What’s the point in the NHS?

I’m not sure a scan is routine for a minor ligament injury like this. It normally RICE - rest, ice, compression, elevation. You were offered crutches but honestly nowadays they tell you to only use the crutches for a couple of days and then to use the injured ankle as much as you can - with the aid of painkillers - to aid recovery. If in the course of time the ligament doesn’t heal and you have ongoing pain, then you can ask your Gp for a referral for a scan to see if an operation is required.

At recent NHS consultation was told to take ibuprofen for pain. Explained GP had told me I must not. Consultant just said Ah well, GPs try to fix things, we just maintain you. Completely baffled. Spoke with GP and she was horrified adamant no ibuprofen. Yes I could have meds to try to limit damage to stomach by ibuprofen but those drugs damage other organs. Absolutely amazed at how angry GP was at treatment being offered. She is referring me again to another consultant. Bit much when NHS professionals are battling with one another. It seems no one trusts one another.. Amazed I wasn't told to check Mayo Clinic or AI.

You got the correct treatment but wanted to be treated as a Princess! Get over yourself; you won't die and in about 5 weeks all totally fine. I had the same injury and quite happy with my treatment. Others could be life or death whilst you have a paddy at not being prioritised.

I worked my ass off today to prevent someone dying, that's part of what the nhs is for!
treatments change, 15 years a lot of research and advances has been made by then- if rest is all you need then that's all it needs. A scan won't change the treatment course so what's the point in wasting money asking for one

Well they’ve delayed my 80yr old father getting prompt treatment (nearly 2 yrs)for a resurgence of scc that’s after cancelling appointments after the original diagnosis and treatment ,

they also put my mum when she got sepsis after her first chemo , in a ward with people with d&v (mum was a nurse for 50 yrs)

Almost 50 years ago I trained as a Nurse, an X ray then was costed at £7.50, imagine what it would be now

Of course.

We have home exercises too.

For the 45% of people who have said YANBU, I'd expect them, since they don't think there is a point in the NHS, to sign a contract opting out of all NHS treatment should they (apparently not) need it.

Yes I understand that sometimes its regular visits that's needed. Obviously it's dependent on the actual problem and treatment plan needed. Sometimes it is just home exercises that are required though.

In the next couple of weeks my 4 year old son is going to have life saving heart surgery. That is the point of the NHS.

You have a sprained ankle. It needs to rest and heal. What were you expecting exactly? If you don’t like it then go private.

You have sprained your ankle. That is it, just a sprain, not a break. You don't need an x-ray. If you want to go on the list for physio then self refer, by the time you get an appointment your ankle will be better. The gold plated crutches are on their way to you as we speak.

Twice I have fallen and broken my left wrist, the most recent last year, the care I had was brilliant apart from the wait. I was so impressed at the care and compassion I experienced that I actually wrote an email to PALS to pass on to staff. I always say the NHS is mostly brilliant once you are in the system, I'm sorry this was obviously not the case here, please write to PALS and complain, for yourself and future patients

My bowel perforated 8 years ago. They saved my life too.
I have ongoing treatment for diabetes.
My kidney was removed, due to cancer - treatment ongoing.
Loads of other exciting stuff.
NHS are amazing.

When we used to sprain ankles as kids my mum would wrap it in a cold water bandage presumably to reduce the swelling - never needed anything else. I’d just google it to find out what to do. You probably need to rest it till the swelling goes down then gently exercise it

The treatment is still the same as for sprain - PRICE and then review once acute pain subsided whether any follow up is needed. Which, I am sure OP was advised to contact her GP in a few weeks and self-refer for community physio.

What did you want a scan for? You had an xray which showed it wasn't broken. You were told it's torn ligaments. A scan wouldn't have told you any different. Use Google to find out how to look after torn ligaments.

The vast, vast majority of people are not net contributors to the NHS, meaning you won’t ever get close to paying in anything like you eventually ‘use’ so on that basis alone, We get something very valuable.

@younknow I had a colonoscopy a while back, it was swiftly scheduled and carried out. I can’t fault the care I received and happily the analysis concluded no further treatment was necessary. My partner is scheduled for a lumpectomy and this will happen shortly.

There is lots right with the NHS but it’s definitely not perfect especially when treatment varies according to postcode but demographics also play into this.

I’m sorry you had a miserable experience. However, we do not need to switch to an insurance model, where people have to choose between keeping the family home or cancer treatment.

My experience was the opposite. Private physio not much use. A few yrs later for different injury, really good NHS physio. First appointment 45 mins, then 30 min appointments. Approx one per month for about 6 months, then onto 'opt in' which meant I wouldn't be given another appointment unless I requested one within a defined time period. Discharged if nothing heard from me. I didn't need to have another appointment after the opt in was at an end. During my appointments I was monitored and a schedule developed for the next phase. I was observed doing the exercises, had them fine tuned and had my progress measured.

It's had more and more money which NHS employees waste.

What's the point of this post? I genuinely don't respect people that bitch about the NHS, sorry 😂
Yes, it's not perfect and yes, it has lots of flaws, but it's free (a point of access) healthcare. You just said yourself that you were x-rayed and then seen by a medical professional so what else do you actually want them to do?
People in this country are actually so privileged to have relatively easy access to healthcare that they forget that it's a LUXURY, and there a lots of other countries that don't have this same thing.

• I woke up in 2017 with an ovarian tumour the size of a melon. They operated on me and removed the tumour. That's what the NHS is for.

• My baby nephew was born today after having to give my SIL a c-section. That's what the NHS is for.

• My dad went out for a swim one evening and whilst there, he suffered a cardiac arrest. He drowned, and was clinically dead for several minutes. The NHS nursed him back to life, back to health, and he is alive and well today because of it.

How long have you got?

That's what the NHS is for 👌

I sprained my ankle severely in May. Black and blue and double in size by evening. Minor injuries turned me away that night. They saw me in the morning. It was xrayed, no break. Told to stay active, given a photocopied physio shert, told it would be better in six weeks, told to buy a tubigrip and sent home.

Six weeks of home physio and keeping active later it was stiff and very painful certainly not healed so I went private through my husband’s work.

The surgeon referred me to physio and mri. Mri showed bone bruising on tibia and talus. Three ligaments torn, one severely.

He said it should have been immobilised. I got a boot on amazon. I saw immediate improvement with the physio. Total healing tjme from injury was three months.

I gained four pounds of fat while it healed butI am now fully active again.

There are no quick solutions. Nature needs time to heal.

Private treatment is often also substandard. I know for a fact that a lot of my colleagues started in private practice fresh out of their degree and received no additional training or supervision. Most of them have left within three months as they didn't feel safe in this scenario and went for NHS jobs to get hands on experience.
A relative had a hip replacement at Priory. He was discharged home without an OT assessment on a Saturday with no medical staff. They didn't even assess of he could get into a car. He spent three days in a hospital and I'm all that time not once he was supported with showering or changing clothes. They also failed to ask about the home environment. Physio watched him negotiate two steps and said he was good to go. Out only bathroom was on the second floor. He could not lower himself onto the toilet as there was a toilet raiser in the hospital and nobody once suggested we may need the same. This would not have happened had he had his surgery in a state hospital. I know that because I used to work on surgical wards.

It's not the doctors fault that the care available is limited though. It IS the fault of multiple governments' deliberate defunding, mismanagement and outsourcing to private companies.

I didn’t…