Coronavirus

[tweetiepooh]

Like previously Boris wants to avoid being the grinch so some extended rules and hopefully some common sense to prevent hitting the NHS all at once.
I'd still work from home as moving 2 monitors, keyboard, PSU's, mouse etc too much of a bother. And at the pub you can still distance more than at the office and likely you aren't squeezing onto public transport. It's also likely pubs will attract locals so even it becomes a spread point it will be more limited geographically than offices.

[1andrew1]

I see the NHS waiting list has hit an all-time high since records began of six million. 1.55m patients were added to the list since February 2020 ie since Covid.

I think this large waiting list is helping to drive a cautious approach towards the new variant.

[Carth]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

I see the NHS waiting list has hit an all-time high since records began of six million. 1.55m patients were added to the list since February 2020 ie since Covid.

I think this large waiting list is helping to drive a cautious approach towards the new variant.

hmm I wonder if, possibly, somewhere in all these stories about waiting lists and the 'overstretched' NHS, there's a subtle attempt to push people towards private health care . . . where the big money is

[Hom3r]

I desperately need to be with family this Christmas, me, my dad and brother-in-law have had our booster, my sister is due before NYE.


On top of that, her company has gone back to working from home rather than the 3 days at home.


But I have a Turkey leg and bits in our freezer should Christmas be cancelled again.

[mrmistoffelees]

Originally Posted by Hom3r

I desperately need to be with family this Christmas, me, my dad and brother-in-law have had our booster, my sister is due before NYE.


On top of that, her company has gone back to working from home rather than the 3 days at home.


But I have a Turkey leg and bits in our freezer should Christmas be cancelled again.

I highly doubt that would happen, it would be political suicide for Boris, straight after however……

Barmy new Covid rules mean people can work from the pub with pals from Monday instead of going to the office.

Thats not exactly new, you could do that in the previous lockdowns [while the pubs were actually open].
I actually would not want to, the general atmosphere and activity would be very distracting, not to mention I hate using my actual Laptop keyboard and screen.
Its good for a Team meeting now and then, but not great for full time working.

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

I think this large waiting list is helping to drive a cautious approach towards the new variant.

More of a reflection of how inept and mis-managed the NHS is.

[Sephiroth]

Once we had an NHS that was the envy of the world. You walked into the surgery, waited your turn and then saw the doctor. Then some idiot reformed the NHS allowing General Practices to belong to private companies who contracted services back to the NHS. Immediately the NHS lost control of that asset and the practices set about minimising public facing activity because they could.

In a nutshell, the NHS at GP level is a disgusting shambles and I don't see how it can be got back to its old form.

[Mad Max]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

Once we had an NHS that was the envy of the world. You walked into the surgery, waited your turn and then saw the doctor. Then some idiot reformed the NHS allowing General Practices to belong to private companies who contracted services back to the NHS. Immediately the NHS lost control of that asset and the practices set about minimising public facing activity because they could.

In a nutshell, the NHS at GP level is a disgusting shambles and I don't see how it can be got back to its old form.

Yup, I agree with that, it would be interesting to know what our population was at the time when the NHS was doing a great job.

[Carth]

Originally Posted by Mad Max

Yup, I agree with that, it would be interesting to know what our population was at the time when the NHS was doing a great job.

Rough guess . . . 1985 . . 56 million

Originally Posted by Mad Max

Yup, I agree with that, it would be interesting to know what our population was at the time when the NHS was doing a great job.

Well thats probably not too hard to find, what year would you be refeerring to ?

Edit, well there you go, see above.

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Carth

hmm I wonder if, possibly, somewhere in all these stories about waiting lists and the 'overstretched' NHS, there's a subtle attempt to push people towards private health care . . . where the big money is

I think I agree, I can get private gp services through my partners work for about £10 a month, same day consultation, take as long as you need within reason, obviously sick notes and prescriptions are considerably more expensive but the reason I don't sign up is because that's what the government want, a two tired health system where if you can afford it you get excellent quick treatment and the poor can just suffer, I've resisted so far but my resolve is tested with every interaction I have with my gp, still waiting to be referred for an mri scan, seven months on

[Mad Max]

Originally Posted by Carth

Rough guess . . . 1985 . . 56 million

Cheers mate, so a quick check tells me our population has gone up by approx 12 million, but have we increased the number of hospitals to cope with this increase? If not, you can understand why the NHS is in such a mess.

[Carth]

Originally Posted by Mad Max

Cheers mate, so a quick check tells me our population has gone up by approx 12 million, but have we increased the number of hospitals to cope with this increase? If not, you can understand why the NHS is in such a mess.

It was just a rough guess, looking into it further shows the NHS was getting to be a shambles 10 years earlier (mid 70's) and they were trying 'new ideas' to stop the rot . . some worked, some didn't.

From an old article in the Mail (Sept 2017) https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...e-decades.html

The number of beds has fallen from 299,000 in 1987/88 to 142,000 in 2016/17, while the number of patients has soared.

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by Mad Max

Yup, I agree with that, it would be interesting to know what our population was at the time when the NHS was doing a great job.

imo it started to go downhill around 2000. See the population stats:

https://www.macrotrends.net/countrie...on-growth-rate