All Hands on Deck
by Dr Ann Bradshaw Mary Celeste The huge body of student nurses in training is not being mobilised onto the front line in the Covid pandemic crisis, as I wrote in Spiked recently. Beds aren’t the problem, it is said. It’s the shortage of doctors and nurses. On December 27th the Sunday Times stated that hospitals have been ordered to mobilise their "surge capacity" in the face of soaring Covid infections, staff absence and longer patient stays. Amanda Pritchard, NHS Chief Operating Officer, ordered trusts to use the independent sector, community provision, specialist hospitals and the Nightingale Hospitals. Some hospitals in London are now operating above 100% ICU capacity and are said to be near "breaking point". The following day the Telegraph reported that the London Nightingale hospital was even being dismantled. This desperate need for health care staff in the Covid crisis was clear at the start of the outbreak of the pandemic. Health Education England (HEE), the Education Commissioning Branch of the NHS worked together with nursing and other organisations on a national response. At this time, students came forward to work in their clinical placements as paid members of the NHS health care team. By July, 28,108 student nurses and student midwives had opted into and been eligible for paid employment. In June, although the pandemic was ...
