NHS facing ‘most difficult winter in its history’ as leaders call for £500 staff bonuses
The NHS is facing the “most difficult winter in its history”, with almost 90% of hospital trust leaders feeling “extremely concerned”, research has found.
NHS Providers, which carried out the survey, said that while cases of COVID-19 are “well below” their peak in January, some trusts are “beyond full stretch”.
It is urging the government to offer cash bonuses of about £500 to stop social care staff leaving for jobs in “hospitality, supermarkets, or online firms such as Amazon”.
Almost 90% of trust leaders surveyed said they were extremely concerned. File pic
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said the bill would come to about £750m.
He said: “While £500 is not as high as some employers in retail and hospital are offering as a ‘golden hello’ in the run up to Christmas, this is a price worth paying if it helps keep social care functioning as we need it to through the winter.”
The organisation said the “traditional peak of winter demand usually runs from mid-November to end-February, with pressure often greatest in January”.
Health leaders are calling on the government to take “immediate, emergency action to support social care”, it added.
Many trusts are said to be finding it difficult to recruit staff. File pic
NHS Providers said it had spoken to 172 board level trust leaders from 114 trusts,
According to its results, 87% are extremely concerned about the impact of winter on their trust and local area.
When asked the same question last year, the figure was 56%.
Moreover, 94% said they are extremely or moderately concerned about staff burnout.
Mr Hopson said that some trust leaders are “finding it impossible to recruit extra staff”.
People who work in care homes in England must now be double-vaccinated, while those in other health settings have been given an April deadline.
The BHF says there is a ‘cardiology NHS workforce crisis’. File pic
Meanwhile, the number of people waiting more than six weeks for a heart scan is 20 times higher than it was before the pandemic, a charity has said.
In addition, analysis from the British Heart Foundation (BHF) has found that NHS England is doing 10,000 fewer echocardiograms (echos) each month than before the pandemic.
Echos look at the structure of the heart and are routinely used to diagnose congenital disease and problems with valves.
The BHF said it is concerned that reduced access to the tests may have created a large backlog of people who need treatment.
“Long waits put lives at risk,” it said. “Delaying a heart disease diagnosis increases the likelihood of death or disability.”
It said the government “must act now” to address the “cardiology NHS workforce crisis” and outline how “newly announced diagnostic centres” could be brought into play.
The most recent figures show that at the end of September, 64,962 people in England had waited more than six weeks for an echo, compared to 3,238 at the end of February 2020, BHF said.
The total waiting list is 149,050, with 44% waiting six weeks or more.
Diane Phillimore is waiting for a scan, and says the ‘whole situation is shocking’
Diane Phillimore, 63, a carer from Calne in Wiltshire, needs an echocardiogram to show if she requires surgery to repair or replace a valve in her heart.
Her original appointment in March 2020 was cancelled because of the pandemic. It has now been rescheduled for this month – 20 months later.
“The whole situation is shocking,” she said. “I just want to know if I need surgery or if my heart is working properly, so I can move forward. Until then, it’s always there in the back of my mind.”
Sonya Babu-Narayan, Associate Medical Director at BHF, said: “Waiting lists for heart treatments were too long even before the pandemic began.
“Without an echocardiogram, doctors can’t see how well the heart is working and if someone needs potentially life saving treatment for heart disease.”
The Department for Health and Social Care has been approached for comment.
A judo Olympian has said her family is “devastated” after the discovery of body in the search for her missing brother.
Lubjana Piovesana, 28, appealed for help to find her younger sibling, Luis, 26, on Saturday. He had not been seen since the early hours of Friday morning.
A body was found in the River Frome near Napier Road in Eastville, Bristol, at around 6pm today, Avon and Somerset Police said.
Formal identification is yet to take place, the force added.
In a post on Instagram, Ms Piovesana wrote: “Hello everyone, Luis has been found.
“We are completely devastated but he has passed away.
“I am grateful for everyone’s support. And I am so sorry this happened.
“Luis was my little brother and loved by everyone. I wish he could have seen the love from everyone. He will be remembered by us all.”
The post was signed off with a dove emoji.
Luis Piovesana did not have any money or his mobile phone with him when he went missing, police said. Pics: Avon & Somerset Police
Mr Piovesana was last seen at around 3am on Friday at the Eastgate retail park, which is less than a 10-minute walk away from where the body was found.
He had travelled there by taxi from a venue in Little Ann Street, St Jude’s, a 10-minute drive away.
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The 26-year-old’s family spent the weekend searching for him, and asked people to check their sheds and gardens.
His partner, Laurin Bohler, said loved ones had travelled from Birmingham to help.
Mounted officers and police drones were also involved in the investigation.
Ms Piovesana competed for Team GB before switching to the Austrian team, and defeated British competitor Lucy Renshall in the women’s -63kg judo event at the Paris Olympics last year.
A man has been jailed for life for murdering his son’s girlfriend after she returned home from the school run.
Officers from Dyfed-Powys Police were called to an address on Bigyn Road in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, on 5 July last year.
Sophie Evans, 30, had sustained 72 separate injuries on the outside of the body, “all but three of them new injuries”.
Richard Jones, who is now 50, believed he was “being taken advantage of financially” by Ms Evans and his son, with whom she was in a relationship.
While the purpose of Jones’s visit was “purely normal”, he confronted her on that morning about his suspicions and Ms Evans’s reaction was such that Jones “lost [his] temper”.
He subjected Ms Evans to “gross violence” before ultimately strangling her and leaving the property to run errands, including ordering a new bank card and buying pastries from a bakery.
Richard Jones. Pic: Dyfed-Powys Police
‘Last time on their school run’
During sentencing on Monday, the defendant kept his head bowed for most of the hearing.
He will have to serve at least 20 years behind bars before he can be considered for release by the parole board.
Swansea Crown Court heard Ms Evans was the mother of two young children.
Passing his sentence, Judge Geraint Walters said Ms Evans “had just taken her two children for the last time on their school run” prior to the attack.
“She wasn’t to know that when she parted company with them that morning,” he added.
The court heard the Jones believed he was being defrauded by Ms Evans and his son.
“There is clear evidence, that in the days leading up to this, that you had begun harbouring thoughts that Sophie Evans and your own son were in fact financially scamming you,” he said.
“What precisely brought about that view is difficult to determine.”
Judge Walters said Jones “lost [his] temper when [he] didn’t get the answer that [he] thought [he] deserved”.
He added that, having lost his temper, the defendant “subjected [Ms Evans] to gross violence over a period of time, before you ultimately extinguished her life by strangulation”.
The court was told in evidence that at the time of the attack, Ms Evans was wearing only a bath towel.
‘The rock of our family’
In a victim personal statement, Ms Evans’s sister Kerry Quinlan told the court she was “the rock of our family”.
She said Ms Evans was taken from them in a “senseless and cruel act”.
“Words cannot express fully how much of a loss this has been to her children,” she added.
“When they cry themselves to sleep wanting their mum, she isn’t there and never will be.”
Ms Quinlan added that Jones had “taken everything from us, all in the most despicable way possible”.
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Ms Evans’s partner at the time, and the defendant’s son, Jamie Davies, said in a victim personal statement, read on his behalf, that they had both “trusted” Jones, and that Ms Evans had even been planning the defendant’s 50th birthday.
“The thought of having to live my life without Sophie causes me extreme pain and heartache,” he added.
Prosecuting, Michael Jones KC said the offence was aggravated by the defendant’s previous convictions and the fact Ms Evans was murdered in her home.
In mitigation, David Elias KC said there was a “lack of premeditation”.
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