‘Suffocation’ in the National Health System of England

Boris Johnson once again hopes… He hopes that England “will be able to face the invasion of Omicron without the country re-entering the lockdown regime”. That was at least his basic belief, in yesterday’s press conference he gave after days of absence due to Christmas.

It is a fact, however, that the United Kingdom has recorded, for the first time, more than 218,000 cases and the number of hospital admissions is rising rapidly. According to official figures, in the week before Christmas in England one in 25 had the coronavirus, while in London the rate was one in 15. This is fully reflected in the shortage of workers in many sectors, with the NHS being one of the most critical. the period.

It is characteristic that the National Health System currently exceeds 15,000 patients with coronavirus, while even the British Prime Minister admitted that this number is expected to rise in the coming weeks.

The health system is immobilized due to an increase in cases

It is a fact, however, that the English National Health Service (NHS) has had even worse days. Last year, during the same period, it consistently had over 30,000 patients, with a record 39,254. However, apart from the fact that the Johnson administration wants to avoid such images, the main difference lies in the fact that now more cases are presented to the staff, creating huge shortages and effectively immobilizing the system.

Due to Omicron, at least 8% of the staff were absent from their duties in the week before Christmas, with the result that in several hospitals the retired health workers returned to their posts. In fact, Boris Johnson announced that he is in consultation with the administrations of the hospitals, “so that if and where the help of the army is needed, it can be done immediately”.

In this climate, in parts of the North of England, patients who call for an ambulance are informed that it is better to take a taxi, while the hospitals in the wider area of ​​Manchester are constantly postponing non-emergency surgeries due to cases, both to citizens and staff.

The pandemic measures for England will remain until the end of January, where the situation will be assessed. It remains to be seen how Johnson will handle it, as on the one hand he has voices from the party calling for the measures to be repealed and on the other hand many who are calling for even more measures to tackle the pandemic.

Zoe Katzagiannaki, London

Source: Deutsche Welle