To be utterly tired of having to deal with the NHS in ‘combat mode’?

Advicating for anyone iver the age of 60 is crackers.

They see "mild arthritis" and their eyes light up!! "OH YES! Well that is it then, yes yes must be your arthritis." (Sends to physio for manipulation etc)

Fought tooth and nail for MRIs which showed she had a double pelvis fracture and three fractures in her foot.

Oh mate, im sorry and can totally relate. Hope things get better.

Its so difficult because i would give anything to just pay for full private insurance as I can afford it. I already have to self fund some treatment because its not available on the nhs, and uk insurers don't cover because the nhs should. Its a vicious circle.

I have also had nhs drs and nurses be incredibly rude to me for no reason. Just like some patients need reminding that the squeeze isnt drs and nurses' fault, some staff need reminding the squeeze isnt down to patients either!

The system is well and truly broken. I cant imagine anyone defending it has had to deal with chronic, non emergency conditions but they'll get a nasty shock when it affects them.

Same here. In an 25 year legal career, the only solicitor I ever managed who was basically unemployable is now on the SLT of a Trust. It’s like a retirement home for failed anythings.

Hope everything goes well for you both @Jan24680 .

I get the combat mode. I was someone who once sang the praises of the NHS. Then I had a DD who was born with a medical condition.

Pre-Covid when she was born and had all of her operations, it was better. Post-Covid and the aftercare (she has a lifelong medical condition) it has been a nightmare. Everything has been a battle. I can never get hold of the support teams. They sometimes cancel appointment after appointment very last minute. I'm constantly having to chase things up because they forget to book things in. I get consultants saying they're committed to helping then discharging us at the next appointment. I'm sick of it. We have found some angels on the way....but I generally just expect the worse from the NHS now. I have gone private on occasion in desperation, spending money I barely had but you do when it's your child.

The NHS is a broken system.

I once worked with someone who was genuinely thick, they had a basic admin job, and couldn’t do that to any decent standard. Also made multiple untrue allegations about others - was truly dangerous. I lost track of them after I left that employer. I was horrified to discover about ten years later that this person has a really high up management position in the NHS. That sealed it for me!

You absolutely must insist on a GA if you need a hysteroscopy.

I went to my appointment having had my GP write a letter, having phoned the consultants secretary to say I needed a GA to find that none of it had been communicated to the consultant I actually saw! I was ready for a fight so said I needed a GA and have the reasons. I was totally shocked when the consultant said " You don't need to tell me why you want a GA. If you want one you'll have one. It is a barbaric procedure and I refuse to perform one without a GA".

It's so inconsistent is the problem and nobody seemed to know how to request a GA in advance. When I had it it was amazing, everyone was so kind and caring.

Apparently they forgot to tell me my body is giving up and now I am having a c section today! On the plus side they've agreed to my tubal ligation to be done at the same time. Advocacy in action.

Thank you very much. I'll take a look. And yeah I can see that's just the tip of the iceberg.

I completely understand. Xxx

@adlitem - amen to that!

I am often surprised at how complaining about the NHS is considered, basically, blasphemy in the UK. Firstly, for most people it is NOT a free service. We all pay for it through our tax and NI. Many pay much more than they will ever use. We deserve, as a country, to see a decent provision of service in return.

And even if it was actually free, people should still be entitled to a decent level of care - to be treated well, by competent people, and with respect and dignity.

Sorry OP - you are correct, dealing with the NHS is awful in any capacity. My DM has terminal cancer and was left in a literal storage cupboard for 19 hours after I complained about infection control. (The waiting room was so full, the only seat was next to a lady with a severe respiratory infection, coughing everywhere, whose GP refused to see her). DM's chemo had battered her immune system so she was sent to A&E. The sister I complained to actually said - without any apparent irony - "I wish the helpline wouldn't send emergency cancer cases to A&E". Now DM refuses to set foot in hospital and intends to die at home without pain relief. We might as well live in some dirt poor backwater with no healthcare for all the actual bloody use the NHS is.

On the hysteroscopy front, I was one of the unlucky 1 in 3 and I would urge you to insist on GA. Better to have it and not need it than the other way around. I was forced to go private while waiting for the NHS to agree that I could have it under GA. The female consultant I saw privately visibly shuddered at the idea of having it without GA and said that she absolutely would not consider it. (I have since been told that no GA is exactly what her NHS patients are offered!) It's cheap, that's all. And it's not good enough.

Wishing you all the best with these investigations.

Its always been like that. I've had to interact with various parts of the NHS over the past 5 decades enough to realise that if you don't have a voice, can't articulate your needs physically let alone verbally you're absolutely stuffed.

It's absolutely appalling but it's individuals not just the culture that has the NHS where it is in this regard.

Agreed. Im sick of having to do the work, it’s like l have 2 jobs: my real job l actually get paid for and managing my health stuff. No one can talk to each other, appointments are constantly cancelled and my GP’s don’t seem to be able to do referrals. Referrals are submitted 25% or 50% done, they get declined (shocker!), no one tells me and then when l chase it up my GP’s get hostile and irritable

Hard no about the paracetamol, l would be stating its heavy sedation or GA

My family by profession and politics have been involved in the NHS for generations. Putting aside the financials, what strikes me hard is the quality of the human in the job. No compassion and totally disorganised.

Hey. There’s been a lot of hiding of this by using specific trust names instead of hospitals so you can find more information using “University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust” as that’s who controls Bristol Eye Hospital. Here’s an article about them being one of 11 trusts where people lost their sight (the link is an archive.ph because the original is behind a paywall).
https://archive.ph/k6LOj

This article discusses a 16 year old whose delayed treatment caused blindness and her lawsuit - it doesn’t mention Bristol Eye Hospital directly but it does mention one of the groups she’s suing is University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust.
https://www.fieldfisher.com/en/injury-claims/case-studies/settlement-for-young-woman-left-blind-following-de

It’s just a tiny view of what’s happening on the NHS. If anything ANYTHING you expect is ever delayed, or they told you “if you don’t hear anything, assume it’s fine” - please chase it and double-check your results yourself. Unfortunately, it can be a matter of life and death, as it was for OP, or just serious disability, as it was for these people.

As to the question of what happens when sick people have no one to advocate… they sometimes get incorrect treatment that could have been caught by an advocate, and sometimes they suffer for that, to varying degrees.

EDIT: Crossposted with you @ChequerToRed . They “hid” it under the trust name.

I hear you; I fully believe unless you have someone who can vocally advocate for you or you can do advocate for yourself, its shit

Re your gynae apt, it's infuriating. Last year I was seeing a private gynae and ended up with a coil (amongst other things) she said she never does them without local anaesthesia, unless someone says otherwise as it can be painful / traumatic (I also have a retroverted uterus) My NHS GP who were pushing me for over a year to get a coil wont give you anything and tell you to take a paracetamol

My 2nd and last. I just can't get past the feeling some of these people like delivering very premature babies!

Oh I'm so sorry. Your post resonates so much with me. I've had very similar issues and feel like it's been a never ending saga of asking for help, getting something to help, but it causes more hsrm on top.

Funnily enough, I was misdiagnosed with FND by the first neurologist, and even asked if I'd had too much trauma by another!😫😳 They all look good on paper, but in person, they just say condescending things and decide you are an anxious person who's a pain to treat.

I truly hope you get better care in future. It’s a travesty they have done this to us.

I've previously been told that I have "insufficient quality of life to be worth treating", so no you're not at all unreasonable to be tired of it. I am too

Yes.
This “It's the mental anguish caused by being gaslighted, the doctors never acknowledge properly that these things cause permanent harm.”

The way I have been treated is beyond disgusting - I was denied access to secondary mental heath care as - they told me it didn’t exist as “this is the NHS” which caused me real harm as I was already suicidal.

The doctor who ignored my concerns for a physical condition and shouted at me in A and E. I had to go to another hospital where I was given immediate treatment.

The doctor who implied I had an eating disorder when it was actually traction to medication caused by what I now know is FND.

The harm caused by these bastards has made my condition worse - the utterly disgusting way I was treated pre diagnosis has made me fear for my life if I ever need treatment for anything at all with this diagnosis on file.

I'm so sorry. That sounds awful. I have tried to look up the Bristol eye hospital appointment scandal without much luck.

I did used to know someone who worked there about 12 years ago. I doubt they were very competent but I can't say for sure as only knew them in a non professional capacity.

Would you or anyone be so kind as to link to the stories about it?

So sorry you are struggling, it must be so frustrating. I hope you can eat soon and more importantly, meet your baby soon safely. Is it your first?