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«Currently, there are 19 vacancies waiting for COVID-700 patients in Wielkopolska. Has anyone thought that this situation guarantees deaths from other conditions? Because the other noncovid patients did not succumb to the miraculous process of annihilation, they did not disappear. Has anyone calculated how many beds have been taken from them? ». This is an excerpt from a letter that came to our editorial office. Its author, a doctor working in the “non-covid” ward, describes the dramatic situation that is taking place there in a poignant way.
- «The number of beds for patients who do not have COVID-19 is decreasing dramatically. We cannot even take the beds out of the warehouse and into the corridor, because we simply do not have these beds »- writes the author of the letter
- “The administrative units that supervise us have not prepared any guidelines / procedures on how to deal with patients who have not been confirmed to be infected with SARS-CoV 2, but who require urgent hospitalization”
- He adds that younger and younger patients, 50- and 60-year-olds, are dying, often without comorbidities. «These people» deteriorate «and collapse before our eyes. Because they can see all this crap. There is not enough equipment. Not enough hands to work. They are threatening that the oxygen will run out, “the letter reads
- You can find more up-to-date information on the coronavirus on the Onet homepage.
We have been living under the dictation of a pandemic for over a year, and COVID-19 is in the spotlight of patients, doctors, the media and almost all citizens. Although the attention of most people is focused on fighting the epidemic and securing the necessary resources, doctors are calling more and more loudly not to neglect other diseases that patients suffer from as well as before the outbreak. Many specialists appeal that access to doctors is difficult, and patients – fearing queues and infection – give up visits, check-ups and care for their health.
This situation also applies to hospitals – forces and resources have been shifted to wards fighting the COVID-19 epidemic, which has a strong impact on other wards and patients suffering from other diseases. What is the situation up close? Dramatically, which is confirmed by one of the doctors who included her observations in the letter. Strong and moving. Below we present its content in full.
“Good morning,
I am a doctor. I wrote a few lines about the situation of patients who have not been confirmed to be infected with SARS-CoV 2, but who require urgent hospitalization. Maybe it will interest you:
Is work in the covid ward hard? Yes. Is it physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting? Certainly! However, working in such a ward has one undeniable advantage. They won’t bring more patients than there are vacancies.
Three times more patients, the number of staff unchanged
What is working at my hospital like?
There is a drama. The two closest hospitals are being turned into “covid” hospitals. And we are both “covid” and “niecovid”. Thanks to that, we have half as many beds for internal medicine or surgery, and we do not have an ICU (because it is “covid”). We have the same staff, and we bet on the work of an additional (the largest in the hospital) ward. Additionally, they are now bringing patients from three counties to us, so we have three times as many patients and less than half of the existing opportunities.
It’s not even that we can’t work three times as much – everyone has long rolled up their sleeves. The point is that there is nowhere to examine these patients, let alone any place where the patient can be admitted, diagnosed and treated.
Equipment from wards is taken to the «covid» ward
The number of beds for patients who do not have COVID-19 is declining dramatically. We can’t even take the beds out of the warehouse and into the corridor, because we simply don’t have these beds. Existing wards are moved to other structures, without the possibility of isolating patients or proper monitoring of their vital functions, as the equipment from these wards is also taken to the “covid” ward. In a hospital, which is a “mixed” hospital with an Infectious and Intensive Care Unit, the provision of anesthetic facilities as well as post-operative care for patients requiring intensive supervision is very limited.
- Doctor: no declines in infections are visible, entire families are ill
The administrative units that supervise us have not prepared any guidelines / procedures, how to deal with patients who have not been confirmed to be infected with SARS-Cov 2, but who require urgent hospitalization. Please take into account that due to the current insufficiency of the health service, many months of neglect are visible at every step, patients come to us in a much more difficult condition than a year ago.
Nobody told us whether 1) we should write out those who are not healed, 2) not admit those who require admission, 3) see the sick and put them on blankets on the floor (if they bring their own blanket). There are no places for these patients in the units that should provide this care.
Currently, 19 vacancies are waiting for COVID-700 patients in Greater Poland. Has anyone thought that this situation guarantees deaths from other conditions? Because the other noncovid patients did not succumb to the miraculous process of annihilation, they did not disappear. Has anyone calculated how many beds have been taken from them?
For patients with Covid-19, a Call Center has also been created, by means of which it is possible to determine which hospital has a vacancy. The non-covid are out of luck. The emergency room dispatcher claims that he is not interested in the lack of places in the ward.
There was never enough staff to be enough
The voivode reported to the prosecutor’s office regarding the exposure of patients staying in a temporary hospital at the Poznań fair to loss of life and health (the situation of lack of oxygen).
And we, as doctors, can accuse him of taking the beds of seriously ill people with internal diseases to fight COVID-19 and not offering any solution for these patients, doctors, hospitals.
What about the staff? There was never enough staff to be enough. We are currently in the team 2 nurses for 45 patientsthat you need, among others feed them, change their diapers, give them water. The vast majority of patients cannot move.
It is not even just that there is a shortage of doctors. There is a shortage of staff that would perform extremely important functions to support patients. For the entire hospital, there are all patients – covid and non-covid patients one psychologist. One. Is there a really shortage of psychology graduates in Poland? Not only is it impossible to visit relatives, but there is no one inside the organization who would support the sick at least a little bit mentally so that they would be able to win over the disease. We don’t even have no volunteers.
Of course the situation is very dynamic. However, the year of the pandemic should, nomen omen, instill in decision-makers at least the seeds of strategic thinking.
What can we observe? Total organizational chaos, decisions made overnight, without elementary analysis of the consequences. The voivode issues decisions without thinking – how and by whom to do it?
Patients collapse before our eyes
The responsibility is shifted on hospitals that do not have such capacity in terms of personnel, technology and finance.
Since the surrounding hospitals have been turned into covid hospitals, then we expect clear guidelineswho treats the rest of the patients who would end up there before the pandemic, where there are beds for them and the staff to help them. We expect the creation of a similar Call Center as a matter of urgency, the aim of which is to quickly find a free bed for a non-covid patient in a hospital.
And when you ask about Covid-19 patients, it doesn’t look very cheerful either. They are getting younger and their condition is deteriorating very quickly.
Now people aged 50-60 are dying without comorbidities. These people “get worse” and break down in front of our eyes. Because they can see all this crap. There is not enough equipment. Not enough hands to work. They are threatening to run out of oxygen.
What if you ask how am I doing? How i feel Whenever I come to work, I feel like crying. I’m tired. Mentally exhausted by making decisions on a daily basis – who to accept and who to send home safely. (I take XNUMX% responsibility for it).
How to place patients in the ward so that the risk of infection in the hospital is as low as possible. For a patient with multiple diseases, infection carries a high risk of death. In March, I worked 330 hours. I can assure you, not because of greed or because I don’t like spending time with my young children. The time has come when you need to throw all your hands on deck. Only someone destroys this deck well and unscrupulously.
I send greetings,
Doctor »
Read also:
- «This is the end of the epidemic in Poland. We incurred enormous costs, we achieved nothing »
- The doctor warns: there may be many deaths from COVID-19 during the May weekend
- Who shouldn’t take AstraZeneki? The cardiologist explains
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