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Original poster

Chronic waste in the NHS

99 replies

Bestcatmum · 18/12/2022 14:39

If the NHS cracked down hard on waste in the NHS we could all have the pay rise we are after.
Yesterday I did a clinic in the minor injuries unit, the thermometer read 27 degrees all day. There is no way to turn the radiators off there only estates can do it.
We sweltered, we all stank of sweat by the end of the day, the patients complained, we had to fling all the windows open.
I went home with a dehydration headache and a heat headache.
We've been asking for simple things to be fixed and they come and "fix" them, they fail almost immediately, two examples a fire door that has supposedly been fixed multiple times during the last 7 years which still doesn't work, a door handle that has been fixed multiple times over the last 7 years that fell off in my hand last week AGAIN locking me in my clinic, I was locked in for 2 hours until someone came by. there is no phone signal in there.
It costs £100 a time for them to come out and fix something.
I went out to the bins the other day and found hundreds of pounds worth of in date dressings and equipment that had been chucked. I couldn't work out why because they were all in date and intact.
This is just the tip of the iceberg.
it is a national disgrace.

OP posts:
bellac11 · 18/12/2022 14:42

Yes I think these were formed out of various tenders and contracts over the years. Doesnt matter which government bought them in, they have failed to be cost effective and need to be bought back in house
Same with most public services like local authorities, local councils, schools, leisure etc etc

All gone outsourced and little control over cost and quality of product

MotherOfCrocodiles · 18/12/2022 14:45

Not to mention that crutches walking frames etc seem to get chucked after one use because they apparently can't be cleaned

anniegun · 18/12/2022 14:45

So many services have been privatised that areas such as maintenance are run for profit rather than common sense. Bring them back in-house and managers on site could make sensible decisions

Toddlerteaplease · 18/12/2022 14:51

Agree. 30oc on my ward yesterday morning. All the windows were open. It's a very odd building as some areas will be freezing.
I was horrified when I did an agency shift in another hospitals saw an entire wards worth of food thrown away, because it was all babies, who aren't going to eat a roast dinner. And none of the parents wanted it either.
And how about we cut out most of middle management.

rwalker · 18/12/2022 14:57

Unfortunately people are totally blinkered into thinking they just need to throw money at it to fix it

WiseUpJanetWeiss · 18/12/2022 15:07

Presumably you have reported the incidents where you were locked in and the fire door is broken to the Fire Office or on a Datix report?

MrsDoyle351 · 18/12/2022 15:15

The waste is endless and unbelievable. Common sense is not at the forefront here.

You really couldn’t make it up. In the height of summer (30 degrees outside). All the radiator s still on in corridors throughout…. Apparently- ‘it’s not possible to switch them off’

MaryBennetsBook · 18/12/2022 15:29

Completely agree OP, there could be massive savings made. Other areas that need to be addressed are outsourcing everything and way too many managers.

All the money saved should be invested in new medical schools, nurse training bursaries and salary increases for front line staff.

Original poster
Bestcatmum · 18/12/2022 15:33

WiseUpJanetWeiss · 18/12/2022 15:07

Presumably you have reported the incidents where you were locked in and the fire door is broken to the Fire Office or on a Datix report?

I report it every single time - nothing changes.

OP posts:
bellac11 · 18/12/2022 15:34

WiseUpJanetWeiss · 18/12/2022 15:07

Presumably you have reported the incidents where you were locked in and the fire door is broken to the Fire Office or on a Datix report?

Front line nursing and HPC staff have got time to spend doing stuff like this?

This is why managers are needed to manage issues like this but apparently the general public dont like different layers in the NHS, its wasteful apparently

superorganisms · 18/12/2022 15:34

It would be so satisfying to get my teeth into this. Surely there are tonnes of quick wins that would save £££.

The temperature thing pisses me off massively.

Was in hospital recently and it was boiling on the ward. So horribly uncomfortable. I looked at the air con units and they were set to 27 degrees?! I ended up turning one right down and the other one off.

lurkinglittleladybug · 18/12/2022 15:35

I work in a care home and we have similar issues with heating. When it’s on, it’s on… 30 degrees, impossible to turn down the temperature, all the windows are open to try to get the place a comfortable temperature, so wasteful! One of the residents actually suffered with heat stroke the other week and we had paramedics come out to check her over… Heatstroke… in winter 🤨.

And we also had a resident brought back from the hospital by paramedics. They left the pillows and blankets from the hospital, I thought they had forgotten them so reminded them as they were leaving only to be told that they are not allowed to take blankets or pillows back to the hospital once they have left. Apparently the hospital get through loads of blankets and pillows for this reason… How wasteful… I mean is it not possible to wash blankets and pillows? 🤦‍♀️

Revjane · 18/12/2022 15:37

Shocking - I've moved from one trust to another, been told my new trust doesn't support my existing hearing aids, and been fitted with new ones. Over £1000 worth of kit now sat in a drawer, just because they can't transfer a bit of paperwork from one area to another.

FTY765 · 18/12/2022 15:38

Broken fire door is surely a Health and Safety matter, apart from anything else. Massive fine if discovered by the "right" people.
But YANBU on the face of it.

stopbeeping · 18/12/2022 15:41

I agree
I really get upset about the packets of things disposed of

Cannulas when they lose a cap and then open a whole new cannula pack to get a butt out. Why don't they have individual butts ?

Medicine duplicated by pharmacy at hospital and then also hospital at homes teams

Medicine that is over prescribed and given out and never ever used

Old it that wastes everyone's time

Missed appointments with no standby lists

terrible maintenance teams, where do they find these people who are so rubbish?

Wasted crutches etc

Heating

Broken furniture

The clinel stuff that people steal wipes gels etc

Just so annoying

bellac11 · 18/12/2022 15:42

I think also from a patient perspective, there is a lot of money to be saved by being more preventative and pro active with regard to treatment. The longer things are left, the more health needs increase, people not being able to work, benefits being paid out, more strain on teh NHS for the various of associated health needs which are created.

Problems could be check out and eliminated/discovered with quicker referrals/examinations saving time and money over the long term

I know thats a catch 22 situation because how do you get in there in the early stages when there isnt the capacity to fix the later stages at the moment.

I dont know the answer.

stopbeeping · 18/12/2022 15:43

bellac11 · 18/12/2022 15:42

I think also from a patient perspective, there is a lot of money to be saved by being more preventative and pro active with regard to treatment. The longer things are left, the more health needs increase, people not being able to work, benefits being paid out, more strain on teh NHS for the various of associated health needs which are created.

Problems could be check out and eliminated/discovered with quicker referrals/examinations saving time and money over the long term

I know thats a catch 22 situation because how do you get in there in the early stages when there isnt the capacity to fix the later stages at the moment.

I dont know the answer.

Full agree
Everything gets left to fester until it's a lot bigger then it needed to be

No privations for elderly to go to after hospital ditto vulnerable adults

Hankunamatata · 18/12/2022 15:44

Iv seen a department go from having one band 7 manager to having 3 managers - 2 at band 7 and 1 at band 8. Yet the work hasn't actually changed.

Invisimamma · 18/12/2022 15:47

Also all the single use items that are used, speculums etc. My dp works in nhs decontamination and he said that a lot of departments now use single use instruments where metal, cleanable instruments are available. Although he things single use is potentially more cost effective than cost of sterilising and transporting. But the environmental impact must be huge.

They also have to wrap everything for theatre in paper sheets, then plastic wraps, the waste is unbelievable.

Often theatre instruments are put in taxis to hospitals because there is a patient is on the table waiting for a specific item to be used on them, it's just poor planning and no oversight.

Londonnight · 18/12/2022 15:54

Another waste we have are the blue bowls that get used for washing patients when they are in. Once they leave, these get disposed of. Why? There is nothing wrong with them. They are plastic so can easily be cleaned.
The fire doors we also have issues with. They have been out multiple times, but still the doors aren't fixed. This has now been going on for months.

Willowswood · 18/12/2022 16:08

Londonnight · 18/12/2022 15:54

Another waste we have are the blue bowls that get used for washing patients when they are in. Once they leave, these get disposed of. Why? There is nothing wrong with them. They are plastic so can easily be cleaned.
The fire doors we also have issues with. They have been out multiple times, but still the doors aren't fixed. This has now been going on for months.

Our ward uses disposable ones that go in the macerator after use. We used to use the plastic washing up bowl ones and they were so wasteful.

eatdrinkandbemerry · 18/12/2022 16:17

Worked for the nhs for years and the amount of waste is unreal
They could make huge savings but their not interested!

catandcoffee · 18/12/2022 16:24

OP so who makes these decisions ,do you know ?
of course it's always easy to spend other people's money

Pedallleur · 18/12/2022 16:30

Let's not forget that the various Govts encouraged pfi in building new hospitals which th NHS rents back plus interest. It's a huge amount being given to private firms.

onepieceoflollipop · 18/12/2022 16:33

The heating situation is crazy. I work in a community clinic - our heating minimum is 23 - in a tiny stuffy office. The large reception where patients wait (including old or frail) that was 15 last week…

The apparent corruption re ordering supplies. My laptop cable needed replacing - it took so long I ordered one locally and paid myself. It was £1 less than the same ones that the NHS would have supplied. (I saw the NHS invoice) Surely the NHS would order a large quantity which should cost far less? That’s just one small example of course.

Someone can’t do their sums (or more likely doesn’t want to as it would seem lots of companies are profiteering from this system). I’ve read a lot about the corruption and profiteering around ordering PPE. This needs independently auditing surely??