Thread by @T4Recovery

👇 #NHSVoices

"I was reported to NHS England for highlighting potentially missed cancer diagnoses...

Waiting list numbers are now so staggering it’s hard to see how normal services can ever be recovered..."

[Thread] 🧵

"I work for NHS England in the analytical team and have been at the heart of the monitoring of the NHS response to Covid right from the very beginning.

There has been a prevailing narrative throughout the last year plus, and no-one openly challenges that...

"After one colleague collaborated in the writing of an article published in the Telegraph back in October, we were openly warned not to speak to the press or write anything on social media as this would constitute a breach of policy...

"Our media policy says no such thing and indicates actually that we are encouraged to engage in public debate as long as we don’t bring the organisation into disrepute or seek to represent our own opinions as those of the organisation...

"Shortly after this I was in conversation on social media about rising cases of Covid and whether there should be another lockdown (early Nov 2020).

I quoted publicly available cancer data showing the current running total of lost referrals and potentially missed diagnoses...

"In that post I included my job title to lend weight to what I was posting.

Someone reported my comments to the NHS England media team who, rather than verify the validity of the data, and make a comment, set off on a hunt to track down my identity...

"The next thing I knew I had a call from my director asking about what I'd posted. Someone had taken time to look through my timeline and note when I was active.

My manager also did her own sleuthing, going through things I'd posted in an attempt to make a case against me...

"It was really shocking and felt like a massive breach of trust. I complained both internally and to the ICO but my complaint was denied.

When even your own CEO is engaging in selective use of data and statistics to promote a one-sided narrative, it is fairly soul-destroying...

"The focus really has been on coping with Covid to the detriment of most other conditions.

There are some well-meaning people who have worked hard but there is no real strategy in place to tackle the fall-out and the collateral impact on waiting lists that this has had...

"It really did not need to get to that point.

My colleague went to work with the Bringing Back Staff team for a few months back in April and May 2020.

Thousands of people signed up to return to practice...

"They were mostly designated initially for the Nightingales but obviously we know those were never used...

But the staff weren’t then deployed to other hospitals or care settings; most were just let go again.

"They had MONTHS to prepare properly for the Winter but as soon as the first wave was over, management went hell-for-leather into recovery mode, setting all these ridiculously optimistic targets for how quickly we could “get back to normal...”

"...so when autumn/winter surge happened hospitals were already full of elective patients. Of course they ran into capacity pressure.

There’s a real sense of almost futility about it now.
The numbers are so staggering it’s hard to see how normal services can ever be recovered."

#NHSVoices is Recovery's new outlet for NHS staff to bring to light concerns about how Covid policies are affecting patients.

We have to do this anonymously because we know many NHS staff are frightened to speak out.

👇Read more #NHSVoices here: timeforrecovery.org/nhs-voices/

Intimidating staff into silence is very dangerous, because without urgent action to fix the NHS crisis now, patients will suffer and many will die needlessly.

👇NHS staff can submit their stories here: timeforrecovery.org/nhs/

👇Read more #NHSVoices here: timeforrecovery.org/nhs-voices/