Fear of the tide turning

[Bauris]

Is anyone else worried about the public goodwill withdrawing?

So much routine/non-urgent/chronic care has been reduced or suspended. Cancer services halted. Routine mental health care being done by telephone. For good reasons, but it's still not good and we will need to address the deficits in care as soon as we can reasonably do so.

There's (deserved) public support for those at the sharp end right now, but I can already sense the eyes narrowing at those of us working in other areas. And there's a lot of us.

Cool. Just me then.

Phew!

No I do too. I got shouted at for using the Aldi key worker hour the other day! Someone was queuing waiting to be let in and I was in the key worker queue and he asked to see my id, I asked if he worked for Aldi and he said no so I said no... then he called me an idiot and shouted why do I need to go first...

So many of my patients are having appointments cancelled and whilst they know it's not my fault I can hear their frustration

I've just read ANOTHER NHS bashing thread. Talking about how it's not fit for purpose because we haven't anticipated and prepared for a sudden global pandemic . How many other businesses will fold because of Covid and yet people will say what a shame it is for them, that they were victims of it etc. Totally different standards.

I'm proud of how my trust responded and rapidly upped ICU capacity, redeployed staff etc. But I think the next step will be the bigger challenge, deciding what activity to restart and when. Whilst I understand it is totally different, I suspect some people might feel put out that McDonald's/Greggs etc are reopening faster than parts of the NHS.

Some people have this idea that 'the NHS' is homogenous, so if someone says or does something unhelpful or makes a bad decision, the whole NHS is to blame. I also think the media bigging up the NHS will make some people resentful, especially if they are also still having to work and feel they are risking their health too.

*BendingSpoons
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Yes definitely to your point about the media. There's been a lot of resentment from the general public about all NHS being hailed as 'heroes' by the media, if they're not directly working with Covid patients. The media have put some of us on a pedestal which the public are all to quick to push us off. I didn't ask to be put there in the first place.

Your point about not preparing for a pandemic - I'm not sure who would have wanted to pay more taxes to fund a hypothetical pandemic. Of course with hindsight it is different. Somewhere like Germany pays much more tax. Plus the NHS itself doesn't decide how much funding they get.

We are still doing virtual appointments. Some of my team have been redeployed. I was saying to DH that some of them have not had much to do. This is good as it means things are less bad than feared, but is frustrating when we have lots of patients needing contacting. He said 'well you wouldn't complain you didn't need the air raid shelter'.

At the end of the day people are frustrated and a bit bored. They just want their normal lives to resume. Similar complaints are being made about teachers who should have also been better prepared for how to teach remotely in a global pandemic

It reminds me of the viral posts that go around every time it snows. The councils get lambasted for not having the staff/equipment to clear every road when it snows, despite (in our area) it only happening once a year at best, and even then barely a smattering. There was a great post (I think on here) from someone who lived in a Scandinavian country who explained the incredible level of planning and money it takes to keep their country going in the winter months, that wouldn't be proportionate here.
If we had clear plans and infrastructure for a pandemic all the time, it would be a huge waste of resources. I personally think that overall, health/education/social care etc have done a pretty decent job given the circumstances and timescales.

Sorry, are you suggesting people are not allowed to be distressed, frightened, maybe even angry to find themselves unable to receive cancer treatment or the mental health care that was the difference between living and profound suffering or death?

Being upset about losing access to the healthcare you need and the impact of that on your life doesn't mean you can't appreciate why the NHS didn't have surplus pandemic-ready capacity sitting around just in case or that you personally hold a grudge against every individual working for the organisation.

Why do patients deserve to read that HCPs think their suffering is irrelevant because they are neither a covid patient or an NHS worker? That's no better than what some posters feel they are on the receiving end of as staff.

Sorry if this offends you. It is posted in Health Care Professionals, rather than on a general board.

Of course people have a right to be frustrated, angry, scared, upset. I feel all this on behalf of my patients and my family members. We really need to reinstate as many services as quick as possible. What is annoying is all the posts 'the NHS is not fit for purpose'. The NHS is definitely not perfect and nor are it's staff, but it does a pretty good job. The problem is when staff are being bigged up as heroes, people (understandably) feel even more frustrated when they can't get the care they need.

Its already happening - see the threads about 'dancing NHS', staff using priority shopping etc.

Unfortunately everyone has forgotten that before Covid happened, the NHS was already in a dire state due to underfunding. So many staff were ready to leave (myself included) and stayed due to the pandemic, in some small measure due to the good will of the public. I think once the good will runs out, so will some of the NHS staff who have been hanging by a thread for years.

Yes
There are horrible threads on here sticking the boot it. I hate how they talk about THE NHS. Especially when it's blamed for political positions. And it is individual surgeries (private) or individual trusts or consultants
They don't hate 'the builders' because one made a mistake on their house so why is the whole NHS blamed for that actions of 1 GP
There used to be a pandemic task force but it was disbanded due to austerity. In 2016 there was a mock pandemic to see how we would cope and it was disastrous. Apparently it was on the governments to do list to sort but was put onto the back burner whilst brexit was sorted

Not sure where we suggested people shouldn't be upset that their healthcare has been suspended or changed? Where I work most conversations have been dominated by staff wanting answers as to how and when we can re-open services.

Fridge
Yay to this. There was a thread not long ago from a nurse looking for a get-out option. The only comments were from other nurses feeling the same way, but stuck as to what to do.
Edwyn
That's really interesting, never heard of it. I bet that's kept quiet!

That should say 'yes', not 'yay'

The NHS was put on a pedestal by Government advice 'protect the NHS' which was a gross error of judgement IMO.

And I don't know what the social media policy is in every trust but in mine, I'd have been disciplined for a lot of the stuff i've seen.

People see the NHS as an homogenous mass. What one HCP puts out which reaches the media, a lot of people think applies to all and it's naive to think it doesn't influence public opinion. It does.

You only have to look at the response to the nurse posting crying that the shelves were empty very early on. Priority slots in supermarkets, hospitals overwhelmed with donated food and takeaways. Not saying that was wrong, just saying how powerful the influence can be.

See a tearful medic posting about hellish COVID wards and a lack of PPE and some think that's the case for everywhere and all HCPs. And then everyone in the NHS becomes a hero risking their lives.

Then a few weeks later when you hear about the empty beds, the areas of care which have seemingly been abandoned and see dancing tik toks, then it swings the other way and turns into but everythings okay so what the fuck are they actually doing all day?

I can't speak for every department in the NHS. Where I work we link in with lots of services which were closed to reduce risk of transmission to people, and patients encouraged to use online/telephone services.

It's been a bit like a teacher trying to teach a class... but someone took all the pens and books away. And the whiteboard. I'm trying my best but my hands are tied. I spend my days apologising to people and trying to empathise. It's shit.

The Sun are starting a campaign for NHS workers to be awarded The George Cross..

That won't go well.

The problem is, many Trusts have comms departments which are greedy for attention and good publicity, that they aren't seeing the bigger picture.

I'd agree with much of the social media stuff being ill advised. I've had to come off Facebook as some of the stuff people I'd worked with were posting was making me wince.