‘Things are grim here’: doctor tells of dire situation in north-west England ICU
An intensive care doctor describes the ‘horrendous’ difficulties facing hospitals, including critical shortages and beds and staff
“I work in an ICU [intensive care unit] in the north-west of England. Things are grim here. The north-west seems not to have had a reprieve from Covid-19. We were the first region to see cases rise again after the winter lockdown and they haven’t really dropped since. Several of our wards are now dedicated Covid wards, which means that non-Covid patients need beds elsewhere.
Things are horrendous at the moment. Staffing is a big problem. One in five of the nurses on our intensive care unit are sick at the moment. We are fighting to get people to work any and every shift. It’s very difficult to get bank or agency staff. Nurse to patient ratios on non-ICU wards overnight are regularly unsafe, so people are pulled from managerial positions to fill gaps.
Continue reading...from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3zDzzVy
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