Children and young people have suffered immensely during the pandemic. But the mental health crisis facing Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) is nothing new. CAMHS services are at breaking point. They were before the pandemic. Tens of thousands of children are being turned away from mental health services – support they vitally need. Parents have raised this issue. Doctors have raised this issue. The stats provide the evidence. When will the Government admit that CAMHS services need to be better resourced? As the backdrop for the BAFTA winning series 24 Hours in A&E, St Georges is now opening their doors to the Fetal Medicine Unit in Channel 4’s new series ‘Baby Surgeons: Delivering Miracles’. The documentary follows obstetrician Professor Basky Thilaganathan and his team as they work to save the lives of unborn babies with complex medical conditions. In one moving episode, Professor Thilaganathan was seen helping parents Becky and Richard, who were told that their baby had no chance of surviving. At Becky’s nineteen week scan, baby Annie was showing signs of congenital heart failure due to pressures from a congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation of the lung. In simpler terms, this meant that Annie had a tumour on her lung the size of a malteaser. Owing to developments in medicine, Professor Thilaganathan was able to complete a non-invasive operation immediately on Becky and Annie by placing a tube near the mass, and feeding a laser through it, to zap and kill a rogue blood vessel. Remarkably, despite the parents being told that Annie’s heart could stop at any time, the procedure was successful and Becky gave birth to Annie several months later, with no signs of the surgery she had undergone before she was born. This is, yet again, proof of what amazing talent and humanity we have here in Tooting. Following on from the BBC’s successful documentary in March last year, ‘Stacey Dooley: On The Psych Ward’, Stacey Dooley returned to Springfield in a moving programme aired on Tuesday (13th April 2021). Stacey Dooley: Back On The Psych Ward follows the dedicated mental health professionals working on the frontline at Springfield, as well as a number of brave patients who came forward to share their experiences of life at Springfield during lockdown. I am always exceptionally proud of everyone working in mental health across the country. As both the Shadow Minister for Mental Health and Member of Parliament for Tooting, I remain committed to ensuring that local mental health services receive the funding they deserve. With the Officer for National Statistics estimating that 1 in 30 Londoners now have coronavirus, and the Mayor of London declaring a major incident across all London hospitals, the ongoing situation could not be more serious. NHS services in the capital are at risk of becoming overwhelmed in just a matter of days.
Working as a doctor in St George’s A&E department, I understand how emotionally drained healthcare workers are feeling. Indeed, ‘overwhelmed’ was the word used by nurses, consultants and registrars at our local hospital in Tooting when they were interviewed for a special report by the BBC, with one senior staff nurse saying she has “never felt so demoralised in her life.” The report conducted by BBC London's Political Correspondent, Karl Mercer, showed the heartbreaking situation in high dependency units at St George’s. The hospital has now had to increase intensive care capacity from 60 to 120, the vast majority of which are for coronavirus patients. Wandsworth alone recorded a further 2394 cases this week – the 13th highest in London. Whilst better times are on the horizon with the recent announcement of the approved Moderna vaccine, I can only implore residents to continue to follow latest public health advice on the virus to ensure we can protect as many lives as possible. On behalf of all my colleagues working on the frontline, please stay at home. London Covid-19 doctor says soon staff will be forced to choose whose life to saveRosena Allin-Khan, a Labour MP and A&E doctor, reveals ‘heart-wrenching’ decisions facing hospital workers
Rosena Allin-Khan, the Labour MP for Tooting and an A&E doctor, is still working regular shifts. On Sunday she worked at St George’s hospital in her south London constituency. She explains how the coronavirus pandemic has affected staff: I’ve been an A&E doctor for 15 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this before. The departments are quieter because people are staying away from hospital, but the patients are sicker. We’re seeing a distinct rise in the numbers coming in with respiratory symptoms, who are testing Covid-19 positive. On Sunday, very early in the morning, the entire resuscitation department, where the absolute sickest patients go, was full to capacity with patients with breathing difficulties. We had to move other very ill patients to the paediatric resuscitation area to keep them safe. This is only set to get worse. We’re seeing patients now who would have only contracted the virus two weeks ago. In the coming 10 days we expect the entire A&E department will be taken up with suspected Covid-19 patients. Doctors and nurses are brave, and the A&E department is known for being on the frontline and high risk, but there’s a palpable fear among staff for three reasons. Firstly, they’re frightened for their own health and those of the people they love. When I finished my shift yesterday, which was Mother’s Day, I came back to the house and I couldn’t touch or hug my two little girls until I put all my clothes in the wash and had a shower. The second reason is that staff expect, very soon, potentially to have to make heart-wrenching choices about whose life can be saved if we don’t have enough ventilators. That goes counter to everything you’ve ever learned as a doctor or nurse – to make life-and-death decisions, where we could possibly have saved every one of those people, is unimaginable. This is what our colleagues in Italy are living through now. Third, the patterns described thus far for symptoms of coronavirus are not what we’re now seeing in the emergency department. We’re seeing young, previously very healthy people, who are ill in hospital. Some are in their 30s, and they need ventilators to stay alive. Some patients are presenting with abdominal pain, which we hadn’t heard of before. A person can come in and say they have a stomach pain, and they’re put in the “green” area of the department – but then they mention they also have a cough. Everybody should be assumed to be Covid-positive until proven otherwise at this point. There’s also a real concern among staff around the country about personal protective equipment. They either don’t have any, or if they do many feel it’s being rationed. It’s very hard to listen to some colleagues say that as a result of there not being enough equipment to go round, they’re resigned to catching the virus – it’s just a matter of when. On social distancing, the messaging from the government hasn’t been clear enough. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has banned public gatherings of more than two people. It’s clear and easy to understand. There has to be no ambiguity in the language because people’s lives depend on it. Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives. The MP for Tooting has been working in her local hospital where doctors and nurses are already dealing with cases of covid-19. She warns that many of those being treated are in their 30s and 40s.
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan is the MP for Tooting but she is also a practising doctor in A&E. She regularly goes in to do shifts in her local hospital St George's and has been in contact with her colleagues. This Sunday she took a record down for Mirror readers about the situation faced by nurses, doctors and others on the frontline in the fight against coronavirus. She said her latest shift had been a "deeply, deeply eye-opening" experience with previously fit and healthy people in their 30s and 40s "attached to machines, fighting for their lives". And she has been deeply critical of the approach taken by the government in tackling the spread of the deadly virus. "The Prime Minister has been blase about this from the start, waiting for others to make decisions so he doesn't have to. It is costing lives," she said. Mirror Diary - Sunday 22 March6.30am – Leaving the HouseOn the way to work in A&E, to help out the real heroes of the frontline – the NHS staff who work day-in, day-out to keep us all safe. I am a bit apprehensive after seeing the stories that are being reported about Covid-19 and having spoken to colleagues across the country, but we need to come together at times like these for our communities. 7am – Reporting for DutyJust finished handover, which is when the day shift gets given notes on the patients who have come in overnight. There’s a very real sense that the number of cases are growing extremely quickly, something that will present a real challenge in the coming days and weeks. Some of the sickest patients that have been admitted have been young – they’re in their 30s and 40s, previously fit and well, but now fighting for their lives in Intensive Care (ICU). There was a lot of talk in January that this was a virus just like the flu that only affects older people – that simply isn’t the case. There’s a real sense of apprehension ahead of the shift – we’re all expecting a rocky road ahead in the coming days. 8am- Protective EquipmentThe first part of the shift was spent looking for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – these are masks and aprons that keep those working on the frontlines safe. While we’d all rather be treating patients, we have to ensure that we are adequately protected so we don’t spread the infection between patients. Frontline staff across the country are scared. We’re scared that we’re going to lose patients – we have spent years training to save every life that we can. We are scared of passing this deadly virus onto our loved ones because we don’t always have the PPE that we so desperately need. We’re scared that that if we aren’t properly protected, that we run the risk of spreading the virus between patients. It’s vital that people practice social distancing measures properly – crowded areas will only add to the number of cases, and the number of people being admitted into hospitals across the country. In the coming days and weeks, difficult decisions will be made by my colleagues in ICU about who gets a ventilator – it’s that serious. Midday – Resus overwhelmedThe whole of resus is full of patients with respiratory problems – this is the part of A&E where the sickest patients go. Patients are arriving breathless, with crackles so fine in their lungs, you can hardly hear them. Their X-rays show white lungs where normally, they would look clear and black, full of air. Major trauma, such as heart attacks and victims of car crashes, are now being moved into paediatric A&E. The situation around Covid-19 is clearly getting worse by the day. The talk amongst the team is that we feel that we will be overwhelmed in the coming days. I’m going for a refresher course on ventilators for staff – they’re also training new staff on how to use ventilators. The talk is, of course, feeling quite bleak as the day goes on – but this is what we’ve all been trained for. 4pm – Leaving A&EJust leaving A&E now – it’s been a difficult shift and a difficult Mother’s Day. At times like these, we must think about our loved ones - if we want to protect those dearest to us, we must stay indoors. I’ve just called my husband and asked him to let our daughters know that they won’t be able to cuddle me and give me their handmade presents when I get home. Instead, I’ll be getting straight in the shower and throwing my clothes in the washing machine – it is our duty to protect the ones we love. If we all work together, keeping our communities safe, we can, and we will, save lives. Former Labour MEP SEB DANCE explains why he is supporting Rosena Allin-Khan in the Labour deputy leadership race.
Britain has left the EU. As a former Labour Member of the European Parliament, as a Remainer, and as a proud pro-European, that’s still not an easy thing for me to say – but it’s the reality. There is no longer a campaign to remain. That doesn’t mean that Boris Johnson’s famous lie of “get Brexit done” has suddenly come true. The ongoing negotiations with the EU will continue to define our country’s future for years to come. Perhaps one day the fight to join the EU will come. How soon that time comes depends on what we do next. Pro-Europeans must now fight for a close relationship between the UK and our friends in the EU and ongoing rights for UK citizens. The Labour Party must play a crucial role in that fight. That’s why I’m supporting Doctor Rosena Allin-Khan to become the next deputy leader of Labour. Rosena was elected as the MP for Tooting the week before the EU referendum in 2016. Despite holding a shadow frontbench position, she refused to compromise on her principles or on the promises she’d made to her community, so she broke the whip and voted against triggering Article 50. Considering the shambles that followed Theresa May’s early triggering of Article 50, this has been conclusively demonstrated as the right decision. Rosena was also the first shadow frontbench minister to come out publicly and call for a People’s Vote. This was an incredibly brave thing to do, at a time when Labour MPs and shadow ministers were being pressured not to speak out against the leadership’s position on Brexit. At a time when the leadership of Labour needed a firm push in the right direction, Rosena was the one brave enough to stand up and do it. There are some voices in the Labour Party, who’ll try to convince you that Brexit was the only reason for Labour’s failure at the last general election – that backing a public vote cost us seats in the so-called ‘Red Wall’. But this analysis is deeply misleading, and is simply not supported by the facts. Yes, of course Brexit was a divisive issue, for Labour as much as for anyone else. The reality however, is that the overwhelming majority of Labour voters, members and supporters voted Remain, wanted us to stay in the EU and wanted a public vote on Brexit. That fact is as true of Labour voters in Redcar, Grimsby or Wakefield as it is of Labour voters in Oxford, Islington or Bristol – Labour’s share of the vote went down in 98% of all seats. Labour’s position on Brexit was fatally undermined not because supporting a public vote was the wrong position for our voters, but because the leadership of the party took so long to get to that position. We sat in the middle of the road on the biggest issue of our time and neither side trusted us. We lost trust among all our communities. Rosena knows this – she won’t stop standing up for our internationalist values. I joined the Labour Party because I believe in internationalism and solidarity across borders. So does Rosena. That’s why she’s worked across the world in conflict and disaster zones as a humanitarian doctor, and why she still does shifts in her local hospital as an A&E doctor alongside her work as an MP. So if you are like me – a proud pro-European, an internationalist and a Labour supporter – and if you want someone as deputy leader who’ll stand up for those values, and who’ll fight for our country to maintain the closest possible relationship with the EU, protecting our workers’ rights, our environmental protections, our food standards, our NHS, and most importantly the rights of EU citizens living in the UK – then vote for Doctor Rosena. Together, let’s take Labour forward. Rosena Allin-Khan MP: "I want to inspire Asians to own their identity”A CANDIDATE in the race for Labour’s deputy leadership has admitted the party “lost trust with voters” following its crushing defeat in the December general election.
Tooting MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan is up against fellow MPs Richard Burgon, Dawn Butler, Ian Murray and Angela Rayner in the race, triggered by Labour’s huge loss last year. Suffering one of its worst results since 1935, Labour lost dozens of seats which they had held for decades, including a number of constituencies in the Midlands and northern England, which historically tended to support the party. The loss was down to a lack of trust, Allin- Khan believes. “People, quite frankly, didn’t trust us to govern,” the MP told Eastern Eye. “We had a manifesto which I believe was full of good things, but voters didn’t trust us to deliver it.” The party’s stance on Brexit was an additional factor – “we didn’t seem decisive enough” – and the level of anti-Semitism in the party and the way it was subsequently handled “closed a lot of doors”. “I’ve been up and down the country talking to individuals, wondering why Labour lost, and I’ve been told by activists that people didn’t think we had our own house in order,” she said. Today, she said, the most common concern of voters is the NHS, the level of safety on the streets and housing. “We need to show that the hopes and dreams that people have for themselves are the ones that we (Labour) have for them,” the mother-of-two said. Next month’s contest will also see the unveiling of a new Labour leader, after Jeremy Corbyn announced he would be stepping down following the general election last year. Keir Starmer, Lisa Nandy and Rebecca Long-Bailey are in the running to lead the opposition party. Allin-Khan, however, will not be voicing her support for any of the candidates as she believes the party needs to “heal all divisions (and) unite” after it fared so badly in the election. “When I’m working in A&E and I see kids coming in with lung infections because of mouldy housing or I see kids who have to go to food banks (…) they don’t care if Labour is left, right or centre,” she explained. “So, the most important thing to move forward is to unite and I can show that by not nominating someone for leader.” On her role in the deputy leadership race, Allin-Khan said she was determined to use it as an opportunity to help “ethnic minorities own their identity and be proud of it”. “That is what I want people to feel I embody when they look at me,” she explained. “For me, being in this race, if that is the one thing I get out of this…that other young British Asians can look at me and say, ‘if she can do it, I can do it too’, then that is my job done.” Allin-Khan admitted she had faced prejudice due to her mixed Pakistani-Polish heritage and has received criticism that she “isn’t fully Asian”. In response to the comments, the MP is keen to highlight her mixed heritage does not make her Asian background any less “important, valuable or special.” “I identify with being an Asian woman, in the same way that I am proud to be Polish,” she said. “Some people in the Asian community wonder how Asian I feel because I’m mixed race, but I’m proud to wear my sari and embrace my heritage.” Some have even suggested that she change her forename to Rosie and take her husband’s surname to downplay her ethnicity. However, Allin-Khan is proud of her roots and is keen to emphasise it. “I went double barrelled because I didn’t want to lose the Asian part of my surname and that for me, is very important,” she said. “I am proud to say that this is who I am – a Polish and Pakistani, proudly British Muslim woman who loves the Labour party.” Born and brought up in Tooting in a working-class household, Allin-Khan described her young life as “tough”. Her mother worked three jobs to keep the family financially afloat, and Allin-Khan recalled there only being one heater in the house that they had to move from room to room to keep themselves warm. Allin-Khan failed her A-Levels, citing the difficulties at home as a factor. Despite the setbacks, she still had a desire to study medicine. However, she was told “it wasn’t for girls like (her)”, as it was financially prohibitive, and she didn’t come from the “right background”. Allin-Khan, who still works part-time as a doctor, knew she had to keep fighting if she wanted to pursue her dream career. “I think my upbringing led me to believe I had no choice but to sink or swim,” she said. After resitting her A-Levels, the then-24-year-old accepted a place to study medicine at Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge, which was funded by scholarships. “I really believe that where you start off in life doesn’t need to dictate where you end up,” the A&E doctor said. Although she credited her own resilience for her success, Allin-Khan believes the Labour government gave her an opportunity to fulfil her potential when things looked bleak. “The Labour government turned my life around,” the 43-year-old claimed. “I redid my A-Levels, did a degree and went to Cambridge to study medicine and I’m afraid those possibilities aren’t going to be there for a new generation of kids under this Tory government.” Allin-Khan, the MP for Tooting since 2016, admitted the biggest challenge of her involvement in politics is racism. She often faces abuse on social media and is mostly targeted for her Muslim beliefs. “When I look at the order in which my abuse comes, it is Muslim first, then my Asian heritage comes second,” she admitted. “My gender is third. Without a doubt, the amount of abuse is a huge challenge.” It is a concern that young BAME women may be deterred from entering politics due to the abuse other politicians have faced, she said. In response, Allin-Khan regularly engages with schools and community groups to encourage young people to “keep going and not to lose faith”. There is also a level of racism in the House of Commons, she said, highlighting that she is the first Muslim person ever to make it on to the deputy leadership ballot. Although it is encouraging to see more women and ethnic minority politicians in parliament, Allin-Khan believes there is “still a ceiling on what we can achieve”. Recently, Allin-Khan approached a “prominent BAME politician” to ask them to consider nominating her in the deputy leadership contest. However, the politician responded: “I’m only in the game of backing winners and you don’t look like you’ve got any chance of winning.” “We can’t have that attitude towards people, and I’ve said in my grassroots revival plan that our BAME communities can’t be an afterthought when it comes to supporting people to hold public office,” she said. “We need to be seeing ethnic minorities at the top of our party, on the front benches. “I’ve smashed that ceiling, but I plan to throw the ladder down and say people ‘come up behind, you can do this.’ But I know it isn’t easy.” NHS workers battling coronavirus are facing a “national shortage” of protective clothing, HuffPost UK has been told.Labour MP Rosena Allin-Khan, a working doctor who still works shifts in A&E, said scientists had told her that there were not enough body suits in the right sizes, while some doctors were only now starting to receive protective clothing.
It came amid new official estimates suggesting 5,000 to 10,000 people in the UK have coronavirus, leaving many doctors, nurses and other health workers at risk of infection. Last month, the World Health Organisation also warned that there was a global shortage of protective masks and body suits. One NHS source who worked at a hospital where coronavirus patients were being treated told HuffPost UK: “There were staff forced to wear oversized suits because that’s all they had. “All we have left is XL. “There is a national shortage of suits but this was raised with the government at least three weeks ago so something should have been done.” Appearing on HuffPost UK’s Commons People podcast, Allin-Khan repeated the concerns. “I held a meeting today with some people from the scientific community and they said their concern was though they had been testing out various modes of protective clothing, it turns out that there is a lack of the clothing they need available, the sizes aren’t available,” she said. “Just yesterday - because people still contact me because I’m a doctor still, to let me know what’s going on - someone said they were a GP and had only started receiving the necessary protective clothing yesterday and this has been going on for a month now. The Labour deputy leadership candidate criticised the government for moving too slowly to tackle from coronavirus. In a departure from Labour’s broad support for the government, Allin-Khan called for tougher measures to tackle the outbreak, including testing those with symptoms for the virus as a matter of course. Allin-Khan said the government’s testing programme could be “more robust”, reporting that “friends in the NHS” said people were being given “really unclear messaging”. She gave an example of two people who returned from northern Italy who phoned NHS 111 and were told to wait for a call back which did not come for five days, during which time they self isolated. When they eventually spoke again to NHS staff, they had to give their details again and had to self-isolate for eight days before finally being tested for coronavirus. Test results are also taking three to five days to materialise. Allin-Khan said: “We need to be moving quicker, people need to have a better idea of how to access testing, what it means for their daily lives. “The messaging needs to be clearer and the testing needs to be more robust.” She added: “We should have moved into the delay phase sooner than now and I don’t think we should measure our performance compared to what other countries are doing. “I think we should be looking at what’s best for us and when you look at the fact that China had the same number of cases that we already have surpassed before implementing measures we do need to be listening to what the other scientific community, for example some eminent epidemiologists, listen to what they’re saying. “Because ultimately we can’t leave the scientific community to be scapegoated for the government making bad decisions if they are proven to be wrong.” Allin-Khan meanwhile sidestepped questions on whether she wants to be shadow health secretary under the next Labour leader. “I like to focus on one thing at a time, genuinely, and I don’t think you should ever have a plan B because that’s implying you’ve accepted that your plan A won’t work out,” she said. “So I am genuinely, steely focused on winning this deputy leadership bid.” Put to her that she would be a good fit for the job, she replied: “Well I am a practising NHS doctor and I have got a master’s degree in public health and I care about our party so that’s honestly for whoever is the leader to decide.” |
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