Paramedic: This winter will be devastating.

10/ “Furlough ending will I feel almost certainly lead to more drinking, drug-taking + mental ill-health.

The city in which I work is not a particularly happy one + obesity, drug + alcohol abuse and homelessness are serious problems + probably worse than when I lived in London.

11/ “I cannot see how any service in the area will cope come winter. I honestly think it will come to the point where there is simply no treatment available and patients suffer quietly at home whilst waiting or simply die…

12/ “…this won’t be the very elderly who would likely die fairly soon anyway but the younger and fitter who are just told ‘no’.

2/ "I’ve been a paramedic for seven years and have worked on ambulances as well as in walk-in centres and out-of-hours services.

The Covid restrictions have meant that there is an enormous backlog of patients who still need to be seen.

— Recovery: End The Campaign Of Fear #EndTheFear (@T4Recovery) July 2, 2021

4/ "This is something that should’ve been done before Covid but wasn’t done due to excessive caution.

Covid has forced a lot of managers’ hands and they are now implementing things that should’ve been done years ago.

— Recovery: End The Campaign Of Fear #EndTheFear (@T4Recovery) July 2, 2021

6/ "Patients have now gone all the way to A&E, been turned away, gone back to town and been turned away again.

They then ring their GP in the (very) faint hope of booking an urgent same-day appointment.

— Recovery: End The Campaign Of Fear #EndTheFear (@T4Recovery) July 2, 2021

h/t Tess