According to the Guardian, a report that they have seen suggests:
People are dying in the back of ambulances and up to 160,000 more a year are coming to harm because they are stuck outside hospitals unable to be offloaded to A&E.
They add:
Patients are also dying soon after finally getting admitted to hospital after spending long periods in the back of an ambulance, while others still in their own homes are not being saved because paramedics are trapped at A&E and unable to answer 999 calls, said the report by NHS ambulance service bosses in England.
They then note that about 12,000 of the 160,000 are suffering “severe harm” such as a permanent setback to their health.
Nothing about this surprises me. We saw that the policy in the spring of 2020 was to outsource deaths into the quiet of care homes and people' s own homes, where the call for help was simply not answered.
The NHS is now at capacity. Sajid Javid can blame GPs, ambulance services and anyone else he likes but the responsibility is his, alone. A finite number of people, even when fairly well organised, can only do so much. The NHS is doing all it can.
Given short term measures to increase capacity cannot be achieved the only alternative is to cut demand. Right now that means reducing Covid cases. They remain stubbornly high, and with half term over the trend is upward. That is likely to remain the case until Christmas, when mass socialising will make things worse.
And it seems people are mass socialising. I walked through the town where I live early on Saturday evening. Restaurants were either full, or filling. Pubs were busy. People were still coming into town. Traffic was heavy, for here. And, of course, there was not a mask in sight. And no social distancing at all.
It seems as if some people are choosing that we should have health crisis.
Some countries are now locking down again. They have realised the folly of not doing so. We are nowhere near that. Politically it seems unlikely that we will go there as yet, just as it seems very unlikely that measures to stop the spread in schools will happen.
That, though, transfers the stress onto people in the NHS. I have seen the ability of the NHS to push the people who work for it to their limits. That is what will happen this winter.
The government is now playing a very dangerous political game with people's lives. Many will die as a result. That is a fact. But if the NHS fails as a system matters will be worse.
Of course, ministers will use this as the argument for privatisation. But that could never address this crisis. Only more resources and proper public health can do that.
Amongst the many failings of the current government the deliberate failure to appreciate this is very high on the list.
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Nothing to disagree with here.
The government has played a smart game on one level. We all want this to be over so Freedom Day plays well to that. Keep up the optimistic messaging and make sure ministers cavort maskless cheek by jowl. As the objective situation worsens, keep telling the peasants, “It’s up to you to save Christmas.” If reality does force the return of restrictions, it’s our fault for not listening. Above all, make sure the crisis within the NHS receives no emphasis by government and rely on the majority of the media to follow that lead. The actual crisis goes well beyond A&E to every aspect of the service.
For example, my daughter in law is responsible for psychology services in an NHS in patient psychiatric unit. There are, of course, very few such units and you need to be very seriously ill to be there in the first place. They have fifty per cent of qualified posts unfilled. She cites two causes. Firstly, Brexit which resulted in staff leaving but, more importantly, although they are permitted to recruit from the EU, the interest level is very low as there is a powerful perception that foreigners are not welcome in the UK. Secondly, the government stopped funding trainee placements for psychologists some years ago and this has impacted immediately on the number of newly qualified candidates. Oh well, we just can’t afford it, what with all that Covid debt we have to repay!
The crisis in mental health is at least as severe as that in A&E.
Even before the Pandemic, I have believed it was the Tories intention to make sure that the E.N.H.S failed. The current crisis has merely accelerated that process. Privatisation was always the aim.
I have see or heard similar in several public services. The shortages, unrealistic targets and often unnecessary paperwork drives many workers to quit or retire earlier.
It is like the private sector is deregulated and the public micro managed. There was a time when the Conservative party stood for opposition to ‘red tape’ and letting people do their job. Now as a free trade deal imposes extra paperwork compared to the single market, yet more have struggle with an unnecessary burden.
The NHS has seen the departure of many EU staff making it even worse.
The Conservative party has not only let most of us down, it has betrayed its own roots.
Of course this is what is happening, but what is not being confronted is how the private system is going to find the numbers of qualified staff and the equipment when the pool has been run down so systematically. It should be publicly highlighted that it will not be a simple handover.
And if you think its bad now….
Former LOTO staffer Dr Phil Bevin on the fate of the NHS and the complicity of Labour and the LibDems in a ‘national scandal’ of profiteering and denial of treatment ‘in the interests of a small elite’
https://skwawkbox.org/2021/11/12/guest-article-the-opposition-parties-and-the-nhs-scandal/
As he says : “Though this is taking place under a Conservative Government, simply voting out the Tories at the next election will do nothing to reverse the unfolding disaster, as the capitalist B-teams that currently present as opposition parties are just as committed to destroying the NHS through “integrated care”.
Sorry, but that is not true
York on a Saturday night was packed with barely a mask in sight. The Christmas market there starts on Wednesday, it will be heaving. Super spreader anyone?
There appears to be little attempt to manage the growing crisis, and we have the bizarre spectacle of people being sacked for not being jabbed. Surely this is a luxury only an over-staffed system should consider?
The problem is that voters do not understand what NI actually is (which is pretty hard because it was never fully evolved as an idea – lots of loose ends).
As long as that persists (that NI pays for the health service) this ‘government’ can get away with under-funding it.
And people who are poorly and scared get pretty militant about proposed tax and NI hikes because they are scared and worried because they are ill.
On top of that we have a bunch numpty MPs on all sides of the house who do not understand the historical basis upon which the NHS was funded – we tapped into the deep pockets of the mechanics war funding basically didn’t we because we went to war on want, disease and three other giants we wanted felling.
‘Man’s struggle against power is that of memory against forgetting’ said one famous Czech writer.
My God – we have forgotten so much.
90% of the changes needed to pave the way to privatisation have already been implemented. The final part that needs to be implemented is ‘The Health and Care Bill 2021’. This bill will be brought to the House of Commons on the 22nd November 21. This Bill will allow private health care providers a bigger say without scrutiny and because Simon Stevens (Lord Stevens) will be seated in prime position to ensure that the Health and Care Bill 2021 passes through The House of Lords I think we can safely say, it’s a done deal.
Note: Mainstream media have remained silent on this issue. Its been mentioned nowhere and that’s unforgivable. The majority, especially those not presently needing the NHS, remain oblivious or blame this whole mess on poor hospital administration along with over population. The government are going to get away with this without blame and that makes my blood boil.