A horrifying BBC report has shown the extent of how stretched the NHS is during the fight against the deadly coronavirus pandemic. Nurses and doctors at the University College Hospital in London are stretched thin and many have been left scared and in tears.
Ashleigh Shillingford, deputy sister, said: “My emotions are all over the place. Scared, sad, petrified, worried.
“We are so stretch we have prioritise.
“And prioritising care is not what the NHS I grew up in.
“We should not have to choose which patient gets what care first.
“People are asking for your help but you just don’t know who to help first.
“The patients are losing their lives at a dramatic speed. We are not just getting old people, this is young people we are getting, people my age.”
Dr Jim Down, Consultant at the University College Hospital, added: “We’ve got three times as many critically ill patients in this hospital than we normally have and we’ve managed to stretch and spread to cover that but that cannot go on forever.
“We have plans to expand for another week but after that we really need to see it slow down or we are going to see the care we can offer suffer, I think.
“These are really serious consequences and if we get to that point we cannot offer anyone ICU, not just Covid patients but anyone who has a traffic accident or a heart attack or a stroke or whatever it is.
“We just won’t have anymore capacity to take them in.”
Dr Alice Carter, consultant, said: “It’s not uncommon at the moment that I come to work, come to the unit to find nurses crying.
“The physical and mental load is huge and I am really worried we are going to break a lot of nurses and doctors too.”
ITV’s Piers Morgan said the report was “harrowing” but important that people see the “stark reality” of the virus.
He tweeted: “Harrowing, powerful report from @BBCFergusWalsh inside covid ICU at UCL Hospital. Patients, incl 3 pregnant women, look scared.
“The NHS heroes caring for them look shattered, and it’s getting worse every day.
“Important that we see this stark reality.”
Today the UK reported a further 1,041 people have died after testing positive of coronavirus, marking the highest daily death toll since April.
A staggering 62,322 new cases of the virus have also been reported in the last 24 hours, marking the highest daily rise since mass testing began.
The number of patients is around 39 percent higher than the previous peak back in April last year.
Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, warned if they do not act now the NHS would not be able to cope.
More to follow…
