Why are hospitals in the UK so horrible when everyone will end up in one at some point?

I would gladly pay more tax for efficient, caring and fit for purpose health, education and social care services, but only when they stop being profligate with the money they do have, wasting it on out of date and useless technology and highly paid, but not needed, administrators.

How often do you walk through A&E?
How many wards to you go onto on a daily basis?

One said she has decided to work bank staff as she will earn 1:5 times her salary and can pick and choose her hours and place of work

Our trust has put a stop to Bank Staff in a bid to save money.

This. If we want good qualities services for all eg NHS and education, then it needs to be paid for.

You need or prefer? If there is clinical need there are side rooms and for planned surgery you may be able to request one for a fee, if they are not otherwise in use. But you won’t necessarily get better care or one to one nursing. If an emergency admission or very ill often the patient really is in no position to express a choice.

I do need dignity and privacy, yes
You are of course free to pay for high level of dignity and privacy.

My DH was in hospital recently for 3 weeks - it wasn't horrible. He had good food, kind and efficient staff and great medical treatment. I think we only hear about the horrible experiences and not the millions of people who are treated well.

I was a senior nurse in an intensive care in a big city. It was the most stressful period of my life. The stress came from understaffing and inappropriate staffing. Then as the “old guard” staff in the supporting roles began to retire they were replaced by people on the whole - not always, who didn’t have the training, will to carry out the job as it had become. So we end up with domestic staff and porters working to rule and the slack there is taken up by nursing and auxiliary staff. Everyone in every role in the hospital from ward manager down is stretched. There are many many shit staff who languish in the stability of an NHs job. In our unit we had 3 nurses going through disciplinary processes one due to excessive sickness two because they are bullies. That process when I left had at that point lasted 18 months. We had less staff for more patients. Bosses insisting we order cheaper materials. Colleagues who were burnt out and striking out at anyone who annoyed them.

that was 11 years ago. A recent reunion with two old colleagues shows it is infinitely worse and ready for collapse. They say that everyone
without exception comes through the door ready for confrontation - gone are the grateful relatives and friends. One said she has decided to work bank staff as she will earn 1:5 times her salary and can pick and choose her hours and place of work. She knows this is part of the problem but is done scrimping and working like a slave. She said they have no permanent domestic staff and the young girls who come on the unit do not understand the complexity of an ICU. The nurses and auxiliary then have cleaning duties on top of everything else. Add to that the increase in record keeping
due to our litigious society and its horrible for staff.
As a service user. I’ve had too many A&E visits in the last year for my liking and it’s horrific waiting endless hours to be seen and then my mother being nursed in a trolly on a corridor along with other unattended elderly folk. It’s third world standards.

im really worried what it will be like when I’m that age. I would be happy to see a complete overhaul from managers down. Before the whole thing implodes dramatically.

It is not true that the NHS is underfunded/we don't pay enough taxes compared with other countries. We fund the NHS on a par with other countries where the state health service works very well. The problems with the NHS are due to its being privatised by stealth and run by people who only care about profit and obscenely high wages for the inflated number of 'administrators', and not about providing a health care service to people who need it. To understand what's going on and what we need to bring the health service back to where we want it, watch the video by seasoned NHS campaigners, including a doctor, here https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2024/10/the-notional-health-service/. You have to scroll down to see the video. It is an eye opener.

No, they don't. I have spent two long stays in our local hospital since 2022 and it was most certainly NOT "conditions that wouldn't be allowed in prisons".

I don't say it was perfect by any means but nowhere near as bad as your original post claims.

We've got people who are not only millionaires but also millionaires twice over whining about paying tax this morning. I guess that kind of attitude has a lot to do with it.

The one I was in for five weeks was quite good. I didn't want to be there obviously but the nurses were nice, no waiting on meds, food pretty crap but edible, my ward mates were all nice women who I befriended.

It's not easy to sleep in hospital but that's not really their fault. I guess they could give you a nice normal mattress but that wouldn't work as many people will mess the bed if they are really ill or old. Or a private room would be heaven.

It's meant to be one of the better ones in league tables and the A&E is still chaotic and crowded with a several hour wait, but overall I couldn't really complain.

Single rooms are the norm in many countries - our local hospital only has single rooms. I worked in the NHS for decades and it's only since moving overseas that I have realised how inhumane and degrading our system of ward care is in the UK.

certainly not in my own experience

I am a RN. Work in a very close right group. Have our fair share of fights and workplace disagreements but when shit hits
the fan we know each other inside out and what we need to do.
was admitted to my own hospital in summer. General ward. signed myself out next night. Was absolutely ashamed of the care I received (or didn’t). The way the nurses spoke to each other but worse how degrading they spoke to patients and relatives. And didn’t care who heard. Or
Just completely ignored. Night shift heard every word they were speaking about. Absolutely embarrassing. Couldn’t even give basic care. Everything and I mean everything was done grudgingly. I was totally gobsmacked. I know it was a busy ward but that is absolutely NOT an excuse. Disgusting. And this was trained staff. Went back to work and told my own collegues that no matter how shit a day we have or whatnot, as yes we all
have bad days, we don’t even tip the surface of my experience and how that ward was with patients . Will never forget it. Where I used to jump to the defence of my trust, now I really can’t and it is absolutely the managers who let standards slip, don’t follow protocols to keep the trusts safe and professional and some healthcare workers (not just nurses) just don’t give a toss
anymore, it’s a pay check end of.
of course I fedback but zilch will be done. The actual building is not full for purpose anymore. Up to their eyeballs in debt. Would give a fab example but it’s too outing. Believe me nhs THROWS money away. Procurement pick money over safety. Then spend on the most absolutely ridiculously priced items. Think a plastic
product u can buy out home bargains for
£1.50. It costs us over £70. Exact same. This is where our money is going. Absolutely shameful.

Lack of joined up thinking, organisation and communication. In addition to everything already mentioned.

I hear you. Ours is an crumbling aspestos mountain, bursting at the seams and definitely not fit for purpose.

Who can blame the staff for low moral unse such conditions?
But then, the plan for a brand new hospital has been shelfed several times by successive governments.

Meanwhile, farmland gets bought by developers and turned into housing estate. Our hospital can't cater for the ever increasing population. It's a conspiracy come true: NHS on the path to privatisation.

Have you ever worked in one?

What is your job history?

Because we would rather pay less tax than pay more for healthcare

Because the people with the influence to change it won't ever be on one of these wards.

I think the comparison to prisons is slightly ridiculous but absolutely agree conditions in hospital, especially for people who are immobile, can't advocate for themselves or don't have an advocate are inhumane.

@Pavementworrier have you actually spent much time in prisons? The general state of most of our prisons is an utter disgrace and not comparable to most NHS wards.

Nobody is pretending that there aren’t problems but they are very complex and expensive to remedy.

What prompted you to start this thread?

Lack of resources is the key factor.

I do think there’s also a lack of pride / care / empathy issue too - which is harder to fix.

See the thread running currently on dads sleeping on maternity wards. The reason for that is that there is really no care provided beyond medical necessity for new mothers - if you want to eat, drink, wash, are bedbound, help with your baby etc there just isn’t any proper resource to do it.

Piss poor management.
Wokeness
Too many people with no entitlement to free care
Frail and elderly people not allowed to pass away peacefully anymore.

Given how things are we should be taking care of ourselves a bit more (reduce smoking, during eating crap food, health prevention measures) agreed this won't happen anymore.
Also some relatives of patients should behave themselves and not threaten staff if their "loved" one who they probably have rarely visited in years isnt treated like royalty and seen immediately (yes I have heard relatives saying they will wait outside for staff after work).