We’ve been given sole burden of fighting Omicron say ‘exhausted’ NHS staff

GP SAYS IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT BOOSTERS – WE ALL HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY

“UTTERLY exhausted” NHS staff feel they have been given the sole burden of limiting the spread and impact of the Omicron Covid-19 variant, says a leading Derbyshire doctor.

Dr Susie Bayley, medical director for Derbyshire’s GP Taskforce, said she expected to see more measures and the restressing of “hands, face, space” during last week’s Downing Street press conference.

Instead, as Dr Bayley said on Twitter, the press conference left the NHS workforce “sighing” and “weeping” due to “insufficient measures” being put in place to curb the spread of the virus.

Dr Bayley mused that Prime Minister Boris Johnson instead of, as he said “giving the virus both barrels” had left his weaponry in a locked gun cabinet.

She said large events continuing to go ahead was a “frightening thought”.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Dr Bayley said she was genuinely “worried” about the impact of the current pressures, including stepping up the vaccination programme, would have on staff over the next couple of months.

She said a “Herculean effort” was now needed to fend off the impact and spread of the Omicron variant.

Dr Bayley, who is also a GP at Littlewick Medical Centre, in Ilkeston, stressed that it is “about more than just boosters, we all have a responsibility” - as was repeated in previous phases of the pandemic.

She told the LDRS: “We know how important the booster programme is and that is why we are committed to delivering it, but we do know the booster programme alone is not enough to stop the tsunami of cases of Omicron that we are seeing.

“The figures reported by the Prime Minister and by Professor Chris Whitty this week are really stark and are really shocking and it is a real worry for those of us working in the NHS that all of the emphasis is being put on the boosters and there is less emphasis on all of the measures that we have talked about throughout the pandemic.

“We know viruses work by spreading from person to person so limiting that spread is what is needed to try and prevent this huge wave we are anticipating.

“It feels really uncomfortable for all of us that it feels like the NHS alone is having to take the burden of responsibility in trying to prevent the Omicron cases causing a significant impact.

“What I was hoping for and was really disappointed did not come, was the re-emphasis on hands, face, space message, clarity on mask wearing and a discussion around a reduction in large gatherings and those still going ahead is a frightening thought for those of us in the NHS.”

Derbyshire GPS have been responsible for rolling out three out of every four vaccines (75 per cent) in

the county and city to date, but have been called on once again to carry out further work to help meet a target of offering all adults a booster jab by the end of December.

This was announced late on Sunday night and Derbyshire GPS found out at the same time as the general public.

Dr Bayley said her gut reaction was “a bit of deep breath”.

She said: “I knew general practice would step up, we have done throughout and have worked solidly. “To be honest there was a massive sense of fear and apprehension as to how our already exhausted workforce were going to possibly do this.

“We are so proud of them, but it is a massive ask on a pretty broken workforce, in all honesty.”

Dr Bayley said a key issue which has

already been causing an impact and would continue to do so, particularly over the next couple of months, was short-staffing throughout the NHS.

The impact of Covid illness on the workforce itself, and on dependents of NHS staff - such as children - is compounding existing shortages and the vaccine roll-out pulls from this same pool.

Dr Bayley said: “We know it (Omicron) is going to knock off a huge amount of staff. This will have a huge knock-on effect on all services.

“We are beginning to see more and more cases and more and more people we know are testing positive, it seems inevitable.

“It is a real worry and it is going to be incredibly difficult to get right. All we can do is plan an over-plan.”

On the pressure on GPS and health

staff from the vaccination roll-out, Dr Bayley said: “We are utterly exhausted and pretty apprehensive and worried for staff but also really proud for everyone we have been working with.

“It has been an absolutely Herculean effort.

“Winter is always hard for the NHS and it is going to be even more of a challenge this year. I just cannot underline enough how amazing our staff are.”

Dr Bayley said January would be particularly difficult with extra shifts, extended shifts and cancelled leave, with staff “already on the edge of burnout” but that phenomenal work throughout the healthcare system was being done to provide wellbeing support.

She said: “We can all play a part. I would have liked there to have been a message about what we individually can do, but the lack of further measures does make me feel that the burden of handling this is on the exhausted people in the healthcare system.

“We need everyone to be working with us on this.”

Dr Bayley asked patients to “please be kind and patient” to healthcare staff, including GPS and receptionists.

She said: “We have probably had one of the most difficult times in general practice, particularly over the last few months.

“When we were hearing on a daily basis that we weren’t open and weren’t seeing patients and we knew we had been there throughout and doing everything we can and cancelled leave and having put ourselves at risk - to be vilified and feel as if we had to justify our own existence felt incredibly unfair.

“It felt pretty heartbreaking, not just for doctors, nurses but for our whole practice team, it was utterly unfair.”

She said a lot of the vilification from GPS was coming from within the media and said it had been hard to take when staff were working so hard.

Dr Bayley said “we all need to play our part and limit our social contacts” in the weeks ahead.

She said GPS were now focussing purely on urgent and serious health issues in order to meet vaccination targets, so urged patients only to call surgeries if their needs were urgent or serious.

Dr Bayley also said: “Every member of our practices are doing everything they can so please be kind and patient to our practice team.

“Every time we need to pick up a member of staff who has been abused on the phone or deal with a complaint about access to appointments - which we can’t do anything about due to the current situation means we can’t deal with an urgent patient and we can’t vaccinate patients.

“So we are asking for kindness, patience and understanding.”