To think the NHS isn’t fit for purpose?

[BrendaBubbles]

There’s a story on Mail Online right now about a woman with breathing difficulties who was left on hold for hours with her GP who died during the call. There have been a lot of stories recently about people with cancer that wasn’t picked up due to resource limits and a DH of a friend of mine has been told there is a six month waiting list for an MRI.

I know the people in the NHS are true gold but despite record amounts of money the service is getting worse. It was also in the news earlier that the number of people seen at A&E within four hours was 95% in 2010 and has fallen to 67% now and I’m sure we’ve all felt this when we’ve attended ourselves.

It’s clearly not just about money but is the NHS even fit for purpose now when people are dying through simple negligence and lack of reasonable diagnosis and in person access to GPs?

GP wise, ours has been great.

But today, i had to take DC to A&E with a sport injury, straight from the match (on instruction of physio) could only leave DC there as over the age of 18. Asked if I could take in a drink for DC the receptionist grudgingly said yes. the saw a triage nurse 3 hours after arriving then said nurse told DC the wait for an xray was 4 hours, then another wait to see a doctor. As this has happened previously about 5 years ago, I brought DC home.

Sitting there were young kids coughing, a woman in a wheelchair obviously in pain in her belly area, and i heard her husband tell the receptionist they had been there for nearly 8 hours, elderly people in wheelchairs-alone- and a woman vomiting in a bowl.

Why on Earth dont children Have their own area? No kid should sit there amongst these people. Especially a vomiting one.

We decided to leave. It was terrible. The NHS is on its fucking knees.

I can get an appointment with a nurse tomorrow at the surgery who will refer DC for a scan and xray.

If you haven’t got an illness before visiting hospital, your sure will after leaving

@MrsDThomas

If over 18, then its not a child?
So why would they be in a childs area?

Every hospital iv ever been in do have a separate peads area but they will all be sick in there too, Because, erm, its a hospital

Lets not forget that COVID happened.

@WaterAndRichTea

I said in my post children need a separate area. Not my child. Nothing in my posts indicates i mean my adult child

@Cocomarine

Enough with the “true gold” shite. Plenty of staff in the NHS are lazy jobsworths. A minority it’s true - and no more so than other workplaces - but can we just have a serious discussion about the NHS without romanticising all the staff?

Absolute truth!!

I know a few NHS lazy jobsworths personally and everytime people generalise NHS staff and sing praises, it makes me cringe 😬

The BBC has a fresh report this morning about how more people are going private now: www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-58680153

@Helensweet

Too many managers paid far too much. More jobs have been made lately for managers to do with diversity in NHS earning 170 grand per annum-more than prime minister.

You’ll have evidence of this?

In Daily Telegraph 8th Sept. NHS is hiring 42 executives on salaries of up to £270, 000. I think I read 7 of them get this.

@Helensweet

In Daily Telegraph 8th Sept. NHS is hiring 42 executives on salaries of up to £270, 000. I think I read 7 of them get this.

Are these new posts? What are the job titles? What did you mean by “to do with diversity”? How much should managers in charge of many thousands of staff and multi £million budgets be paid?

Socialism is a terrible idea, one which has literally never worked effectively in even the medium, let alone the long term.

Entities that are based on socialist principles are always going to be doomed to failure.

Like it or not, we need the invisible hand to guide the health care system, just as much as we need it in pretty much all other markets too.

Socialism is a terrible idea, one which has literally never worked effectively in even the medium, let alone the long term.

Roads. Pavements. Schools. Libraries. Rubbish collection.

How much should managers in charge of many thousands of staff and multi £million budgets be paid?

Imo, the highest paid employee in any company/trust/public sector agency should earn a maximum of 7 times what the lowest paid employee earns. Both do a day's work, which should be vital to the organisation. This might go some way to reduce the inequalities in our society, where the majority are kept in a state of insecure, poorly paid employment, while those at the top garner most of the capital.

The trust where I work does have a paeds A&E but they had to close that to turn it into “Red Majors” to house covid or query covid patients.

So paeds attenders with illness are either being streamed to primary care or if sick enough being sent direct up to the children’s ward to see a paediatrician.

@GreenWillow

Socialism is a terrible idea, one which has literally never worked effectively in even the medium, let alone the long term.

Entities that are based on socialist principles are always going to be doomed to failure.

Like it or not, we need the invisible hand to guide the health care system, just as much as we need it in pretty much all other markets too.

You’re getting confused with communism there

@BrendaBubbles

Socialism is a terrible idea, one which has literally never worked effectively in even the medium, let alone the long term.

Roads. Pavements. Schools. Libraries. Rubbish collection.

Yep, and all of those are in a terrible state.

Thank you for proving my point.

@MrsDThomas

Ok, Chill out!!!
Christ

@tttigress

In the end I think more people will die due to the reaction to the pandemic (cancelling cancer operations, suicides due to isolation etc ) than from the actual Corona virus.

Sadly I completely agree

@countbackfromten

I’m on my knees with exhaustion after two 12.5 hour shifts the past two days with two 12.5 hour night shifts in the week and one 12.5 hour day shift to go tomorrow. My colleagues on on their knees. I have never known a time like it in my years as a doctor - the pressure has been sustained for so long now and the winter is going to be hell on earth.

Why the hell do I keep doing this day in day out? I left medicine and came back because I love what I do and I love looking after my patients. But this is breaking me. And I’m not alone.

We can’t do more. This isn’t our fault, but somehow the blame gets thrown at us rather than the government as people keep voting for them.

Posts like this make me genuinely wonder why I am so often ruining my life for this.

I’m sorry things are so difficult for you right now, I don’t think anyone is holding hardworking NHS staff responsible for any of this. We know that you are struggling and that the system is at breaking point. But that doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be a discussion about the way forward for the NHS.

The system as is clearly isn’t working, snd something does need to be done. I agree with a pp that the NHS does cover a far too broad spectrum of services. I think we need to accept that some things should not be covered by the NHS to ensure that those that really need it get the treatment they should in a timely manner.

I also think that the GP’s who are still refusing to see patients, and I appreciate that it isn’t all of them but there clearly is an issue, should be forced to provide the service they are paid for to reduce pressure on A&E departments.

@BrendaBubbles

Socialism is a terrible idea, one which has literally never worked effectively in even the medium, let alone the long term.

Roads. Pavements. Schools. Libraries. Rubbish collection.

Funded by taxes in an economy based on capitalism with legal protection of assets and rights.

@GreenWillow presume you were joking ?

i am 77 years and have serious hip arthritis and can hardly walk with the pain despite medication. i have seen a consultant privately and will have to finance a private replacement surgery because i cannot wait a minimum of 8 or 9 months which in fact could be 18 months. i look at it this way i will be buying a few months of pain relief. i am still paying tax as i work - the nhs just does not have the capacity to cope with the volume of people and all the treatments that are available and offered by the nhs. it is the same with the gp's over capacity

it is in a serious need of a major reform (whoever is brave enough) to take it on and make the adjustments.

lh

I'm sorry you are having difficulties- but you have resurrected a zombie thread.

Does anyone still think that the Tories care about the NHS?
Yes the NHS has many problems- made much much worse by the last decade of Tory rule, the relentless underfunding and gradual privatisation by stealth.

All they are interested in is running it into the ground so they can flog it to their mates.