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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:
Oliversmumsarmy · 22/07/2019 19:08

I do know that there are protocols they need to follow, which mean they need to rule out the most likely causes before looking at the less likely ones

But they aren't ruling out anything as they are making their minds up and nothing you say or do can change it.

Oliversmumsarmy · 22/07/2019 19:15

Allergictoironing you mentioned concussion.

Did they first send you away for being drunk and did you only get to see someone the next day when after getting an emergency gps appointment the doctor refer you back to A&E.

That was our experience of concussion.

Just heard from a friend. Her uncle had to give up his job and had been say at home for 11 months being treated for gout.

As the foot wasn't getting any better they sent him for an xray. He has broken bones in his foot that have now set so now he is waiting for an operation to reset his foot.

And people want to save this service?

Walkaround · 22/07/2019 19:37

Oliversmumsarmy - your experience is not everyone's experience. Do you really think the NHS would still be so popular with the general public if everyone treated by the NHS had experiences even remotely like yours? In every country in the world, under every type of healthcare system, there are people getting negligent treatment and people getting excellent treatment. You have been astonishingly unlucky. Most people have mixed experiences - my family have received some excellent care, some perfectly satisfactory care and some seriously substandard care. This is not really surprising to me, as human beings are fallible creatures. To be fair, I've only felt not listened to once - by an arrogant little twerp of a consultant who clearly had a problem relating to women.

bellakjo · 22/07/2019 19:39

At the risk of being flamed I had to attend a neurology appointment with a relative recently. There were six HCAs milling about chatting to one another and another woman not in uniform, so possibly admin talking loudly about chairs! Apparently she needed to check them but someone else checked them last week. It didn't stop her going to the far end of the waiting room to call across to her colleague about another chair! They weren't busy, one other person in the waiting room but didn't think to tell the consultant we were there. Too many lazy admin staff hanging around doing nothing is a huge problem. Don't get me started on why the requested MRI with contrast wasn't done, just a normal MRI. Apparently this happens a lot according to the consultant. So another MRI will need to be done - what a waste of money!I had fantastic care when I was in hospital but the admin needs to be sorted.

Allergictoironing · 22/07/2019 19:48

Nope, checked properly for concussion both times. Sent home the first time as I was not too bad & lived with family, kept in overnight the second as I had been knocked out, and was clearly not on this planet!

Of course being in full riding kit at the time, and ambulanced in directly from the show ground, may have helped the diagnosis Wink

Oliversmumsarmy · 23/07/2019 01:34

Whilst my experience might not have been everyone’s there is quite a number of people who similar things have occurred to not think my experience is in the minority.

groundanchochillipowder · 23/07/2019 01:48

I was there in full hillwalking regalia, got asked what I'd drunk. Um, water.

Alsohuman · 23/07/2019 07:30

@Oliversmumsarmy, your experience is definitely a small minority. People with good experiences don’t talk about it, they just take it for granted that the NHS dealt with them satisfactorily and get on with their lives.

Walkaround · 23/07/2019 07:39

Well, Oliversmumsarmy, I certainly live in fear of getting ill at the moment - it is quite obvious that the NHS is seriously underfunded, has had harmful changes forced upon that have made the situation infinitely worse (how much money was wasted on these changes rather than spending it on patient care?), and is breaking under the strain. That is not caused by gross inefficiency, it's Government policy. Government simultaneously starved the organisation of funding and forced money to be spent on making everything worse.

Oliversmumsarmy · 23/07/2019 08:32

A doctors ability to listen doesn’t cost anything.

Infact if they do it would bring the cost down of treating a patient.

I don’t see myself as a minority.

I don’t know anyone (and I know an awful lot of people) that has a good experience to speak of

Whether it was themselves or a relative the number of people who have had incorrect treatment is huge.

SootySueandSweeptoo · 23/07/2019 09:50

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Alsohuman · 23/07/2019 10:04

I don’t believe you don’t know anyone who has had a successful outcome from the NHS @Oliversmumsarmy. I know your experience was awful and I’m sorry, however that makes you an unreliable witness, particularly since you’re refusing to even acknowledge the positive experiences related here.

poochnewbie · 23/07/2019 12:13

Up until this week, most of my NHS has been very positive.
A few months ago I saw a gp for back pain who referred me for an mri. The appointment letter was on my doorstep two days later with an appointment for early the following week. MRI was done, cause of pain identified and treated. NHS at its best.

Last weekend my dd was admitted to a ward when I took her back after being sent home from a and e. Her care was horrendous. Wrong test results, ultrasound incorrectly analysed, nobody coordinated her care and every doctor had something different to add. She was given wrong medication.They almost took out her appendix without even checking for appendicitis. We were dumped on wards and moved about. Scans were cancelled when she should have been taken. Doctors forgot to see her...I could go on...

gamerwidow · 23/07/2019 18:46

I’ve been on both sides of the NHS fence. It’s my employer but it’s also cared for me and my family for major illnesses. Sometimes my families experience has been exemplary and sometimes it has fallen below the expected standard and I’ve had to complain. It’s such a big organisation the standard isn’t uniform across all providers.

Oliversmumsarmy · 23/07/2019 19:17

Alsohuman

I actually don’t know anyone.

Some have thought they had excellent treatment. Then years later it turns out they were misdiagnosed or the treatment did more harm than good.

Usually I can diagnose myself. I just need to be treated for what I have, not tested for loads of other things or treated one symptom at a time

missyB1 · 23/07/2019 20:45

usually I can diagnose myself, I just need to be treated for what I have

Oh dear.

ArgyMargy · 23/07/2019 21:24

usually I can diagnose myself, I just need to be treated for what I have

Just when I think I've seen the most ridiculous comment of the year... there's always another one on MN

Alsohuman · 23/07/2019 22:13

Yup, this thread, particularly Oliver’smum is the gift that keeps on giving.

Oliversmumsarmy · 23/07/2019 22:42

I knew I had a stomach ulcer but wasn’t diagnosed for 3 years. 3 years in pain, unable to eat, weight dropped to 5.5stone. I knew I had a problem with my back (slipped discs) but I was diagnosed with needing a new hip. 7 years in agony before someone looked at me,

Dp knew he could have bowel cancer, instead he was left till it was too late.

So I am really glad that has entertained you.

gamerwidow · 24/07/2019 06:51

To be fair to Oliversmumsarmy
Sometimes you do know what you have and it takes a long time to to get the correct diagnosis. There are some doctors who will seize on a symptom and run with it instead of looking at the whole picture. Other doctors who won’t listen when you have a chronic illness and you know what treatment you need and they won’t listen.
Case in point my DN has asthma. When she has a bad attack she’s ALWAYS needs nebs and steroids. A&E always say oh we’ll just give her nebs this time despite her mums protests and then she ends up really sick and admitted. Why won’t they listen.
No all doctors are equal unfortunately and because GPs are generalists and not specialists it can take a long time to get the correct treatment which is understandably very frustrating. That’s not to say the NHS is shit but diagnosis is hard and they do get it wrong a lot before they get it right.

gamerwidow · 24/07/2019 06:54

Ps this is also a funding issue. What you really need is to be able to do a raft of tests right at the start but that’s expensive so you have to do the slow process of one test at a time to rule it out.

Oliversmumsarmy · 24/07/2019 08:00

Ps this is also a funding issue. What you really need is to be able to do a raft of tests right at the start but that’s expensive so you have to do the slow process of one test at a time to rule it out

The problem is like when I had slipped discs. The NHS said it couldn't afford £300 for an MRI but then spent thousands on physio and consultant appointments for 7 years trying to put right a hip that didn't have anything wrong with it.

Testing one thing at a time has the added expense of each test will involve a gps appointment and an appointment to have the blood test.

I don't think that when you add up precisely how much it will cost it is cheaper to test things one at a time. Even then if you say what you think is wrong, that is the last thing they test for. Almost like they are trying to prove you wrong.

gamerwidow · 24/07/2019 08:14

Yes it probably is a false economy in a lot of cases.

SootySueandSweeptoo · 24/07/2019 16:24

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Oliversmumsarmy · 27/07/2019 00:06

I wonder if it would be financially astute to actually screen for bowel cancer for all those that present with bowel cancer symptoms rather than leaving it till the cancer has developed into a grade 3 or 4 where more invasive and extensive surgery and treatment is needed. Or are they hoping people will die off and so won't be a drain on society any more