A doctor has hit out at the system after his request to defer jury service so he can help the overworked NHS service amid the Omicron surge was denied.
Dr Mike Smith, a GP in Knebworth, Hertfordshire, went viral after sharing his outrage at not being able to help the buckling health service amid the Covid crisis.
Taking to Twitter yesterday, he wrote: ‘Just had my request to defer Jury service in January denied.
‘Apparently being a GP in global pandemic during a workforce crisis with unprecedented demand doesn’t require me at work. Wow. ‘
This week care bosses warned homes will not have enough staff to deal with NHS orders for hospitals to discharge as many patients as ‘soon as practically possible’, to handle the predicted Omicron surge.
After sharing his disgust at being unable to assist the coffering health system during the Covid crisis, Dr Mike Smith from Knebworth in Hertfordshire became viral.
Dr Mike Smith’s tweet racked up over 40,000 likes, retweets and replies in less than 24 hours, with one follower writing: ‘I’ve been sitting shaking my head in disbelief.. January.. when we already know the casese will be higher than ever? Did they not plead today for volunteers to help with the NHS due to said predicted influx?’.
And sharing his outrage, one follower wrote: ‘Jury service is important but given that they have the entire adult population to pick from you’d think essential health workers would be given a reprise at the moment.’
Another commentator added “Shocking!” Obviously you’ll have to turn up now but if you get a trial that is more than 2 weeks, the judge should ask if this will be a problem & you write your reason on paper. The judge can decide if it is allowed, but you should make important commitments to work.
Another wrote about his own experiences, saying: “I work for the NHS. My husband was first called to jury service. He was at home home with the children while he worked from home in emergency gas services. I also did on-call emergency response in the weekends and nights when he wasn’t home.” His request to be deferred was rejected.
After his request to delay jury service in order that he could help the NHS during the Omicron surge, he reacted badly to the system
“When schools closed, nobody else could take the children. I was working for the NHS. He had to be evacuated and, upon his return to the hospital, they informed him it was cancelled.
One other person added that she was called two months after giving birth. I asked them if they would allow my baby to be breastfed and was denied. Can’t believe they won’t make exception for you under the current circumstances. We hope that you are able to prevent this.
One Twitter user also suggested that more retirees are called to jury service. He wrote: “I was pregnant at the first call and was working during an event. It was deferred immediately after I resumed work.
When it comes to Jury Service duty, there is no compassion. They should ask retired people, especially at this point.’.
This afternoon the Courts and tribunal service replied to the tweet, writing: ‘Hi Mike, we’re sorry about this. We’ve raised this with our jury team who are looking into it. We would appreciate your sharing more details through DM.
In less than 24 hours his tweet had accumulated over 40,000 likes. One follower wrote: “I have been shaking my head.. January.. while we already know that the casese will rise than ever?” They didn’t plead for volunteers today to assist with the NHS because of said expected influx.
In the wake of alarming modelling done by No10’s scientists, hospitals are now on alert. This is despite the fact that admissions may exceed the levels of last January’s darkest days. There were 4,000 patients infected and they needed medical attention every day.
However, the NHS guidance didn’t specify how patients should be considered’medically fit enough’ to be discharged. This was left up to the medics.
It is possible that returning older patients to home care could pose a risk to others, following Matt Hancock’s ex-Health Secretary decision to not test every resident before their discharge last year. This was the reason for many deaths.
MailOnline received a statement from Care England, the largest of the private chains in Britain, warning that the NHS has to test all patients and adds more staff to some homes so the scheme can work.
Its chief executive Professor Martin Green stated that if the NHS wants to release more people to care homes, they need to ensure they have all been properly tested, and that care homes have the proper funding to perform this work under a national tariff.
“There’s a problem with staffing within the healthcare sector so the NHS might have to hire some people to help make the discharge program work.
This week, the NHS directed hospitals to transfer all patients in good health off the wards into hotels. The move was necessary to deal with the anticipated increase in Covid patients due to the Omicron variant. Sajid Javid, pictured in Downing Street today ahead of a Cabinet meeting, admitted that even an urgent operation might have to be cancelled to speed up the booster drive for No10. This boost drives aims at offering a third dose of medication to adults and children by the end the month.
The official data shows that the NHS waiting list in England for routine hospital care has now reached 5.83million. It is the record-breaking number of months in succession. Some 1.6million more Britons were waiting for elective surgery — such as hip and knee operations — at the end of September compared to the start of the pandemic
It was revealed that nurses from Spain and Greece are flying in to provide temporary help at the hotels being transformed into Christmas care facilities to deal with the crisis.
After Sajid javid said that some urgent operations could have to be cancelled, it was necessary to accelerate No10’s booster drive. This drives aims at offering a third dose of medicine to adults before the end.
Ministers already advised anyone who wants to visit their doctor for a routine appointment to do so in the new year. This will allow GPs to focus on giving booster shots. Drs demanded clear communication on the definition of what constitutes an ‘urgent’ condition, including warning patients to not bring in rashes and common colds.
Patients’ rights organizations and charities for cancer have criticized the policy today as a ‘hammer punch’ to those in need of care. Delays in visiting a physician can also lead to missing crucial early signs. MacMillan stated that it is concerned about the ‘unintended’ consequences of the NHS shifting to Covid prioritisation.
A record 6 million people are waiting for NHS surgery. The crisis is exacerbated when hospitals have had to cancel many thousands of procedures during the pandemic.
Critics claimed that the NHS had become the ‘National Covid Service,’ sacrificing some elements of healthcare in order to be able to take on the emerging outbreak.