Coronavirus shambles

[Cunninghamismagic]

Just to try and give a bit of balance here as someone who works in the NHS. QE is undoubtedly the busiest of the local hospitals largely due to size and location. It is not at capacity which is excellent but undoubtedly is a testing time. In my Trust the surge that was talked about has yet to happen and hopefully won’t. This is largely due to the social distancing measures. Staff that have been redeployed are being used but thankfully as yet not to the intensity that was feared. PPE is available but has to be used sensibly. I think in the NHs previously stuff like gloves and gowns were, and I’ll choose my words carefully, used quite liberally. It is only now importance has been realised and it has taken staff a while to catch up with this as there has certainly been waste in the past. If it is true that there  is no PPE at times then yes it is not unreasonable to refuse to treat. This has actually been suggested by a governing body. How many nurses, doctors and AHPs actually refuse I don’t know because of their inbuilt genetic makeup of wanting to help others. Staff are obviously going to go off sick as that is what they are told to do if displaying symptoms. My understanding is that they are then tested and if positive have to stay away. That is sensible. I agree testing is the one area where it has been inadequate but actually I think the whole thing has been managed well. It is obviously very difficult for frontline staff. They are seeing a lot. It’s a stressful , anxious time but overall I think as a nation we are doing ok. The soldiers on the frontline will always suffer the most unfortunately regardless of the enemy

Exellent, balanced post Ciro, though it will probably not sit too well with some of the world class epidermiologists, & pandemic experts on the board.

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