Thanasis Gavos, London
Around 200 members of the British Armed Forces will be taking up positions in London hospitals to help the NHS’s health care system cope with the growing number of Omicron’s staff absenteeism, which is also increasing daily.
Military doctors will assist NHS doctors and nurses in treating patients, while other soldiers will take on general duties as the gaps left by the absence of administrative staff from public hospitals in the British capital are significant.
On Thursday, Parliamentary Health Committee Chairman and former Conservative Health Minister Jeremy Hunt said the NHS needed 5,000 doctors and 17,000 more staff than existing staff to manage the huge waiting list of 5.8 million patients, in addition to the pressure. created by the pandemic.
Doctors ‘and nurses’ representatives are urging the government to change its policy and impose stricter restrictions in England. They say that this could reduce the wave of Omicron carriers and consequently the number of patients who will need treatment, especially as the data show that the variant is now spreading among the elderly who are more likely to end up in hospital.
Patricia Marquis, director of the Royal Nurses Association of England, commented that with the mandate to deploy troops to hospitals, “the Prime Minister and others can no longer dispute questions about the ability of NHS staff to provide safe care”.
Undersecretary of State Paul Scully said this morning that although the government acknowledges the pressures on the public health system, it “does not see the need” for additional restrictions.
Meanwhile, an analysis of the data on hospitalizations by Spectator magazine shows that their duration has indeed decreased after the predominance of the Omicron variant.
During the third wave of the pandemic, from May onwards, Covid patients over the age of 80 spent an average of 11 days in the hospital. From 1 December onwards, the average length of hospital stay at these ages has dropped to just over five days.
For patients aged 70-79 years the average hospitalization has been reduced from eight to five days and for 50-69 years from seven also to five days.
For those under the age of 50, the average length of hospital stay has been reduced from four to three days, respectively.
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