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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

NHS in a state

204 replies

Feellikescrooge · 23/12/2014 17:06

My DF is in his mid 80's and my DM died in April and my DB died suddenly ( road traffic accident) in October. Two weeks ago he went to his GP feeling very unwell. She called an ambulance and sent him to hospital they sent him home late that night, the first I knew was a call from my DF in a taxi because he didn't have enough cash, I had only left him an hour before.

Next morning he attends his regular dialysis appointment and the staff there are so concerned they call for medical backup and he is transferred to A and E at the end of the session. Again he is sent home in the middle of the night without my sister or I being contacted.

The following day I call in at about 10 am and find him on the floor unable to get up, a man who a week before was walking 4 miles plus a day with his dog. Again he was admitted and this time he was kept in. Last Thursday he had a heart attack and was transferred to the CCU. Yesterday he was sent home, when I got there I said to the nurse he did not seem well enough and she shrugged and said that beds were being cleared for Christmas.

I insisted Dad stayed with me and heard him calling at 3am terribly poorly. He was blue lighted to hospital and is now in Intensive Care having been given the Last Rites. I know they are under pressure, my DH was a GP, but surely there is something dreadfully wrong if people as sick as my Dad are being continually sent home.

OP posts:
handcream · 23/12/2014 23:39

There is a pre payment scheme whereby you pay something like £100 per yr and you get unlimited prescriptions. I don't think it's fair to say that because there are feckless parents ALL prescriptions should be free.

pigwitch · 23/12/2014 23:40

Hiddenhome - they charge for meds and GP appointments for children in Ireland so it can be done!

hiddenhome · 23/12/2014 23:41

It's a safety net for children though. Too many parents would just let their kids go without, either because they couldn't afford it or because they'd begrudge the money.

Pinkwillow · 23/12/2014 23:41

We have to drag my elderly mother to the GP. If she had to pay,I don't suppose she'd ever go.

HelenaDove · 23/12/2014 23:42

My DH is a baby boomer. Hes nearly 65. He NEVER goes to the GP because he hates going. He has COPD Ischemic heart disease. arthritis. and memory loss.

On the day of his heart attack almost 9 years ago i phoned the surgery because i couldnt be sure what it was and i didnt want to waste an ambulance call out or get fined if i was wrong. The surgery told me to call an ambulance.

My parents are nearly 80 and could get free flu jabs. They dont because they dont see why they should.

But im sure some of you would be the first to moan if DH ended up hospitalized because my parents passed an infection on to him. DH has his flu jab and i have mine done at Boots which i happily pay for. But it would help if my parents got theirs. But they wont so thats some money saved. YAY!

hiddenhome · 23/12/2014 23:45

Charging is a way of helping people take responsibility for their own health. Nothing else is going to.

HelenaDove · 23/12/2014 23:45

Pink i have to beg my DH to go Literally. And the same with my mum. She wont go even though she nearly died in 1989 because her appendicitis turned into peritonitis. If i hadnt found her and called an ambulance she wouldnt be here today.

She now has badly swollen legs which are a weird green colour. And STILL wont go to the doctor.

But YAY more money saved.

elephantspoo · 23/12/2014 23:46

I thought Scotland had free prescriptions

We do have, but that doesn't mean a doctor should be writing a prescription and costing the NHS money. I can see that doctor will say, 'oh well! I was only following orders.' But that is a fairly spineless excuse for a convenient suspension of ones morals. Of maybe in doctor world, there is no morals regarding cost or expense when spending other people's money.

You see the big flaw in any system like the NHS is that no one is going to spend other people's money with the same care and attention they spend their own.

hiddenhome · 23/12/2014 23:47

'But YAY more money saved.'

Well then, that's good to hear Smile

handcream · 23/12/2014 23:47

So are we saying that having to pay personally for your own health care would put people off but because it's seen as free at present that's fine!!

That is my biggest point on this thread - it's free and abused and the feckless parent certainly exists - are they the sort of parent who will take their kids to the GP or would they not even bother?

hiddenhome · 23/12/2014 23:49

If people wish to save money and neglect themselves then that's their look out, but children need to be protected.

handcream · 23/12/2014 23:49

Well my GPs surgery is full of old people. The West London hospital my DM was in was full to bursting with the elderly.

hiddenhome · 23/12/2014 23:51

handcream they may not feel like going, but would make the effort because it's free for their child. If money's involved, it could easily tip them the other way and they just wouldn't bother.

Pinkwillow · 23/12/2014 23:51

I know Helena,some are a nightmare.

elephantspoo · 23/12/2014 23:51

The NHS spends millions each year on the 5 a day campaign, but is unable to give 5 portions of fruit and veg to patients in hospital. Is that not the height of hypocrisy? Do they not employ whole teams of staff and managers, and menu designers and nutritionists, and between them they are unable to provide basic nutrition to their own standards to hospital patients?

piggychops · 23/12/2014 23:51

Hidden Scotland does have free prescriptions but before they were introduced, those who were entitled to free meds could use the minor ailments clinic to receive over the counter meds for free. It saved people wasting the doctor's consulting time to get a prescription for them.
This would work well in England.
Now that free prescriptions are available to everyone in Scotland we can all use minor ailments clinics here.

handcream · 23/12/2014 23:52

You are assuming that children need to looked after by the state in spite of their feckless parents. Are we sure those parents are arsed to even go to the dr or send their children to school, probably not.

These minority parents need to hang their heads in shame.

hiddenhome · 23/12/2014 23:53

The elderly are more prone to health problems, but I often find some of them will demand a doctor for all kinds of trivial reasons as will their relatives. I'm not talking about serious illness here.

hiddenhome · 23/12/2014 23:54

Scotland seem to have some good ideas.

HelenaDove · 23/12/2014 23:55

Pink my mum is the same. She nearly died in 1989 because she didnt go to the doctor about a stomach ache,

It was appendicitis which became peritonitis. It was me that called the ambulance.

Shes now 78 and STILL refuses to go to the doctor even though her leg is swollen and a strange colour.

hiddenhome · 23/12/2014 23:56

handcream there are many parents out there who function like this Sad teachers know all about it. They see the neglect.

HelenaDove · 23/12/2014 23:57

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piggychops · 23/12/2014 23:57

Yes, and if the pharmacist is in any doubt, they ask you to see your doc. If you explain that when you are making your appt, you don't get fobbed off.

hiddenhome · 23/12/2014 23:59

The rest of the population need a wake up call though and charging might provide enough leverage to help turn things around.

They've largely done it to themselves anyway. You reap what you sow.

hiddenhome · 24/12/2014 00:02

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