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?

I can however see where we're pouring money down the drain.

I'll give 3 examples:

1. A man I dated from an EU country (once only for reasons which this will explain). This twat lived in a super suave apartment in Mayfair (closest underground station was Bond street). While talking about customs and the EU he brazenly told me that the free covid tests which we were all given during covid cost 20 euros in his home country and that customs returned a pack he had sent to his aging parents. He was sending our free stuff to the EU!!
2. A friend from a different EU country was ALSO astonished to discover that we got those tests for free when she came to visit. I explained that pretty much everything in the NHS was free but that you couldn't get a bloody appointment! She then cut her finger and I took out a stash of various plasters I had. She laughed and said 'do you get plasters for free too???' 😆 We don't obviously, but I wear high heels a lot so have a stash at all times which I buy from the pound shops!
3. My GP started me on a new medication at the end of September (it's a patch - like a nicotine patch but for a medical condition). He seemed to think it was a mighty new invention. It comes in very fancy packaging which prompted me to google it. It costs £121.95 for a 28 day supply. This medication has caused me no end of worrying symptoms too - but that's a side issue.

You can pay privately in London and other cities for urgent care.

www.hcahealthcare.co.uk/facilities/the-princess-grace-hospital/units-and-teams/urgent-care-centre-marylebone?utm_source=GoogleMyBusiness&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=UCCMarylebone

For a GP, not for emergency treatment. Say you need emergency surgery or Resus, there are no private hospitals to deal with that. Once you're stabilised at an NHS hospital you can then be transferred to a private hospital.

www.hcahealthcare.co.uk/facilities/the-lister-hospital/units-and-teams/urgent-care-centre-chelsea?utm_source=GoogleMyBusiness&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=UCCChelsea

Two of many options available

Read what you're posting darling.

That is not true. We have used more than one provider for serious chest pain and broken arm, and also breathing difficulties. It is set up as an A&E walk in facility.

That is not emergency or critical care.

The Portland Hospital covers medical emergencies for babies and children.

If you need your heart operated on in an emergency, I'm afraid you'll have to mingle with the commoners.

There needs to be more gps working shifts, to accommodate this over populated island. Leaving a and e clear for emergencies only.

Such as what? Do you know what critical or acute care is?

If you need an ambulance, you will not be transported to the Portland, no matter how posh you are. Unless you're Prince Charles or something.

Symptoms of COVID-19 (e.g. Cough, sore throat, fever)

Acute confusion

Signs of acute heart attack or stroke

Dental problems

Major trauma, vascular or nerve injuries

Head injuries

Acute or severe stomach pain

Severe pain

Acute urinary retention

Those under 18 years

Pregnancy over 20 weeks or bleeding during Pregnancy (any term)

Mental Health conditions

All of the above are not treated at the hospital you linked to @Kissingfrogs25

Well that's great @Kissingfrogs25 but we're not all millionaires who can afford to get our children seen at the Portland hospital FFS. Honestly no wonder people from other areas think everyone in London is rich when they see unhelpful bollocks like this! Spoiler alert- we aren't.

100%

If that means paying GPs a heck of a lot more, it will still be cost effective as the cost of acute care and ambulances is massive.

We were just talking about options. Not whether you can personally afford them. These facilities are open all over London 247 and cover 80% of A&E medical issues. Yes if you are in a car crash you will end up in the NHS but can be transferred out.

The Australian model is the only answer.

The NHS is unsustainable in its current form.

It would help if so many GP's didn't just work 2 or 3 days a week. They are simply on such good money that they can afford to do this.
Someone in government really needs to take on the GP's and the BMA. It has to be 5 days a week or nothing.
Otherwise we have to train endless amounts of people (or import them) to fill the rota.
If they are saying the working day is too long then let's look at that.
A country needs people that have to work. It's a fact of life. If you pay huge salaries and offer part time hours then you are incredibly foolish if you think that people won't take advantage and put their lifestyle first.

@Mobiledesktop wouldn't that just make the problem worse though? Sure a part time GP is a hell of a lot better than no GP. I work part time in the charity sector. 30 hours a week because it fits with my childcare commitments. If they insisted I worked a full 40 hours I'd leave and look for another iob. I'm pretty sure a lot of GPs would do the same

Actually, doctors are paid quite well. What we need is massivley more doctors, not to pay the doctors we have more.
BTW did you all know that the gov cut med school placements by 25% this year?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62594141

It would help if so many GP's didn't just work 2 or 3 days a week.

I know a lot of doctors, both GPs and hospital. I only know one who works 'pt' (mum with small kids) she works three 12/13 hour days.

Add in the sheer volume of management across the multiple trusts and so on.

You could throw another £50 billion a year at the NHS and you wouldn't see one jot of difference. According to the ONS, total current healthcare expenditure in 2021 is estimated at £277 billion. I'd love to see what a properly funded NHS costs and given that the Tories have been planning to sell off the NHS for as long as I can remember, there doesn't half seem to be a hell of a lot of it left.

A little private sector common sense wouldn't go amiss.

If you were to believe daughters of Doddy the GP on here, GPs work day and night for a pittance. 🙄

@Kissingfrogs25 sorry you had this experience, but I have actually had very similar in the uk with a sick child referred directly from gap due to acute breathing difficulties and we waited 12 hours in paediatric er to be seen- pretty sure that was a longer wait than yours in the us.

I have taken kids to er numerous times in the us, and if it isn’t an acute emergency you will be asked to fill out paperwork first. This is partly due to payment and partly to take any key medical details. If your kid hadn’t been breathing at all, he would have been seen directly and paperwork later - I suspect it wasn’t truly an emergency from a triage perspective, however it felt to you as a worried mom- I have been there too.

I am not advocating the uk adopt a us system, btw, but feel like vilification of the us approach is used to shut down any discussion of real meaningful change for the nhs. There are actually lots of ways in which the us system is really really excellent even if on balance it doesn’t fit with uk social priorities.

I agree. Admins seem to be running the NHS which accounts for a lot of the shitstorm.

Every GP at our surgery is part time. It's pot luck who you see on the day.
If this GP is working 12 or 13 hours a day, that would suggest they are starting at 8am and finishing at 8 or 9pm. They're certainly not seeing patients for all that time.
If they're doing admin then I'd suggest they have extra clerical staff to do that.
We need them in every day seeing patients.