In his recent Blog post “How it Starts” written in response to the Tory Government’s shambolic handling of the Covid 19 crisis, Craig just wrote: “The lack of contingency preparedness is completely indefensible. It is partly a result of the stupidity of Tory austerity that has the NHS permanently operating at 100% capacity with no contingency, and partly the result of the crazed just-in time thinking that permeates management in all spheres and eliminates the holding of stock.
It is incredible to me that the UK is willing to throw away some £220 billion and rising on Trident against a war scenario nobody can sensibly define, but was not willing to spend a few million on holding stock of protective clothing for the NHS against the much more likely contingency of a pandemic. What does that say about our society?”
This echoed my cynical comments in an earlier post of mine when I said: “…Why squander money on protective kit for your expendable NHS staff in preparation for a global Pandemic that might still be a few months or even a few years off? Instead you could prioritize the renewal of our Trident Nuclear deterrent so you can claim strategic importance in a war that would totally annihilate almost everything on the entire planet! That makes perfect sense… A really “strong leader” is going to opt for complete wipe out of the human race; why doesn’t Corbyn get the importance of that? How unpatriotic! …
So here we are grotesquely unprepared for the biggest challenge our nation will face since the Second World War knowing that our Government has funded those Nuclear subs to protect us from an enemy that will never be foolish enough to strike even if they had a valid reason to do so. The jingoistic politicians will invent a reason just to ramp up the fear and concern over an enemy that has never attempted to be openly hostile towards us.” In reality the most serious threats to our nation are the random terrorism that our warped foreign policy has provoked, a global Pandemic as we are witnessing with the Covid 19 crisis, but also the rampant disease of PsyOps deception and fraud infecting our democracy that we experienced with the Covert 2019 Rigged Election.
London’s Excel Conference Centre just completed its miraculous nine day transformation to become “a place of hope and a place of healing “ as the Nightingale Hospital. Partitions in place it was rapidly filled with expensive Hospital beds and will soon to be equipped with brand new high-end ventilation equipment, which will cost a pretty penny. There was some very serious money to be made here and a few Tory benefactors to please with lucrative contracts for an NHS facility that was designed to impress the public with its “no expense spared” propaganda spin. Tories will never let a good crisis go to waste!
Disposable gowns, single use face masks and cheap protective visors, that’s dime store kit for the staff. Normally bought from Asia at very low cost, this was a far less attractive area of supply if you wanted to make a quick buck. No wonder PPE slipped so far down the priority list when Hancock started calling around his friends to see who could turn a profit out of the current situation. It had not been deemed cost effective to retain a decent stockpile if PPE in preparation for an emergency, consequently our frontline Healthcare workers were running low and crying out for fresh supplies. NHS staff would have to make do and wait for that cheap kit from overseas to ship in while the boss made repeated lame excuses to reassure the public it was on its way.
The grisly death toll rising by over 600 patients in a day is no surprise as Hancock once again leads the daily briefing. Chastised in a previous announcement for honouring the brave NHS Doctors who had died, without acknowledging that Nursing staff were falling victim too, he reported that two NHS Nurses in their thirties had died of Covid 19. With far less fanfare, due to their lower status, it was briefly mentioned that two Nursing Assistants had also died of the virus; we need to remember that the delivery of care is a team effort where the contribution of everyone involved is vital to success. These courageous NHS staff were needlessly sacrificed due in part to the continuing incompetence of Tory Government supply chain blunders over PPE.
When Hancock waffles on with his shallow insincere accolades directed at ordinary workers who have been so severely exploited by the Tory Government for the past decade; it’s just nauseating to listen. Even cleaners are commended for their dedication now, but they will not be rescued from the slave wage poverty of a zero hours contract while the Tories remain in power. Shame on all those Tory MPs who loudly applauded their approval for denying a Nursing pay rise and voted to remove the Nursing bursary; the British public have not forgotten where your real priorities lie.
Prince Charles performed his first “Virtual Official Opening” of the London Nightingale from his safe bolthole north of the border after his fortunate recovery from a disease that so effectively kills ordinary people. Medical staff half his age face a far tougher challenge, bombarded by this virus from highly infected patients, they struggle to cope without the proper kit to keep them safe. Their fearless dedication to duty will save many lives. It remains a sad reality that if they had been soldiers in need of guns, bullets and grenades to kill the enemy de jour, they would not have been left wanting by the callous Tory team responsible for decimated our NHS.
This carnage was so avoidable if it had been confronted in a well coordinated effort at an earlier date. Vigilant checks at our airports and other points of entry could have identified infected travellers as soon as they arrived and ordered an immediate two week quarantine for all those returning to the UK from overseas. An early program of testing and tracing contacts could have keep the spread in check. There was time to start stockpiling PPE kit, ordering equipment and ramping up testing capabilities as the Government knew Covid 18 was on its way as early as January.
An evaluation of high transit cities would have identified London as a very high risk area for infection to spread rapidly. The elderly and those at increased personal risk could have been strongly encouraged to limit their social contacts or consider self-isolation from the very beginning of March, just as I had decided to do myself to limit the potential burden I might place on the NHS. The elderly and disabled requiring help would have had time to establish support contacts and get delivery of essentials in place before the panic buying overwhelmed their capacity to cope.
People not connected to the Internet, unaccustomed to using such technology or unable to afford it are struggling to adjust to the requirements of Online banking and ordering of groceries so that they can remain in isolation. Not everyone on the planet has a smart phone! The people least likely to be familiar with such equipment are among the most vulnerable in our country. Trying to rely on a more familiar technology is fraught with frustration and interminable waiting times only to be told to go Online. To initiate Online banking they need an email and a mobile number to text… This Tory Government knew exactly who would be most severely impacted by the hardships of this crisis, but so far they have failed to put supportive measures in place.
Those most susceptible to the disease could just as easily starve to death isolated in their homes or abandoned in care homes as infection becomes rife due to low paid care givers trying to provide support while unprotected and without being tested to determine if they are infected. Was this a tragedy of incompetence or intent? It certainly appears that the Tories seized upon this crisis as a “Final Solution” to create a “Holocaust in Care!” The reckless Tory policies have deliberately constructed another way to torment and exploit the poor. Those struggling through the benefit system, or already living in severe hardship relying on food banks, will have the weakest immunity to fight the ravages of Covid 19; young victims, even children, will die in the “Slaughter of the Sheeple!”
Bristol and Harrogate now added to the new Nightingale facilities to be converted at pace in Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff and Glasgow; a total of seven following on from the London example, but all destined to become a grim warehouses filled with helpless patients in transit to the morgue. Rapidly equipping these new facilities will become another cash cow for the wealthy elite with Tory favoured companies making a killing on lucrative contracts while offered a perfect PR opportunity to buff that tarnished Tory image by spending money on the iconic British NHS. Who will staff them and will they get regular supplies of PPE are less urgent priorities that succumb to perpetual annoying procrastination and delay.
Tories will never let a good crisis go to waste! It never had to be this way, but the juggernaut of Tory profiteering will not be derailed by opposition complacency. This is the ruthless Tory agenda that the stolen majority of the Covert 2019 Rigged Election gifted to Boris Johnson and we cannot change policy without removing this corrupt Government. A credible investigation of the alleged “landslide victory” result is urgently needed to “Rescue our Watchdog” and restore our failing democracy for the good of the people of this country. Any Labour realignment to help enable the unfolding carnage of the Covid 19 crisis is totally unacceptable and must be strongly resisted. The EU could be persuaded to help us restore our rights, but not if we waist time and do nothing.