The beleaguered NHS is overwhelmed
Credit: Heathcliff O Malley/ The Telegraph
In pain and fear, they perished. Sedated and ventilated, they slipped away. Gasping, lungs failing, many drew their last breath without a hand to hold or a prayer to console.
The victims of Covid-19 suffered alone. They died alone. And we grieved alone. On a national scale.
Some names remain carved into our national consciousness, like Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab, the 13-year-old boy from London whose life ended in a hospital, surrounded by strangers.
His heartrending final hours shocked our Government into compassion, by allowing relatives, in full PPE, to attend the death beds of the frail and frightened.
NHS Gets Political, Chiefs Call for Brexit Delay Because of Coronavirus
23 Dec 2020
Leaders of the British universal healthcare provider the National Health Service have told Prime Minister Boris Johnson to extend the transition period delaying the UK’s exit from EU institutions because leaving in the New Year would push the allegedly coronavirus-hit NHS “over the edge”.
The UK officially left the European Union on January 31st, 2020, but remains in a transition period tied to the bloc’s trading rules and regulations until December 31st, 2020. During this time, London and Brussels have been mostly in a state of deadlock in negotiations for a new deal, disagreeing over issues including fishing and rules on state support for domestic industry.
18 Dec 2020
There were at least 4.4 million fewer scans between April and September, many of which could have been life-saving, after the National Health Service (NHS) was told in March to cancel all non-essential appointments because of the Chinese coronavirus.
Analysis conducted by the BBC found that ultrasounds and CT and MRI scans fell by one-third during that period.
NHS England also admitted that the backlog for services is so great that one-in-seven people waiting for a scan have been on the list for more than three months.
Cancer Research UK warns that the delays could mean more people presenting to medical services in a worse condition than they would have had they been allowed to seek treatment earlier.
At the start of this year, I had never been happier. I was expecting a baby with the love of my life, Sherwin Hall, the man I had first met more than twenty years ago when we were both at primary school in Bermuda.
A few years ago, we met again in Leeds, where we were both living, and we stayed friends for ages before we finally got together two years ago. He was the most amazing man, kind, funny, strong, and we were so excited about our future.
But now we no longer have a future together. Sherwin died two weeks ago from cancer, aged just 28. And, raw as my grief is, I feel compelled to share our story in the hope that it might help prevent other, unnecessary deaths.