murraypaul wrote:I think it is reasonable to assume that there have been efforts to increase ventilation capacity since last October.
It's not that simple, as they found with the Nightingales, even if you can roll out the kit, you can't just click-&-collect experienced critical care nurses. And one of the problems with running ICUs on a war footing for 18 months is that you're losing staff to burnout - eg this study from King's reported "709 healthcare workers, from nine ICUs in England, completed anonymous web-based surveys in June and July 2020 comprising 291 (41 per cent) doctors, 344 (49 per cent) nurses, and 74 (10 per cent) other healthcare staff. Over half (59 per cent) reported good wellbeing, however 45 per cent met the threshold for probable clinical significance for at least one of: severe depression (6 per cent), PTSD (40 per cent), severe anxiety (11 per cent) or problem drinking (7 per cent) in July 2020
And this is translating into time off - in May 2021, NHS absences due to mental health issues were up 55% yoy :
"There is a real sense of fear about a mass exodus of health professionals leaving because of their own ill health – many say they simply can’t face working in the health service anymore...A survey of Royal College of Nursing members last month revealed that 36 per cent were thinking of leaving the profession – up from 27 per cent last year... a lack of intensive care beds meaning routine surgeries, including for some cancer patients, have been cancelled across England."
This is the Health Committee's report on burnout in the NHS :
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/c ... 2/2202.htm
And this is how it looks like at an individual level :
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/s ... s-24357280
Now obviously you can take individual stories with a pinch of salt, but there does seem to be a pattern emerging. And that could compromise the ability of the NHS to " increase ventilation capacity since last October" - they just need a break.