Like everyone else we’ve been practicing corridor Medicine on a brutal shift today. Moreover,we have two triages: normal triage and resus triage. Our 5-bed has been running with 7-8 patients. Each blue-light ambulance - and there have been MANY...(cont.) #corridorEM #NHSCrisis
...was no longer automatically going straight into resus as they would usually, but handing over in the usual place where we’d decided whether or not they were sick-but-not-as-sick-as-the-ones-already-in-resus. If not, they go into the corridor. If ‘big’ sick, we’d have to...
...decide which one of the pts already in resus was sick-but-not-quite-as-sick-as-the-new-patient, who would then give up their bay and be demoted to the corridor. Tomorrow I think we should just get Estates to take the swing doors off resus, they’re superfluous. This is...
...battlefield medicine. For next few weeks it won’t be exception but norm. That we’re retaining any semblance of kindness, politeness and teamwork is testament to our remarkable staff. But it’s TOUGH, and it’s SO hard to do things well when ED’s >200% of capacity #NHSCrisis #NHS
Two years ago I’d have point blank refused to examine a corridor patient until they were in a cubicle. Now on days like this it’s unavoidable, I’m ashamed to say #NHSCrisis
Last week at 1am we still had 56 patients in our ED (NB., this is just Majors/resus, we have NO minors or paediatrics). The night team pulled out all the stops to ensure only 15 by 8am: incredible work. But it’s unsustainable. Soon we won’t have any more stops to pull out
Alongside all the trolleys and Hospital beds we need in the ED we also have a supply of mobile screens to split the resus bays into two and to place round the corridor patients.
70 years ago, recovering from devastation of war, the #NHS was the greatest gift our country could give to itself. It’s now embedded in the national psyche. 8 years ago began its systematic dismantling, and awful days like today are the direct result of that process #savethenhs
So grateful to our staff for providing care under unprecedented levels of pressure.
But I'm also grateful to our patients and their F&F for being, well, patient with us...and understanding, polite, and co-operative. This is not the standard we expect for you. Please bear with us
But I'm also grateful to our patients and their F&F for being, well, patient with us...and understanding, polite, and co-operative. This is not the standard we expect for you. Please bear with us
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