The NHS has collapsed.

[brahmahda]

It's great that no Covid wards have been overwhelmed for lack of ventilators - Clap Clap. But ...

1. My regular preventative treatment for a chronic condition has stopped, with no sign of it restarting.
2. My 13yo son needs diagnostic tests for symptoms he's had for several months, but the diagnostic clinic is closed, again with no sign of it restarting.
3. A vital service that the GP would normally provide has been redirected to a "hub" with a convoluted appointment booking process and a very long waiting list.
4. My elderly, isolated/ing mum who urgently needs a face-to-face with her GP due to a sudden decline in her health has been messed around with a complicated process that changes depends on who she speaks to (she was phoned and told she'd need to get a Covid test 10 mins before setting off for the appointment, so had to cancel it).

Of course issues of delayed cancer treatments etc have been widely reported in the news, but it's clear that they are just the tip of the iceberg. The problems must be impacting almost every family in the country to some extent, and there's no sign of them being temporary. I just can't see the NHS getting back onto it's already-shaky track in the foreseeable future.

Anyone else find this terrifying?

It is the same here in Ireland. My daughter gets yearly check ups and bloods for an auto immune condition she has. Was done over the phone this year and they have no idea when she can get her bloods done

My dad has not been well for a few weeks, very low energy not eating well and has that grey look. Had to get covid test before they would test for anything else to rule it out. It came back negative so they are now ready to see what else could be going on but process is so slow.

Cancer screening for breast and cervical cancer not back yet. The numbers being diagnosed compared to normal years are tiny. So scary to think people are not getting identified because as far as I am aware covid has not made cancer disappear!! The heath service will be years catching up with the backlog that was pretty bad pre-covid anyway

DD is also due booster vaccines, but I haven't even bothered to ring the surgery, as I can't imagine they'll be remotely interested in doing them.

Are you sure that’s not what happened here?

No @ShirleyPhallus. She had a phone consultation with the GP in the morning who asked her to come in for a face-to-face at 3pm. At 2.30pm the receptionist called her to say she'd need to dial 111 to arrange a Covid test and then rebook when she'd had it. Seems like the receptionist and GP were following different processes and the receptionist probably had no clue or care about the urgency of the appointment.
My mum has been self-isolating since Feb/Mar so hasn't seen anyone she could possibly catch the virus from. She was even worried about going to a test centre, so has booked a postal test ... goodness knows how long that will take!

I have a serious genetic disorder that causes joint and heart problems and am also under the mental health team due to trauma. I’m shielding and haven’t been anywhere since the 18th of March.
In general, my experience with the NHS in lockdown has been very good. My (strong opiate) painkillers are being delivered with the rest of my medications so no one has to go get them, even though they’re Controlled Drugs. My various HCPs have been phoning to check up on me, including my Cardio who was happy to prescribe a new medication over the phone. My CPN has even referred me to a Clinical Psychologist and they only took 6 days to email me the paperwork for assessment. Yes, I’m overdue a heart scan but everyone is aware of this and they’ll fit me in as soon as they can.
For me, the NHS is VERY far from collapse.

@whereistherum

My friend is due in for an operation at some point, she has been told she needs to self isolate for 14 days, then two days before the operation to make the trip into the hospital to have a COVID19 test.

Apart from the fact she has kids, that will need to go to school, her husband works full time in a public facing role and can't take the time off.

She can manage to get most things sorted, but she doesn't understand the whole going to the hospital for a test, as if she is going to get it within those 14 days that is when she is going to get it.

Of course she is going to be told this . They can't rely on people's concepts of self isolation .

I think some services are suffering more than others. My husband had a face to face with his GP a few weeks ago. He got referred straight away to a specialist, has had scans and been diagnosed with cancer. He has an operation in two weeks time which will be followed up by other treatments most likely. We've been unable to fault our local GP/hospital and have been very lucky. I'm sorry to hear of the difficulties you are having OP.

I agree and disagree, I still can't get a smear test, it's 6 months overdue and goodness knows when I can have it!

But, usually you cannot get an appointment at our Dr's for love nor money. Since COVID they've started e-consult, you fill in a form, they call you back the same day, telephone consultancy and a prescription to collect at the pharmacy 2 minutes away. We've used it twice, once for skin condition for DS and once for a change in medication for me - both times a fantastic experience!

Our NHS are doing a great job here.

1. My consultant phoning regularly to make sure I’m ok and reassuring me that if I need an appointment- he’ll make one.
2. Needed advice about DS’s long term health condition so I emailed his consultants secretary. The consultant emailed me back and made an appointment for us to go into hospital.
3. My GP phoned me last week because he knows I’m an anxious person and he wanted to make sure I was alright.
4. have self referred for CBT and the waiting time for CBT via phone was really short.

So all in all - I think our local NHS are doing a fabulous job.

But it’s definitely a postcode lottery.

I think it's very important now more than ever for people who can afford it to get private medical care/insurance.

Its something I'm definitely looking into despite not really being able to comfortably afford it. Not especially for me but for my children, as like pp have said it could be years before things are back up and running and to clear the back log.

I've experienced the opposite. I got a telephone appointment with my GP the same day when I needed it; normally you have to book for a face to face appointment weeks in advance. My DH had a face to face appointment with his GP on the same day he requested it, was referred to a hospital consultant and seen within a week. He has been given a telephone number to call the specialist if he has any issues with a treatment he has been given to administer at home.

My neighbour's child fell and broke his arm and was seen very quickly in A&E.

I think a lot underestimate the mammoth task of catching up though

Perhaps they shouldn't have put up the shutters and closed down for so long then?

Even now, they're nowhere near back to normal, so the waiting lists etc are getting longer and longer.

That sounds scary OP. I can see why you feel that way but I've had two phone appointments w my GP, one for me and one for DD and a friend of mine has a hospital appointment re a breast lump which she got in 2 weeks.
May be due to where you live? I can imagine some things have been re-prioritised rightly or wrongly due to covid.
Keep persevering.

I agree @Badbadbunny. I can see why some things were delayed whilst a plan and way forward was mapped out (although this should have been done when it was spreading to other countries before it landed here); but for it to go on for so long is ridiculous and I don't see how it's ever going to fully recover.

A friends dad is having a knee op privately. They are requiring the whole family to self isolate.for 14 days before his op and 14 days after too! No idea why.

Dh has had a health scare and a diabetes diagnosis but only heard about it when he asked the receptionist. Noone has contacted him to tell him officially despite saying a nurse would.

So he has lost nearly 6 stone (!) during the lockdown. With the result that now his prosthetic leg no longer fits. But they arent seeing anyone unless they have severe skin damage beneath the prosthetic. Which is what having his leg altered to fit would avoid.
Frustrating.

I'm lying in bed, recovering from a routine, regular op I had yesterday.

Had the Covid test on Saturday, to make sure I wasn't taking it into a Covid free area of the hospital. Things were a bit different, but I still had my necessary surgery.

The NHS is far from broken.

They are requiring the whole family to self isolate.for 14 days before his op and 14 days after too! No idea why.

It's because they're fearful of him catching covid IN hospital!

The "NHS" is not one organisation though. Some GP's do a great service, some don't, some hospital trust do a great job, some don't. It is, unfortunately a lottery. During Covid we heard all about hospitals without PPE, believe me, others had plenty, an excess even. In care homes, some were run well, some badly. At the end of the day, much of this comes down to local management capability.

@Notsurewhatsgoingon - the issues at the moment mean that the private sector isn't offering its services either. We have private healthcare - we can't get seen because the private hospitals are still 'loaned' to the NHS. Apparently things are 'easing' in the private sector, but the entire country's systems are messed up, both NHS and private. I despair.

The service I work in, has run completely as normal all the way through the pandemic, just with additional PPE. We are not hospital based though.

it really must vary a lot from area to area.My DM has had investigations for a minor complaint which has included 2 GP visits and a hospital visit and has never had to have a test. She has another hospital appointment at a different hospital on Friday and not been asked to do a test.

One of my friends began chemotherapy at the start of lockdown and she says it all went very smoothly -- and no tests asked for.

Theses examples were at 2 different health boards in Scotland.

I agree OP.

I had to email a complaint into the practice manager before anyone would see my DD.

In February we took her due to sudden and profound hearing loss in both ears (no infection).
Got told she'd be referred, that didn't happen. So they gave her antihistamine, which obviously didn't do a damn thing

And here we are nearly 6 months later with a 10yr old who previously had perfect hearing, who now has the TV at max volume, doesn't engage in family conversation at the dinner table and we have to touch to get her to realise we need her attention.

Good job it's nothing serious I guess....oh wait....

The government are selling off the NHS, step 1 underfund it so people see it as something that doesn't work.

They could fund it properly. They choose not to. We suffer as a result.

@Therarestone they could throw a shed load of money at it and it still wouldn't be enough. It needs a huge overhaul, but no one wants to do it. I don't agree that privatising it at all, but there's a lot to it besides just throwing money at it.

The problems must be impacting almost every family in the country to some extent
Why would you think that? Many people go years without requiring any medical treatment at all.
My daughter is under the care of a consultant psychiatrist, he has done a phone consultation with us and her repeat prescriptions have been handled by email. This has been perfectly satisfactory, though I realise some people might need more.

@Kelsoooo that’s awful! Can you afford to go private for an initial consultation? Our DS needed this and NHS was too slow. Consultation was £250 with Nuffield and it was worth every penny. The NHS picked up the subsequent appointments so we weren’t tied to Nuffield and private healthcare.

He was seen and had an op within 2 weeks of the assessment.

Hope she’s alright