After more than a year of lockdowns and stringent Covid-19 rules, England has lifted most remaining restrictions.

‘Freedom Day’ saw nightclubs reopen their doors, with maskless people flocking to bars and dance floors to make the most of the ease in restrictions.

Although many members of the public were ecstatic to reclaim some normality after months stuck indoors, experts and NHS medical professionals have condemned “Freedom Day” and shared concerns over rising case numbers and pressures on health staff.

Oxford-based palliative care doctor Rachel Clarke​ criticised Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a radio interview, saying it was “ludicrous” that people were able to go to nightclubs on Monday (Tuesday NZ time) but in September they would need vaccination passports to be able to enter these venues.

Defending the reopening on July 19, Johnson said that “this is the right moment, but we’ve got to do it cautiously”.

He argued that mass-vaccination had weakened the link between infections and severe illness and deaths in England, and that easing restrictions now would avoid a rise in cases in peak-winter, while also helping to get the economy back up and running.

Following the reopening, Johnson announced that from September full vaccination would be a condition of entry to clubs and other venues with large crowds.

In a tweet online, Clarke said Johnson had “given up”.

“There isn’t a person in the country who doesn’t long for this nightmare over. Everyone has lost so much. Loved ones. Jobs. Homes. Peace of mind. Social contact. Confidence. But we can’t make it go away by closing our eyes [and] declaring ‘Freedom’.”

A number of other NHS staff posted on Twitter reminding the public to wear their masks because Covid-19 “is not over” and cases were rising.

The UK Doctor’s Association also said online that the disease would not simply disappear on ‘Freedom Day’. “Covid-19 will remain a significant risk to the public’s health and healthcare workers.”

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Clarke said that they were treating unvaccinated people in their 20s and even teenagers who were in ICU with the virus. She begged people to get vaccinated, saying it took just minutes to protect yourself.

England Public Health reported on Monday (UK time) that there were 39,950 new Covid-19 cases, and 19 deaths within 28 days of a positive test reported across the UK.

The day prior, there were 48,161 new cases, and 25 deaths within the 28 day period.

Read the full article here.

Thousands of doctors have condemned the government’s “shambolic and derisory” 3 per cent pay rise offer to NHS staff in England, threatening industrial action as Covid hospitalisations soar.

Lobbying organisation The Doctors’ Assocation (DAUK) said the 3 per cent offered “does not come close to what staff deserve” and was an “insult” from the government when the NHS has been immensely challenged by the pandemic.

DAUK also said the pay offer represents a pay cut in real terms, as inflation this year is estimated at 3.7 per cent.

The pay rise covers nurses, paramedics, consultants, dentists and salaried GPs. But crucially, it does not cover England’s 61,000 junior doctors – who make up more than 50 per cent of doctors in the NHS.

Junior doctors are three quarters of the way through a separate four-year deal that gives them 2 per cent pay rises each year, but their exclusion from the 3 per cent rise was “callous in view of the large number of doctors in training who have worked tirelessly through the pandemic,” the DAUK said in a statement.

Many have been called away from their area of expertise and had to cover rota gaps due to continuous under-staffing – especially during the ongoing “pingdemic”.

One junior doctor told City A.M that the pay rise “forgot everyone who’s had their training disrupted during the pandemic or been called up early from medical school.”

But asked if the pay row would risk a repeat of the junior doctor strikes in 2015 and 2016, they said: “It’s not like the last strike, as there’s an ongoing pandemic now.”

Read the full article here.

High levels of stress are severely harming the health of GPs and their ability to provide care for their patients, doctors have told MPs.

In a parliamentary briefing on 15 July representatives from the Doctors’ Association UK and the campaigning group GP Survival said there was a crisis of “unprecedented scale” in primary care that needed urgent attention.

John Hughes, a retired GP who now chairs GP Survival, said that the pressure on practices had intensified because GP numbers had not increased in line with surging demand, and ministers’ pledges to boost GP numbers had not been delivered. Constrained funding relative to the hospital sector, negative media coverage, and high levels of bureaucracy necessitated by the NHS and regulators had also contributed to GPs feeling burnt out, he added.

“GPs are leaving at a rate of three …

Read the full article here.

BORIS JOHNSON’s decision to ease remaining coronavirus restrictions in England is prompting growing fear and calls for caution, fueling worries that a surge in infections will strain hospitals and undermine Britain’s economic recovery.

Doctors are warning that the fresh toll of the pandemic will overburden an already beleaguered National Health Service (NHS) that’s struggling to clear a large backlog of other operations, while economists expect a dip in consumer confidence in the coming weeks due to the greater perceived threat to public safety.

With social distancing and the mandatory wearing of masks due to end on July 19, Mr. Johnson is pushing ahead with dropping virus measures even as a new wave of the pandemic takes hold. Daily hospital admissions are expected to hit 1,000-2,000 per day at a peak in August and there are expected to be as many as 200 daily deaths, according to modeling by the UK’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).

Announcing the decision on Monday, Mr. Johnson urged caution, appealing to the public to wear masks in crowded indoor spaces and on buses and trains. He said that while the general instruction to work from home would end, “we don’t expect that the whole country will return to their desks as one from Monday.” He added that businesses should plan for a “gradual return to work over the summer.”

The question is whether Mr. Johnson’s move is too much of a gamble: Though the nation’s vaccination roll out has significantly weakened the connection between rising virus cases and hospitalizations and deaths, a resurgent pandemic would mean greater pressure on the NHS and added uncertainty for businesses.

Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK), a non-profit organization, said an increase in coronavirus cases would be a “disaster” for hospitals because the NHS is already facing an unprecedented workload, with many staff self-isolating. A surge in cases will mean more disruptions to services and delays to routine treatments, DAUK said.

“The unfolding disaster which awaits us in autumn and winter is the biggest public health experiment ever seen,” said Elizabeth Toberty, a general practitioner and spokesperson for DAUK. “The government’s strategy for opening up is completely lacking in logic and stands to put both patients and public services at risk.”

A survey of 2,500 doctors by the British Medical Association found that 90% wanted masks to continue to be mandatory on public transport, and 78% wanted them to continue to be worn in shops.

With social distancing and the mandatory wearing of masks due to end on July 19, Mr. Johnson is pushing ahead with dropping virus measures even as a new wave of the pandemic takes hold. Daily hospital admissions are expected to hit 1,000-2,000 per day at a peak in August and there are expected to be as many as 200 daily deaths, according to modeling by the UK’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).

Announcing the decision on Monday, Mr. Johnson urged caution, appealing to the public to wear masks in crowded indoor spaces and on buses and trains. He said that while the general instruction to work from home would end, “we don’t expect that the whole country will return to their desks as one from Monday.” He added that businesses should plan for a “gradual return to work over the summer.”

The question is whether Mr. Johnson’s move is too much of a gamble: Though the nation’s vaccination roll out has significantly weakened the connection between rising virus cases and hospitalizations and deaths, a resurgent pandemic would mean greater pressure on the NHS and added uncertainty for businesses.

Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK), a non-profit organization, said an increase in coronavirus cases would be a “disaster” for hospitals because the NHS is already facing an unprecedented workload, with many staff self-isolating. A surge in cases will mean more disruptions to services and delays to routine treatments, DAUK said.

“The unfolding disaster which awaits us in autumn and winter is the biggest public health experiment ever seen,” said Elizabeth Toberty, a general practitioner and spokesperson for DAUK. “The government’s strategy for opening up is completely lacking in logic and stands to put both patients and public services at risk.”

A survey of 2,500 doctors by the British Medical Association found that 90% wanted masks to continue to be mandatory on public transport, and 78% wanted them to continue to be worn in shops.

Read the full article here.

Doctors’ Association UK concerned that Home Office delays are preventing Doctors from helping in pandemic. IHS refunds still not processed

The Doctors’ Association UK has written to the Home Secretary Priti Patel regarding two issues that are adversely affecting the NHS frontline’s efforts to combat the escalating coronavirus pandemic. These are specifically related to delays in issuing Biometric Residency Permits for doctors with valid visas to work in the UK and the ongoing delays in refunding the Immigration Health Surcharge, promised earlier this year.

Delays in issuing BRPs are preventing qualified doctors with valid visas currently in the UK from starting work in the NHS and helping to mitigate the increasing effect of staff sickness from the escalating rates of COVID-19.

This is exemplified by Dr Ahmad Ussaid, a respiratory specialist doctor with a visa approved who is currently in Leicester, a city hit particularly hard by COVID-19. However, he is unable to start work due to an ongoing delay providing him with a BRP, despite multiple contacts by email and telephone in addition to intervention by his MP. He remains ready to jump into the fray but unable to due to this bureaucratic hinderance, depriving him of an income and the NHS of a skilled doctor when the country needs them most.

Meanwhile numerous doctors have also contacted us regarding delays in refunding the Immigration Health Surcharge. A flagship promise made by the Prime Minister and reinforced by the cabinet was to refund the IHS. However, for many charged such as Dr Aqsa Ghanzanfar who has emailed the Home Office thrice, they still await refund of this for no clear reason. Others have been refused as they have paid form bank accounts from their country of origin which have been understandably closed on arrival to the UK.

Dr Dolin Bhagawati, a Neurosurgeon working in London and Editorial Lead for DAUK said:

“These prolonged and ongoing bureaucratic delays are simply unconscionable. We have trained doctors in this country who are ready and willing to help combat the pandemic but unable to work due to the Home Office not doing its job and supplying appropriate documentation.

Meanwhile promises made by the Prime Minister and the cabinet regarding refunding the IHS to NHS staff continue to remain unfulfilled. How can the NHS attract the best and brightest to the UK if the world sees a government unable to fulfil straightforward promises?

Unfortunately, the immigration rhetoric and policies of the recent past has led to many of our valued colleagues feeling crestfallen, unappreciated, and exploited. This country must reward those that come to its aid in its time of greatest need.

We call on the government to do its job to allow the NHS to do its part in leading the country through this national emergency.”

CONTACT

Press@dauk.org

The Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) has been alarmed by the surge in cases and hospital admissions, especially in London and the South East. Doctors called for tighter restrictions well over a week ago expressing concern regarding the relaxation of the rules over the Christmas period.

NHS staff will support the movement of high-risk areas into Tier 4, but with cases surging many will be wondering if this is too little, too late.

Dr Samantha Batt-Rawden, President of DAUK and a senior intensive care registrar in the South East said:

“We realise how disappointing the new restrictions will be for many today, especially those in Tier 4 areas. However, doctors across the UK, but especially those in the South East are telling us that the surge in cases is already putting hospitals and critical care units under enormous strain. NHS staff are grateful to the public who have sacrificed so much to protect each other and our health service. But with the emergence of a new variant, sadly restrictions must be revisited. COVID will not take 5 days off over Christmas, and neither will NHS staff who do all they can to keep patients safe over the festive period.”

CONTACT Press@dauk.org

Accident & Emergency waiting times are now the worst on record, with more than a fifth of patients waiting more than four hours.

Medics warned that they were “on their knees” as the NHS continued to miss a raft of key targets.

EDs should see at least 95 percent of patients within four hours.

But the figure fell to 79.8 per cent in December, the lowest performance since records began in 2004.

The number of patients enduring waits of more than 12 hours on trolleys also hit a new high last month, with 2,347 patients stuck in corridors and side-rooms, more than double the previous month.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/01/09/ae-waiting-times-worst-record-medics-say-nhs-knees/

Speaking to the Daily Mirror DAUK Chair Dr Rinesh Parmar said:

”“The NHS must not be sidelined by this government who’s only priority during this election campaign seems to have been “Getting Brexit Done”. This government must take heed of repeated warnings from doctors which so far have been ignored. We are already in the midst of the worst winter crisis for the NHS yet. On the Conservative’s watch we have seen record waiting times, in A&E, for elective surgery or for a GP appointment as vacancies for frontline staff reach 100,000. Ultimately, it is our patients who suffer, and just this week DAUK were shocked to learn that 5,449 patients died as direct result of their long wait in the Emergency Department. This is absolutely unacceptable. The Conservative government must take some responsibility the damage they have inflicted on the NHS and work with frontline doctors who are saying loud and clear that without urgent action, the NHS will not recover from what is quickly becoming an all-year-round crisis.”

The letter in full reads:

Dear Mr Johnson,

The NHS is on its knees. This election has primarily focused on Brexit, and doctors have watched on with dismay as the crisis affecting the NHS has been sidelined. Just this morning we saw the worst ever performance data for A&E waiting times published, with just 81.4% of patients waiting less than 4 hours in NHS Emergency Departments. The publication of these figures, which also include a record low performance in cancer treatment and elective surgery waiting times, were delayed due to the general election. This comes as a report finds that 5,449 patients have died in the past three years as a direct result of long waits in A&E.

This is unacceptable. Whilst The Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) must congratulate you on your re-election, the Conservative government must now urgently address the damage inflicted on the NHS by years of under-funding. Doctors are working themselves into the ground to keep the NHS afloat as we continue to haemorrhage frontline staff due to the conditions we are working in. This cannot continue. Without immediate change, the Conservative party will fail once again to deliver on its pledge to increase the number of doctors and nurses in the NHS, in particular the pledge to deliver 6000 more GPs.

We are therefore calling on the Conservative government to commit to the pledges made to the NHS during this general election, and to take urgent action to address a growing recruitment and retention crisis in the UK medical profession, before it is too late.

We urge you in the strongest terms to reaffirm commitments made in your manifesto and:

• Increase NHS funding-we do not believe your commitment goes far enough, and urge that the NHS budget must be increased by over 4% a year in order to repair the damage to our NHS. We are concerned that your pledge amounting to 3.1% a year will not be enough to maintain the status up and to stop the NHS deteriorating further.

• Increase social care funding by £4 billion a year. Without this you will not be able to prevent further cutbacks, protect the most vulnerable in our society or alleviate pressure on our NHS hospitals.

• Reintroduce the student nurse bursary in full recognising that the government’s decision to remove it resulted in a drop of 40% of applications to study nursing and contributed to record nursing vacancies of 43,000. This must also be accompanied by the reinstatement of the payment of nursing tuition fees by Health Education England which was abolished by the Conservative government alongside bursaries in 2016.

• Work with DAUK and other representative organisations to implement an NHS visa to help us recruit doctors and nurses from overseas into the NHS who are often prevented from doing so due to Home Office bureaucracy.

• End unfair hospital parking charges for patients and staff. We strongly believe that this should be extended to all staff, not just those working night shifts.

• Establish a cross-party consensus on the NHS.

To address the NHS staffing crisis we additionally urge you to:

• Give EU doctors, healthcare professionals and medical students working and studying in the UK permanent residence status post-Brexit. We desperately need them.

• Scrap the unfair immigration surcharge for those coming to the UK to work in the NHS. 1 in 4 doctors come from overseas, without them the NHS would collapse. NHS staff coming from abroad already contribute a huge amount to our NHS through their service and commitment to the NHS.

• Immediately address the pensions tax crisis which is leading to spiralling wait times as consultants and GPs are forced to drop their hours. Although you have committed to an urgent review on the taper within the first 30 days of Parliament, we believe that ship has sailed. Doctors have been abundantly clear time and time again that this can only be resolved by abolishing the punitive annual allowance and the taper.

• Commit to a series of above inflation pay rises to address the sustained real terms cuts to NHS staff pay after years of pay restraint.

• Support the DAUK’s call for mandatory national monitoring of physician suicides.

• Address the blame culture by removing the power of the GMC to take doctors to court to have them erased from the medical register, and commit to reviewing the law on gross negligence manslaughter to ensure healthcare professionals are not prosecuted for honest mistakes working in an under-resourced system.

As an Association representing both doctors and medical students, we feel it is vital that you hear the voices of frontline doctors and grassroots organisations. It is imperative you work with us on implementing the above policies. Doctors, as patient advocates, will be watching, and will ensure you are held to account.

The Conservative Party must now strive to regain the trust of NHS staff, and our patients, and repair our damaged relationship with this government. The NHS needs to be a key priority going forward from today. Without urgent change, the NHS will not recover from the worst winter crisis yet.

Yours Sincerely,

Dr Rinesh Parmar