The Johnson Legacy:
"Pursuing a mass infection policy while refusing to provide the treatment needed for those infected."
The fact this is happening is irrefutable.
But why refuse to strengthen the NHS during a pandemic?
And is there time for the PM to change this legacy?
Things are a bit hazy just now. We are all reeling from a difficult 20 months. Most are fed-up with Covid-19. And many have realised the damaging secondary impacts of the measures implemented to control it. Popular sentiment bastes in this recent trauma.
Popular sentiment will change. Indeed, for PMs in office during major historical events their legacy takes on a different quality. And I think few will argue the Covid pandemic is the most historical event since WW2. It is certainly killing more civilians.
So how will the history books record Boris Johnson and his Generals and Allies, bearing in mind the 24 hour news cycle will not apply - spin will only go so far? The facts and communications and discoverable documents will form the basis for more detailed analysis and judgement.
And be clear: it is not that healthcare is simply overwhelmed and can’t cope; it is the fact Johnson and Allies appear to be actively weakening the NHS during a pandemic, or at least wilfully neglecting it (and therefore the needs of the public), that history will judge harshly.
No other country I know of has less inpatient capacity (less beds) during the pandemic. We are not coping with more patients with the same available healthcare. We have more patients but with less capacity to treat them. And everyone is suffering - Covid and non-Covid alike.
Johnson and Co have actively chosen to invest our ‘Pandemic Money’ in non-clinical, often unqualified “commercial partners”…Anything, it seems, to avoid strengthening the NHS. And with the Health and Care Bill on the horizon there are serious questions as to motive.
But we are in the midst of one of the most dangerous periods in British history since WW2. The rate of excess deaths are now beyond that in WW2. Covid-19 has taken up 70% of available beds going into winter. People are dying waiting for care.
It would not be difficult to reverse the situation. Shifting back to a “war-footing” at least for frontline care; redeploying; repurposing, and expanding care provision is not logistically difficult nor very expensive. Most Covid-19 patients can be managed with basic care.
But the issue will not be the logistics. It will be the image, the message. Rapid upscaling of frontline care will not be seen as ‘business as usual’. And unless the Downing Street PR machine can find something to camouflage a policy shift, the short term hit will be felt.
But Boris and the Conservatives should be more concerned with the medium and long-term view. At the moment nicknames like “Boris the Butcher” and “Callous Conservatives” are not a million miles away from what the discoverable evidence will support and history may record.
END

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Dr Dan Goyal

Dr Dan Goyal Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @danielgoyal

21 Nov
Johnson's legacy of pursuing a mass infection policy.

One fact will dismantle the Johnson Government’s entire defence at the Covid Inquiry and harm them irreparably at the General Election…

[#JohnsonOut #JohnsonTheCorruptPM #YourNHSNeedsYou]
The PM embarked on ‘freedom day’ without making provision to treat the inevitable increase in severely unwell cases. Just pause for a moment and consider that…
The UK has less inpatient capacity than before the pandemic. Freedom day has led to so much Covid Pneumonia it has TRIPLED the healthcare burden from 'normal' pneumonia - one of the highest burden diseases in the UK - and still the capacity of the NHS is less.
Read 6 tweets
21 Nov
Thanks for all the support raising awareness for the NHS and Covid-19 🙏🏼
I hope you will now permit me to share my academic side with you. I promise it won't be (too) boring.
It tells the story of the pandemic response from a certain perspective. It starts in April 2020..
Early Intervention
Witnessing the 'hands-off' approach being taken by the UK (and US) to patients with Covid-19, we wrote this opinion article to remind our colleagues that we don't need a 'magic bullet' to save lives. Best Supportive Care matters!

rcpjournals.org/content/clinme…
This line became quite useful:
"The battle for lives will likely be won in the community. It is the community doctors, the paramedics and the emergency department staff who will shift the balance and save most lives..."
Read 14 tweets
20 Nov
Prompt treatment of Covid-19 Pneumonia saves lives.

Here, our cross-discipline team reviews some of the signs and symptoms that suggest Covid-19 has progressed to Covid-19 Pneumonia.

Seek help sooner rather than later!

Summary thread
1/7
Share pls.

bmjopenrespres.bmj.com/content/8/1/e0…
The public should exercise the same judgement for who and when to contact if they are concerned as they did prior to the pandemic. Waiting until severely unwell neither helps patient or health service.
The majority of Covid-19 resolves without event. Typical symptoms are similar to the cold or flu and tend to start improving after two or three days.
Read 8 tweets
18 Nov
We can now say with confidence that the government's NHS strategy is leading to more people dying (all-cause).

This report by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine is a shocking and sickening indictment of the Johnson leadership.

#JohnsonMustGo
#YourNHSNeedsYou
1/9
Under this government, the number of available hospital beds (and therefore frontline staff) has declined dramatically...
2/9
And look what happened during the pandemic...
[Bed capacity fell dramatically]
3/9
Read 9 tweets
18 Nov
What the UK can learn from South Korea’s Covid response | Devi Sridhar

Brilliant article by @devisridhar. A must read for all involved/interested in the pandemic response.

Below, I expand the point on clinical lessons from S.Korea.

1/9

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
The first part of any pandemic response is to identify those who have the infection. It sounds obvious, I know. And I can't believe it actually has to be said. But such are the times we are in!

There are two reasons:
1. Isolate.
2. Treat.

@theAliceRoberts
Isolation prevents the spread of infection and thus death and disability.
Treatment directly prevents death and disability - the actual threat posed by the virus. It is this 'threat' we are concerned with. Fail to identify and treat cases, more people die and the threat grows.
Read 10 tweets
14 Nov
How complicit has NHS Leadership been in Johnson’s pandemic calamities? And have lessons been learned?
There is a long list of failures:
▪️Ageist policies
▪️Blanket Do Not Resuscitate orders
▪️Inadequate PPE
▪️Ethnic disparities on the frontline

#TeamNHS
#TeamGP
▪️No Triage
▪️No clinical follow-up
▪️The ‘Stay Home’ messaging
▪️Ineffectual Contact and Trace
▪️Circumventing primary care
▪️Rationing of access to healthcare via ‘111’.
▪️Oxygen rationing
▪️Shrinking the NHS during a pandemic
And these failures, while still remediable, continue to place HCWs in unsafe and traumatic working conditions, and are still leading to unsafe care provision for the British public.
Read 10 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(