No wonder the NHS is struggling - can't quite believe this!

[outpatient]

Today I went to the hospital. On the from door entrance there was a member of staff whose job it was to say "do you have an appointment, so you have any covid symptoms"

That's it. She's was being paid to do that. She was there all morning, just to say that. This is in addition to the receptionist that checks you in when you actually arrive,

Is this not bonkers? NHS is screwed if someone thinks this is entirely reasonable to pay someone to do this.

It is beyond saving, and likely not running out of money just making really shit decisions WITH the money

Ah, you must know my SIL , this is her to a tee.

There is also mismanagement. They could source some drugs at a fraction of the price, for example thyroid drugs, but according to an endocrinologist I saw, who attended a conference where this was raised, they think suppliers should approach them with an offer rather than them look around for the cheapest source. Bloody ridiculous, who else runs a business like that?

As others said more than likely a volunteer
but waste in the nhs is eye watering An astronomical amounts of cash are wasted as confirmed by my own experiences and the many friends and family I have that work for the nhs

Hmmm. I visited someone waiting in a&e last week and there were two people on the door asking why you were coming in and did you have covid symptoms. One was dressed in blue scrubs and the other was wearing a stab vest with 'security' written on it. I'm pretty sure they were a nurse and a security guard, rather than volunteers. Unless they were such keen volunteers that they'd come in fancy dress?

I did think "how much is that costing", but blamed the people who abuse the NHS rather than blaming the NHS staff who are trying their best. Case in point, the woman before me in the queue, who said she was attending a&e because she had "a bit of a sore throat" 🤦‍♀️

People in the NHS aren’t stupid, so I suspect there are some perverse incentives built in. The internal marker system where they have a separate organisation set up to come up with internal pricing for example!

This would only get worse if the NHS continues to be privatised. Profit is king!

I’m sure that’s the case. But if anyone thinks big organisations don’t waste money, I have a bag of magic beans to sell you.

This! And also paying admin agency staff £150 a day to sit and do eff all because they have to cover the sickness.

My mom 'worked'with a lady that did aboit 3 months work in 7 years as they couldnt get rid of her because it was work related stress.
Im sorry but if your job is so stressful you need to be off and they have tried to resolve it. You need to be helped to get a job elsewhere.
Their department wasnt stressful, it was dental!

They will be hospital volunteers our hospitals are, but even if they are being paid, their wage won't be breaking the NHS

Don’t really get the point if your comment. If your short of money wasting loads it’s not rocket Science to stop wasting money then you have more

This 🤣

I have type 3c diabetes. Most people think there are only 2 types. Even the locum gp who had to ring me with the news had never heard of it

My point is that it is impossible to completely eliminate waste, and there’s no evidence that the level of waste is in the billions.

If you want to get on top of waste, then the usual answer is you need more staff to be monitoring expenditure. Which costs money in itself. So is that a good use of money? Or would they be the “pen pushers” that people are so keen to cut.

And what may be wasteful to one person may be a rationale explanation to another. Eg it may cost more to opt a certain approach but it’s worth doing because it’s quicker. So is that a waste?

People talk about waste but don’t necessarily fully appreciate how large organisation run. It takes time and energy to run an organisation well - you cannot do it on a shoe string and cannot do it if you’re always asking people to work more for less while also shouting at them to be more efficient. Imagine someone shouting over your shoulder all the time, while expected to do your job properly? That’s what it is like working in a public sector organisation which constantly has to cut.

My GP gets paid for 7 of us here... Not 1 of us has managed to get a face to face appointment this entire year.
Been sent to out of hours, directed to 101, the local pharmacist, A&E.. Are they ALSO getting paid to see us?

The article doesn't suggest cocaine (or ketamine) is being used for recreational purposes by the NHS. Cocaine is used by ENT surgeons. I've not come across Ketamine medically but don't doubt it has a use. Simple analgesics are much expensive on prescription. This is a fact whether people like it or not. Some may agree it should be on prescription (at inflated prices) but there's not a bottomless pit of money. We should be using our NHS money wisely to get the most benefit for the population and for me, paracetamol on prescription for most people is a waste. Others will disagree.

??

My dd is ill and I managed to get a face to face appointment today, same day of ringing.

GPs are leaving. There aren’t enough to go around.

But you cannot buy paracetamol in bulk? Those who need huge quantities will have chronic conditions so prescribing it makes sure that it goes where it is needed. If you want patients to buy it, without risking medically irresponsibility, then you need to introduce extra administration to do so. Charging for medication = more overheads to administer.

The NHS is struggling as it had the smallest increases in funding over and above inflation between 2010 and 2019 since its inception 75 years ago. . The increases since plus the pandemic have not filled the gap. See pic 1.

In 2010 the Common Wealth fund scored the NHS the highest across various metrics against other developed healthcare systems in the world. See pic 2.

Which is why there was a plan to reduce this. A plan the Conservatives have stalled on.

What is it with the Conservatives and public services?

Of course ketamine is used in the NHS. Ask any anaesthetist.

Hahahahahahah.

I work in a two tier health system - private and public. It’s well known and I’ve observed it many times myself that when you lose your job in the public system for gross incompetence or behaviour such as stealing drugs, the private system will welcome you with open arms.

so you’re quite right……it is a whole different mentality…….

To everyone insisting that the NHS is being starved of funds, please count in that 30 billion pounds has been added to the budget since the pandemic (from £120bn in 2019 to £150 billion in 22/03) and there's fewer procedures happening. So someone, somewhere is *ucking this up.

You're not going to change my mind. I have a pretty good understanding of working in a complex organisation. We will need to disagree on this one. If you fund the paracetamol, you fund less total hip replacements, cardiac operations or life extending cancer drugs etc. It's not an infinite money pot. You make your choices and I will make mine.

I thought everyone knew greeters like this are volunteers. Clearly not!

At my local hospital there are receptionists, volunteer greeters and security staff who ask everyone entering if they have an appointment, any Covid symptoms etc they are paid. Pointless though as patients were meeting people outside and in the car parks some even getting a bus into town and Covid was rife in the hospital which is where I caught it,