WELCOME TO HELL
In this excoriating indictment, a senior nurse reveals what it’s REALLY like on the front line of the ‘terrifying battlef ield’ that is our NHS in the grip of a winter crisis
PATIENTS are being left on trolleys for days in hospitals that are ‘like Hell on Earth’ as the NHS struggles with the worst flu outbreak in decades.
Yesterday, as Scotland’s health boards put extra measures in place to deal with winter illness pressures over the weekend, one senior nurse bravely decided to speak out publicly to paint a harrowing picture of an NHS in meltdown.
After tweeting about the problems, the nurse, who works in one of Scotland’s largest cities, told The Scottish Mail on Sunday: ‘I look at everything around me and think, by no exaggeration, this really is like Hell on Earth.
‘This winter is the worst I have ever seen or experienced. There are so many people coming into the hospital with flu there are no beds left. So many staff are infected too – or are off with stress – that there are not enough of us to take care of patients the way we want to.
‘Sometimes it feels almost like a battlefield on the wards, with all the buzzers going off and patients calling out and the overwhelming noise – it can be really terrifying, for us and the patients too. It is also dangerous and it is going to get worse, I have no doubt about it.’
Her bleak outlook comes amid warnings the flu vaccine received by Scots adults – which protects against three strains, including the killer Australian flu – may be ineffective against a new form of influenza B.
Admitting she returns home some days crying because she cannot help people in the way she wants to, the nurse disclosed that:
Day care rooms are being used to house patients who are left there for up to three days – with no oxygen or buzzers and little medical supervision – due to severe overcrowding and bed shortages;
A&E corridors are crammed with patients who are lying on trolleys for days on end because of a lack of space in wards;
Patients are being discharged earlier than usual in a desperate attempt to free up beds;
Droves of doctors and nurses have been struck down by flu, leaving healthy staff stressed and unable to safely care for patients;
Nurses are missing meals in order to care for patients;
Patients are crying because they are not being taken care of properly;
NHS staff are leaving due to massive pressure and stress.
Last night, the nurse, who requested not to be identified to protect her job, said: ‘The threat that being short-staffed poses is terrifying. This winter is revealing the underlying problems – that we are severely lacking in staff. We are so privileged to have the NHS, it is an amazing service and something we should be very proud of, but it is being dismantled before our very eyes.
‘It can’t go on like this. People will suffer if something isn’t done.’
Last week, Scotland recorded the UK’s highest rate of GP appointments for flu this winter, with 46.3 per 100,000 people attending clinics with flu-like symptoms – more than double England’s rate.
Meanwhile, Scotland’s NHS 24 hotline experienced its busiest festive period since it was set up 15 years ago, receiving more than 45,000 calls in the four days over Christmas – almost double the number of calls in 2016.
The nurse, who is responsible for admitting and discharging patients, said: ‘On the night shift over Christmas and New Year, there were just two nurses to assist 32 patients. We normally have ten patients allocated to each nurse.
‘Some nights I didn’t sit down until midnight to drink or eat because people needed to be put to bed or given medicine and we just had to keep going. I know nurses who have not been eating and just running on fumes because there is
so much to do. The doctors are overstretched too. Right now, during a night shift, there is only one senior doctor and one junior doctor covering a whole department, which can hold up to 150 patients.
‘It’s exhausting, physically and emotionally. We are stretched to our absolute limit. Every shift is a struggle, it’s heartbreaking. I’ll sometimes just come home and cry. I can handle a lot of stress normally, but you give it your all in this job and it’s still not enough.
‘I hope I never see a winter as bad as this again, but I know, unless something urgent happens, next year will be even worse.’
Last week, a report by Health Protection Scotland found half of NHS boards were reporting significant ward pressure as a result of the virus.
Since the outbreak, 23 patients have been treated in intensive care, with four deaths.
The nurse, who has been taking on extra shifts to help with the staff shortages, said: ‘All the hospitals in this city are full. Normally you can divert ambulances to other hospitals with free beds. But there is nowhere to divert them to.
‘We’ve had to put patients on bed trolleys in day care rooms. Some have had to be there for three days. There is no oxygen and no buzzers and staff are not regularly there. We can’t observe them properly.
‘If an emergency does happen, there is no equipment to deal with it. It is very worrying but what can we do – put people on the streets?’
She added: ‘The A&E department can’t cope either, there are no beds and nowhere to put patients. The bed managers are trying their best. I have seen 80 people in A&E and assessment units waiting for beds.
‘The corridors are jammed with bed trolleys, people are lying there, waiting for a bed. There is a lot of pressure.
‘We will never discharge someone who is too ill to leave, but those who are doing better, we do have to rush them sometimes.’
Yesterday, health boards said they would increase provision, with many now fully staffing out-ofhours services and increasing the number of medical shifts.
Last week, NHS Lanarkshire disclosed that office workers were being redeployed to carry out hospital cleaning duties. On Friday, it announced almost half of its 104 GP surgeries would open on Saturday mornings for the rest of this month.
The senior nurse said: ‘It would help a lot if GP surgeries didn’t have restricted hours over the festive period, as it’s the busiest time of year and people don’t stop getting ill just because its Christmas.’
Scottish Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs said: ‘For medical staff to describe the institution they love in such terms demonstrates the depth of the crisis.
‘When wards are described as Hell by frontline staff, Ministers and managers should act. ’
Scottish Labour health spokesman Anas Sarwar said: ‘This is further evidence of the mismanagement of our NHS by the SNP. This winter meltdown has added even more pressure.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘NHS staff should be thanked for doing a tremendous job in difficult circumstances.
‘This Government is investing record sums of money and has recruited an all-time-high number of doctors, nurses and other staff.
‘This has been an exceptionally busy winter period but, thanks to the dedication of our staff, patient care has remained the priority.’