The state of the NHS right now is terrifying

[Faciadipasta]

I am feeling genuinely scared for us as a country health care wise. I was reading today about a chap who died of internal bleeding while his family were kept on hold to 999 for 10 minutes as nobody even answered the phone.
Then there are all the people who die while waiting for an ambulance to arrive, because they are all lined up.outside the hospitals unable to offload their patients.
People can't see a GP at all, so there are bound to be loads who are dying of things that could have been prevented if they'd been seen. Waits at A and E are enormous and they don't even have enough chairs so people with serious injuries or illnesses are having to just sit on the floors in the corridors.
We're actually starting to feel like one of those warzone countries that you see on the news and it is scaring me shitless.
I mean even in the US you wouldn't just be left to die because there was nobody to answer the phone although admittedly you'd probably end up bankrupt for paying back the care, but at least you wouldn't be dead!
I personally feel like we have no care, no safety net. And it's scary.
Will it get better? What can be done?

If it became payable I hope I don't need it as there is little or no disposable income my way.

Yep, it’s been on its arse for years. We pay for a system that when we need it we are made to believe we are somehow been done a favour. The very unhealthy population (drinkers, smokers, obese) who do bugger all to help themselves not get preventable illness are bleeding it dry as well. Perhaps if we had to pay for treatment (not necessarily a US model) that might help sort these types out

The tory govt have achieved their sim with a little help from covid, brexit and the public.

They have destroyed the nhs through 12 years of deliberate underfunding and mismanagement.

Yay

I said one GP per A&E, not 24 hour GP cover at every surgery.

This. And this goes back a long time especially when they shut community hospitals. So the elderly have no where to go while they find care at home . I say this having just lost my father when he went into hospital with a broken ankle and then had a stroke while he was in there . I believe the wait in the ambulance contributed to this. No one wants to do the carers jobs . And funding care at home with the correct equipment is very long winded and again inefficient. I am not sure we need more staff at each hospital, as it seems that bed blocking is more to blame ? But I do really wish there were more local services for the elderly who are recovering from falls or infection. And this winter will be hard when staff are off sick with covid.

My uncle waited for an ambulance for 5hrs this week, middle aged fit muscular bloke with serious post op complications from a lung op. He was throwing up blood for hours, had a massive infection. The ambulance rang back after 5hrs and said they'd be another 8. If it wasn't for his very young neighbour who literally dragged my by then collapsed and blacking out uncle to her tiny Kia and drove him there he'd be dead. It is terrifying.

I do wonder why more people don’t drive to a/e rather than wait for taxi - heart attack or fractured leg needs ambulance but everyone can’t have those.

I’ve been working in the NHS for nearly 18 years and it’s a big shit show. It was bad before covid but it’s so much worse now and staff are done in. Knackered. Demoralised. Just done. The goodwill that it ran on has gone. It absolutely needs an overhaul but not with this government they want us private/semi private.

Some are leaving to do Agency as it is paid so much better, in the current financial climate who wouldn’t turn that down? If HCP wages were better and staffing less shit then maybe we could keep staff as NHS. Working agency does mean losing all the benefits like pensions, sick pay maternity etc.

Those that say it’s well funded please come and tell me if we are so well funded why are charities purchasing equipment, why are staff running around trying to share equipment because we don’t have enough and what we have isn’t great? Don’t tell be it’s because of management, it’s really not that cut and dry is it.

We don’t get our enhancements when sick. I lost mine when off with covid even though I was fit to return but I couldnt return without a negative test! I do think there have been staff take the mickey with the long term sick thing though I’ve also known staff dismissed due to sickness record. Most staff sickness is very genuine.

Anecdotally, both of my parents have had cancer this year and have been seen swiftly and been given an excellent level of service throughout. So it definitely depends on your location and the department that you need. But A&E is a total horror show.

You are talking about two different things. Diverting from a busy acute trust requires NHSEI sign off, is consultant to consultant, bureaucratic and difficult to arrange. It happens but not often.

Intelligent Conveyancing as per appendix 2 of the OPEL framework guidance from NHSIE does not require higher approval, is down to crews and ambulance trusts and is encouraged on paper but rarely done.

I think I mentioned that stroke services (thrombolyis is a stroke service) and trauma surgery needed specialist provision but crews and ambulance trusts know where these are within the ICB. The people held in the backs of ambulances are not these people. Ambulances arriving at hospitals cannot offload, but the patients are triaged and those needing truly urgent care are pulled in to the department.

The quiet sites - in one ICB region, for example, the ‘over 60 minute handover’ for one hospital averages 46% of patients. In three adjoining hospitals it is below 12%. It obviously fluctuates but data is available in real time. There is real scope for crews driving to quieter services but they choose not to. The reasons given are many but none are about making it better for patients left waiting. Hard message but true.

This is not true. The ER is obligated by law to provide emergency care regardless of ability to pay.

Most acute trusts have a GP as part of their urgent and emergency care provision.

I guess that community hosps and convalescent homes are funded by nhs so you’d take staff and money from hospitals . The other thing is in the past post op people were bed bound for 2-6 weeks after a fracture / op so moved to convalescent home people are up and about straight after op so that’s not needed now.

Not being funny but I had huge problems with the nhs years ago when my Prem baby was born . And ambulances outside hospitals has been happening for years, but with covid and a lack of staff we have again the perfect storm. Don’t forget it’s us that pays not the government. Personally I think this started with the NHS trusts and Labour were involved with that. It’s not right that a nhs trust regional manager is paid more than the PM and yet we are in the state we are .

I’d agree with this and I work for the NHS. The NHS needs to evolve and we should start by looking at healthcare systems in Europe.

My DS has needed an ambulance 3 times in the last 18 months. If we'd driven 45 minutes to hospital rather than him going in an ambulance with oxygen, he would be dead. People shouldn't have to, and are not qualified to, make these choices.

NHS wasn't designed for this many people to use it.

This. I’m friends with a lady that has just had Surgery - in the Ukraine. Saw her GP and operation arranged within days. Yet they are at war but can still see a GP quicker than us. I just don’t understand.

With the elderly though there are wounds and infections and the arranging care at home . They might not need full nursing . My mum got put into a hub bed miles from her family in an expensive care home and I had to fight tooth and nail to get her somewhere local ( at that time she could not come home as needed a hoist etc) it was bad for her mental health as well as physical.

I've had very good experiences with both GPS and hospital treatments recently

yes their dental care is better and cheaper as well . But their overheads and wages are lower .

Yes but it also needs acknowledgment that E spend far less per capita than most other countries, have fewer beds per capita and fewer diagnostic machines. We’ve also a massive staffing crisis worsened by Brexit.

We would still need more staff though. And a safety net for those who could not afford that part of the care .

Why?

These posts, and the emotive wording used, just scares people.

I've lived all over the world and honestly, any time I've used the NHS I've had excellent care.

I've called ambulances, I've been to A and E, minor injuries... all seen quickly and efficiently. There are 70 million of us, so there will be pressure points and stories where unfortunately someone is missed/doesn't receive the right care.

I agree it does need improving, I agree there are issues that need to be addressed.