Second wave seems to be behind but don’t lose your memory about 2020

2020 – a decidedly stressful year for the British healthcare sector. With the rush to the vaccine and more than 200,000 seriously ill from covid-19, the NHS is trying its best to support the nation.

It seems that the second wave has passed, with a number of entrants per covid that in the second week of February has dropped to 13 703, compared to 25 621 in January.

Certainly excellent news, but we must not forget the wave effect of the virus which seems to return like a tsunami as soon as the measures loosen up. Citizens must do their part respecting the social distancing, companies should adhere to the rapid test program to ensure timely tracing. Not just to avoid a third wave but to release some pressure from our healthcare providers.

Nobody wants to go back to the December levels, when doctors were again under the eye of the storm, already exhausted and close to the collapse of the nervous system and hospitals overwhelmed.

Two months ago, when the UK variant was first discovered, Andrew Hayward, a member of the government’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), said that England was “entering a very dangerous phase of the pandemic”.

Now the variants are increasing and the first laboratory studies do not feel like reassuring about the efficacy of vaccines against the South African and Brazilian variants. This means that we are once again entering an uncharted area, while more than 10 millions UK citizens have received their first jabs.

It’s not just about those who catch the virus, but also those people who do not receive treatments because they’re scared to come into the A&E, where you might wait for over 12 hours. Or because of the huge backlog in hospitals on non-urgent operations and procedures cancelled in the first wave, which included 55,000 patients waiting more than 18 weeks to start cancer treatment.

The “worst of circumstances bring out the best in people” – says Sir Simon, the NHS England chief executive – it is “certainly true across the health service”.

It’s very important that we become the best version of ourselves, in such uncertain times where the spiral of hope seems to get bigger and bigger, we shall slip away from the right path.

And we as an organisation, would like to help healthcare and private companies to find the best people who can take care of patients and maintain the required level of safety in the workplace, to secure the vital services to all UK citizens.