AIB to ask why people expect/feel entitled to 'first class' treatment by the NHS?

[depressedhealthprofessional]

I ask because, having worked frontline in the NHS for nearly 20 years it feels like peoples expectations are becoming more and more unrealistic and out of step with the reality of what can atuially be achieved within the resources available (limited and shrinking in real terms each week)

I can honestly, hand on heart say that I have yet to meet any health professional who has 'survived' more than a few years in direct patient care who does not give more than 100% each and every day. yet all I hear is people grumbling and complaining that the NHS did not get this or that 100% right. I am not saying that we get it right absolutely all the time but for gods sake, if I have to hear about someone moaning about the quality of the mashed potato on the ward , the fact that the home help (provided by the NHS/social services) is refusing to wash the net curtains, or that it took (gasp) more than one investigation to find out what was wrong with them (they don't know what they are on about'/they are incompetent/ they are wasting my time') I am going to scream. It isi just so soul destroying that the nhs saves and improves the lives of countless millions each and every day yet all we get (in the main) is negative pres and individuals having no idea of what we are up against and just how damn hard we work.

I bloody challenge them to get on and step into our shoes!!

Rant over!!

I find that people don't want to take responsibility for their own health a lot of the time. I have encountered this a great deal over the past few years. People are becoming more entitled and their expectations are often unrealistically high. I'm happy if I receive competent care, that does me.

I find people quite spoilt and selfish tbh. I'm also a nurse, in the private sector though. We're often on the receiving end of unrealistic expectations - one HCA to 10 clients

Lady that's a crap argument. Things are sure where you are do I should be grateful for the slightly rubbish service I receive? Nope. Not working for me.

Wetaugust, the problem is peole just belive the hype, don't they? The government is cutting frontline services back to such an extent that improvement is simply a pipe dream, not in every clinical area but many many up and down the country.

There are many good and excellent staff who having to do more and more, make decisions about what 'has' to be done (it all 'has' to be done but you need to become skilled at deciding what is the safest thing you can leave).

There are only so many hours in a working day and the number of tasks are simly overwhelming. Pateint care will inevitably suffer.

People need to wak up and smell the coffee, this government is selling us the pipedream of a 'first class' NHS, and yes there is a lot of exemplary care going on, but it is leading people up the garden path trying give them the impresssion that the NHS is being 'protected', it quite simply is not and I really fear that it will be too late by the time the majority come to realise that.

And on that note i am off to bed.

In 18 months i went to 17 appointments all of which were running at least an hour late and after the first appointment i was diagnosed and then the fun started the doctor did not believe the test results and scans i had before this appointment because i did not fit because i was too young and female so he had didnt give me the medication i thought thats good he wants to be througher just to make sure there was no mistakes right ? no 4 appointments later all the same tests again (numerous blood and urine tests, cat scans, mri scans and x rays) the same results and still no medication

I asked the doctor why couldnt i have the medication his reply was the medication was very expensive to prescribe and he didnt believe i actually had this problem even though all the many many tests confirmed it i was then hospitalized twice in this 18 months and still no these doctors did not believe i could be this sick at the age i was and was female and then started the debate if i was really female and had to had to have that checked and i did all this through the indignity of it all because i thought i would get medication no it took 18 frigging months from diagnosis to actually getting help for it

I went to four hospitals and saw so many doctors i could not count and still it took so long because the medication was expensive and i was not prescribed anything incase it was making the test results inaccurate

On the plus side i have xrays of my whole body incase im ever mangled in a accident and they want several before shots of everything

My expectations of the NHS centre around my own profession- I'm a vet.

As such, I understand that there is not always a quick fix, or answer to every medical problem. I understand that mistakes can happen, and that appointments can run late.

What I can't understand is why what would be standard treatment for a dog or cat seems to be asking too much of the NHS. Example: my uncle, recently diagnosed with bowel cancer, sent for chemo and radiotherapy. No contact with a doctor/ nurse throughout the 5 weeks of chemo/ radio. No check ups or blood tests or scans. In a dog on chemo, we would be doing haematology weekly to check white cell levels and make sure the patient wasn't being over-suppressed. In humans, it seems, we don't bother. Consequently my uncle developed septicaemia and ended up in hospital for another week, draining yet more NHS resources. I've no doubt a blood test would have raised red flags and nipped the infection in the bud, actually saving the NHS money. (to run a haematology costs my clients £15 and takes 12 minutes). He did phone his GP telling her he was in pain and felt awful, but was told it was "probably the chemo" and she could see him in 6 days time. Before that we had taken him to A+E, he was so ill.

My only expectation is that humans shoudl receive as good a health service as our pets. Is that really being demanding? Am I a Prima Donna?

And I'd gladly pay fifty quid to see a GP at my convenience. It's about once a year so much cheaper than NI.

Op I do appreciate and agree with what you say. In general patients tend to be fine but there are the ever increasing few with expectations so high they could never work as the next patient would suffer for it. Sadly, as mentioned in many cases here I believe that we as NHS employees can also be a little 'tarring everyone with the same brush' and that's when some patients are negleted, regretfully quite badly ('he is sooo demanding'-when maybe his needs are great). My approach to my work is always the same-I work for the NHS and I pay my contributions how would I like to be treated as the patient I am. That is how I treat my patients.

at ThePlatypus I would sooner visit the vets with my cats than go to see the GP for myself. I trust the vet, I never trust the GP.

I agree Depressed. I'm a public employee too and I am also suffering from the draw down in funding, reductions in staffing and increase in workloads that you've just described. I also see huge wastage - just as you no doubt do.

The NHS needs total reform. Administering the post code lottery by multiple layers of administration must be costing a fortune. We should adopt the Oregon approach and decide nationally what the NHS will and will not fund.

We should allow patients (not their GPs) a budget to buy the care they need. i wouldn't be spending my budget on crap service. Market forces would then ensure that good hospitals prospered and crap hospitals closed.

But with NHS Unions as strong as they are that will never happen (speaking as a union member).

Funnily hidden a vet is allowed to treat you but a GP isn't allowed to treat your cat.

Chub if you look on the web or in yellow pages you will find private GP'd you know!

The point is, if you have to wait 6 days to see a Gp is that actually the GP's fault or is it because their are not enough GP's employed to provide the service? Or is it because the GP' at your practice insist on taking enough time out of clinical work to keep them selves updated? or perhaps its because they refuse to put people into 10 minute slots and insist on giving each patient enough time....thus leading to less appointments available and hence more delay? Whatever way you approach it its not rerally the indiciduals fault is it?

Totally agree Hiddenhome It's a shame my vet only treats non-humans

I love the NHS and am a staunch supporter.
That doesn't mean I think it is perfect and that all HCPs are are angels.

I don't think they are all rubbish either.

I take exception to the dismissal of complaints about food. Nutrition is vital for health and the food offered to my DD in hospital was disgusting, inadequate, occasionally dangerous and she was often 'missed' altogether.

All these niggles, so irritating to the op as she goes about her important work, may well mean the difference between recovery/relapse, being comfortable or being plunged into depression to the patient.

I hate it when the concerns of service users are brushed off like annoying insects.

I have to wait for a GP appointment because my GP only works 4 days a week maximum. Friday is reserved for 'emergencies'. Keep meaning to make a note to schedule any emergency I may have for a Friday.

My dermatologist doesn't work on Mondays because that's his day for private practice.

Why do we put up with this?

A vet is allowed to treat a human? I didn't know that

I love going to the vets, they don't treat you like a fool and are fine when they discover you've done your own research. The GP is just when they discover you have more than one brain cell.

I watched a BBC programme last year with Robert peston I think and it included a segment on ni and tax. It reported that ni no longer sololy funds nhs and social care and is just basically a tax by another name.

If we ever did move to private healthcare across the board I can't imagine any government cutting it due to the revenue it generates. I'm no economist but I'm guessing we could potentially end up paying privately on top of what we do now.

I would like the nhs to really re-evaluate what its priorities should be and deliver these services efficiently, effectively and competently. And when change is implemented allow enough time to pass to see if it actually works.

Ohdoadmit
I really am sorry to hear about the food your daughter was given. I do realise that not all hospitals are equal in this regard. But surely the food was edible, maybe not of a fantastic standard, and yes probably not served staright from thr kitchen but was it completely inedible??

I certainly wouldn't 'dismiss' peoples concerns regarding food but I do feel that people need to understand that they won't be getting restaurant standard food, or the food choices they would have at home, whilst they are in hospital. For people that are in hospital for a long time, for whatever reason then i 100% think this is slightly different as yes going for long periods with 'basi' food would of course impact on many peopls moods and posibley recovery.

Out of interest would people be willing to make a contribution to their food whilst in hospital, oing on the assumption that they would need to feed themselves if they were at home??

Only read the first page but my take is this....
Aside from rare exceptions (my fecking Rheumatologist being one - ahem) my experience of those working for frontline NHS is that they are the most dedicated, professional people going who are constantly frustrated in their attempts to provide first class service to patients by beauracracy, bean counters and red tape.

If the many tiers of the NHS management were streamlined then there would be more frontline staff and more efficiencies. That would mean redundancies at management level though.

Yes

If the NHS is like my public sector employer you achieve successful outcomes in spite of the management - not with their support.

Wet, so should GP's not have the option of working part time then? Thats going to leave a lot of working Mum's who are GP's out of jobs .

And if your dermatologist completes his contractual hours over four days why shouldn't he do private practice on a monday....it makes sense to me.

If i could stop paying national insurance i would and then i would happily pay for everything through private insurance but why exactly should i pay twice because the service i originally pay for cant balance its books or keep hospitals clean or provide basic services

Also when people complain about the nhs all that happens is workers say were lucky to have it and dont we know there job is hard but when some nhs workers get paid more than firemen i have no sympathy for them because unless your running into a burning building you dont get to grumble about your job and how hard it is

I do pay for my food when i end up in hospital because frankly i would not feed that food to anyone and i quite like not having food poisoning of any kind

Encouraged to hear many of you would rather be treated by a vet !!

For all the things GPs and doctors use as excuses, we face exactly the same problems.

eg. We have 10 minute appointments (and sometimes run late, but are coureous to waiting clients, apologise and explain the reason for the delay)

We have emergencies that have to be fitted in, and often not enough hours in the day (I rarely get any lunch, and work later than my "official" hours)

We have cost constraints- not all clients can afford everything, and we have to adapt our treatment regimes to suit costs, but we explain our treatment regimes to our clients, and take their thoughts and questions into account at every stage.

Our nurses (and myself) clean up pee/ puke/ shit regularly without compaint several times every day

Our patients are not always grateful- and they have 5 pointy ends with which to make their ingratitude known!- but we still treat them with respect and compassion, even if it means a trip to A+E for one of us.

Vets and vet nurses get paid far less than doctors and human nurses (and rightly so, as human life is more valued) Despite popular belief a qualified vet earns roughly £30K and a qualified Vet Nurse £15-18K (I get paid even less, as I own my own practice, and we are in the early days- I pay my nurse more than I pay myself)

For these reasons, I find it hard to accept shabby treatment from the NHS

Savlon, I may not 'run into burning buildings' but believe me the job I do takes a toll on my health. I have a long term back condition which means i cannot feel half of my foot most of the time (!) and I have to take painkillers every night as by then my pelvis pain is unbearable. This is due to years of repetitive work, not so much 'lifting' these days (it was going back to when I trained however). I am only 38 fgs!!

I alo have anxiety disorder and depression, both of which are directly related to my work a well.

And please rmember that the nurses, doctors and HCA's do not decide what food patients get and neither do they cook it!!

I couldn't eat when i was in, my body was rejecting food, but they was not allowed to put soup into a cup, which i probably could have managed.

I have been in A&E numerous times (with clients) and no straws or sip cups were available.

What would they have done after several hours, put a drip in because of a lack of cups?

I had to call a local nursing home so that i could get thickner for one client, unbelievable that A&E didn't have any and they could not take any of another ward.