Covid is over😏
RT @bmj_latest@twitter.com
The NHS in England underestimated the continuing impact of covid-19 on hospital bed capacity this year, its chief executive says.
Amanda Pritchard said ongoing high numbers of patients with covid in hospitals had hindered efforts to tackle backlogs
https://www.bmj.com/content/379/bmj.o2909
🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/bmj_latest/status/1598376467100012558
@paulstenton1
interesting. I worry the nhs has made a strategic error in trying to segregate elective care: there is an idea that surgicentres and the like will protect elective care and keep the nhs running. The sad reality is there is not enough acute provision, and the more elective care is hived off the less capacity there is to deal with increased pressure on acutes. Yes, it was messy when we couldn’t operate in winter because our beds were full of pneumonia, but not as bad as having ambulances queuing down the street.
@DutyBard yes, and hiving off bits of the NHS reduces it's overall expertise and ability to handle acute patients.
As a health insurance man once said to me when he went into an NHS hospital for major surgery, "If you do decide to go private, make sure it's done in an NHS hospital, because if anything goes wrong that's where you'll end up and you don't want the travelling time".