The NHS was never on track to be overwhelmed with coronavirus patients this winter but No10 was forced to hit the lockdown panic button because of its ‘gloomster’ scientific advisers, top experts fumed today. Health Secretary Matt Hancock has warned the health service could collapse and seriously ill non-Covid patients could be turned away unless Covid-19’s … Read more
A whistleblower NHS worker has publicly resigned and claimed she had ‘no work for three weeks’ at the height of the pandemic. A viral Facebook video shows Shelley Tasker – believed to be a healthcare assistant at Treliske hospital, which is part of the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust – telling members of the public what is … Read more
Sir Simon Stevens The NHS will move back to its highest alert level from midnight tonight in anticipation of a wave of coronavirus hospital admissions in the coming weeks. Sir Simon Stevens – NHS England’s chief executive – said the move to level four was in response to the ‘serious situation ahead’. He claimed the … Read more
NHS hospitals in England appear quieter than usual for this time of year even though they are treating more than 9,000 patients with coronavirus. A leaked document claims 84 per cent of all hospital beds were occupied across the country yesterday, which is lower than the 92 per cent recorded during autumn last year. Prime … Read more
Hospitals across the US – including in the Great Plains, the Midwest and the Southwest – are seeing record highs of COVID-19 patients. As of Tuesday, more than 43,000 people were hospitalized as the country deals with a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, according to The COVID Tracking Project. These are levels not seen … Read more
Operations must not be cancelled this winter unless ‘absolutely unavoidable’, the NHS has ordered hospitals. Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for NHS England, said last night that he was ‘determined’ that routine services keep running despite the second wave. But an investigation by this newspaper has found hospitals are already calling off operations, adding … Read more
Liverpool’s hospitals are treating more coronavirus patients now than they were at the peak of the crisis, it was claimed today. The medical director of the biggest NHS trust in the city said beds occupied by Covid-19 patients had already surpassed levels in April and that they were ‘continuing to rise’. Dr Tristan Cope, of … Read more
Czech hospitals are three weeks away from being overwhelmed by coronavirus cases, the government has said as Germany announced a new high of more than 11,000 infections today and Rome imposed a curfew to fight off the second wave. The Czech Republic is seeing Europe’s biggest surge in infections with a new one-day record of … Read more
Top doctor shortage is risking ‘catastrophe’: Hospitals urgently need more consultants as they face huge backlog of treatment, medical union warns British Medical Association has warned of a huge backlog of treatments Problem exacerbated by consultants retiring early over workload and morale BMA recommends bringing in more medical students and making proper use of retired doctors … Read more
A doctor has asked a grieving family if they could confirm the death over video link amid the coronavirus pandemic. Gillian Orman, from Southampton, rang the NHS after her mother Kathleen Bricknell, 86, died. A doctor said everyone in the house – including her deceased mother – would have to wear a mask during an … Read more