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allenlondon | 07:52 Mon 02nd Nov 2020 | News
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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/nov/01/growing-numbers-newly-hungry-forced-use-uk-food-banks-covid

Perhaps Answerbankers think people would swallow their pride and queue up outside Food banks just to get a free loaf.
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Thats a silly/false parallel tho judge as am sure you realise really. The air force in WW2 was saving us/protecting us from the Germans etc and protecting it by grounding it would of meant we'd loose the war. We are now protecting the NHS by making sure its not overran so it can continue to save lives (and not just from corona).
I was in my surgery for the first time since all of this kicked off and was brought up short by the sight of the once familiar waiting area of many chairs had been reduced to four
These seats were generally well populated in the bad old days and I wondered where all of the folk who used to attend are now and how, exactly, they're getting a standard of care that they 'enjoyed' all those long months ago now they're unable to see a doctor or even a practice nurse.
The whole thing became even more baffling when, on Saturday, for the first time ever the place was open and going like a fair doing a flu clinic.

Joined up thinking? We may be being played just a little.

I have had two eye screening appointments cancelled, one at the Edinburgh headquarters of opthalmology and one at the local general hospital. A third appointment arrived by post on a Tuesday for the previous Friday and I'm afraid I had to make my feelings known when the oerative I spoke to on the phone started down the line of missed appointments and not letting them know.
Our chat resulted in an appointment the following Friday arranged by a now more moderate and controlled operative.
I had thought it was for a postponed annual retinopathy photograph but was somewhat uneased that it was in fact a much deeper scan to check for developing damage.
All a bit of a surprise coming out of the blue and a worry that they've had this on the back burner as it were during the shutdown so you'll forgive my raised eyebrow at "protecting the NHS by making sure its not overran".
What about protecting ME?
"What about protecting ME?"

I think that is a very reasonable question.

I mentioned last week that Eddie Mair on LBC had a caller whose sister was due to have her knees operated on in March, and due to Covid the operation was cancelled and no alternative date was provided. The operation may have been routine, unimportant even, as far as the NHS was concerned, but the pain and immobility to the individual made the operation very important, so much so she had to pay £20,000 to have it done privately.

There have been stories of people going abroad for treatment due to not being treated by the NHS.

In the week ending 16/10, Covid represented 6.4% of the total number of deaths in the UK. On LBC yesterday morning, it was stated Covid is currently the UKs 15th biggest daily killer.

I accept the death rate from Covid is growing, but, and I know it's now heresy to say so, but I'm sceptical that it's growing to the point where the NHS is becoming overwhelmed.
So are you thinking the doctors and nurses are all twiddling there thumbs. Since April?
Off course its better if we can treat every one but we cant especialy if hospitals are overran by corona cases as is happening and is expected to get worser.
We either after control corona or accept theres going to be even more problems for are health services
//but I'm sceptical that it's growing to the point where the NHS is becoming overwhelmed.//
All are doctors and NHS staff are in on the conspirocy and lying then?
Does this seem fake news deskdairy?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-54777741
There's no easy answer to chaos, which is what we have.
The government and NHS are muddling through as best they can and we are all suffering in various degrees.
If Covid deaths accounted for 6.4% and it's the 15th in terms of the causes, the remaining causes must be of a similar percentage.

However, from a medical perspective, how easy is it to control the spread of Covid and reduce the death rate, compared to the fourteen causes above it?
For clarity, the remaining causes must EACH be of a similar percentage.
"Off course its better if we can treat every one but we cant especialy if hospitals are overran by corona cases as is happening and is expected to get worser."

Then maybe some honesty in their approach, telling people with chronic conditions and urgent need that they'll just have to lump it for the forseeable rather than have politicians lie to camera about the service still being there.

A heard LBC. The figures were for September and have been going up rapidly since. Theyd be alot higher now. Also they were based on the old due to covid and not with covid (so someone with covid who also had abad heart and died of complications wouldnt count as due to corona). Both are flawed way's of counting.
A do'nt disagree with you there douglas94o1, altho at least there warning that it will disrupt some other treatments and services if are NHS is overran by corona cases.
Anyway, apology's, its gone off topic abit from food banks.
[email protected] I'm afraid you're whole theory on handling this virus is being blown out the water, and you seem to be losing touch, or choosing to ignore the facts of the last few weeks. Its not now just affecting the vulnerable/old. You also seem to have the wrong impression of what ( protecting the NHS means). May be you're attitude would change if you were working within the NHS on the front line day after day seeing the numbers increase on a daily basis , its this flippant attitude that's helping the virus spread.
//So are you thinking the doctors and nurses are all twiddling there thumbs. Since April?//

You’ve asked that question before, bob. I told you that I don’t know what they are doing but they are not attending to patients in my local hospital, where (last week at least) 75% of the beds were unoccupied and you had to make an appointment to go to A&E. There are more than 140,000 hospital beds in the UK. On 29th October (the latest figures available) there were 10,918 patients in hospitals with Covid. So, under 8% of hospital beds have Covid patients in them and many of the others (if my hospital is typical) are empty. In April there were almost twice that number in hospital with Covid and it is widely accepted that the NHS was not overwhelmed then. So you tell me how it is that doctors and nurses can usually handle around 140,000 patients but they are now “hanging by a thread” because around 11,000 have the same disease and much of the treatment they provide for other conditions is cancelled.

//[email protected] I'm afraid you're whole theory on handling this virus is being blown out the water,…//

By whom? There’s never been any alternative strategy proposed or attempted. You can’t blow out of the water something that’s never even been considered.

//Its not now just affecting the vulnerable/old.//

I what way is it now affecting those not so vulnerable or old that it wasn’t previously?
Your local hospitals lucky so far but your story is meaningless new judge. A gave a link earlyer which you must of missed. There are lots more hospitals allready stretched with corona patients and the charts showed before the breifing on Sunday showed how bad things will be in a month or two if the trend continues. But am fairly sure youll dismiss them as scaremongering and just beleive what you want.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-54777741
So you assume NJ that because there are 140.000 beds, at one time or another they have ( all) been full, and the NHS has managed? You tend to convince yourself you're right. For one you've not considered whether they have the doctors or nurses to cover 140.000 beds all at once, well I'm pretty sure they can't. One ICU bed requires more than one nurse and more than one doctor (around the clock) and that go's for none ICU bed, ( around the clock) Also 37% of nurses left the NHS at the beginning of this year on top of the already massive shortage of medical staff, why on earth do you think the government were asking retired medical staff to return in march? Empty beds may be in certain areas, along with empty staff rooms also.
A bit like saying we have 200 fighter jets, but there's only 50 in the air, we have no pilots for the other 150. :0)
//So you assume NJ that because there are 140.000 beds, at one time or another they have ( all) been full, and the NHS has managed?//

No.

I've assumed that the normal bed occupancy (which is between 85% and 90% most of the time) is manageable. I'll tell you why I am sceptical about the claims made:

- In Q1 of the current year (Apr-Jun) the bed availability suddenly dropped by about 12,000. That figure usually varies by no more than +/- 1,000 or so in a quarter.

- In that same period, the bed occupancy dropped from its usual 85%-90% to 62%.

- These two factors combined reduced the number of "bums in beds" (BiBs) from 91k in Jan-Mar to 74k in Apr-Jun.

- All these numbers will undoubtedly have reduced even further since June. The figures are not available but if my local hospital is anything to go by the bed availability and the (BiBs) must both be considerably reduced.

I don't know where you got your nursing figures from. Here's something you may be interested in (published two months ago):

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nhs-nurse-numbers-continue-rising-with-13840-more-than-last-year#:~:text=Over%20the%20last%20year%20(May,9%2C306%2C%20from%20111%2C950%20to%20121%2C256.

"The number of nurses in the NHS in England increased by 13,840 compared with last year, and the number of doctors has risen by 9,306."

Your comments on ICU staff levels is also worth a mention. It is important to note that not all Covid patients are in ICU. In fact less than 10% are under mechanical ventilation.

So here's my summary: The number of BiBs usually varies by +/- 2,000 at most in a quarter. Suddenly it drops by 17,000 and the NHS was, we were told, scarcely able to cope. So the question still stands: if the NHS was coping with 91k in patients between January and March and there were 17,000 fewer in the next quarter, why was the service under so much pressure? And if, as I suspect, the number of BiBs has reduced even further, what are the medics who coped with 91,000 patients last winter now doing now when there are almost certainly fewer than 70k patients. And most importantly, on April 12th there 19,849 people in hospital with Covid. The NHS coped. Last Friday there were 10,918 and we're told the NHS is on a knife-edge. So what's going on? Perhaps you can help me out.
"So are you thinking the doctors and nurses are all twiddling there thumbs. Since April?"
Well yes I do for one. Hospitalisations in my area have been relatively low and GPs haven't all rushed to help out elsewhere in the country so without a doubt they have not been seeing anything like the patients they normally see, that goes for the dentists too. Dentists are only taking emergency appointments. You think that fills up their day?
//Your local hospitals lucky so far...//

Sorry, bob, I missed that. My hospital may have been lucky but the patients in my area certainly are not. Only 25% of the beds are in use.

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