to think that the NHS could learn from private helathcare?? (mosschops fantastic experience)

[mosschops30]

I know people will say its about money ....BUT ....

after being butchered by the NHS, by being subjected to what amounts to abuse by some power hungry midwife and being constantly ignored by people, but getting PTSD and having therapy and oodles of support from my Gynae I plucked up the courage to have a hysteroscopy and mirena under GA.

Those of you that are familiar with the story will know how hard it was for me to make that decision, and how terrified I was about being a patient again.

So in I went yesterday and it all worked perfectly I was shown to my room, then my nurse introduced herself, my anaesthetist came to see me, explained what he was going to use, I asked if I had to be intubated and he said he could manage my airway if I prefered, which I did (he knew about the PTSD but said he wouldnt mention anything on the day). Then my consultant came to see me, did consent form and then i walked down to theatre with dh, my nurse and theatre nurse (in my robe and slippers provided lol funny to me as an NHS worker).
The anaesthetic was so quick I didnt have time to escape (all part of the plan he told me later), cannula was in and drugs given within 60 seconds I would say. Then I woke up in recovery about half hour later.

Now I know the room was clean, and I had my own bathroon, the menu and food was lovely, I loved the flat screen tv and robe and slippers.

But most of all I liked that everyone did what they said they were going to do, no one had forgotten how scared I was, no one questioned why dh was there with me, my nurse was constantly checking my pain levels and had no problems in getting drugs signed and administered within minutes. It was all stuff that should be done all the time by every hospital.
Every member of staff who looked after me yesterday played a huge part in my recovery (mentally and physically) they have restored my faith in the medical and nursing professions.

It was perfect

what is PTSD?

glad you had a good experience
shame it can't be ilke that for everyone in the nhs

you're right though it's all down to money and staffing levels

sorry I meant 'getting PTSD' from the fucks ups of NHS
(post traumatic stress disorder)

post traumatic stress disorder.

i am glad your op went well but the nhs doesn't really have the resources to provide this level of service.

the NHS could learn from many companies - it struck me that FedEx have a better booking-in system....Sainsbury's have higher service standards, etc etc.

though it isn't all about money - good manners cost nothing. some of the inefficiency wastes money (remember Rivens admissions story - same paperwork done 4 times!!)

what level of service, members of staff who can actually communicate with each other and with their patients?? Surely that has nothing to do with money.
The excellence in care yesterday wasnt to do with money it was to do with bloody marvellous staff, not all the poncey stuff.

I dont want to argue about it anyway, I just wanted to shout from the rooftops that I went through with it and I am really happy that I did

well you mentioned the tv and room etc. tbh i have had the rest in an nhs hospital.

there is alot wrong with the nhs but i don't think it needs to learn much from the private health sector

It is perfect yes and this is the reason i went into nursing because this is how i thought hospitals worked, and i wanted to be a part of it.

personal experience, and expereince of others has shown me that your poor experience is common.

BUT this is how I nurse, this is how i train my nurses to work, so in my dept at least, we do things correctly, with compassion, genuine care and we do what we say we are going to do.
We are NHS and we do things as you describe without exception...SO what i am saying is, its not all as bad as that thank goodness.

But when people say 'money'... Costs nearly £2000/year per man, woman and child to run the NHS at the moment. That's an enormous sum. Even if you took out what it costs to provide GPs and emergency/ambulance/casualty services, £1000/year would buy everyone really good private health insurance for all the other procedures. Where does the money go?

broke I agree, I despise nurses who say things like 'well she says shes in pain but ...' to me pain is what the patient says it is (which is exactly what the nurse yesterday said)

1000 a year would not provide healthcover for everyone if the nhs did not exist. the private sector is propped up by the nhs.

I do wonder if the private sector attracts better staff though in general... They do pay significantly more than the NHS.

I'm pleased your experience was good but I really don't think the NHS needs to be learning from the private health sector.

The NHS just doesn't have the resources to provide the care that you are talking about: that step by step explain and empathise approach is of course the ideal standard but if you have 40 patients to deal with instead of 14 it is unrealistic.

And FWIW I have lived in a country where I have had to take my bleeding son into the emergency room to be stitched and had to fill in paperwork and give over my medical and credit cards and passport before anyone would so much as look at him. It is not great.

" £1000/year would buy everyone really good private health insurance for all the other procedures. "

Private insurance works the way it does because it screens people who get it and what they get on it. You don't usually get emergency care on private insurance, dialysis etc.

Glad to hear of your good experience, Mosschops30. Manners and communications might be better if you felt more valued, secure in your job etc. Lots to learn, though, I agree.

Not saying there aren't fantastic staff in the NHS but does the private sector have a greater pool of potential applicants to choose from [due to higher rates of pay, better conditions, staffing levels] and thus they can recruit and retain the best people?

Meh. Multiply anecdote x2 and you still don't get evidence.

I'm glad you had a better time of it, OP, but what I think you meant your thread title to read was "AIBU to think that this healthcare experience was better than that healthcare experience for a number of different reasons, chief amongst those being the luxury of time and money".

It's also important to remember that if you'd aspirated on table you'd have been in an NHS ITU before you had time to say "not my problem guv".

Chil it costs just over £1000 per day per patient

bootymum I would suspect the private sector attracts staff who are more interested in money than healthcare.

in my dept (sorry meant to add but pressed post)

This is consumables, staff equipment, drugs (which are FORTUNES) fluids etc

Might be something to be said about the considerably less stress you're under when all the procedures in your department are on "well" people (in the sense they're planned rather than emergency).

Quite, NDR - classic private sector assumption that more money = better.

Sickest patients I ever reviewed when I was on the wards were the ones in the private wing, at night - bare bones agency nursing cover and private rooms gives you a lot of time to deteriorate before someone finds you.

Lovely carpets, though!

Chil1234 googling - average health insurance cost USA in 2009: $2985 for a single person. And on top of that, you'd have to pay the excess, co-payments, and full cost of drugs. And it doesn't include the elderly, who are in the Medicare system. So the NHS actually looks quite cheap...

Glad you had a good experience mosschops but to blance this a bit you probably had shitty staff in the nhs. Not everyone is like that. but it is down to all of us who are not like that to not tolerate this behaviour from our colleagues or ourselves.

Secondly do people realise that it costs £250 for an ambulance call out? Thats a recent example of cost I can think of. Put into context £2k/yr/person is actually quite cost effective when you think of what we all use over a lifetime.

Its also worth bearing in mind how awful private healthcare can be. It is great if nothing goes wrong but if it does..
I know of too many stories of people being extremely ill post op in private hospitals and only being rescued when a passing anaesthetist realised and transferred them to an NHS ITU. The private sector has a lot of failings.

Compare one (junior) doctor plus 10 nursing staff for 60 people, all of whom could take a turn for the worse vs whatever the ratio is in private hospitals, all of whom may be recovering gently, you can see why you don't have time for the more personal approach.