I have now had several constituents complain to me that their treatments on the NHS have been postponed until a later date. They each accepted that Coronavirus is the dominant threat at the moment but they did seem to me to have quite serious problems and all but one of them were in mid-treatment. Potentially this delay could obviously be dangerous, indeed fatal, for them. Unsurprisingly they are worried and thus their contact with me. I decided to do some checking myself.
When I contacted the Princess Royal University Hospital, I received the following telephone message (which stated it also applied to Orpington Hospital, the Beckenham Beacon and Kings Hospital):
“In response to the increasing numbers of people being tested and treated for Coronavirus we have taken steps to redirect our resources at the Princess Royal University Hospital. Therefore, with the exception of surgeries for cancer and other life-threatening conditions we have stopped elective inpatient surgery until further notice.”
Quite rightly it seems the NHS are putting herculean efforts into being prepared for Coronavirus patients. It is comforting to note too that, if doctors consider a patient has life-threatening conditions, their treatment will go ahead. That is good news for the worried people who have contacted me perhaps.
Today, as things stand though, it looks like massive efforts have worked and the Health Service looks unlikely to be overwhelmed by the COVID-19 crisis. Huge numbers of beds have been reserved for people who might catch Coronavirus. That is seriously good news.
The Princess Royal University Hospital has a total capacity of 525 patients across all medical cases. Yet the Nightingale NHS Hospital alone can take up to 4,000 patients. Very locally some or all 32 beds in the Sloane Private Hospital in Albemarle Road apparently have been bagged by the NHS although I haven’t been able to check this myself. I cannot get through to the hospital on the phone. So locally we seem to have more than enough beds for Coronavirus victims.
I understand too that before the Coronavirus Crisis the NHS had 4,100 critical care beds of which about 800 were normally available at any time. Now there are apparently about 2,295 available daily and this is rising fast. Even with a current fatality rate of around 700 plus a day the NHS can cope.
But still I remain worried about what is happening to other people with different illnesses; a very old friend of mine with serious cancer has definitely had his treatments postponed. People with problems of the heart, liver or kidneys, and things like diabetes must not be side-lined either. Doctors always tell us that recovery is so much more likely if conditions are treated early. Postponement of treatments flies in the face of that truism.
Last week the Financial Times reported that almost half of beds in some English hospitals were empty. Is that a sign that people are failing to seek help for other life-threatening conditions during this crisis? There is a feeling amongst doctors that less people are seeking help for normal conditions, including heart problems, than normal.
I accept that right now other illnesses may seem not be as urgent or visible as Coronavirus but they must not be forgotten either. The NHS knows this too. It is well aware that it could face a tsunami backlog of other illnesses when we get Coronavirus under control. True it calls for fine judgement but even in the midst of this crisis it is very important to get the balance between COVID-19 and other treatments right. I understand that Coronavirus is present in the bodies of about a third of people dying at the moment. If that figure is correct we must remember our responsibilities for the other two thirds too.