Nutz firstly I wasn't aware you had health issues. Sorry if I missed that and I do hope your OKD6Nutz wrote:Your point is only partially correct.Blade wrote:My point was people still received emergency treatment at the height of the pandemic.
I had the misfortune of having to visit two emergency facilities within the same day, requiring emergency cardio investigation. My first port of call is Thatcham Minor Injuries clinic as it has really good facilities, is well staffed, and less busy than Royal Berks A&. Bearing in mind my statement about the my health requirements, I had phoned 111 and didn't feel I needed to tie up an ambulance but they agreed I needed to be seen within a 2 hour window.
* - I was unable to have a walk-in appointment at Thatcham, something that is normally available.
* - Thatcham, as described is normally very busy. All departments where closed apart from a makeshift minor A&E staffed by max 2 doctors.
* - General appointments where not available, only referrals from 111.
* - I was referred to Royal Berks A&E, and they had to call ahead to ensure I got through security.
* - The entrance to Royal Berks was guarded by a nurse taking initial details and turning away people who she believed could wait to see their GP the next day. Even though you can't "see" a GP. This was backed up by at least 2 security guards in very heavy duty kit.
* - A&E was deserted and was running on minimal staff.
* Since being discharged I have wanted to see my GP on at least 4 occasions to discuss medication, however I am unable to have a face 2 face appointment only a time limited call.
So, from those points above, while I was able to access the medical care I needed it took several phone calls to ensure I was worthy enough to be seen. I can only surmise this was due to limited resources. With regards to Thatcham Minor Injuries and Royal Berks, from what I saw I can only suggest that they where forced to reduce staff and therefore capacity as they where reallocated to COVID-19 care. What is very obvious though is that the number of people that would have required emergency care around this time would have had great difficulty accessing it. Timeframe wise, this also happened during the down slope of virus infections, so again you would have to surmise that during the peak of numbers this situation would have been worse.
Secondly, and tongue in cheek, if I want to be as argumentative as Duke, I'm Right, as you did have emergency treatment during the height of pandemic, whether it be March, April or May
That said its pointless arguing such trivia and being reasonable I do get your point mate and genuinely do hope your better or are getting the right care. GWS
