Many people outside of the UK forget that there is a fairly large “private” health sector in the UK. Now we see the advantage of NOT having a strict “single pay” system, as used by the Republicans to frighten the horses. Now NHS England has made an agreement with the respresentatives of the other providers to use almost their entire hospital capacity. This will be billed for “at cost”.
An extra 8,000 hospital beds across England, nearly 1,200 ventilators and almost 20,000 fully qualified staff will be available from next week….
In London, the extra resources includes more than 2,000 hospital beds and more than 250 operating theatres and critical beds.
The additional staff includes 10,000 nurses, more than 700 doctors and more than 8,000 other clinical staff, who will be joining the health service to help manage an expected surge in cases, said NHS England.
Operating theatres are important as they will already have oxygen supply so can be swiftly converted to emergency intensive care wards. A campaign has also started to get retired medical staff to return.
A few people appear to have had a “last hurrah” going out to visitor attractions. The National Trust has kept the grounds of its historic houses open so people could use them for walking and exercise but the numbers mean even these have now been closed. Bars and resturants, together with gyms etc, were ordered to close by midnight on Friday.
Despite appeals to leave food available for NHS staff coming off shift and the vulnerable, store shelves remain denuded. Food stores are taking on staff to cope with refilling the shelves, staff had already been taken off bakery, delicatessen and fresh meat and fish counters in the supermarkets. Many other stores have closed and are relying on on-line sales.
On a lighter note, a Metropolitan Police patrol boat was videoed sailing by Tate Modern in central London with its loudspeakers blaring out “Always Look on The Bright Side of Life.”