Guest essay by Eric Worrall
As the British National Health Service screams about the intense stress of dealing with rising Covid-19 hospital admissions, a strange story has emerged of an anti-lockdown activist being arrested for the crime of publishing a video of an empty NHS hospital.
Anti-lockdown activist who walked into hospital and filmed ’empty’ wards is handcuffed in her dressing gown and arrested by police who turned up at her door
- Debbie Hicks filmed herself wandering around Gloucester Hospital on Monday
- She was arrested by police on Tuesday for an alleged public order offence
- Hospital deny her claims that wards are empty and pandemic is a ‘massive scam’
- Ms Hicks was a Labour council candidate who said the 2017 Manchester terror attack was ‘wonderful timing for Theresa May’
- She was charged under coronavirus act at an anti-lockdown event last month
By MARTIN ROBINSON, CHIEF REPORTER FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 01:24 AEDT, 1 January 2021 | UPDATED: 17:41 AEDT, 1 January 2021
An anti-lockdown protester and comrade of Jeremy Corbyn’s anti-vaxxer brother Piers has been arrested for filming inside a hospital and sharing footage on social media she claims shows the coronavirus pandemic is a ‘massive scam’.
Debbie Hicks wandered around Gloucester Royal Hospital on Monday saying it was ‘shut down’ and ‘dead’ and was arrested in her dressing gown by two officers who visited her home in Stroud 24 hours later.
In the eight-minute film, viewed by 158,000 people on Facebook, she says: ‘We’ve been put in Tier 3, for this? It’s a disgrace. I’ve seen less than 20 people. It’s completely dead in an empty hospital with wards shut down and the lights off.
‘Where are all the people dying and where is the mutant virus? I can’t see the evidence and neither can the public watching. We’ve been robbed of Christmas for this’.
Gloucester Royal Hospital has hit back and insisted the wards are ‘extremely busy’ and accused her of ‘intrusion’ and upsetting patients filmed waiting in A&E. One doctor told MailOnline she had filmed a deserted outpatient area on a bank holiday Monday, hence why it was empty.
…
She is an active supporter of Piers Corbyn and his ‘Freedom Rally’ movement, attending protests in London with him and posing for a selfie on the Tube using a party hat as a mask.
Mr Corbyn tweeted the video of her arrest today with the caption: ‘Fascism’.
…
Read more (includes video): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9101999/Anti-lockdown-activist-46-arrested-secret-hospital-footage.html
Piers Corbyn, cited as the leader of the movement, is a high profile British climate skeptic, and a radical left wing activist who led squatters rights protests in the 1970s. Corbyn is the brother of far left former British national opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Piers Corbyn appeared in climategate email 0837094033.txt, in which former CRU Director Phil Jones described Corbyn as Britain’s equivalent to Fred Singer, Pat Michaels, Bob Balling or Richard Lindzen.
Corbyn also now appears to also be a leader of Britain’s anti-lockdown movement.
I’m not disputing that there likely is substantial stress on the NHS. But what a strangely heavy handed response to the activities of a citizen journalist, even if she did break a few rules. Instead of aggravating tensions by responding with force, the Gloucester Royal Hospital could have attempted to de-escalate the situation, say by inviting Debbie Hicks in for an official visit, so she could get a more complete picture on what was happening.
Coming to America in ~3 weeks.
In many places, its already here! The NYC Javits Convention Center, turned into a massive makeshift Hospital, never filled its beds, and they sent away the Hospital ship that President Trump delivered to NY Harbor.
BTW: Piers is an erudite Climate Realist – the Brits are lucky to have someone of his caliber speaking truth to their citizens!!!
Both Corbyns are far left reactionary’s. The only reason any sane person has for tolerating Piers are his views on climate change. Personally, I’d rather he kept his mouth shut on the subject. The last time I looked his website has the appearance of a mental health victims attempts at crayon art. He loves to give the impression of the eccentric intellectual but, in common with his brother, he’s just a badly dressed old fool who appears to have personal hygiene issues.
I’d like to meet their hair stylist.
Agreed on his horrific website design…
“Both Corbyns are far left reactionary’s.”
Minor correction: “Both Corbyns are far left reactionaries.”
🙂
Sounds like the hospital has Dominion software tracking admissions and discharges!
I like this part…
I guess Death takes all holidays
…
And apparently illness is also on holiday
Should have been filled with sick bank employees, right?
Why is any part of a hospital in the UK shut down for a bank holiday?
…… particularly with SO MANY Covid patients 😉
It is a part of the hospital where previous patients come in for a check up or some such, an ‘put patient’ area. Most likely because many run of the mill procedures havent been done in the last year.
Also outpatient areas dont tend to have wards of beds, they dont hold patients over night, but have examining rooms where the patients progress in healing can be looked at.
That is exactly correct. These “wards” were empty because they were for day patients. Routine surgery has been cancelled because they cannot be staffed with the pressure from Covid – and it’s a Bank Holiday.
She lied about the empty wards. There is no free speech defence for deliberate deceit.
She was encouraging people to take a risk unnecessarily. It’s like saying “There’s no fire, just wait here” while the floor above is an inferno.
Better tell the media then. They have been lying to us for a very long time. It is so bad now that I am surprised when they tell the truth.
“ above is an inferno.”
Hyperbole indeed 😉
So what do you see in the video? Rooms with beds, or exam rooms with a table and some chairs? They would look different in the States, not sure how they look in the UK.
“There is no free speech defence for deliberate deceit.”
Really? What do you call “Ocean Acidification”? Is that not a lie for deliberate deceit?
I’m not defending that. I am a sceptic. But I’m not a liar.
What nonsense. Did you bother to look at the video? These empty wards included surgery, LT care. They are empty. The Fake News and CVidiots like yourself are crying that the NHS is overwhelmed. No evidence to support that exists. None. She is one of many btw that have taken videos of empty hospitals. So your thesis is that they just wander into empty-areas, which are empty for a reason….all the while you bleat that the NHS is overwhelmed. It isn’t.
These are the “Nightingale” hospitals that 200 million+ of pounds were spent and they, apparently, lay empty!
“…..and they, apparently, lay empty!” Thankfully.
The first lockdown and Nightingale hospitals were a small price to pay until someone could figure out what was going on.
Subsequent interventions are unnecessary and seem to be doing more harm than good.
The villain in all this is Ferguson. A man with a history of wild exaggerations based on computer modelling. Our cognitively dissonant government runs him a close second though. They are now well aware of his track record, and the success of Sweden, by virtually ignoring the virus, and yet continue on the path of societal self harm.
Outpatients are areas where people come in for checks on fractures, wounds and regular blood tests. They can also operate as day case units such as chemotherapy, surgical procedures or similar.
The main wards also try and reduce the number of inpatients over the holiday period by discharging as many as possible and as safe as possible.
Then on Christmas Eve or a couple of days earlier there will be an increase in ED attendances of elderly people, usually brought in by relatives, with breathing problems and need to be kept in hospital; this is rather cynically referred to as granny dumping, so the family can have a good Christmas without having to look after granny. Especially when you consider that the elderly relative has been short of breath for months due to heart failure.
I used to work in the ED and we saw this every year.
I have questions about how many is too many.
How many total beds did your hospital have?
What did your administration consider the hospital’s “capacity” to be?
What did “full” mean?
Hospitals seem to have been laying off just enough employees over the years to remain profitable.
They must designate their “capacity” as the number of beds they can staff… or some algorithm thereof.
The trend of layoffs which began long before Covid now leaves some of the behemoths of the medical industry (with half their lights on) claiming to be “at capacity” or even “overwhelmed”.
In Colorado, water being the valuable comodity that it is, “capacity” of our reservoirs is variously defined to please the vested interests, but none of those definitions is the same as “full” – the level at which they have to start letting water out over the spillways. Bear with me.
NPR has posted an interesting resource last week which employs data from the CDCs “Covid Hospitalization Tracking Project”. It claims to show “…detailed hospital-level data of… how many inpatient and ICU beds are available on a weekly basis…” and how many are filled with Covid-19 patients. What I found were county-level data, that is, the portion of Covid patients to total beds in each hospital, averaged over the county. The implied “stress level” of each is given.
https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/mili-misrc-covid19-tracking-project
Federal Data Reveal Which Hospitals Are Dangerously Full This Week. Is Yours?
An interview of “hospital capacity experts” accompanies the database which explains what constitutes a hospital “at stress level” and one which is “overwhelmed”.
Anything above 20% represents “extreme stress” for the hospital, according to a framework developed by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
If that figure gets to near 50% or above, the stress on staff is immense. “It means the hospital is overloaded. It means other services in that hospital are being delayed. The hospital becomes a nightmare,” IHME’s Ali Mokdad told NPR.
The database shows us: Out of 2,425 counties represented, about half (1,191) have 10 % or fewer of their beds occupied by Covid patients. 609 counties (one out of ten) have beds 10 – 19% full. These counties are “concerning”. 592 counties have beds 20% – 49% capacity. They are “stressed”. And 35 counties have more than 50% of their hospital beds with Covid patients in them.
That means that about 1.4 % of America’s counties have hospital systems that are “overwhelmed” by covid. According to the “capacity experts”.
The Covid Tracker project is up-to-date for the hospitals it follows. There are 6,146 hospitals in the U.S.
If you have ever been to an American hospital in a metropolitan area, these are more or less always at 100% capacity. I used to be a traffic homicide investigator, and visited these hospitals several time each week. Patients would often wait in the lobbies 24 hours waiting for a bed to become available, some never got a bed.
When I look at the current occupancy rates in major hospitals, they seem no different from pre-COVID times.
“or some algorithm thereof.”
I don’t have any links, but I’ve read more than one report that CA is counting every Covid patient as 1.5 for capacity determinations.
Its such a lame excuse. How can anyone take that as a serious excuse?
The “out patient” areas are for non-emergency treatment, such as colonoscopy. You need to go to a full service hospital for a colonoscopy because the exam might turn into surgery and a transfer to a full care area.
Out patient care is not 24/7 service, but is pre-planned treatment where you expected to go home afterwards.
If they want us to believe them, they should stop acting like they are hiding something.
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
Just arresting someone for what she did reminds me too much of the Third Reich. Has the Fourth Reich started?
I keep hearing how well NZ has handled it but that can change very quickly when the summer finishes.
As an aside my face has been peeling way more than usual and more like it did in the early seventies.
In 1978 I travelled through California and expected to have problems with sunburn but basically never had a problem. NZ sunshine is way more intense.
Surely you can understand that having an unknown wandering around a hospital is not safe for the patients? If she was actually in covid wards then she could spread the disease to non covid areas. This is not safe!
If on the other hand she was right and the hospital was indeed empty then it was safe.
If she was in the Outpatients department, which are routinely closed on holidays, she is yet another dishonest far left reactionary.
In common with most in the UK, no one can get into our local hospital without a pre booked appointment and a password.
I would be interested to understand this hospitals security measures and how she managed to get in.
I was confined to hospital for much of September/October (not Covid related) and can assure people that the place was a fully functioning, busy place.
If she is telling the truth the hospital will never admit it,if she is lieing she will likely never admit it and we will never know and will be left to decide for ourselves but like you I’ve never been to a quiet hospital. Hope you are fully recovered and feeling well.
living near this hospital – i have seen the area she walked, it is a public area – no out patients on BH. A&E had people waiting and she destroyed these peoples privacy. the areas shown were not wards and certainly not covid wards – these all have entrance locks. Shops on BH are usually shut – but there are others in areas she did not film – were these open for patients use? Her remark about cleaning of the back of ambulances just shows her stupidity. If the last occupant had bled on the floor, or thrown up, or sprayed covid around the I would hope the ambulances are cleaned
She is just another Karen.
And you, as a typical leftist, are a racist bigot, clearly shown as such by your use of the bigoted racist term “Karen” in describing this person.
Personal attacks are bad, but they are the currency of leftists in defending their policies.
BTW: My comments ARE NOT a personal attack on you since you defined yourself with your racist bigoted comment. I am just bringing it to your attention since liberals, in general, cannot see themselves for what they are.
This is an eminent example of extremely confused thinking.
BTW: my comments ARE a personal attack ‘cos, well, truth hurts.
You should come to my local hospital. Part of it is now a marks and spencers food hall with a door straight through to the wards which is never guarded or secure.
So many problems with a short sentence… She is neither dishonest nor left. She is likely honestly stupid and this is not leftism by any stretch of the word, regardless of Piers Corbyn. He is anything but a typical leftish. You know, the Left does respect science unlike P. Corbyn and this woman. They are much like the anti lockdown right wing protesters of the US. Your implicit assumption that “far left” is (always or often) dishonest is of course false. Furthermore, “far left reactionary” is like “vegan flavored beef”. A “reactionary” is a right winger who wants to put back people into subjugation turning back any social advance advocated by the Left. Reaction to the action of the Left. You may have confused it with “far left revolutionary”.
BTW your confusion about the Left is exemplified with your views about Jeremy Corbyn expressed elsewhere. He is not far left, he is a fairly typical social democrat of the old post war Western European kind.
In other words Corbyn is a Jihad-supporting Communist. Thanks for playing.
If she wore her mask then she would be safe 😜
And used hand sanitiser…
Or carried a gun. Oh, wait… Do HRH subjects have to vaccinate with dull syringes and do surgery with pointless butter knives. CoViD-1984 PLANdemic
“mikebartnz
NZ sunshine is way more intense.”
Ha ha ha ha, funny – NOT! Nope! It’s exactly the same amount of sunshine the whole world receives at those latitudes. The difference is the cleanliness of the air. Pencarrow Head at the port of Wellington, NZ has the second cleanest air measured on this rock.
So what’s wrong with saying it’s more intense?
As for the cleanest air. Get a grip as there would be plenty of places with the same or cleaner air within the world.
“mikebartnz
Reply to
Patrick MJD
January 2, 2021 3:46 am
So what’s wrong with saying it’s more intense?”
Because it isn’t!
I think you are a little confused. If it is getting filtered before it hits me standing on the ground, it is more intense when it isn’t and you did say Pencarrow Head has the second cleanest air on this rock.
Much of my life has been spent in many countries worldwide working offshore. The sunlight in NZ is the most intense for sunburn that I have experienced by a considerable margin hence our very high incidence of skin cancer. Maybe the ozone hole. Definitely a topic deserving further research.
What I find interesting is that the sunburn I have got lately would be similar to what I used to get in about the seventies. It is quite pronounced and something I haven’t suffered for many years.
Actually it is the hole in the ozone layer. As in southern Victoria, the sun really “bites”.
( which is a natural and seasonal occurrence)
I lived in NZ for 10 years.
Whippy doo.
“The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one’s time defending scoundrels.
For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.”- H.L.Mencken.
As it appears to be unlawful to photograph or video in an English Hospital without relevant permission,one hopes that the magistrate dealing with Ms.Hicks’ case applies commonsense.
The reason for the prohibition seems to be to protect the privacy of nurses,
doctors and patients.
Here, apparently none of these were in sight!
What on Earth has happened to the UK? When I was a child it was considered a bastion of freedom. Fellow Americans take heed!
In 2020 I obtained a legitimate way to act like a child again.
She was also wandering about inside a hospital without a mask, which is simply reckless or stupid in my view (as masks do help to stop the spread by means of droplets – and please don’t come back at me with anti-masker rubbish as there are numerous studies supporting the usefulness of masks, though common sense alone should be enough to persuade anyone of their value – and common sense works: eg you don’t build a dyke from the top down, or build a table by burning down trees. The value of masks is clearly obvious imv.).
Yes, the arrest might be a bit heavy handed, though we don’t know all the details as yet. Nevertheless there’s no reason to doubt that she had found her way to the outpatients dept which was closed for the day. Her whole venture was of course predicated on the ridiculous view that Covid 19 is a hoax. Those who are still of that view, despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary, have had their perceptual and conceptual gear hijacked by their biases/predispositions, and have failed to develop or maintain a profound commitment to accuracy as an irreducible primary.
As for someone referring to her as another dishonest leftist, it surely shouldn’t need saying that dishonesty isn’t confined to any particular part of the ideological spectrum.Humans lie. They are also frequently mistaken, misguided, and irrational, and also, as someone on here long ago once said, they are also “belief machines”, a euphemistic equivalent of “gullible”, which means they/we often repeat the lies, mistakes and distortions of others, esp when they suit our own particular mindset. My own personal experience is that those on the extreme right are the least concerned with truth/accuracy (Johnson, Trump and their disappointingly numerous enablers being good examples), and just as much creatures of their prejudices as those on the other end of the ideo spectrum, possibly because they are more inclined to subscribe to the notion that there’s merit in the law of the jungle, the mantra that survival of the fittest is deserved.. But the truth is that there are liars/dishonesty in all walks of life, at all points of the values scale, and that we are all vulnerable to bias/prejudice colouration of all that we see and think. The easiest people to fool are ourselves. Identifying and eliminating those particular viruses of the mind is extremely difficult. I don’t think we work hard enough at it. If we did there would be a lot less nonsense spouted in both science and politics.
And yes, I’m still a global warming sceptic: a real one, I hope, though I sometimes wonder if I might just be a contrarian, something else (another bias perhaps) we should all look out for in ourselves. There aren’t many real sceptics left I suspect, and very few on here that I’ve read over the last few years. My scepticism may not be justified in the light of all the knowledge that we possess, but my best judgement of the “information” I’ve encountered is that we don’t yet know/understand nearly enough to support a judgement of “beyond reasonable doubt”, either way, so in my view those who are certain AGW is a hoax are hardly different from the Covid hoaxers, or who believe that it is simply wrong are being led more by their prejudices than the science, such as it is. Natural variation may still be the reality of what’s happening, though even if we could show incontrovertibly that there have been warmer periods during this interglacial, that in itself wouldn’t disprove the CO2 argument. Disproving the CO2 thesis is impossible at the moment. Time may or may not tell either way.
Sadly, I see the personal abuse of those who express opposing arguments continues, damaging the credibility of the site and commenters. The prevalence of nonsensical positions on the virus also hurts the site’s credibility. Those who post insupportable views on the virus damage their own credibility on AGW. Unfortunately they won’t see themselves in such a mirror/light. Their biases/prejudices won’t allow it. Until they humbly prioritise accuracy, a truly demanding value.
“there are numerous studies supporting the usefulness of masks”
Cite them.
The most recent studies I’ve seen showed that the kind of masks most people are using are useless at preventing them from infection and likely spread the virus better than if they weren’t wearing masks. And that areas with mask mandates have more ‘cases’ than areas which don’t.
Unless you plan to give people half a dozen N95 masks every day so they can replace them every couple of hours, masking is pure virus-theatre.
I was particularly struck by this: “and please don’t come back at me with anti-masker rubbish as there are numerous studies supporting the usefulness of masks, though common sense alone should be enough to persuade anyone of their value” – indicates a person completely closed to any rational discussion.
Not a whole lot different from “and please don’t come back at me with denier rubbish as there are numerous studies supporting AGW, thought common sense alone should be enough to persuade anyone of the unprecedented recent warming”
You can’t reason with someone who chooses to not employ reason.
Not only that but you can’t see a virus whereas I have often used masks being a painter and they didn’t even stop dust which you can see. The best thing I have found is a head stocking.
The way most people use masks I believe makes them worse than useless.
A surgeon never touches his mask while operating but people will use the same mask time and time again and some people that have worn masks for long periods have ended up with major troubles.
“The most recent studies I’ve seen showed that the kind of masks most people are using are useless at preventing them from infection and likely spread the virus better than if they weren’t wearing masks. And that areas with mask mandates have more ‘cases’ than areas which don’t.”
Exactly, MarkG. It’s the type of mask that matters, and how you wear it.
I see a LOT of people working in restaurants who have their noses exposed, large gaps all around the mask, constantly touching the mask with their gloved fingers, then handling food and clean dishes/utensils.
No, only very specific masks are mostly effective. Others only serve to allow forced smaller particles to spread even farther. These particles can then likely be inhaled right through another plain old cloth mask.
If you are not sick, the mask does NOTHING to protect OTHERS. That is the fraud of all of this crap. If you are sick, i.e. have symptoms, STAY HOME, if not, go about your life.
Please link to any published peer reviewed studies showing that asymptomatic covid positive people spread the virus. It has been plenty long enough for those studies to have been completed and published, see the anti hydroxychloroquine studies that were produced, reviewed and published in record time, and were, of course, false.
This is all overblown. Are people dying, yes. Are the mask wearing and lockdowns effective, NO. Simple facts.
In Las Vegas, NV for many years the government would not allow the construction of new hospitals. We had 2 primary hospitals that used their political clout to allow for their expansion without allowing new competitors. Finally the logjam broke and now there are multiple choices for hospitals. The expansion was meant to allow 15% excess hospital beds for unforeseen circumstances or emergencies. Recently the news, in support of OUR Democrat governor’s lockdown mandates, stated the hospitals were filling up. A few days later the local somewhat moderate newspaper provided the numbers, hospitals at 85% capacity. THE DESIGN CAPACITY for normal times. No emergency at all, no need for the added lockdowns, even if they worked.
As to the arrest: People can riot, vandalize, and even attack police and not be arrested, and if arrested, be released with the charges dropped. Real harm done, no consequences. Here, contrary to your view, NO HARM WAS DONE to anything but the “powers that be”. They WILL NOT allow their power and CONTROL to be sabotaged, and those that attempt to do so will be dealt with in the harshest manner possible. If the hospitals are so full, invite reporters, not the BBC or Guardian but real reporters, to view ALL areas of ALL hospitals throughout the Kingdom, filmed with suitable obscuring of faces, and thus prove it. I don’t believe it, although after 70+ years of a national health system, I would assume that the UK does not have enough facilities or personnel to provide for any widespread emergency.
Next step. totalitarian control and dictatorship. Of course, you being a Royal subject, not that far to go, just revoke the Magna Carte, etc. disband the Parliament and return to a true Monarchy, and all is well. You can be ruled by the descendants of the last murderer to take the throne.
There are doctors working every day in the ICUs fully ofCovid 19 patients. Only a small fraction of them have died since the start of the pandemic. That is more than enough evidence to say the properly applied PPE does dramatically reduce the risk of getting infected.
More Than 900 U.S. Medical Staff Have Died Fighting COVID …www.jems.com › Coronavirus
“Properly applied PPE” – Along with standard hospital hygiene practices.
How many of the general public have that PPE, use it properly, and practice hospital-level hygiene?
I would say near zero have the proper masks. And less than zero wear those improper masks properly.
The problem, Steven F, as others have already pointed out numerous times every time the subject comes up is the most people don’t have “proper PPE” let alone “properly apply” it.
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been to a store where I’ve seen others (customers and workers) wearing their masks *below* their noses, constantly touching their masks in order to readjust them, etc. All actions that are not the proper application of PPE. At all that before we even get to whether or not the “mask” they are “wearing” is even proper PPE (studies show that some types of masks, such as the popular “neck gaiter” are actually do more harm than good as far as the spread of droplets is concerned.)
You must be very old. It stopped being a bastion of freedom about a hundred years ago, as the bloated bureaucracy created to fight WWI looked around for a reason to continue existing after the war.
The actions of this woman have nothing to do with freedom. In the mildest interpretation (mildest for her) her actions were a display of plain stupidity.
It’s not her actions people are complaining about.
??? Who the hell claimed they had been complaining about her?
You said:
“The actions of this woman have nothing to do with freedom.”
The complaints here regarding freedom are about the overzealous response.
It was considered a bastion of freedom – but only by people who didn’t understand Jewish and Masonic power.
Alleged pandemic and the outpatient’s area is closed for a bank holiday? WTF.
Outpatients. Most outpatient appointments are handled by phone or video to keep visits to a minimum in view of the problem of infected hospitals.
Apparently it is illegal to film in side a hospital without permission. But I agree, it is ridiculous that the police should act on this when so much violent crime and burglary is ignored.
I’m surprised they didn’t arrive with a fully armed SWAT team. She is clearly a threat to national security.
She wasn’t charged with a specific offence related to photography. The police used the Public Order Act. “Following a number of reports in relation to a video filmed by a member of the public at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and posted online, officers arrested a 46-year-old woman yesterday on suspicion of a public order offence,” Gloucestershire Police said in a statement”. The implication is that, despite there being no evidence that her activities caused “Harassment, Alarm or Distress” the police were instructed to arrest her at her house the following day. The evidence for this is so weak that I’ll be amazed if the case comes before a magistrate, making it even more obvious that they were simply attempting to put the “frighteners on her”.
I entirely agree the Police reaction to this were heavy handed and unnecessary, she could have been charged with the offence in her house, or on her doorstep assuming she refused privacy. It’s not like she’s s flight risk or has a history of violence.
She is, however, a left wing agitator and by all accounts, utterly dishonest in her representation of a routinely closed Outpatients department as typical of the entire hospital.
She knew fine well what she was doing, dishonestly attempting to undermine a right wing government.
You actually think the ‘ban all petrol cars by 2030, eliminate fossil fuels by 2050’ Tories are right wing?
Most hospitals in u.s. are not short of beds. They are understaffed because they are underfunded. The large majority of nonelderly U.S. households relied on employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) to pay for health care, so layoffs due to shutdowns have destoyed our health coverage… making a hospital visit scarier to a patient than Covid, and making uninsured patients scarier to hospitals than empty beds.
Google “Hospitals file for bankruptcies”
Without insurance, unemployed have (likely) fallen back on Medicaid. Medicaid reimburses hospitals at a fraction of the rate that private insurance did. This might explain why so many hospitals are claiming Covid as a primary disease upon admission – because it is being funded under CARES.
Health Insurance and the Covid-19 Shock
<blockquote>…historically large layoffs led to 5.6 million workers losing coverage each month (starting in February). This rate of lost coverage—over 3 million workers—dwarfs a similar calculation for the number of workers losing coverage each month during the biggest job-losing period of the Great Recession (September 2008–March 2009).</blockquote>
https://www.epi.org/publication/health-insurance-and-the-covid-19-shock/
BTW: In Italy WE MUST pay 27% of our incomes to National Health Care. How much do you pay?
Wasn’t Italy the epicenter of European Covid?
Maybe you are not paying enough 😉
Italy was just the first country to be hit by imported virus from China. And it killed off lots of old people by putting them on ventilators.
Not only that but a lot weren’t killed off in the previous flu season so there was a bit of a catchup.
Wow
That’s a difficult question because it is just one line item and is highly dependent on circumstances, one’s health, one’s job and employer, types of coverage selected, etc., etc.
That said, 27% sounds very high to me.
In my career in the U.S., I’ve always had good coverage through my employer and my total out of pocket expenses for health care have generally been less than about 5% of income. Fortunately, health of my family is good. The employer usually pays the bulk and for years direct employee costs have been rising.
Medicaid, for the poor, is a federal/state partnership and varies in cost to the taxpayers by state. Hard to say.
The US does not have a national healthcare system, although according to a SCOTUS ruling, if you show up at ANY emergency room you must be cared for. The uninsured expense is mostly picked up by the higher rates paid by the insured, and also by the local county. I.e., an illegal alien construction workers paid off the books falls off a roof and is taken to the emergency room and dropped off at the curb. The ratepayers and taxpayers pay for his care. The “employer” is subsidized by the taxpayer and those employed with health insurance.
So anecdotally, but factual, a Canadian citizen who was on a long waiting list to have bypass surgery due to insufficient resources in the Canadian national health system got tired of waiting and having to restrict his activities do to his clogged arteries, flies to Las Vegas, goes to a casino, and falls to the floor claiming chest pain. He is transported to the nearest hospital with a cath lab and undergoes emergency stent surgery due to the level of blockage. He is out in a day or two, and flies home to Canada all better. Of course the doctors, hospital, ambulance service, etc. saw very little of the expenses reimbursed.
Note that the level of blockage, unchanged from the tests in Canada, were bad enough to require immediate surgery in the US, while he sat, and I mean sat due to the inability to do anything strenuous, waiting for the procedure in Canada. This was not a one time occurrence for the cardio/vascular surgeon’s group. It was a regular occurrence.
A relative in Canada has severe deterioration of her hips and has been awaiting hip replacement surgery for 3 years. She is finally scheduled for surgery next month. It is actually surprising she is being allowed the surgery since she is 87, but having to suffer for more than 3 years, as a retired person who was gainfully employer her entire working age lifetime, is ridiculous.
Another true anecdotal occurrence in LV. Factual. A close relative was in an accident. An illegal alien turned left in front of him riding on a motorcycle causing sever injuries requiring hospitalization. He only had the required liability insurance and the illegal did not have ANY insurance so he ended up in the county hospital for care. The person in the next bed was a longtime intravenous drug user, a junkie. He was in his late 30s and had broken his hip by falling out of bed. The bone deterioration was so bad that they did a full hip replacement at taxpayer’s expense.
Not really pertinent but brilliant medical staff had put my relative’s morphine dispensing machine between the two beds and the junkie unhooked the feed from it while he was asleep to get extra drugs. We received a call in the middle of the night with him in severe pain, went to the hospital, saw what was happening, and got the drugs out of the junkies reach.
Sorry about the rambling response, but I am REALLY afraid of having a national health care system in the US. I have lived a healthy lifestyle. I have good private insurance for which I pay I will soon be on Medicare, which I paid for (about 2.5% of gross income for nearly 50 years while employed), and will keep my previous employee health insurance as a supplement so I can keep my current doctors. I have been a “giver” as in taxpayer, since I was 15 years old. I do not think I should be in line with the “takers” of society, those who have been on the government dole, in subsidized housing, etc. to get medical care. I have EARNED and pay for better care, and I deserve it. To many liberals that makes me greedy and self centered. They think they should be able decide who gets care and how much and when. And of course with the secrecy requirements of medical records the general population will never know when the connected get cuts to the front of the line, as we all know will happen. They do not have honor. Just look at the news of all the connected violating the protocols THEY put in place. And those are just the ones who have been caught.
If I am extra generous on the cost deducted per paycheck: 2.8% per year.
Not exactly fake news, but certainly an overblown story to fit the anti-vac agenda
As pointed out in other posts
It is illegal to film inside a UK hospital without permission,. If I were a patient I would think that was a a jolly good idea
The hospital has released their occupancy figures – they are not empty by any means
Procedures are used to minimise extraneous outpatients, and to keep areas of hospitals Covid secure.
As the person involved is a known activist, a quick chat with the cops might have been in order…..
Why is WUWT posting this type of “news”’story?
This is the premier resource for climate information to counter the AGW message.
This type of “news” doesn’t help….IMO
If as many seem to believe the agw scam is just a tool for globalists to achieve their ultimate goal and if it is true that they are now using covid for the same objective then perhaps this story is relevant.
Concerned? Try elsewhere.
I saw this. Disgusting, along the lines of a pregnant woman here in Aus who posted anti-lockdown posts on Facebook. Here in New South Wales we are now mandated to wear masks in public places like shops and transport. Ridiculous!
Patrick just wear the mask…we know they work 😉
Just look at the skyrocketing cases
and another 1.5 billion will end up in the oceans. I find it amusing with places like CA banning straws and yet masks are way worse in the ocean
COVID-21 coming to a country near you soon!
Regular readers of this site will likely enjoy Lockdown Sceptics, which is a British site but, as is WUWT, heavily influenced by the spirit of intelligent scepticism of a dominant political narrative.
People are more afraid of a £10k fine than the virus…
Britain’s busiest hospital is in ‘DISASTER medicine mode’, claims ‘leaked management email’ from Royal London where medics are ‘no longer providing high standard critical care’ and ‘patients are waiting 24 hours for beds and take taxis to beat ambulances’ By Martin Robinson, Chief Reporter For Mailonline – December 31st 2020, 3:28:15 pmNHS chiefs at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel have emailed staff admitting they are so overwhelmed with cases ‘we are no longer providing high standard critical care, because we cannot’
Ghalfrunt maybe they should use your bleach method 🤔
There are about 1600 hospitals available to the NHS in the UK. There are also private BUPA/Nuffield hospitals in most big cities as well as the Nightingales. So I’d say 2000 hospitals available to the largest employer in Europe and globally the 5th largest employer. Over the last 2 days the UK has reported a total of around 1400 deaths. Assuming every single one of those dead in hospital, which doesn’t seem likely as today’s deaths were “The victims were between 27 and 100 years old with only 11 not aged 36 and 95 with underlying health conditions.”; it means over the last two days deaths per hospital are running at 0.35 people per day having tested positive in the last 28 days.
Whilst not saying that there isn’t a problem in IC wards I find it hard to equate the data with stories of doctors having to make decisions on who to save and who to let nature take its course that I’ve been reading about for several days now. Nor can I equate the 5th largest employer globally being restricted by staff shortages.
One thing I don’t expect to happen is that the NHS, an organisation that the taxpayers in the UK pay a great of money to serve us in our times of need, will be reformed to that is capable of protecting us when we need it rather than us having to protect it from us becoming ill.
C’mon man, it’s far more important to protect the NHS, the Envy of the World, than to protect the actual economy that produces the actual money that actually allows the NHS to exist.
One can’t reform socialist institutions; it is like moving the deck chairs on the Titanic. Sell all the assets to private corporations.
Socialized medicine at its best! Instead of meeting individual needs as does capitalism, socialism allocates shortages.
There’s a recent youTube video of a man in Scotland being arrested for filming outside a hospital, after admittedly arguing with the police that he is within his rights. I think he was eventually released without charge, but it does indicate some worrying trends with the way the police are using their new powers.
I think the issue is there is no clarity over the explosion of ‘citizen’ journalists whipping out a mobile phone and filming everything and anything.
Were it done honestly, with the right intentions things might be fine. But what we find is selected clips published online with the deliberate intention of undermining and smearing the authorities these people have a beef with.
But then, the example of ‘professional’ journalism by the MSM is no better.
This woman wasn’t arrested for being a citizen journalist, but invading a medical facility. In the USA can anyone just barge in and film a hospital claiming to be a citizen journalist? Would any hospital admit someone to film because they made wild claims about what was going on there?
For once, you and I agree Griff.
Where did you get your information from Griff?
I live in Gloucestershire. I know this hospital.
Griff is right this time.
“M Courtney
Reply to
Patrick MJD
January 2, 2021 4:11 am
I live in Gloucestershire. I know this hospital.”
I have family there too, and their account differs.
Well, if their account is that the area filmed near the doors is the wards where the Covid cases are then… they are wrong.
Here is a map of the hospital.
C:\Users\martin.hyde\Desktop\GRH colour map 0917 v6 Model (1) (gloshospitals.nhs.uk)
Of course, it’s quiet outside of the tower.
This is the 2nd non-story I’ve read on this site today, and I’ve only read 2 stories today. One from someone who clearly has an issue with the UK despite knowing little about the country nor how it works, and another where the risk of legal action appears substantial due to the libellous statements made about a French professor with no evidence to support it.
Seriously, Eric, and Charles, your posting this sort of crap on this site is having a very negative effect on my, and others’, view of the site. Why not just stick to truth and fact and leave the sensationalist nonsense to the tabloids.
A non-story? Well, as of today, I have had my freedom erased upon an AU$200 fine for none compliance.
And whose fault is that?
The ones who created the stupid rules.
When tyrants crush the freedoms of the serfs, it’s obviously the serfs fault. What a wonderful world view you have there, John.
Ivermectin, Take it and you wont catch covid19, prevention is always better then the cure. NO reason to spend billions on vaccines. Please send video to family and friends .“I CAN’T KEEP DOING THIS”: Doctor pleads for review of data during COVID-19 Senate hearing – YouTube
You may still “carry” the virus but may not develop COVID, the disease! And important distinction in this madness.
what about the Nightingale hospitals that are being dismantaled. Why? Does not exactly give the impression of a crisis. If so many people are dying from so called Covid-19 why have autopsies been suspended. This stinks.
They aren’t being dismantled. They just aren’t being staffed as the trained staff are busy on the existing wards.
Having said that, they are currently being re-activated because of the spike in cases.
Covid-19: London’s NHS Nightingale ‘ready to admit patients’ – BBC News
Does the essential work of the hospital still go on if it’s not there? Here is a claim of it being dismantled at the ExCel Centre, disputing the above link.
https://twitter.com/hashtag/NightingaleHospitals?src=hashtag_click
Did Debbie ask them for a search warrant.? If they did not have a search warrant they should not have been allowed in
CMO emergency “laws” bypass that. Under a CMO sanctioned emergency you lose all rights.
You don’t get it.
It’s ironic democracy!
I live next to a large Hospital in surrey UK and go passed it every day. There is nothing happening there I just do not have the courage of that lady to film it.The hospital is empty and I have been there three times in the last month for so test and an internal camera inspection.