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AIBU?

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Original poster

To wonder what's happened to the NHS?

258 replies

Chefpig · 12/08/2026 22:36

I went for surgery this afternoon. Waited three hours in a waiting room because there were no beds available. Uncomfortable, especially with pain, but couldn't be helped.

I expressed a wish to the anaesthetist for GA after much trauma from a attempted and failed spinal anaesthetic in the past. Anaesthetist told me that a spinal would be much better for recovery and I should at least trust them and give it a go. Being brave and talked out of a GA, I gave it a go. It was horrific. I have a real issue with things being put where I can't see and it was painful, especially when the electric shocks (?) started on one of my legs. In tears, I asked for a GA. I was told it was very near to being ready and I agreed to keep going with the spinal but after the second electric shock and me in complete panic mode, I begged for a GA and the lovely, wonderful nurse who held me throughout was fierce with the anaesthetist and insisted she stop and give me a GA. That nurse was an absolute angel and held me throughout. I'm now in absolute agony with pain in my leg. Not my surgery site - that's fine!

Back on the ward in a single room, I was left for over two hours without being asked if I wanted drink and food. I eventually buzzed to ask. I had obs done on the recovery unit but not since I've been back in my room and its now five and a half hours after surgery and theres only been two brief visits to me as I buzzed to use the loo with assistance. I waited for painkillers for an hour (not nurses fault at all, she's so busy) and my own tablets haven't been taken care of despite someone earlier saying they'd let the senior nurse know about them.

My details whiteboard hasn't been filled out (dont know if that matters) and the blinds in my room have blinds missing so no doubt across the way has seen my knickers and bare boobs several times.

Staff are absolutely lovely on the ward. They're They're doing their best but I can tell they have very little to give. They need my bed more than I do for a bloody good rest! They're run ragged. AIBU to expect our NHS to invest in staff and their wellbeing so they can care for patients better?

OP posts:
ilovesooty · 13/08/2026 07:38

This reply has been deleted

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Wow.

Sausagenbacon · 13/08/2026 07:37

What i find unsettling is how rapidly it has unravelled.
I recently made a phone appointment. The first i could get is in a fortnight. Pre covid it would be within a week.

Vibrantelephant · 13/08/2026 07:34

I used to work for the NHS as a midwife. In my experience, you are treated really badly by management (who spend all their time sat in their offices). As a student I was meant to be supernumerary, but that never happened except for the birthing suite. The off duty and lack of patient ratios are shocking. I moved abroad in the end and the job was so easy. I would never consider working for the NHS again.

Sausagenbacon · 13/08/2026 07:33

And, as a previous poster said, the NHS are saddled with ruinous PPI contracts. Put in place by Blair's government.

Sausagenbacon · 13/08/2026 07:31

My mother is 95 and gets wonderful service. What bugs me is that she is issued with kit (walking frames and sticks, large boxes of dressings when she only needed one) when no one checks to see what she already has.
So she has a pile of it. So wasteful.
And the problem is that we are, as a population, getting older and fatter.

Zonder · 13/08/2026 07:29

Backwardsbinn · 13/08/2026 06:46

It’s not underfunded - it has taken a larger and larger share of the UK budget over the years. It’s just people want every little thing treated and want to take no personal responsibility whatsoever for their health.

Show quote history

Funding hasn't risen to match inflation and an aged population.

Since 2010 we spent less per year in real terms on the NHS.

We spend less pp than the EU average.

More hospitals are needing more upkeep and repairs due to aging / wear and tear.

onpills4godsake · 13/08/2026 07:27

The same as what has happened to police, schools and waste management- it has been underfunded for years and is under resourced.
there will be lots of sickness as staff have unmanageable traumatic work loads and lack of skills as those who can are leaving.

the pay rises the staff get come from the budget so each time things appear positive it’s another blow

technology is improving but that costs money to keep up which is simply not there

UniquePinkSwan · 13/08/2026 07:27

Too much management and too many people taking the piss. I dream of the day we go for the European model and charge for GP appointments

ScarlettSarah · 13/08/2026 07:26

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience, OP. Perhaps it's area-dependent. I had a positive experience having day surgery at Chelsea and Westminster hospital (west London) this week. Really attentive staff, no delays, everything explained to me, my own private room... it was all very smooth. Wish it could be like that for everyone.

LasVegass · 13/08/2026 07:24

Corianda · 13/08/2026 07:10

There is so much more treatable illness and as a 70 year old I would say more than half the people I know have had or are having medical treatment since say 2022 - and if you think -oh,it’s the boomers -just wait until all the incomers who have swelled the population to 70 million (it was 50 million when I was at primary school) get old - best of luck - though it might all be done by robots then

Google says the UK reached 50 million in 1948. The increase from 50 to 70 million took 3/4 of a century. Was there another point you wanted to make?

Original poster
Chefpig · 13/08/2026 07:22

Corianda · 13/08/2026 07:12

But I would say go to hospital armed with snacks for AFTER your op - there’s no saying when food comes round

I did take a few snacks but I needed something substantial. A meal of some sorts! The sandwich was fine though and then I went through my snacks! Greedy guts here!

OP posts:
Corianda · 13/08/2026 07:12

But I would say go to hospital armed with snacks for AFTER your op - there’s no saying when food comes round

Corianda · 13/08/2026 07:10

There is so much more treatable illness and as a 70 year old I would say more than half the people I know have had or are having medical treatment since say 2022 - and if you think -oh,it’s the boomers -just wait until all the incomers who have swelled the population to 70 million (it was 50 million when I was at primary school) get old - best of luck - though it might all be done by robots then

KatiePricesKnickers · 13/08/2026 06:57

Barney16 · 13/08/2026 06:49

My elderly father has had so much NHS resource spent on him I'm surprised there's any left for anyone else. The increase in people living to be v elderly must be having a massive impact on the NHS. I'm sorry you had an unpleasant experience OP and I hope you feel better soon.

Yep. My SiL who has 30+ years nursing experience in the NHS says they spend a fortune keeping people alive for a few more, poor quality, weeks of life.

Dontwanttheseboobies · 13/08/2026 06:56

TimeFlysWhenYoureHavingRum · 13/08/2026 06:54

What happened? The Tory Party. 14 years of under investment and mismanagement. It will only get worse if Reform get anywhere near it.

It won’t exist anymore if Reform get anywhere near it. And the irony is that the very people who the polls are saying are most likely to vote reform are the same people who are least likely to be able to afford private care.

Dontwanttheseboobies · 13/08/2026 06:54

hotmumshit · 12/08/2026 23:37

I think that Starmer got bad press from day 1, despite it not being so bad during the election

Andy has had amazing press coverage - THE TIMES were praising him

Which means he has sold out something for that press coverage. In my opinion, its the NHS

I reckon starmer pushed back, hence the negative press causing him to have to step down.

Show quote history

So you really think that all the problems in the NHS have developed since 20th July 2026, when Andy Burnham became PM?!

TimeFlysWhenYoureHavingRum · 13/08/2026 06:54

What happened? The Tory Party. 14 years of under investment and mismanagement. It will only get worse if Reform get anywhere near it.

IronEverything · 13/08/2026 06:51

I know nobody will agree with me on here but I think it's time to do away with it. It doesn't work. It's being abused and taken advantage of left, right and centre and it's completely unfit for purpose.

Barney16 · 13/08/2026 06:49

My elderly father has had so much NHS resource spent on him I'm surprised there's any left for anyone else. The increase in people living to be v elderly must be having a massive impact on the NHS. I'm sorry you had an unpleasant experience OP and I hope you feel better soon.

Backwardsbinn · 13/08/2026 06:46

Zonder · 12/08/2026 23:17

The influx from the four corners of the world is the main reason the NHS hasn't collapsed altogether. Consistent underfunding has screwed it over.

Show quote history

It’s not underfunded - it has taken a larger and larger share of the UK budget over the years. It’s just people want every little thing treated and want to take no personal responsibility whatsoever for their health.

Tel12 · 13/08/2026 06:43

Brokeandold · 13/08/2026 00:08

2 newly qualified Doctors that our son knows couldn't get jobs in the UK, one now works in Malta, the other in Jersey.

Exactly. It makes little sense.

ShetlandishMum · 13/08/2026 06:35

Meadowfinch · 13/08/2026 01:03

OP, I’m sorry you had a bad experience. Can I just say it isn’t all like that. I was diagnosed with bc and had a mastectomy a couple of years ago. Everything went as planned, fast appt, surgery when planned, post-op care was attentive and supportive.
Since then radiotherapy & chemotherapy have been calm, well organised, to schedule and with lots of support.

Grateful thanks to Oncology at North Hampshire Hospitals NHS.

A couple of years ago many wards and functions looked very different kn NHS than 2026.
My best decision ever has been to leave NHS. I am not returning.

TankFlyBossW4lk · 13/08/2026 02:18

CoffeeBotherer · 12/08/2026 22:56

Underfunded for the last 15 years. Plus too much emphasis on middle management rather than frontline staff. Brexit didn't help.

I know so many who work in NHS - they all have similar stories.

Completely agree on the middle management part. It expands and expands. No funding for clinical workers though.

LoveItaly · 13/08/2026 01:41

Todolisttoolong · 12/08/2026 23:47

The NHS is not under funded - it is very badly run. Huge amounts of money is wasted. It is not just middle managers either - if they weren’t there then front line staff would be taken away from patient care. I think a lot is the fall out from the way it was set up with the inducements needed to bring private practitioners on board. The import of foreign staff rather than training Uk staff (and employing Uk trained staff) is also a huge issue. Last year nearly half of UK trained newly qualified doctors were left unemployed. Hundreds of Nigerian nurses were recently found to have fraudulent qualifications and they won’t be the only ones. Plus there is the very commonly reported issue with poorly spoken English.

As an example of the rot that is NHS senior management - just look at the way they ware determined to break the law on women’s right to safety, privacy and dignity.

Great post, agree with everything you’ve said.

Meadowfinch · 13/08/2026 01:03

OP, I’m sorry you had a bad experience. Can I just say it isn’t all like that. I was diagnosed with bc and had a mastectomy a couple of years ago. Everything went as planned, fast appt, surgery when planned, post-op care was attentive and supportive.
Since then radiotherapy & chemotherapy have been calm, well organised, to schedule and with lots of support.

Grateful thanks to Oncology at North Hampshire Hospitals NHS.