The real reason clinical staff are so poorly protected

No real surprise there.

Why has the NHS been o starved of funds in 2017 and since?

What was the government spending its money on?

The NHS (and police force) have been run down and underfunded for over a decade. Surely, everyone knows that. Now that we desperately need them, were really up s* creek without a paddle.

Still, some will say that Boris and the government are doing a spiffing job and the pandemic response is timely and efficient, won't they?

It goes back to the Blair and Brown days when they cost us millions by going down the PPI route. Is that its title- my memory is going. They starved hospitals of money as have each Conservative government since, wanting and assisting us to go down the private route. Much of which cannot be undone without a lot of cost.

What took you so long, Varian?

PPP's, yes exactly. Now the cost will be truly astronomical and the cost in human lives unbearable!

The NHS has been underfunded for over 2 decades. This underfunding escalated in the last decade. Most of us were complacent and didn't make a fuss when we should have done. Those who did make a fuss were labelled as trouble causers and fear mongers.

Increases in waiting times and lists have been warning us that the NHS wasn't coping with it's normal workload but most of us turned a blind eye and trusted that if we needed it then it would be there. Now some people are paying the price for this turning of a blind eye. Not enough protective clothing for staff and not enough basic equipment.
As for ventilators, no health service could mothball thousands but the government and all subsequent governments have known since 2016 that we didn't have enough to deal with a massive increase in needs. The Influenza Pandemic exercise (Exercise Cygnet) showed up our short comings, one of which was our lack of ventilators. Surely that was the time to get companies like JCB and Rolls Royce on board. Design a ventilator that could be produced with very little alteration to existing machinery. Then, rather than going through this period of design and testing, ventilators could have been in production as soon as it was apparent that they'd be required in high numbers.

Anyone see Goves face when he was asked why the NHS has been stripped of 17000 beds and short of 100000 staff since the Tories took office. ???. He simply pushed the question to the National Health chappy who burbled and hoped for better in the future.

To that Gove could have been asked why, when they were warned of the coming crises, they wasted the whole of February?

Even worse here.
I live in the worst place for COVID19 cases after London. It is in Wales and the CEO said the reason was because we are on the border and therefore closer to London.

Run by idiots.

Anyone watched in wonder and awe at the nerve of Tory MPs who stood clapping for the NHS - who not 2 years ago voted against also clapped and cheered at the nurses pay rise being defeated?

Another mystery to behold

Tory MP Steve Double stood up and declared rather excitedly that he’d suddenly understood the value of unskilled workers to this country and perhaps Mme Defarge ( I think he meant P. Patel) would like to reflect on the things we have learned.

callistemon???

It's frightening enough, without someone like that in charge.
People who went into the hospital for some other reason have caught it in there and not been diagnosed and left on a ward with others.

I hope your gall bladder is ok and not bothering you.

I still say that this virus has been around longer than many doctors on TV have said. One GP this morning had said the beginning of February----rubbish !
Personally I say it's December of last year as it's easy to get mixed up when existing winter bugs are around if no specific tests are done.

Sometimes this country is too free for its own good !!

varian - |I imagine that funds which would have helped our health service have been sent overseas. It really is time to stop this nonsense of foreign aid and invest in our country.

I think you mean PFI Charleygirl. Yes a very costly mistake, but then I guess the clue is in where the funding was coming from.

Calistemon I know what Health Board that is. It must be very worrying where you are. It was being discussed yesterday and they were using comparisons with what's happening in Italy. Please stay safe ❤️

What I keep thinking about is the rhetoric about cutting waste in the NHS and cost cutting exercises. Justifying reducing capacity, staff, equipment etc. Then ,of course, they did it, snip, snip. Now, just as it appeared that after it had snipped it to a crew cut and was (apparently) going to be allowed to grow back a little bit ..... BOOM it's hit with a bomb ? and the fall out is difficult to deal with.

callistemon thanks. All is fine at the moment the doctor phoned and asked all the usual cancer questions, decided it was almost certainly gall bladder. Got to go for another blood test in 6 weeks or 3 if it plays up.

She said to ring 999 if it happens again as I will need morphine. But I shall try to manage it myself until the poor staff are over the worse

Where on earth would we be without the NHS. I hope everyone remembers this.

WWMk2 - your post of 15.51 is absolutely spot on.

Ngaiol funds for the NHS would not have been found regardless. You must remember that this government ideology and their drive to a small state, disguised as necessary austerity
Look at my post 15.15 that tells you if the Tories attitude to the NHS

The UK economy has lost £600 million per week since 2016 because of brexit- just think how many hospitals, doctors, nurses, protective equipment and ventilators that we could have had if it had not been for the utter lunacy of brexit.

www.ft.com/content/fb6285a4-5460-11e9-a3db-1fe89bedc16e

Thank you CherryChezzy
We are trying to take extra care at the moment.

Dr Phillip Lee, a former Tory minister, now a LibDem tells us -

We could have been ready for #COVID19. That’s what makes me so angry about this Government’s mishandling of this pandemic

twitter.com/DrPhillipLee/status/1244726326004715520