LIVING IN INTERESTING TIMES……

It seems a long time since the last number of Dermatology in Practice. The NHS has been repurposed to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic under the level 4 emergency powers – at one point two-thirds of our acute hospital beds were empty, we had critical care beds ready in the operating theatres and anaesthetic rooms and the wards staffed by dermatologists! We are now well into the ‘restore’ phase of the response before starting the ‘recovery’ phase in August, which will take us through to the ‘new NHS’ in April 2020. It seems surreal, but the virus is still present and local lockdowns, such as in Leicester, will become a reality. Many patients are fearful of coming to the hospital and concerns about late or missed diagnoses become ever greater despite the roll out of remote consulting – a new skill we are learning at pace.