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19 Jul, 6 tweets, 2 min read
EveryDoctor "Freedom Day" Thread No2; our second anonymous story from our doctor members on the NHS COVID-19 frontlines 🩺

"I'm an anaesthestist, who has been working in COVID-19 intensive care units through all the surges. I'm genuinely terrified by this easing of lockdown…
We're in the midst of a global pandemic 🚨 we have hospital wards + ICUs filling up with COVID-19 patients (while we still have restrictions), and we do not have anywhere near the numbers vaccinated that would be required for Herd Immunity. I'm also worried about NHS staff...
Frontline staff haven't had a break, they've been working since this began. So many staff are off sick with mental health issues secondary to previous waves. The service is further stretched by staff having to self-isolate/stay home for childcare after COVID-19 notifications…
Work has been relentless, even as the COVID-19 burden lessened, we're desperately trying to get through as many of the most important operations we can (cancer etc). 🏥

The NHS was already massively understaffed and underfunded prior to this pandemic…
and any of the additional funding given is a drop in the ocean when it comes to fixing any of these problems. It was recently announced that NHS waiting lists could grow to 13 million people 🚨 With recurrent COVID-19 waves, with staff burnout which is only going to increase…
...and no plans to meaningfully reinforce the NHS, that wait for patients will only get longer.

- Anaesthetist, South East England

#FreedomDay

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More from @EveryDoctorUK

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19 Jul
Our final thread to mark "Freedom Day" from an anonymised EveryDoctor member on the NHS COVID-19 frontline:

"Over the past 2 weeks there has been a noticeable shift in the hospital where I work. Our cohort of patients is younger this time. Largely unvaccinated people... 💉
Another, my age, had just got her first dose - its effects had not had a chance to protect her. Our ward is full up with people with a single diagnosis - COVID-19 pneumonia. We were already busy trying to catch up with all our patients who have been neglected over the past 18m...
We know they need our attention but yet again, we are, necessarily, back to fire-fighting. 🔥

Another emergency rota looms. All the while we hear the cry for "Freedom Day". We were told there is no going back. Only this week have we had some…
Read 5 tweets
EveryDoctor Profile picture
19 Jul
Thread No. 6 of "Freedom Day" anonymised EveryDoctor Member stories:

“I'm a self-employed GP working in London 111 clinics, urgent care clinics in A&E, and in GP practices. The demand we face currently is unprecedented. Every appointment is booked within minutes... ⏱️
of telephone lines opening. Waiting times in A&E are frequently 3 to 4 hours long.
COVID-19 patients are exponentially rising across the board. Staff are tired+burnt out. Patients are angry+frustrated. This is not sustainable.
Abandonment of social distancing + masking guidelines 😷 is ill-advised and foolish, at best. It means that the NHS will be on its knees within weeks.
I hear the arguments about how “we have to go back to normal at some point”, but...
Read 9 tweets
EveryDoctor Profile picture
19 Jul
Thread No. 5 from our "Freedom Day" set of anonymised stories from doctor members on the NHS COVID-19 frontlines:

“It is an utter nightmare. Kids’ school bubbles are bursting all over the place. Most colleagues have children at home. Some GP practices have…
...genuine staffing crises due to isolating staff. The rates of COVID-19 cases are climbing exponentially 📈 Hospitalisations are climbing 📈 Numbers of ventilated patients are increasing 📈 If the government could only have waited until the majority of the population...
had been vaccinated 💉 and focussed mitigations where needed to control the spread in the meantime.

The situation we are in is a result of impatience & a misplaced ideology regarding what "freedom" means.
Read 4 tweets
EveryDoctor Profile picture
19 Jul
"Freedom Day" Thread Twitter No.4, another awful anon story from our doctor members on the NHS COVID-19 frontline:

“I’ve been a fully qualified GP for 7 yrs. I've worked in inner city practices where we've been very short staffed before but somehow we always got through it...
But now, we are short staffed due to sickness from long COVID, Mat leave, staff leaving, and staff isolating. And we just can’t cope and morale is at an all time low. Today for example I was the only regular doctor on-site for 14,000 patients... 🚨
One of our GPs was working from home as they are isolating, and that was it. For 14,000 patients. I cried at work today due to the enormous stress I and my colleagues are under.

We are exhausted, being asked to manage things that we do not have the capacity to do…
Read 6 tweets
EveryDoctor Profile picture
19 Jul
EveryDoctor's "Freedom Day" Thread No3 🚨 another story from one of our doctor members on the NHS COVID-19 frontline...

"I work in Obstetrics + gynaecology. In my hospital we've been working flat out doing as many extra lists as poss in every speciality for the last few months…
There are several women awaiting hysterectomy for menorrhagia (heavy menstrual blood loss) who have had to come in for multiple blood transfusions because we haven’t had the capacity to perform their surgery.

Several of our elective lists have had to be cancelled…
over the last couple of weeks due to lack of beds 🛏️ A&E are seeing double the number of patients that they usually do.

I’m very concerned that NHS staff will be told not to isolate soon, as we have contact with some very vulnerable people whom COVID-19 would be a disaster for.
Read 6 tweets
EveryDoctor Profile picture
19 Jul
EveryDoctor "Freedom Day" Thread No1. We're bringing you anon stories from our doctor members on the NHS COVID-19 frontlines 🏥

"I am a GP, and have worked continuously throughout the pandemic. I have been working in surgeries and also supporting community services...
I'm deeply concerned about the undeniable huge third wave that is crashing down on us; the appalling lack of information & messaging from the government about the change in COVID-19 testing and evolving symptoms. But mostly I am incredibly worried about the massive impact this…
is having on the NHS workforce & consequently patient care 💙

Consultant friends in local hospitals are being deployed to COVID-19 wards again; cancelling non-urgent surgery AGAIN just further extending waiting times; delaying much needed surgery and putting more pressure on GPs
Read 5 tweets

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