To have really noticed a decline in nhs

[Lime123]

Before I rant, I know it’s not the fault of drs nurses and other staff that work for nhs. They do a wonderful job under pretty stressful conditions I would imagine.

In the last year I have noticed a real decline in the quality of service offered by nhs. Up until then I had just thought it was “daily mail” type moaning by others. In last 6 months I’ve noticed:

-my miscarriage handled badly, told I needed an Erpc due to gestation BUT that there were limited slots so wait it out and hope I don’t bleed lots. If I did bleed lots rush to A and e.

-an ambulance failing to turn up for a child having breathing problems (was croup but extremely scary!) they were very apologetic but said not enough staff

-I might as well not bother with my gp. You have to call at 8am, get grilled by a receptionist and she will decide if the appointment is urgent enough for same day (in my case a lump) was told not “acute” and can I wait 4 weeks for a “regular gp appointment” if you call st 8:01 or later it’s unlikely you will get an appointment.

-a family member receiving absolutely awful advice on 111 “take paracetamol and rest” unfortunately he later required 2 operations to fix a serious health condition

-a friend having a terrible birth experience due to lack of staff and support (in particular post natal) she ended up discharging herself

There are many more. All I’ve heard are horror stories from friends lately.

I am seriously getting worried for the nhs! I’ve never seen it this bad. It’s only going to get worse surely before it just won’t function anymore.

What do people think will happen? How on earth can it be fixed?

We cannot afford what we think the NHS should give us.

Are you suggesting that we should have private healthcare instead because you do know that will cost even more don't you?

If we can afford bleddy brexit we can afford to care for our people

You also realise that America spend significantly more of their GDP on healthcare than we do, and yet people are still dying or suffering financial ruin as a result of their system?

Gussy firstly I'd say that happened under the Blair govt, not a real labour govt in my opinion.

Secondly there IS no excuse for what happened there it's absolutely outrageous and that those ultimately responsible weren't only not sanctioned but REWARDED is despicable.

That said - I still think there's been a further general decline since 2010.

I'm really sorry you had shit care nobody should experience that.

KennDodd, if we have to pay to get better health care then that's a conversation we need to have. Of course I bloody well know this doesn't come free. Shutting down the conversation by instilling a fear of the alternative is not helpful.
And I pay already for health care through my taxes. I get patchy health care from the nhs and am sick of the mantra of free at the point of care. It isn't. And what we have has been creaking for years. Not just under the current Tory government.

Graph, when did we have a real Labour government in your view. I'm quite old, I've seen many governments come and go. Each with a fear of talking about this setup we created after the war.

My GP and surgery are phenomenal. Efficient, slick and very caring.

My daughter revived first class treatment when seriously ill and admitted for 10 nights. I couldn’t fault it if I tried.

I have received fantastic treatment for a gynaecological issue. Swift appointment, world renowned consultant

So in short, no I haven’t noticed a decline.

DH's expected pension income and retirement age and he would need something like a 7.5 million pension pot to pay for it.

That makes no sense to me whatsoever

Last labour govt ousted in 1979 in my opinion.

Never trusted Blair - too cheesy and fake, never at heart a true socialist.

I'm not saying labour/socialism isn't without its faults (although the most "famous" ones have now been discredited). But I'm old enough to remember Thatcherism and even life before that and the current govt really scares me.

Not only because of the extreme right wing ideology but because it seems to be flailing and rudderless on many issues.

The labour govt in 1979 was absolutely shite and paved the way for thatcher.

Too many people using it, can't see it improving.

That was the perception at the time raybon but given the damage Thatcherism and subsequent govts have done/are doing I'm not sure many would agree with you.

Even my father (who voted bloody thatcher in that election) says he regrets doing so. And he VERY rarely admits any mistakes.

Graphista, I'm old enough to remember the vote to go into the EU. I'm old enough to remember power cuts and bread strikes. And the winter of discontent. Thatcher was a bitch whose toxic effect in our country is still being felt.
I still think we need to rethink health care in this country and stop tying it to politics.

I agree taking it out of party politics would probably mean the politicians would actually deal with it properly. But that's unlikely to happen.

So in the meantime we need to let our MP's know we need it to be well managed and serviceable. Not dismantled.

And that comment on thatcher is pretty tame to the response you'd get round here at the mention of her name

It can no longer be a fully free service.
Users need to pay towards some of the services provided whether through co-pay or a specialised tax.
And, yes, we pay taxes already but we don't pay enough tax to cover everything we want a society to provide (schools, roads, rubbish collection, civil service, health care, social care, etc..)
I don't feel we should go to a US-based model but there are plenty of European models we could emulate. We are not the only country with an aging, live-long population....how do other European countries manage?
And, as for the comment about nurses being on computers-yep because we have to check blood/histology and other pathology results. We also have to ensure we are giving the patients the correct drugs/doses (even though we are not doctors/pharmacists). We often have to ensure scans/x rays have come through as well as make online referrals to allied health services (Physio/OT/Dietician/SALT) as well social and community services. We often have to document activities and incidents online too. This is 21st century ward nursing.

There has certainly been a decline for ds, now a lot of his care is under Virgincare.

Yes virgincare are taking a lot here sadly. They took the podiatry services but forgot to sort the paediatric side so we couldn’t access anything for months until it was sorted

You can't really take out the politics when one party is actively working to dismantle the NHS!

If we can afford bleddy brexit we can afford to care for our people
I don't think we can afford Brexit.

Ive heard it said that nhs needs £100 per head, per week additional funding to work as it should. We're people living 20 or so years longer than they did it clearly needs a new structure. And not a ferociously privatised. There's a myriad of systems that work well elsewhere apart from the USA.

DS1 spends more time in hospital than at home, he's back there now, they look after him very well considering how underfunded they are.

This pathetic excuse for a government can afford to send billions abroad in aid and a bung to the DUP but not to pay for a decent NHS. Actually it can well afford it but it's hellbent on privatising it.

In August I was admitted to hospital via a&e requiring extensive emergency surgery to save my life (I had necrotising fasciitis). On a bank holiday weekend. I was triaged swiftly, seen quickly by a surgeon, an ultrasound tech stayed late to scan me before I was taken up to the ward, I was seen by a surgeon by 10am the Saturday morning and in a theatre under GA by 11am. I had more surgery the next day. I had fantastic care on the ward during a 5 day stay. I went home at 4pm one day and at 10am the next morning there was a district nurse on my doorstep.

When I was well enough to go to my go surgery for packing/dressing I was offered three appointments a week at times I could manage. One day I accidentally turned up 4 hours early and they fit me in rather than gave me go home and come back. I'm still having 6-weekly outpatient appointments with the surgeon and I've never waited past my allotted appointment time to be seen.

I'm not saying it's all roses but actually, I don't think the NHS is as shit as the Tories want us to believe whilst they rub their thighs at the thought of selling it off piecemeal.

I’d be happy to pay more money for a decent service.

There does seem to be so much inefficiency too. When I was refused an appointment for lump as it wasn’t urgent enough, I called next day and did get one (different receptionist) and saw a gp that didn’t know and wasn’t sure but referred me to the specialist in gp surgery that deals with said lumps in a weekly clinic. Not sure why I needed to see the first gp? I stole an appointment that was a waste of my time and his because receptionist didn’t know that a weekly clinic was held.

If I moved 20 miles west to where my friend lives she has no such issues! And the nhs seems to run extremely well over there.

As I say I know it’s not the staffs fault. In fact I have a relative that is just about to qualify as a dr and she told me that she is often too busy to eat or use toilet on shifts. Imagine a job where you feel like you can’t go for a wee or eat a snack! It’s so sad.

I guess we are spoilt. I remember the days when there was a gp on call at night. A few times (in serious circumstances) the gp would come out to our house, if needed. I remember it as a kid. Now you are lucky if you can even get an appointment the same month.

Up until having kids and “older parents” I guess my family were not frequent users so I didn’t notice it as much. Now I use services more regularly (for the kids, older parents and maternity etc) I’m really noticing how bad the situation is.

I’m under delay medicine.

I have weekly appointments with my consultant. When she was on labour ward I saw 2 other consultants over 3 appointments that week.

The specialist midwifes and the HCA’s in that department are amazing. This morning every single one said hello, have you had a nice weekend etc.

I can’t fault the service or staff at any point over the last 2 months they’ve been looking after us.