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Original poster

Do non NHS people realise how bad it is at the moment?

689 replies

DoyouknowJo · 18/07/2019 00:09

I had to justify to my managers manager why I needed to spend £7 on stationery. Stationery. Some biros, some staples and a box of envelopes.

One of my colleagues chairs broke and she was told to apply to charitable funds to get a new one.

Everything is held together with sticky tape and blu tac (literally and figuratively)

We have four members of admin staff bunched into a desk meant for two, because there is no money to pay IT to put a new port in on their desks.

Waste toner cartridges are on lockdown. If yours is full you should take a scalpel, cut the seal open, empty it and then stick it back together and put it back in the printer. Don't worry about all your printing then being covered in smudgy ink. We're broke ya know.

And some fucking idiot turned up to A&E today...because their arm has been hurting for two months and they are off on holiday tomorrow and could we sort it please.

I'm thinking of starting an anonymous instagram account to get all this crap out.

OP posts:
Anotherbloodyname123 · 18/07/2019 00:12

Sounds like local government 8-10 years ago.

WolfhoundsofLove · 18/07/2019 00:14

Why shouldn’t somebody go to A and E if they are in pain? Even if they’ve been in pain for two months? Presumably you don’t know all their circumstances?

Historydweeb · 18/07/2019 00:17

That's bloody worrying.

Original poster
DoyouknowJo · 18/07/2019 00:20

If their arm has been hurting for two months it’s neither an accident or an emergency.

OP posts:
Namenic · 18/07/2019 00:22

I agree OP. Have to not only click print on the computer but push 2 buttons on the physical printer every time there is a print job. Each click can take longer than 30s to process.

I expect social care is more starved and politicians have been putting off decisions for ages. Brexit is gonna cause staffing problems.

giggly · 18/07/2019 00:22

Eh accident and emergency is for erm emergencies Hmm not a bloody sore arm that’s what GP are for ffs. This is one of the biggest drains on the NHS total time wasters. And don’t start with the you don’t know all the facts any front line staff will tell you this is an every day occurrence for the stupid and self important amongst isAngry

chzarind · 18/07/2019 00:24

No, no people don't realise how bad it is. While I agree that a sore stem for 2 months is a GP issue and not an A&E one, I can't quite work out at all what is has to do with your issues.

Namenic · 18/07/2019 00:24

OP - who would u prefer as next PM? Urgh - pains me to say Hunt would be better...

Rejectthetossers · 18/07/2019 00:25

Think yourself lucky at least you can purchase stationary !
Our trust has stopped supplying biro's and we are expected to purchase our own (and whiteboard pens) What would save the nhs millions is clamping down on generous paid sick leave and 'emergency leave' Having previously worked in the private sector where sick pay was only ssp and emergency leave was unheard of I find it amazing just how many colleges have broken boilers or how much time some people take off sick !

Original poster
DoyouknowJo · 18/07/2019 00:25

Oh the fucking printer

Ours hasn’t had a staple cartridge for years. In fact nobody seems to remember if it ever did have a staple cartridge. So you can’t just send anything to the printer, you have to go over and press a lit button to reassure it that you know it still doesn’t have any staples, that it won’t be getting any staples and in fact you don’t even have any staples in your fucking stapler before the bastard will bloody print anything.

OP posts:
Original poster
DoyouknowJo · 18/07/2019 00:28

It costs £124 every time someone walks in the door of A&E.

Tell me how time wasters aren’t contributing to lack of funds?

OP posts:
Original poster
DoyouknowJo · 18/07/2019 00:32

Infected piercings - everyday occurrence
Minor head bumps on children - child running around playing with toys happy as Larry - I just wanted to get it checked
The “I don’t think it’s broken because it doesn’t really hurt and I can still walk on it but can you just check” people
The “why have I been waiting 4 hours my toe really hurts” wankers. Because there are actual people actually dying in the room next to you?

OP posts:
AlexaAmbidextra · 18/07/2019 00:33

While I agree that a sore stem for 2 months is a GP issue and not an A&E one, I can't quite work out at all what is has to do with your issues.

Well let me help you. It demonstrates how money is wasted in the NHS by people abusing the system.

DinoEggz · 18/07/2019 00:36

People don’t realise how bad it is everywhere. Everyone in a public sector job has similar tales of woe. If they even still have a job.

Namenic · 18/07/2019 00:36

The link between the 2months sore arm (reflection of rising demand partly due to patients not wanting to wait due to their busy lives/health anxiety AND understaffed gps AND hospital beds not keeping pace with population) and crappy Equipment is that Both make it a bad environment to work in.

Add in understaffing due to early retirement of exhausted staff, pensions debacle causing consultants to be penalised for working more, attrition of juniors due to other more attractive opportunities (abroad and in non medical sectors)...

GreenTulips · 18/07/2019 00:38

I agree with you totally.

They should list the charges each incident costs the tax payer. May make people think twice!!

wafflyversatile · 18/07/2019 00:41

What would save the nhs millions is clamping down on generous paid sick leave and 'emergency leave' Having previously worked in the private sector where sick pay was only ssp and emergency leave was unheard of I find it amazing just how many colleges have broken boilers or how much time some people take off sick !
I dont see how the answer is to treat staff as badly as the least generous capitalism has to offer.

WorraLiberty · 18/07/2019 00:42

People don’t realise how bad it is everywhere. Everyone in a public sector job has similar tales of woe. If they even still have a job.

Yep!

Spot on but frustrating all the same.

Northernlurker · 18/07/2019 00:43

I've been buying my own pens for years. Currently fighting a running battle to avoid using charitable funds for a new toilet. Capital funding - to build and repair stuff has been slashed beyond bearing.

And that's not what scares me........

What scares me is the rumour I've seen on nhs management blogs that 1st July was the busiest day for ED attendances ever. Not busiest in the summer, busiest full stop. And it's getting worse. I don't know what this means for the winter but my whole family are getting flu jabs as soon as we can!

chzarind · 18/07/2019 00:44

Well let me help you. It demonstrates how money is wasted in the NHS by people abusing the system.

Well no need to be so rude.

My point was whether they went to A&E or the GP they would still be costing the NHS money.

But yes I do agree A&E was wrong for the situation.

Namenic · 18/07/2019 00:47

I do have sympathy for people who would like things checked. Eg the child head injury - not everyone knows the red flag symptoms and what constitutes dangerous mechanism of injury - often child has not actually been witnessed. But it should be clear that is due to something acute not ongoing at the same level for a year/month.

I took my 2 year old in after possibly swallowing some room aroma liquid - I knew he was fine but wanted to know his ecg was ok and didn’t have access to toxbase.

If this is a big issue, I think public health should investigate and design a campaign for how to triage this type of problem and manage it in the community.

TheBouquets · 18/07/2019 00:53

OH dear, this is not the kind of thing I want to hear from a person who chose to work in NHS.
Your language and comments are not encouraging that care is the top of your agenda

Anotherbloodyname123 · 18/07/2019 00:53

The NHS has been relatively well insulated against cuts compared to the rest of the public sector until now. But yes it's shit.

I'm eight months into investigating a health issue and still waiting for more tests. Follow ups with my consultant are OVER A YEAR away because they are short staffed.

It's shit but people have kept voting for this government. What did they expect?

BlackCatSleeping · 18/07/2019 00:53

I feel sorry for the staff, but I feel sorry for the patients too. I don't think a parent should feel bad about getting a head injury looked at.

It's obvious that the NHS isn't working. It needs a massive reform.

WorraLiberty · 18/07/2019 00:54

The trouble is it's so bloody hard to get a GP appointment in lots of busy areas, or to even find an NHS surgery with spaces available to join.

So many walk-in centres have closed down (in my area anyway) too.

The local councils are selling off land left, right and center for 'affordable housing' to be built and my goodness is it being built everywhere you look.

This is putting a massive strain on local GP surgeries, NHS dentists, schools etc.

This is why a lot of people turn to A&E when it's neither an accident or an emergency.

They literally feel they have nowhere else to go.