Get the patients back in the Conquest Hospital quickly, please

In March, when the hospitals were being largely emptied for the anticipated Covid patients, large numbers of sick people were made to leave the Conquest Hospital. Although a few went to care homes, most of them were forced to go home or stay with relatives. My friend was one of those: she was in a ward there to prepare for an urgent cancer operation. I am sure her experience was typical of most of these patients.

There was great confusion and some panic at the time, and staff were telling patients to leave. Some nurses and doctors promised to put a care plan in place before they left, others just ordered them to go. One kind nurse offered (unofficially) to bring my friend some food. Once home, she was left entirely alone with no visitors allowed. She became sick and very miserable, feeling abandoned.

There was a single visit by a community nurse who promised to come weekly, but then phoned to say she could not. The Red Cross got in touch and did some weekly shopping, but would not come in. Specialist nurses phoned once a week, but again were under orders not to come and see her. If I had not broken the lockdown rules and visited, she would have been entirely alone for several weeks. I know other patients have felt similarly dumped without help.

The NHS authorities are now appealing for people who need treatment to come to the largely empty hospitals. They seem to have forgotten these patients, who are in dire need of returning. Since the hospital considers them “discharged” they are not keeping in touch with them or bringing them back. Community services have collapsed because staff have been drafted into Covid work. GPs are not seeing anybody, do not have the full medical history and are not actively seeking out the patients in the greatest need.

My friend has now had her much-delayed cancer operation in London but of course the tumour had grown during the delay and she is now battling complications in intensive care. Delays cost health, lives and of course money.

The hospital now needs to review the records of all patients it asked to leave in March, and bring them back urgently for assessment and readmission if necessary. Diagnostic services and operations need to be restarted urgently.

We know that, tragically, deaths in the community from non-Covid causes have been rising.

This is a large part of the reason why. Please, open up to these people.

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