In March, the number of people going to their local emergency department fell by 600,000, or 29 per cent, compared to same month last year, the lowest number of attendances since 2010.
Hurrah! The NHS is saved! All those timewasters going to A&E with minor ailments are staying away!
Medical leaders have warned sick patients not to avoid getting help from the NHS after a huge drop in the numbers of people attending A&E departments sparked fears some could die without care.
Wait, hang on! Isn't this good news then?
While the NHS has battled for years to reduce the number of people going to A&E for unnecessary reasons, the sudden fall during the coronavirus outbreak has worried officials that the pandemic could be deterring people who have genuine need and who could become sicker or even die as a result of staying away.
Make up your minds!
This one of those situations where both cases could be true.
ReplyDeleteThe drunks are dying at home in their own 'bubble'.
ReplyDeleteThey have. They don't want time-wasters, but they do want people who are genuinely an accident or emergency to use the service. Isn't that clear? It's something about the name that hints at it.
ReplyDeleteAn obvious knock on impact. People are avoiding A&E to avoid people with the virus and thus many don't get the treatment they need. It's not like these waiting rooms didn't spread disease at the best of times. Go in with a broken arm and get MRSA.
ReplyDeleteNot a lot that can be done really. The real abusers of the system are probably still doing it because they actually believe that they are ill.
So when this is all over a lot of dead people will be found at home.
ReplyDeleteAnd if it goes on too long, dead cats.And
Aye, right.
Why would anyone want to visit Acquire & Expire (A&E) departments to catch death, just because they have a splinter or a graze?
ReplyDeleteI had the misfortune to have to go to A&E last year (broken leg) - it was full of hoi polloi with pathetically minor injuries, which could have been dealt with at home (by most), or by the GP's surgery (for all the other idiots).
My feeling is that when this is all done and dusted and the stats can be analysed with more precision and a degree of hindsight that more people will have died because they didn't use the NHS when they should have (or indeed because they were thrown out of hospital to clear space for the expected flood of CV cases which then never materialised) than died because of Covid-19 itself.
ReplyDelete"This one of those situations where both cases could be true."
ReplyDeleteEntirely possible!
"The drunks are dying at home in their own 'bubble'."
Maybe. Some unwelcome surprises awaiting, I suspect. Doonhammer will undoubtedly agree.
"It's something about the name that hints at it."
You can't teach stupid, though.
" It's not like these waiting rooms didn't spread disease at the best of times. Go in with a broken arm and get MRSA."
True!
"..which could have been dealt with at home (by most), or by the GP's surgery (for all the other idiots)."
The difficulty, though, is usually getting a GP appointment!