To be really worried about the NHS this winter

[AtlasPine]

Just that really. Lots of issues around GP access, backlogs of people waiting for treatments and overstretched A&E departments. Flu season coming, Covid cases rising, staffing problems linked to Brexit and the rise of private practices offering better terms and conditions to doctors.

What can we do to support the NHS?

Vaccinations (flu and Covid) and look after ourselves as much as possible I suppose. I can’t afford private health care like most here I suspect.

Every single winter we hear the NHS is under pressure. Every year since I can remember.
I don't even pay attention to it now.
Of course they use Covid as an excuse now but it was the same long, long before that.

Step away from doom-mongering newspapers. Use the NHS wisely and sensibly. That should do it.

Much strain on the NHS could be eased by people taking steps to improve their health!

Simple life style changes like exercising, not overeating, not smoking, not binge drinking or drinking to excess, staying socially connected and looking after our mental health. Taking up activities and self help to manage stress, low mood and anxiety before they get out of control.

So many conditions are linked to obesity, poor diet, smoking, sedentary lifestyles, lack of self care, alcohol, recreational drugs etc.

I also think everyone should know basic first aid, and stop rocking up to A&E for a tiny cut they could treat at home with antiseptic and a steri strip. Stop going to A&E because you have an ingrown toenail or a sore ankle that’s been sore for 3 weeks.

People need to take more responsibility for their health if the NHS is to improve.

A lot of winter pressures stem from slips, trips and falls. Especially elderly people eg slipping on ice and breaking a hip, then contracting pneumonia in hospital and needing 3 months of inpatient care with major orthopaedic surgery and intensive physio, chest physio, rehab teams. Many slips could be prevented by simple measures like ensuring you and elderly relatives grit their doorsteps, wear ice chains or studded grips over suitable footwear. Teach kids not to cannon into people and knock them off balance or scooter at them, keep dogs on leads etc.

In the home make sure you and any elderly relatives have no trip hazards, appropriate footwear (not soft backed slippers without grip!) make sure older people are ok mobility wise and if they’re struggling encourage them to seek a physio and OT referral through their GP, who can assess their home and provide equipment (free of charge) to make it safer, eg grab rails, extra banister rail, a Zimmer frame or stick, a wheeled Walker trolley for mobilising outside if they’re unsteady. So many falls are sadly preventable.

@frumpety

Yes to the fines ! I wonder if anyone has done a FOI request to see how much Trusts are paying out in fines ? Be interesting to see how much of their budgets are eaten up by this, money which could be spent on staffing and improved services.

Our trust avoids some payouts by handing over patients to the private sector and paying themselves

@LibrariesGiveUsPower45321

Also take medicine doctors give you as they prescribed them, not what you think you know better. The amount of asthmatics I know who won’t take steroid inhalers then end up needing A&E is just silly.

Tell me about it. OH will only use his preventor inhaler when in trouble I've told him, nurses have told him that he needs it twice daily

We don't in Scotland, Wales or n Ireland so that's not working

Passed our old cottage hospital on Saturday it's now a huge housing estate

@FateHasRedesignedMost

Much strain on the NHS could be eased by people taking steps to improve their health!

Simple life style changes like exercising, not overeating, not smoking, not binge drinking or drinking to excess, staying socially connected and looking after our mental health. Taking up activities and self help to manage stress, low mood and anxiety before they get out of control.

So many conditions are linked to obesity, poor diet, smoking, sedentary lifestyles, lack of self care, alcohol, recreational drugs etc.

I also think everyone should know basic first aid, and stop rocking up to A&E for a tiny cut they could treat at home with antiseptic and a steri strip. Stop going to A&E because you have an ingrown toenail or a sore ankle that’s been sore for 3 weeks.

People need to take more responsibility for their health if the NHS is to improve.

I treated a bad burn at home myself. When I was admitted to hospital 10 days later every single nurse I saw told me off for not going to A and E. I think there does need to be a public education campaign of when is appropriate to go to A and E because its really hard to know sometimes.

In terms of lifestyle, those who already have poor mental health tend to have the worst lifestyles. You want to improve peoples lifestyles? Improve mental health instead of lecturing people.

Here's a thread that the "NHS has failed us" numpties should have a read of (assuming they read anything other than the Daily Heil)...

Just got an on the day urgent appointment for my teenager.

THINK CAREFULLY HOW YOU VOTE NEXT TIME

Don’t believe shit written on sides of buses

And don’t ever say “the two parties are as bad as each other” 🙄 or “Starmer is just not quite charismatic enough for me” 🙄🙄🙄

In the last year I have become chronically unwell. Have never really ‘needed’ the nhs before - now I do I can’t believe how dreadful it is - and this is whilst I firmly believe my gp is trying his absolute best for me!! But be wary of ‘the American dream’ - I’m now on lots of international support groups and the difficulty they suffer trying to get specialist appointments really does seem to mirror the nhs experience. The Canadian system also appears to not be great by any stretch of the imagination. Best reports I’ve heard are of the French…maybe we should stop and look closer to home!!

And if you keep voting for people who give lots of taxpayers money to their rich friends, then don't be surprised if they continue to do so.
Honestly, we are encouraged to complain about the worried mum who takes her kid to A and E rather than buy peri strips and antiseptic, but to ignore the billions this government have given to their friends for PPE that was not suitable to use, for ventilators that were never delivered, and for a test and trace services that was so useless some local authorities set up their own.

In terms of lifestyle, those who already have poor mental health tend to have the worst lifestyles. You want to improve peoples lifestyles? Improve mental health instead of lecturing people

It’s a chicken and egg scenario, if people took better care of their mental health their lifestyles would reflect that, if they made better lifestyle choices their mental health would improve. The 2 are so deeply interwoven it’s hard to separate how one impacts the other.

Of course many mental health conditions have nothing to do with lifestyle, you could have a very healthy, balanced lifestyle and still develop a serious mental health condition. What sort of treatment you’d be offered and how long you’d have to wait would depend on service pressures and staffing levels eg for therapy.

If someone routinely overeats, binge drinks alcohol, takes recreational drugs, smokes, has a poor work ethic and is mostly inactive, it’s not hard to see why they’re at higher risk of certain mental health problems or physical illnesses.

Educating people to take care of themselves, and take responsibility for their health and well-being is the key to reducing pressure on NHS IMO.

Knowing the difference between a minor scald you can treat at home and a 2nd or 3rd degree burn is an important skill, just as knowing how to recognise signs that a burn or wound is becoming infected. Knowing when to seek that help is vital.

@FateHasRedesignedMost you dont understand serious mental health problems. You just dont.

@lonelyapple

We already do enough! We pay shitloads of tax to fund the NHS yet it's never enough. I am fed up of hearing about how we can save the NHS. The NHS should be saving us, the customers, not the other way around and if they can't do that, perhaps we can get a massive tax refund and spend that money going private instead!

Indeed. There are a few people who abuse the service but most people go to the doctors because something is wrong, not because they're idiots.

At the moment we all get treated like we are abusing the service until proven otherwise. The presumption should be the other way round.

Except we pay way less than the EU and countries like Canada.

What can we do to support the NHS

However, you can eat less, exercise more and drive (more) carefully.

My friend is a GP and told me that loads of patients are turning up to the surgery with covid symptoms even though they tell you not to

how is someone with covid symptoms getting past the triage process? A nurse practitioner posted the same on here a few weeks ago and I wondered how people were getting face to face appointments with covid like symptoms. At my son's university GP they won't see people without a negative PCR.

@julieca

Except we pay way less than the EU and countries like Canada.

well do we, or is the money just better spent overseas? There is a terrible amount of waste and inefficiency in the NHS.

@ColinTheKoala rubbish. Canada spends four times what we do per person.

@DeeCeeCherry

Step away from doom-mongering newspapers. Use the NHS wisely and sensibly. That should do it.

Our trust has been in Extreme Measures and business continuity (AKA seek support from external services - which by the way don't exist) for almost 4 months now and it's not even winter. Before that it was Serious Pressure for 6+ months (AKA prepare for business continuity).

It's not doom-mongering. We are fucked.

Who do you suggest we vote for to get a better healthcare system? Labour have their heads in the sand on this. If they admitted that we need to comprehensively redesign the healthcare system in this country, have the public and employers paying into a system like Germany that would be a vote winner, but no, it’s just a case of them throwing more money at a lost cause. If they want to win votes they need to stand up and admit that we are spending 40% of all tax on a failing system and suggest we start again with something new.

And to answer Op's question on how to help, DON'T FUCKING VOTE TORY!

I don't think there is any saving the NHS at this point. Might have been had people actually voted with their brains and kept the Tories out last election but it's too little too late now.

[quote julieca]@ColinTheKoala rubbish. Canada spends four times what we do per person.[/quote]
And what sort of medical treatment are they getting for free?