I'm sure Punkdoc will agree with me,it's not just about funding with the NHS. O don't know a huge amount about their pay structures,but from a nursing point of view,if you worked in ITU or the ED,you were paid extra,they stopped that in the early 2000s,so the staff who were happy to do overtime on their own units,who knew the routine (and often the patients) some left their wards, others stopped doing overtime. Then if you worked a bank shift (overtime) the overtime rate was cut. Then,all the "extras" when we did a 10 hour night,I worked 5 nights. When it increased to 12.5 I was a lot older, couldn't sleep in the day,cut down to 2 nights. The full timers 3 nights,if they worked an extra night they got basic 'day" pay,whereas, when my hubby lost his job,I went back to 3 nights, because the 3rd was overtime,I got night shift allowance, outer London weighting,and high cost living allowance because it was Surrey. This brought my 3rd night up to my normal pay,but there was no "overtime" rate anymore. Any working over the 37.5 hours although overtime was paid at basic rate.Patients came in with their meds,which were immediately disguarded and the same re prescribed.agency staff then employeed at eye watering hourly rate. Some of our staff re-signed and signed on with an agency.
Is the funding of the NHS relevant in this case? Successive govs have kept it underfunded - mainly as we're all living longer and expect better treatment - cataracts, hip and knee replacements, cancer and heart care...blah,blah. The NHS and other health services around the globe are victims of medical success. But that all comes at a cost. Fine.
BUT at this point in time, we have a situation where the NHS runs close to the edge, with what 10% leeway on beds? Covid comes along and initially takes all that slack. No one could have seen that coming at that point. Now though, we've been through the major spikes and seen how and why this bloody virus spreads. Is it then sensible, when we have 5% of the beds (is that about half the contingency?) taken up by covid NOW - before we hit the winter and Christmas peaks, for mixing to be encouraged? I don't see the numbers going down - so even Delta covid will take up more of the slack, leaving less for other illnesses. If it does then turn out that Omicron spreads more readily and even has a similar hospitalisation rate, then the spare beds will be stuffed.
Here they seem to be using vaccination centres staffed by admin staff to check ID and current vaccine status then Red Cross types to manage the queuing and chair cleaning with retired doctors doing the medical questionnaire re fevers, allergies etc and then nurses to administer the vaccines.
For those who can't or won't go to a centre, there are pharmacies delivering local vaccines. That leaves GPs free to be GPs.
OH is watching snooker on TV. Amazingly, the majority of the audience are not wearing masks and they are not seated at distance form each other. Mad! Even if they are all double jabbed I bet they didn't have a PCR test too.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
So should we not do the vaccinations then? Health care is always rationed, whether we accept it or not, it is impossible to measure whether vaccines or health checks save more lives. Pick one and hope for the best.
GP's currently get paid for these health checks, so will be reluctant to stop them, but my reading of the evidence, is that they don't have much benefit.
I would rather vaccinate everyone, but I accept it is not a totally black and white situation.
How can you lie there and think of England When you don't even know who's in the team
"The measures taken to 'protect' us from Covid will kill more people than the disease itself. "
Mortality stats are not the only measure of disease impact. These are impossible choices - with finite resources, time, unknown outcomes and new variants. Imagine that you are the administrator tasked with making these decisions, with the cabinet pulling towards laissez faire and the experts pulling to caution.
Posts
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-59524527
For those interested.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
https://twitter.com/ClarkeMicah/status/1467106305395597315?s=20
For those who can't or won't go to a centre, there are pharmacies delivering local vaccines. That leaves GPs free to be GPs.
OH is watching snooker on TV. Amazingly, the majority of the audience are not wearing masks and they are not seated at distance form each other. Mad! Even if they are all double jabbed I bet they didn't have a PCR test too.
Health care is always rationed, whether we accept it or not, it is impossible to measure whether vaccines or health checks save more lives. Pick one and hope for the best.
GP's currently get paid for these health checks, so will be reluctant to stop them, but my reading of the evidence, is that they don't have much benefit.
I would rather vaccinate everyone, but I accept it is not a totally black and white situation.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border