boris johnson has told the house of
commons there's no alternative
to the four-week lockdown in england
which starts on thursday
pubs restaurants gyms non-essential
shops and places of worship
will all be affected some conservative
mps are strongly opposed to the measure
they say it's not justified
and that it will cause immense damage to
the economy there'll be a parliamentary
vote at westminster on wednesday
but the prime minister warned that the
nhs could be overwhelmed if no action
was taken
with medical staff having to choose who
to treat
liverpool has the highest number of
covet patients in hospital
in the uk it's currently more than four
hundred and sixty
our medical editor fergus walsh
cameraman phil edwards and producer
nicki stiazney
have been given rare access to doctors
and patients there
this is what happens when a city loses
its grip on coronavirus
i've never experienced pressure
that's been even remotely like this i'm
58 now
and i'm looking after patients that are
my age or even younger than me
the nhs risks failing the patients
it's there to serve it is very
depressing
if you're out there if you need a new
hip if you're in pain if you can't walk
you know we can't help you right now
the covet intensive care unit at the
royal liverpool hospital
is at full stretch
medical teams work non-stop to help
patients
struggling for breath like douglas
who's 73 a former bus driver
and crane operator i was doing okay
and then i suddenly went downhill the
sealed plastic hood he's wearing
enables oxygen to flow into his lungs
under pressure it's a bit claustrophobic
but it's doing the job that's all that
matters to me
he takes a dim view of those who
downplay the seriousness of coronavirus
all these people that go around saying
it's a hoax
and you know it's just like a bit of a
bad cold and whatnot i mean
they need to get their head straight
because
i have never ever ever been so ill
in all my born days this
is an absolute trickler staff sickness
levels
are three times normal
critical care now depends on nurses
redeployed from theaters and on others
like marie who've come out of retirement
a lot of the nhs
is working on goodwill um
and unfortunately people are starting to
get tired and exhausted now so
i don't know how much longer a good will
on its own is going to run us
along the corridor another intensive
care unit
this reserved for non-covered patients
it's full i'm going to be struggling to
look after patients who need intensive
care who do not have coronavirus in the
past week
around 10 critically ill patients have
had to be transferred between hospitals
in the region
in the search for a bed we're hanging by
a threat it's quite tight
each time a new patient comes into the
emergency department we have to
reshuffle
so we all feel that pressure 24 7.
this is winter plus plus plus people are
right to say that these are
pressures that occur every winter but
this time it's just
a lot worse the trust isn't helped by
its aging buildings
a new hospital was meant to open three
years ago to replace the royal
and is still not finished
its other big hospital aintree
university
serves the north of the city in both
nearly all non-urgent surgery has been
cancelled
the staff are needed in critical care
normally at this time of day all of
these operating theaters will
be busy and there will be a patient on
this operating table having an operation
last month nine urgent cancer operations
had to be postponed some at the last
minute
because there were no intensive care
beds available
of course it's devastating for the
patient themselves if they've come into
a
hospital expecting to have a potentially
life-saving cancer operation
and the morning of the operation they're
told the operation can't go ahead
and that's devastating for the patient
and for the staff looking after the
patient
those cancellations are the exception
most
cancer care is continuing as normal much
of it
at this new center behind the royal
david has lung cancer this is his first
round of chemotherapy
none of his treatment has been affected
by coronavirus
she's been very fast and then
all my appointments non-cancelled
everything's gone
to plan and there has been progress with
covid19
the chances of surviving have improved
ventilators are used more sparingly
there are some proven drug treatments
but sometimes
it's hard to focus on the positives when
the patients
just keep coming what we've seen here in
liverpool
should serve as a warning to other
cities
other communities across the uk
that unless we keep coronavirus in check
then the nhs will come under extreme
pressure
the prime minister says a lockdown in
england is needed to prevent
a medical and moral disaster and those
on the front line
are pleading with the public to follow
the rules
the message is if you don't listen to us
if you don't
adhere to those restrictions you will
harm your friends
you will harm your family your neighbors
and you might even harm yourself
the nhs is about people its staff
and the patients it serves
it is a cradle to grave service for the
beginning
and end of life
for people like harry king and his wife
and carer diane
hello sweetie oh you look nice and comfy
don't you
harry is 75 he has late stage
alzheimer's disease and kobit 19.
one cruel condition compounded by
another
everybody loves harley quinn something
hi yeah diane brings in old photos
harry in his twenties in the army
memories
of a happy life that's right the army
that's right
he's been a fantastic husband dad
granddad
all right so it's hard
very hard been married nearly 50 years
in january
but we've done a lot of things that
we've enjoyed
i think the virus has done its turn
because it's also
this was not this bad when he came in
he keeps asking can you go home but we
can't because of the oxygen
oh no michael come to see you soon isn't
he
the couple's two grown-up children have
been to hospital
to say a final farewell to their dad
one family among the many thousands
who face loss and grief in this time of
coronavirus
fergus is with me such powerful
testimony in the report there fergus
i think it's fair to say there's a
growing debate about the justification
for the lockdown
in england um prime minister framing
that in terms of the pressure on the nhs
yes now the government says unless
england goes into lockdown then doctors
will have to make hard choices about who
to treat now that
as you've seen is already happening in
liverpool
its acute hospitals by far the hardest
pressed
in the country for now now across the uk
there are roughly half the number of
coveted inpatients in hospitals
compared to the peak in april and
roughly a third of the number of
patients on ventilators but that doesn't
tell
the full story in the first wave
intensive care units were dealing
almost exclusively with cobit patients
people with other
serious health problems simply stayed
away from hospital
now that's totally different now now we
have all the usual demands
on the health service plus covid and
we're going
into winter not coming out of it but
protecting the nhs
by locking down comes with its own costs
the impact on mental health
on livelihoods and liberties fergus once
again many thanks
fergus walsh there our medical editor