How would you rate the UK's handling of this pandemic?

[Rorschach]

@Droogs I feel very sorry for you, your situation sounds awful as well. What I can't understand though is why someone in your position isn't angry like me? I am angry because people are in situations like you are.

 

[NormanB]

Because we don't have many full time army nurses.... Most I'm guessing are in the TA and already NHS nurses....

Student nurses still need experienced nurses to monitor them. Who are being used at full stretch in the NHS.

Cheers James

Do you have evidence for your former statement?

 

[Jameshow]

In the case of our hospital it was closed down for a perceived threat that has never materialised. That is not caused by C19, that is caused by the reaction to C19.

No hospital were closed down - routine procedure were put on hold for obvious reasons.

We have had the same thing with schools closed because of high rates in London and SE. We have a rate lower than previous 9 months.

Gov has tried to work regionally but it's caused a great deal of controversy....

Cheers James

 

[Droogs]

I'm angry at tw@ts that don't follow the rules and do all they can to circumvent them thus prolonging my situation and also at a government too afeared to actually do what it is supposed to do and protect the population and take the steps needed to do so. Should have been a complete curfew last March with UK borders closed to all living traffic, goods only and even then only to a designated area near the ports where the forign tractor would be uncoupled and a UK unit attached. The foreign tractor unit hooked up to an out going trailer and back on the ferry/train. Full curfew for the whole poplulation of the UK for 6 weeks with only those involved in the production of food, medicines and power generation or provision of care to keep people alive allowed to move aroung the country as needed. This if done for 6 weeks would have seen us virus free. The borders an no travel would remain in place until enough people globally were vacinated. I am very angry we didn't put up with that in March as we would now be living relatively normal lives in our little secluded island.

But then that would be too much to hard for you and your peers to take, so we are where we are.

 

[Droogs]

Do you have evidence for your former statement?

From the MOD itself
There are 6 x regular medical regiments and 3 x field hospitals. The reserves provide 13 x field hospitals, 1 x Support Medical Regiment and 1 x Casualty Evacuation Regiment. In late 2015 our estimate of the regular personnel strength of the RAMC is 2,900 officers and soldiers.

From personal experience -
Reserve medical forces are around 90% NHS medical staff (mostly non nursing in their day job but dabble at the weekend ) with a good few other very enthusiastic amatuers.

 

[julianf]

A thought -

Everyone knew there would be a second wave. By everyone, I guess I mean evreyone with GCSE (or equivalent) maths that can read a graph and compare it to graphs of previous incidents.

In this, I would include our government.

They knew, without doubt, that a second wave was on its way.


So then you have things like the relaxed restrictions over Christmas and the schools going back for one single day (one day!?!?)

Look at the news. Full of Covid. Very little mention of the mess that is brexit.

I would say the timing of this second peak is almost spot on what you would desire if you wanted to keep brexit out of the news.

I mean I'm not sure if I believe that... But, sadly, I'm not even sure I disbelieve it either.

I mean, which is worse - sending the kids back to school for a single day out of incompetence and causing death, or sending the kids back to school by design and causing death?

Again, I'm not into conspiracy, however it's certainly keeping brexit out of the news. Imagine what it would be like without covid filling the front pages? Wouldn't look good for the government, would it?

 

[kenpez]

0/10

 

[Jake]

You are one of many who have a military fetish. We had it with the Nightingales too.

How do you get to that conclusion? I suppose it is as logical as your other posts, but I was hardly fetishising the desperate resort to the military.

 

[Jake]

You mean you don't like the figures I quoted. Furthermore the non covid excess deaths I quoted were not in hospital they were at home. So no decisions about icu were made.

As you have already posted made up statistics, there is no reason to trust any figures you cite unless you provide the source.

 

[NormanB]

From the MOD itself
There are 6 x regular medical regiments and 3 x field hospitals. The reserves provide 13 x field hospitals, 1 x Support Medical Regiment and 1 x Casualty Evacuation Regiment. In late 2015 our estimate of the regular personnel strength of the RAMC is 2,900 officers and soldiers.

From personal experience -
Reserve medical forces are around 90% NHS medical staff (mostly non nursing in their day job but dabble at the weekend ) with a good few other very enthusiastic amatuers.

I was teasing the other post for evidence because I already knew the answer (in big handfuls).

1. The military no longer have their own secondary care hospitals.
2. Secondary Care capability is embedded in NHS hospitals And has been for many years.
3. Reservists in Defence Medical Services are primarily NHS and Ambulance Trust employees (in the main).
4. A proportion of Defence Medical Services are engaged in Primary Care ‘looking after their own’ - and there may be some capacity to redeploy some of these GPs and Nurses, Med Techs - but it would be slack handfuls, useful but not a game changer.

 

[Rorschach]

I'm angry at tw@ts that don't follow the rules and do all they can to circumvent them thus prolonging my situation and also at a government too afeared to actually do what it is supposed to do and protect the population and take the steps needed to do so. Should have been a complete curfew last March with UK borders closed to all living traffic, goods only and even then only to a designated area near the ports where the forign tractor would be uncoupled and a UK unit attached. The foreign tractor unit hooked up to an out going trailer and back on the ferry/train. Full curfew for the whole poplulation of the UK for 6 weeks with only those involved in the production of food, medicines and power generation or provision of care to keep people alive allowed to move aroung the country as needed. This if done for 6 weeks would have seen us virus free. The borders an no travel would remain in place until enough people globally were vacinated. I am very angry we didn't put up with that in March as we would now be living relatively normal lives in our little secluded island.

But then that would be too much to hard for you and your peers to take, so we are where we are.

Has any other country managed that aside from NZ which started with just a handful of cases and plenty of advance warning? No, because what you say we should have done simply isn't feasible in a western democracy. You want to live in a country that would do that, go ahead find one and move there, I don't think you would like it the rest of the time though.

 

[selly]

As you have already posted made up statistics, there is no reason to trust any figures you cite unless you provide the source.

Ignore the figures if it suits your agenda better

 

[Droogs]

Better 42 days of house arrest than 42 weeks

 

[RobinBHM]

In the case of our hospital it was closed down for a perceived threat that has never materialised. That is not caused by C19, that is caused by the reaction to C19.

perhaps try reading what I said

"blanket strategies".....so your hospital may not have seen huge numbers, but country wide there certainly were large number of cases

back in March we were dealing with a totally novel virus, so a blanket strategy of lockdown was probably the only solution.

 

[RobinBHM]

How do I know this well from March until Sept I was enrolled on a full course of chemo and radiotherapy. Started after the 1st lockdown began and continued without interruption until completed. i also know of many more people all over the UK that this is the case for them too.

I know from my niece, a radiographer at a local hospital trust in Sussex that the March lockdown was very very disruptive to the hospital -basically the entire hospital had to split into 2 sections -so every section of the hospital had to have an infection control barrier, every department had to choose where resources were split.

Some hospitals were altered so covid was on one floor and non covid on another.

My niece dealt with many covid patients -she had to dress in full PPE: gloves, theatre gown, 2nd pair of gloves, mask, visor.
between every patient the equipment and room was cleaned, 20 min wait whilst and virus was killed, then new PPE for next patient.

Normal outpatient services continued pretty well I understand.


GP practices have been varied -I think because they are private businesses and had to be careful to comply with safeguarding guidelines to avoid risk of being sued.

 

[RobinBHM]

@Droogs I feel very sorry for you, your situation sounds awful as well. What I can't understand though is why someone in your position isn't angry like me? I am angry because people are in situations like you are.

Ask an ICU nurse in a London hospital is he or she is angry at the those people who claim "its no worse than flu" (something you did, maybe you still do)

Perhaps you should go and say to those families that have lost members from covid who worked for the NHS "oh well statistically some of you were going to die anyway"

 

[RobinBHM]

NZ which started with just a handful of cases and plenty of advance warning?

how did NZ have more advanced warning than the UK?

UK started with one case.....

 

[Rorschach]

how did NZ have more advanced warning than the UK?

UK started with one case.....

Oh man, if you think it was that easy then there is no hope for any meaningful conversation.

 

[RobinBHM]

I'm angry at tw@ts that don't follow the rules and do all they can to circumvent them thus prolonging my situation and also at a government too afeared to actually do what it is supposed to do and protect the population and take the steps needed to do so. Should have been a complete curfew last March with UK borders closed to all living traffic, goods only and even then only to a designated area near the ports where the forign tractor would be uncoupled and a UK unit attached. The foreign tractor unit hooked up to an out going trailer and back on the ferry/train. Full curfew for the whole poplulation of the UK for 6 weeks with only those involved in the production of food, medicines and power generation or provision of care to keep people alive allowed to move aroung the country as needed. This if done for 6 weeks would have seen us virus free. The borders an no travel would remain in place until enough people globally were vacinated. I am very angry we didn't put up with that in March as we would now be living relatively normal lives in our little secluded island.

But then that would be too much to hard for you and your peers to take, so we are where we are.

the evidence pretty much points towards: "the harder and earlier you lockdown, the much lower the community spread and the faster you recover"

those that argue its a binary choice between protecting old people and the economy, are wrong: much harder lockdowns can result in a long term reduction in economic damage.

The UK has chosen pretty lax lockdowns and so the tail of each lockdown has been protracted -this lockdown will be very very long.

 

[RobinBHM]

Oh man, if you think it was that easy then there is no hope for any meaningful conversation.

well how did NZ have more advance warning?

if you cant answer, I can only presume you dont know?

I am not saying NZ can be compared to UK, we know it cant totally different demographics.........but I cant see how NZ had advance warning, makes no sense