Thread by @dgurdasani1

Interesting messaging here by @NickTriggle - the devastation of the NHS is inevitable, and there isn't anything we can do to stop what's happening now- long A&E waits, and people dying in ambulances. Manufactured inevitability is how we normalise death.
bbc.co.uk/news/health-59…

And it is manufactured! Yes, the NHS has been struggling for years (deliberate underfunding by the Tories), but if we haven't had such long waiting times for A&E In the past, or all ambulances in England on black alert..

Causes- COVID-19 is an important cause- not just current, but the fact that an uncontrolled pandemic has meant people with other conditions waiting for routine care for longer, and now needing emergency care as well. This is all attributable to poor handling of the pandemic.

So please don't 'this isn't really covid'. It has a lot to do with govt policy on COVID-19 - we're also hugely understaffed, and bed availability is a hugely misleading statistic, because COVID-19 means many wards can't take on more patients if they have an infected person.

Our healthcare force is burnt out and devastated being hung out to dry for >18 months. They're exhausted, with many suffering with complex PTSD related to what they've been forced to handle without respite for >18 months.

Is this inevitable? Absolutely not. The govt could take measures to reduce COVID-19 now- which form a high proportion of all ICU patients. This would free up some capacity for others. NHS staff also get ill with COVID-19, which further reduces capacity.

NHS staff have the highest rates of long COVID across all occupations.Maybe next time when you do a piece, speak with frontline staff who are struggling ask them what the solutions should be rather than suggesting this is inevitable.

Your piece is just insulting to frontline workers screaming for action. Even simple things like mask mandates and school mitigations and vaccination of kids would make a huge difference. But we just sit and do nothing. Because media portrays this as 'inevitable'

Remember- it could be any of us or our loved ones waiting for hours for an ambulance, or care, with a life threatening emergency- and suffering or dying as a result. People dying while waiting for care is never acceptable, or inevitable.

For those who want to understand how 'not normal' the current situation is- we've had 18 wks of excess deaths over the 5-year average. >20,000 deaths since July '21, the majority, directly due to COVID-19, but others that are likely due to NHS pressures.

https://twitter.com/dgurdasani1/status/1460548937098698753?s=20