So sorry for NHS staff

[6demandingchildren]

Tried calling my GP practice this morning to get a telephone appointment, Mondays is the worst time to call as you can never get through but I was lucky only this time I was met with a different welcome message, it basically said that its not the receptionists fault if their are no available appointments and please do not take your frustrations out on the staff.
Anyway once the receptionist answered (this was around 10am) all the appointments for the day had gone and she asked what was wrong, I have only got pins and needles in my face so nothing major and she advised me to call back tomorrow morning or phone 111.
No wonder these poor people are so stressed out.

[Medstudent12]

@Koph just a follow up to another of your points.

Full time as a doctor is more than full time. Most cannot drop to LTFT without a reason. The thing is doctors aren’t making it to end of consultant training or becoming a GP. Because the workload is untenable.

They’re introducing LTFT for many specialties now as trainees are leaving. We are human beings and do not deserve to be slated for not wanting to work 55 hours a week in an incredibly demanding and stressful job.

I would love love love for you to come with me on a hospital night shift and tell me you could hack it too.

I’m not going LTFT as I want to finish my training and have kids. But I have friends who can and will leave if made to continue this level of work. Get some empathy. Doctors cannot pour from an empty cup. We have lives too.

[ohfourfoxache]

FWIW I truly believe we are witnessing the beginning of the end of the NHS. I’ve personally never seen it so bad.

[Dhcfisssifjrsnxfjds]

Childcare not children…

[HadaVerde]

midgedude

HadaVerde
Hiya
No car and going outside alone not feasible due to caring responsibilities.

So if you went into the surgery what would you need to do about your caring responsibilities?

With a set time appointment I could arrange cover.

Obviously this is not possible when I only have a day with no set time for a phone call from the gp.

[Mummyford]

@Dhcfisssifjrsnxfjds

@ Mummyford - well if it was serious professional work you would be agreeing with me.

Ah, well, it was, and in DH's case, still is, and I say you're full of shit.

I'm not saying the work isn't hard and stressful and demanding, sometimes requiring long hours, but it's a totally different ballgame. After the first couple of years, unless you're on a project or a deal with a tight deadline, you can pretty much manage your own time. That, after all, is one of the big advantages of what you refer to as 'serious professional work' (a phrase which, by the way, I've never heard used by anyone in any industry I've been involved in).

My mum's a GP. I can assure you, there's no comparison.

[ohfourfoxache]

Think about this logically

NHS staff are all saying that they are fucked. The doctors, nurses, radiographers, clerks, orthotics, physios, OT, dieticians, midwives, commissioners. Everyone. And we’re all saying it. And only a portion of the public are listening.

So, who is right? Are the people working living and breathing healthcare right, that they are working beyond capacity and the system is at breaking point?

Or are these other so-called “professionals” right, when they probably haven’t even stepped in front of a desk in their lives?

For those who are hard of thinking:

The system is fucked
The staff are overwhelmed
The staff are tired (cheers Conservatives/covid)
Demand outstrips supply ++++++
We (NHS workers) are ALL SAYING THE SAME THING

When are people going to listen??

[Cbtb]

@HadaVerde I agree it’s shit and I think you are able to say that as a patient. Drs and unhappy. Patients are unhappy. Something g needs to change but not privatisation. They keys is It’s not because the GPs are lazy it’s because there are not enough of them and they are underfunded. Complain to your re MP

[HadaVerde]

I believe the professionals saying they are fucked.

I didn’t vote this government In.


I just don’t get why people seem to be being told that they are lying? About the poor service they are getting or what?

Gp surgeries have a say In how they operate though and some don’t seem to be doing as well as others. Hence the complaints.

[Dhcfisssifjrsnxfjds]

@ Mummyford aren’t you a delight? No need to be offensive. Clearly you have a different experience but that doesn’t cancel out mine. That’s not how it works.

[Wineandroses3]

I know it’s cliche but the NHS is a victim of its own success, the population in general is living a lot longer, we have a lot of very elderly people with multiple co-morbidities that take up a lot of GP time; of course I am not saying that is wrong, I want to live in a society that looks after it’s elderly but the fact remains the population explosion and the fact that we are all living longer means the system can no longer cope with the ever increasing demand. I also think that in this country we need to have a massive cultural shift towards self care - we have a massive problem with type 2 diabetes, Bradford, UK is the type 2 diabetes capital of Eurpose. - In the vast majority of cases (but not all) is caused through lifestyle and being over weight. Obesity and child hood obesity is also a big problem adding more strain on the system, yet is completely avoidable. The other massive problem that any clinician particularly in A&E will tell you in alchohol abuse. We need massive public health reform and a huge cultural shift amongst the population, I’m just not sure how we do it!

[ohfourfoxache]

Of course patient satisfaction is going to go down. I can assure you that, as a patient, it’s pretty shit

But it’s the symptom of chronic underfunding and mismanagement. It is not the fault of staff who are working their arses off trying to care for people in a system that has literally been set up to fail

[ohfourfoxache]

People in glass houses, @Dhcfisssifjrsnxfjds

[Mummyford]

@Dhcfisssifjrsnxfjds

@ Mummyford aren’t you a delight? No need to be offensive. Clearly you have a different experience but that doesn’t cancel out mine. That’s not how it works.

But yours cancels out that of almost everyone else on this thread?

[Mummyford]

@Dhcfisssifjrsnxfjds

And furthermore, you didn't speak of your experience. You started out talking about 'most of the professional world.' When I disagreed, you very kindly explained to me that it it was 'serious professional work' I would have agreed.

If you want to talk about your own experience, fine. I have no grounds for disagreeing with you. But I can say that in my own experience, and in that of most of our friends, what you're saying just isn't true.

[Dhcfisssifjrsnxfjds]

@ohfourfoxache

People in glass houses, *@Dhcfisssifjrsnxfjds*

Not clear what you are trying refer to? That my experience doesn’t cancel out yours? Clearly. I am not an NHS doctor (I know many, from GP to consultant at all levels but I do not have personal experience of it, no). The point is that it rings hollow for the demands to be described as unprecedented and unsustainable when the professional world operates at that level on a daily basis (despite those on this thread who say otherwise).
Maybe GP pay expectations need to reduce? I know the answer will be that GPs will leave in droves but there will always be those who want to take the GP route and maybe in the absence of more funding (where would it come from?) the salary and profit expectations of GP practices will need to undergo some adjustment. It seems facile to say more funding is the answer when taxes are already absurdly high and the money seems to go into a black hole. If money could be taken from somewhere else and earmarked for salaries of GPs (can it, I don’t know?) perhaps the answer would be different.

[Dhcfisssifjrsnxfjds]

[quote Mummyford]@Dhcfisssifjrsnxfjds

And furthermore, you didn't speak of your experience. You started out talking about 'most of the professional world.' When I disagreed, you very kindly explained to me that it it was 'serious professional work' I would have agreed.

If you want to talk about your own experience, fine. I have no grounds for disagreeing with you. But I can say that in my own experience, and in that of most of our friends, what you're saying just isn't true.[/quote]
As I say I don’t purport to cancel out your experience but I can say with certainty that I know senior professionals in all of the professions l listed who have worked 60-80 hour weeks throughout their careers. My point is that the experience of GPs is not an outlier on my experience.

[Namenic]

I would ring 111 with pins and needles in your face. If there are any additional symptoms like weakness, speech or visual problems you should def go to a&e immediately.

[ohfourfoxache]

You were “a delight” first and continue to be with each subsequent post

Let me be clear - your views and the way in which you have consistently expressed them are offensive.

Therefore lay off @Mummyford and try to actually listen to what people are saying rather than spout forth about professional expectations

HTH

[Sweetnhappy1]

Dhcfisssifjrsnxfjds is a Tory bot!

There's a national shortage of GPs so let's cut their pay!

[ohfourfoxache]

My point is that the experience of GPs is not an outlier on my experience

I suggest that your experience of healthcare - as a professional - is lacking

[Dhcfisssifjrsnxfjds]

@ohfourfoxache

You were “a delight” first and continue to be with each subsequent post

Let me be clear - your views and the way in which you have consistently expressed them are offensive.

Therefore lay off *@Mummyford* and try to actually listen to what people are saying rather than spout forth about professional expectations

HTH

Why come on this thread if you don’t want to hear other people’s views? The only thing ‘offensive’ about my views is that you don’t agree with them.

[Dhcfisssifjrsnxfjds]

@ohfourfoxache

My point is that the experience of GPs is not an outlier on my experience

I suggest that your experience of healthcare - as a professional - is lacking

I am not trying to convince you, just make you aware of other views.

[ohfourfoxache]

You have basically come on here to say that GPs are only doing what is expected and that they essentially shouldn’t complain. They are doing what they signed up for

You fail to appreciate that demand is outstripping supply probably 7/8 fold AT LEAST.

Ergo your comments are offensive

[Namenic]

Dhcfisssifjrsnxfjds - there will always be those who want to take the GP route.

Um - doesn’t really seem like it if there are lots of vacancies… people retire early, go to other jobs. How will you just ‘reduce salary expectations’ when someone with their skills could do something else - work for pharma, finance, insurance etc?

[Fupoffyagrasshole]

Phoning up is a stupid system tbh