I had a lovely Christmas week, full of family and friends, and food, and thoughtful gifts. We had Mushroom Wellington and Maple Glazed Seitan Ham for Christmas dinner. It was super.
I was working for the days around the Bank Holidays. We rotate who does Christmas Day and, having done last year, I get a break for a few years. Hospitals are strange places at Christmas, a mixture of intense sadness and heart warming joy. Maybe that’s always the case, but Christmas somehow magnifies the contrasts. The people who remain inpatients at Christmas are those who are too sick to care or notice, and those for whom hospital is their best option. We’re always under pressure to discharge people and make beds, but to be honest, in the few days before Christmas I don’t discharge anyone who wants to be there. If home does not have something better to offer than a hospital bed then who am I to inflict loneliness, fear or sadness on anyone.
There is flu and RSV everywhere. People with chronic medical conditions are very sick. Even those who are usually well are strugling to shake off the persistent cough and fatigue. Vaccination rates remain much lower than pre-COVID. It’s hard to see how we’ll ever improve the situation and convince people of the benefits when there is so much misinformation and fear around vaccines.
I keep thinking of my medical counterparts in Palestine. On 27th December Israeli forces attacked Kamal Adwan Hospital, the last functioning major health facility in Northern Gaza. The piped oxygen was switched off. Hospital wards and labs were set alight. Staff were stripped and forced to walk toward southern Gaza. The director of the hospital, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, who has been asking for help from the world for weeks, was arrested. It is not known whether he is alive or dead. I shouldn’t be surprised at this point, but the euphemistic language of the BBC headline shocked and appalled me.
I have always thought, naievely, that if war ever struck, I would be relatively safe in a hospital. But International Humanitarian Law as set out in the Geneva Conventions has been ignored in Gaza, Syria, Myanmar and Ukraine, to name but a few recent conflicts. I cannot imagine what it is like to go to work in fear. I hope the New Year brings more peace.
drlj 