Should NHS staff get prioritised treatment by the NHS

[mids2019]

Should NHS staff get prioritised treatment by the NHS.

The logic is that by facilitating recovery of NHS staff as a priority you actually make the whole system more efficient by reducing absence levels. To some extent this already happens with staff being allowed access to cancelled public appointments and there has been a hidden culture of serving or retired medical staff moving a little up the waiting list as a recognition of their service (but like a staff discount in retail I guess)

is this a good idea and should the NHS be more open about it?

It appears to happen on an as hoc basis so why not formalise it?

Because formalising it means either

Abandoning the principle of priority based on clinical need and accepting priority based on employment, which is literally insane.

or

Asking already stretched staff to accommodate extra patients on their list after hours - for free. All NHS staff would be removed from formal waiting lists and would have to be accommodated in a way that didn’t impact non staff patients. That means out of hours - for free. It means everyone else working nights and weekends without pay to run a “formal” nhs staff list, then working their normal hours for an everyone else list. That is also insane.

If I see a “staff patient” before my list starts I come in 45 mins early. I book the patient in as I have no receptionist. I clean my area because the cleaner won’t be able to when she starts as I’ll be using it - and then I spend 20-30 mins with the patient. Then I start my working day. I do it occasionally as a professional courtesy for a colleague. I don’t ask the receptionist and cleaner to come in early and also give their time for free. I don’t do it every day and if my manager told me I had to to facilitate a “formal” staff queue jumper list before and after my normal working day then I’d dig my heels in so hard they’d poke through the Australian desert sand.

And your evidence for this is ...where?

This is something HSJ should know about - you should contact them immediately with this insider shock news

No, you haven't. You are trying to be goady

Yeah great idea.

If this is true (which I strongly doubt as it is radically different from my own experience) then you would have a responsibility (assuming you are a professional with a code of conduct) to be reporting these clinics who are breaking policy and showing preferential treatment.

I have literally never, ever heard of an NHS employee skipping a list. How would it even work? Who is manually going into the electronically stored waiting lists and investigating the employment of patients or even patients relatives? Who has the time and inclination to do that?

Some naivety here if some people refuse to believe it happens

I saw that post on that particular forum - utterly horrific

I don’t think many NHS staff would expect to queue jump for anything routine, and I absolutely would not.

However to be truthful if my children were unwell with something potentially serious, and I’d have a pretty good idea that it was serious, I’d be calling every medic mate until we were seen

Those sorts.....let's have a lawless society or turn into Charles Bronson...

I'm a celebrity Richard Madeley was rushed to our hospital during filming he was in and out within the hour on a very busy night. That caused a bit of a ruckus

A question....in my hospital they are now down to one Rheumatologist with a wait list of 2 years....if she needed an op or stays off work until she has it should they prioritise her on let the wait list double?

Blame casualty and similar for that one they are always popping into radiology for a scan on their break.

Anyone who says no to this proposal is part of the problem with the NHS. We're too concerned woth what is fair and right and not running the thing like a business. If it was run as a business with decent cut throat controversal decisions made, they'd be less issues.

It makes business sense to prioritise NHS staff for NHS treatment. The NHS is throwing millions away in sick pay for staff, who with medical help may be back to work sooner. There obviously needs to be certain criteria met. But if after occupational health review it's highlighted that the rrason for sickness is because they're waiting for nhs treatment, then they should have the ability to bump them to top of the list.

I work in the NHS and I am absolutely against this. I have been told to use my staff “privilege” to bump up the waiting list and I have refused. I’ll wait my turn like everyone else thank you.

You may not be wrong but there’s going to be massive problems trying to sell it to the general public.

No way. Treatment, and when you get it, is based on clinical need... not who you work for.

However to be truthful if my children were unwell with something potentially serious, and I’d have a pretty good idea that it was serious, I’d be calling every medic mate until we were seen
Yes, me too, and I have done so in the past, most recently when my DH had a massive PE but was told at the GPs that he "just had Covid like anyone else". I have absolutely no doubt he would have died if I hadn't pulled strings and got him straight into hospital.
We always try the proper channels first and mostly it's ok. I wouldn't expect any priority for things like elective surgery or routine clinic appointments, though I have always been grateful to colleagues who would fit me in first or last on a clinic so I didn't need to cancel my own patients . But on a few occasions when it has been obvious to me that I, or my loved ones have received very poor treatment I have had no hesitation in advocating for them pretty forcefully, as I think anyone would if they could. Of course I am at an advantage over many people, both in terms of knowledge and connections, and I do wonder how lots of people navigate the system because frankly it's terrible at times. But was I really supposed to say to DH "Yes, I'm pretty sure what's wrong with you and what's needed, but I'm not going to call my A&E Consultant friend to ask for help, because it just wouldn't be fair to use my influence to save your life would it? "

It’s amazing to me that some people think the answer to all the NHS’ problems is this. Do people really think the only source of problems in the NHS is staff off sick because they’re waiting for some form of treatment? REALLY??? Do people read the news and not just MN?

To the poster above with the example of the rheumatologist. The problem in that scenario is there is ONE person with a two year wait list already. If they were prioritised when sick it’s true the waitlist doesn’t get even longer. Doesn’t get any shorter though does it for all the hundreds of people who are waiting TWO years. That is the problem that needs fixing.

I’ve benefited from working in a hospital. When I needed tests I asked if I could go on the cancellation list as I could get there at short notice (walk up 2 flights of stairs) and that happened. I didn’t steal an appointment but avoided a wasted appointment from someone cancelling last minute. That kind of thing happens and you can often escalate issues quicker because you know who to contact.

I’ve seen it too and it infuriates me. In my experience it’s been for doctors. There have been a couple of GPs who have come through recently when “normal” patients have to wait several months. They know the system so know how to play it/the shortcuts.

It definitely does happen.

Definitely not, and that comes from
somebody who works for the NHS. I know that some departments give their own staff preferential treatment though. 16 hours in to an A&E wait with my grandma who had advanced Alzheimer’s and had injured herself and my parents during an episode of psychosis and an A&E nurse came in with her boyfriend. She said well you’re not waiting in this I’ll go and see them, he had hurt his back working out and she said he absolutely needed a bed because he wasn’t comfortable sitting down and within 10 mins off he went.
Highlights the reason we shouldn’t be given treatment before people who might need it more. After another 90 mins and her attempting to throw herself through a window my granny was deemed worthy enough to be given a bed next to the man child 🙄

Yes it is a great idea.

Following on from that, officers within His Majesty's Customs & Excise should get a bonus based on tax collected above a threshold.

No abs I have never known anyone to be prioritised

i know lots of my NHS colleagues who have private healthcare no one I know feels that loyal to the NHS that they wouldn’t

and those that spout on about the wonderful NHS do not work for the NHS