Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
It is one of the eeriest signals of impending disaster. Tsunami survivors often report that in the minutes before the destructive wave hit, the sea went out, leaving the coast weirdly, menacingly, silent.
Away from the NHS virus frontline, this is the current situation in many parts of the UK’s National Health Service. All non-urgent operations have been cancelled while NHS Trusts divert resources to tackle the pandemic. Outpatient units are deserted, and even Accident and Emergency departments have seen patient admissions fall sharply.
Official data show that A&E visits in England have halved since the start of the coronavirus outbreak – tumbling to their lowest level since records began. Before the pandemic, about two million patients a month were visiting A&E but in April that dropped to 916,581.
Similarly sharp falls in patient numbers are also being reported across specialisms deemed ‘non-critical’, even cancer treatment and referrals.
A cardiac surgeon colleague of mine has even seen a 60% decline in admissions for myocardial infarction, a condition better known as heart attack – and which the NHS website describes as a “medical emergency” requiring immediate treatment.
www.openaccessgovernment.org
Away from the NHS virus frontline, this is the current situation in many parts of the UK’s National Health Service. All non-urgent operations have been cancelled while NHS Trusts divert resources to tackle the pandemic. Outpatient units are deserted, and even Accident and Emergency departments have seen patient admissions fall sharply.
Official data show that A&E visits in England have halved since the start of the coronavirus outbreak – tumbling to their lowest level since records began. Before the pandemic, about two million patients a month were visiting A&E but in April that dropped to 916,581.
Similarly sharp falls in patient numbers are also being reported across specialisms deemed ‘non-critical’, even cancer treatment and referrals.
A cardiac surgeon colleague of mine has even seen a 60% decline in admissions for myocardial infarction, a condition better known as heart attack – and which the NHS website describes as a “medical emergency” requiring immediate treatment.
The silence before the tsunami: COVID is devastating behind NHS virus frontlines
Dr Allon Barsam, consultant eye surgeon and founder of Ophthalmic Consultants of London, calls attention to the devastation behind the NHS virus frontlines
www.openaccessgovernment.org
