take years for the NHS to recover

@screamingfemale

begging for synthetic, untested chemicals when a good diet and fresh air is provably as effective at keeping your immune system strong

It's not chemical & it's not untested.

Stop being such an idiot.

Youre accusing millions of people worldwide of what exactly? Not having fresh air or a good diet?

Stop being so fucking ridiculous & offensive.

Covid is no joke it's an awful virus and can cause complete organ failure- it's not a nice way to die and patients can't be with their loved ones.

Please all - stay at home as much as you can and protect yourselves and your families

I think part of the reason hospitals aren’t coping so well this time is because in the weeks/months prior to this services were encouraged to try and resume some level of more normal service. Hence there wasn’t so much slack in the system.

@scaevola

There have been so many commentators in the last few days saying we were 7-14 days to crisis, plus the official move of putting us to Alert 5 (danger of NHS being overwhelmed in next 21 days)

I am mildly surprised that people have not taken on board what that actually means

And very surprised that some still seek to minimise the united loud evidence of how bad the current reality is

Do not have a serious RTA or other accident, major stroke or heart attack, or have operable cancer diagnosed in the next few weeks. When you think 'don't be silly, I can't do much about that,' turn your thought processes about what you can do. Which is to ease the pandemic pressure by following both the spirit and letter of the guidance and laws, and generally don't be a dick

Well said.

Actually @screamingfemale there. Is a consensus in the medical community that we should all be taking 4000IU of vit D to help with covid and reduce the death toll. The NHS is already recommending for everyone to supplement, albeit at a lower level and. Has done so since the summer

However, as I said before, it’s only ONE TOOL amongst others. It doesn’t mean we should have no lockdown , mask etc...

I get it’s bad but it’s what people expect us to do about it I don’t get. None of us have been anywhere except the shops when we need for ages. Kids been off school for 3 weeks. They are saying even full lockdown now might not be enough. So what can we actually do about this?

well tokenbalm vitamin D has a far longer history of being beneficial to health than the vaccine does, and a much better safety profile. Anyway the vaccine won't stop you from getting or transmitting Coronavirus, it just means you're less likely to have severe symptoms, much like having a good immune system will do for you.
Not sure whats up with society that everyone has succumbed to the billion dollar marketing budgets of big pharma, begging for synthetic, untested chemicals when a good diet and fresh air is provably as effective at keeping your immune system strong.

Anyone who spouts shit with buzzwords like big pharma is invariably a low IQ full paid-up member of The Church of Conspiracy Theories. They are easy to spot because they always think they Know Something Special that normal people do not because we are hoodwinked sheeples, and secret powers like big pharma are controlling our minds. They however know The Truth because they are The Chosen Ones.

They simply need shunning.

@screamingfemale

well *@tokenbalm* vitamin D has a far longer history of being beneficial to health than the vaccine does, and a much better safety profile. Anyway the vaccine won't stop you from getting or transmitting Coronavirus, it just means you're less likely to have severe symptoms, much like having a good immune system will do for you. Not sure whats up with society that everyone has succumbed to the billion dollar marketing budgets of big pharma, begging for synthetic, untested chemicals when a good diet and fresh air is provably as effective at keeping your immune system strong.

Ah I see we have an anti-vaxxer join us.

This kind of post is dangerous.

Vitamin D is hugely beneficial but it will not stop you contracting the virus.

It is a very sobering thought that the number of deaths reported yesterday equates to nearly one per minute - it is devastating.

Regarding information and numbers, I hope that the new daily press conference which starts on Monday gives us something to cling on to. Yes, we need to know the number of vaccinations given per day, but why do we never get a figure which shows the percentage of positive tests against number of tests carried out? Surely this would be more meaningful?

I wish people would listen to those on the frontline, who are seeing the reality.
An in law's relative sadly passed away in his 50s after contracting Covid in hospital when he'd gone in for something else.

We live in the Birmingham area and so I was surprised/grateful that an elderly family member (who's had the vaccine thankfully) was seen in hospital after a seriously low iron count. He's been in for a few days now, but not ICU.

@screamingfemale

well *@tokenbalm* vitamin D has a far longer history of being beneficial to health than the vaccine does, and a much better safety profile. Anyway the vaccine won't stop you from getting or transmitting Coronavirus, it just means you're less likely to have severe symptoms, much like having a good immune system will do for you. Not sure whats up with society that everyone has succumbed to the billion dollar marketing budgets of big pharma, begging for synthetic, untested chemicals when a good diet and fresh air is provably as effective at keeping your immune system strong.

Tell this bunch of attention-seeking crap to my 3 year old uncle, dead of polio; my cousin who needs lifelong care for his mental and physical disabilities caused by his mum getting rubella while pregnant; and my 34 year old friend, dead of a vaccine-preventable illness from an anti-vaxxer’s child, caught during her chemotherapy.

This attitude can get in the fucking sea. Yes, I am angry, because people like you are causing the comeback of dead diseases like measles and damaging public health for everyone.

This week so far the figures for deaths from covid are more than the entire population of our large village. We would all be dead. A sobering thought.

So, if you're struggling to get your head around figures and deaths and cannot see how serious this pandemic is, try looking at it from that point of view. It is truly terrifying. Do everything you can to stop the spread of this deady disease.

Surely the wisest thing for us to do as individuals is to:

Follow the guidance and lockdown in accordance with the guidance/regs
Get vaccinated AND
Have a good diet, fresh air and aupplement with vitamins where required

screamingfemale

Yeah good luck with just fresh air to stave off this. Do you really think that all of the victims so far have been unhealthy or elderly? Are you just in total denial? Stop spreading crap about Big Pharma for Christ's sake. People like you make me mad.

Roses, agree. We are all accountable now for the choices we make.

@RosesAndHellebores

Notwithstanding the seriousness of the matter but if admissions are very close to April and deaths snapping at April's heels, may I genuinely ask, if in April a similar number of admissions were concentrated in London and other key areas and now they are spread around the country, why did London hospitals cope last time but can't cope now cases?

Hopefully 90% of NHS will be vaccinated in a couple of weeks and sickness rates will diminish significantly and should be doing so already for those who have already had the vaccine.

Admissions are similar to April but there are more than 40% more patients actually in the hospital. This is due to a longer build up (hospital numbers exploded out of nowhere last time) and a longer duration of stay this time (this is due to more people surviving - admissions resulting in death are shorter on average).

"If you're over 70, even if you're normally in decent health, don't expect to get prioritised for treatment if you have to come into A&E for any reason, Covid-related or otherwise"

^ As told to my 73 year old mum by her A&E consultant neighbour in London.

You can't put it clearer than that.

Yesterday I took my 84 year old mother for her Covid vaccination. It was in another town, so altogether including me collecting her then travelling to the vaccination centre an approx 12 mile journey. Throughout the drive the roads were packed out - it was like a bank holiday with traffic everywhere (and no, most weren’t headed to the vaccination centre). I thought we were meant to be in lockdown but obviously not for a lot of people. During the original March lockdown the roads were deserted.
People need to stay home when they can.

This is terrifying. Will it be long before we see a fall in cases because of the lockdown?

And this isn't the peak either. Hospitals are expecting this to come along in 2-4 weeks time, with high numbers cases lasting until 6 weeks, depending on how effective the first few weeks of lockdown is. Our local hospital (not London) is now operating at 240% capacity, all non electives including cancer have been cancelled, theatres are now being turned into wards, staffing is down by ~20% because of illness/ stress / Covid, planned absence (holidays, training) is cancelled, senior consultants are on the wards doing nursing roles, non clinical staff are doing non medical roles e.g. feeding, washing etc, just to get enough bodies in to provide care.

You do not want to go anywhere near a hospital in the next month - quite how the staff and the infrastructure will cope in the next few weeks I don't know, and much more worryingly neither do they.

Quite how we will be in a position to return to face to face schooling (with the increase in transmission via the children) by Feb half term I don't know.

@MadameBlobby

I get it’s bad but it’s what people expect us to do about it I don’t get. None of us have been anywhere except the shops when we need for ages. Kids been off school for 3 weeks. They are saying even full lockdown now might not be enough. So what can we actually do about this?

Well, perhaps people really should do what they've been asked to do, shouldn't they?

I had to go out yesterday (collection from the Post Office), and the streets here in SW London were as busy as any normal day, with both cars and people. No indication we are in lockdown at all, and completely different from the original lockdown when it was like a ghost town.

The schools may have been closed, but there are many more children going to school now than there were in the original lockdown - it's been widely reported in the papers/on the news:

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said members had reported “significant additional demand for school places" during this lockdown

Too many people seem to think the rules don't apply to them.

The reality is this.

My fil was admitted to hospital with covid back in April. He was 74, still very mobile and active despite having had a stroke 4 years before. Still went to town every morning, still went for a pint every day with his mates. Didn't smoke, wasn't overweight.

He was admitted and was on oxygen for a week, doing really well. So well that when the local hospital was getting to the point of being overwhelmed he was discharged to a local nursing home to recover before being going home. He was still weak but hadn't needed oxygen for 3 days so deemed not at medical risk.

We spoke to care home staff every day and became concerned he seemed to have gone downhill since leaving hospital. Spoke to him and tried to rally him a bit. Asked the care home nurse if he needed to go back to hospital or at least see a doctor. She told us they wouldn't be able to do either and he just needed to recover.

A day later he was dead, he had pneumonia caused by covid and died in his carehome, alone and was only found when they checked him at 3am.

Thats what happens, you get emergency care maybe, but no chance to recover and only the very illest will get a hospital bed and medical care. He may have died if he had stayed in hospital, we will never know but he should have still been in there, should have been taken back when he went downhill and should have had access to a doctor in his final days.

[quote nhsblue]@Raspberry681 Really no need to thank me I'm just doing the job I love and I was trained to do,

BUT, in the 30 years I have worked in the NHS I have never seen anything like this- staff are physically and mentally exhausted and the infrastructure that allows us to do our jobs are being pushed to absolute breaking point.

During the first wave, patients were mainly in the 60+ age group, this wave we are definitely seeing more younger patients 40+ and many have died too.

It also going to take years for the NHS to recover [/quote]
I watched Casaulty the other evening. It was harrowing. What I took from it was those of us suffering lockdown will have a difficult few months.

I imagine nhs staff will carry this with them forever? I hear more and more stories of staff suffering ptsd and it's increasing as this wave gets worse?

I know you don't want thanks but you absolutely deserve it. You may love your job but you need to realise youve been instrumental in ensuring (I imagine 1000's in all your years) of families have their parents, siblings, children family and friends in their lives for longer.