Views from doctors working in the #NHSOnLifeSupport 🩺

A 🧵 from a psychiatrist

1) The NHS is not 'at breaking point'. It is already completely broken. Friends & colleagues in the NHS are completely destroyed, in tears regularly. They are quitting & becoming mentally ill. 2) They are striking. It has very little to do with pay, and everything to do with the collapse of the system. Full-time nurses are being forced to use food banks to feed their families. The nurses are now striking. I fully support them.

#NHSOnLifeSupport

1) #TheNHSisBroken What drs are reduced to during current extreme hospital pressures. From an anon doctor, a 🧵:

This wkend I have done things I have never done in my working life, now expected, it’s breaking me! My standard of care is being dropped to accommodate this fiasco 2) I have;
• Examined testicles in cupboards
• Examined abdomens in cupboards with no couch
• Had my SHO hold up sheets around patients in recliners because there were no dividers given how many patients were being treated in the middle of the floor

Several trusts have declared critical incidents in the last 24 hrs; some calling in all staff due to exceptional hospital pressures. Derby. Brighton. Nottingham. Grampian. Stoke. Watching from afar as an emergency medicine doctor of 20 years, never seen anything quite like it🤯 Adding as I hear of others - also Hampshire. Chester. Bournemouth. North Bristol.

Greater Glasgow & Clyde requested by staff.. and declined.

The avg ST4 doctor earns £29/hour & makes critical decisions about investigation, treatment & patients’ lives. They have spent at least 5 yrs as a student & 6 yrs as a doctor to get to this point. I just paid £240 to a plumber for an hour’s work. £240 PER HOUR. Let that sink in. I need to be clear I am not trying to be dismissive of plumbers’ work and am well averse to overheads. Equally recognise that this is not an average salary but a same day callout service (not out of hours). More showing how undervalued doctors are.

1/ Can you help a team of NHS staff exercise the distance to the moon; 238900 miles for charity? We see people struggling with lockdown, loss of livelihoods& rising mental health issues. We recognise we have financial security& want to give back. uk.virginmoneygiving.com/shootforthemoon 💙 Pls RT 2/ We are asking anyone: NHS/key workers, those fortunate enough to have been able to work during the pandemic, to assist our challenge & donate to 4 charities that support the greater good of those affected by COVID. As little as 99p would be welcomed.