UK Covid death toll

[strawman]

Interesting stats from 2018 with regards to capacity within the NHS to cope just with an above average flu season. The problem with regards to capacity is not simply down to Covid it’s down to a lack of staff. Now I wonder why that is? It also puts into perspective why the NHS is having to be cautious with regards to capacity this year. Bear in mind NHS professionals have already said their staff are exhausted due to the pandemic response.

Capacity

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Even if you think the deaths are a price worth paying, before they die they will require hospital treatment, unless of course you are suggesting 111 asks if they are in a risk group and just say tough  -  the more in hospital the less resource for other medical requirements.

The Nightingales turned away patients because to man them requires staff to be taken from other hospitals.

The whole point is that the NHS resources can only cope with a certain level of patients, so if you have more older or even younger at risk patients in hospital then that resource will be even less available for other medical requirements

The whole point is the NHS is doing little else but Covid which will result in many more wholly premature deaths of younger people in the future from late / undiagnosed conditions. It may sound stark, it may sound heartless but that is the opportunity cost we've arrived at due to the dumb decisions of the last 7 months

Wrong tense - was doing little else but Covid, and that was wrong, most 'covid' hospitals have now been split into covid and covid safe - in supposedly one of the worst hospitals in the country. I have had 2 consultant appointments, on time and admittedly by phone (although tests were arranged at  a covid safe hospital) and my scan was also on time.

However if we go back to the virus spreading in the way it was and hospital admissions rising as they are now, then staff will have to be taken away from general testing and duties again and have to care for those that are dying or in ICU long term.

Therein lies the catch - allow more normality - hospital admissions rise, staff are redeployed from their normal duties to care for ICU patients even if they are dying and less younger and at less risk patients for covid are again delayed.

If you want to protect younger patients and allow them to get their tests etc on time then you need to protect those at risk so they require less care even if they are dying.

And if you think that basically imprisoning sections of the population at risk i(the old, diabetic, overweight) is the answer, then I suspect that will be as successful as trying to keep others from partying, protesting, going to beach etc

The new norm where we are completely agreeing on something SM  Your points are spot on (tried to +1) your post but seems like I’m banned from doing so or it isn’t working). I have tried to explain this to those wanting to go back to normal (not sure that will ever work in a pandemic with a new virus) but alas it doesn’t show any critical thinking apparently. You can’t separate society into neat little boxes we are all interconnected and as a result solutions will have to tread a middle ground of suppressing the virus and trying to keep the economy / education operating.

Blimey I need to go and have a lie down