The state of the NHS laid bare in one video... Pinderfields General Hospital, Wakefield, West Yorkshire

[PeppaPigOinkOinkOink]

m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02EXdzzP9pPRadKzq2xN4pGBTakAs5DAGf6i38XDW32zdvREyAYmYURFM6k9FBPx2Fl&id=535801985

Video posted outside Pinderfields General Hospital a couple of hours ago. No capacity in resus areas, no trollies to offload patients from ambulances. Which in turn means people in the community waiting hours and hours for emergency 999 calls.

People say health care professionals went into the job knowing what they was getting into.. not one nurse I know (or Dr or paramedic or HCA) went into their job knowing this would be their reality. This is why people are leaving, why people are striking. Its not just about pay, its about working conditions. Pay does play a part admittedly, the pay doesn't marry up with the level of responsibility, the level of stress, the level of upset caused by knowing you're going home after knowing not one patient has had your absolute best all day.. because its impossible to achieve.

This is the reality of the NHS 💔

@MalteserGeezee

You could say the same about education which is another political football that has been absolutely obliterated during this Tory reign. It’s honesty just shocking how people voted for this.

*honestly

"People really do need to start looking after themselves. Having the attitude of "oh it's just a bit of blood pressure I'll take a tablet" should no longer be tolerated. "

What do you suggest? That people should be prosecuted for not taking their medication?

"Maybe we need to start thinking radically and encouraging community exercise sessions like walking groups, go knock on for a neighbour at 1030 and drag them out for a daily walk. Or tai chi on the green at 2."

People already do this, but the reality is that most people who are capable of working are out there earning for as many hours as they can. We're going to see much less volunteering over the next decade as more and more older people (who are the largest group of volunteers) are forced to delay retirement. And the idea of a pool of well qualified volunteers willing to take over responsibility for the health of people in their area, when the worst ill-health is found in the poorest communities, the ones already facing the selling off of local parks, huge price rises in leisure centres, and the closure of community centres - BECAUSE COUNCILS HAVEN'T GOT ANY BLOODY MONEY!

"We also need to start recognising we can't save everyone". Echoes of Rishi Sunak there 😞

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/a-amp-e-crisis-portable-oxygen-running-out-as-patient-waits-99-hours-for-bed-52ks096bs

Hospitals are running out of portable oxygen because they are overwhelmed with patients suffering from flu, Covid and other respiratory illnesses.
The Sunday Times has been told of chaos across the country, including in:
• Surrey, where GPs were told in an email from Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board that hospital mortuaries in the area were nearing capacity.

• Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Health and Care Partnership, where staff were told that hospitals were so busy “there is a real possibility we will need to erect tents in hospital grounds”. It appealed for staff willing to take on extra work to come forward.

• York, where a patient waited 40 hours in A&E for a bed on a ward.

• Shropshire, where a patient waited more than 30 hours in an ambulance outside the Princess Royal Hospital in Shrewsbury.

• Walsall, West Midlands, where hospital leaders told staff of “unprecedented” pressure and a “grossly overcrowded” A&E. At times there were more than 40 patients waiting for a bed with some waiting longer than 24 hours and being looked after in corridors.
The longest wait reported for a bed was at Great Western Hospital, Swindon, where a patient spent 99 hours waiting for a bed last week. The patient came in as an emergency case by ambulance but was left on a trolley for more than four days until a bed became available.
One clinician there said: “We’re broken and nobody is listening.” Jon Westbrook, Great Western’s chief medical officer, told staff in a leaked message: “We are seeing case numbers and [sickness] that we have not seen previously in our clinical careers.”

Hospitals are also beginning to run out of portable oxygen.
At Nottingham University Hospitals Trust junior doctors were told there was a risk it could run out of cylinders this weekend because of a surge in demand. The chief nurse, Michelle Rhodes, told staff to avoid using oxygen cylinders wherever possible.
At Hull University Teaching Hospital Trust on Friday night, the trust warned staff that “due to supply issues, the trust is experiencing short-term disruption to its supply of large oxygen cylinders.” Staff were told patients who needed oxygen should be moved to beds where oxygen could be piped.
There were also reported problems with supply at hospitals in Liverpool, Crewe, Derby and Durham.
One NHS worker in the southwest of England said: “We are now at the stage where there is not enough oxygen in cylinders to treat patients in corridors, ambulances and in our walk-in area in A&E. Combined with flu, Covid and other respiratory conditions this is beyond Third World medicine.”

Well, it is the state of Pinderfields, not necessarily "the NHS", that big blob, which contains within it, excellent hospitals, good hospitals, and underperforming hospitals. Unfortunately Pinderfields comes under the latter.

Because the biggest problem we have is a shortage of clinical staff

Every country in the world has a shortage. We have to work harder to retain staff, better working conditions, pay etc. There are no shortages of people wanting to train, just constraints in the system, and bursaries are still in place.

Staffing is the key to all NHS/Social Care issues.

Surrey, where GPs were told in an email from Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board that hospital mortuaries in the area were nearing capacity

This has happened every winter for several years, and pre-Covid, they have always exceeded capacity in Winter. They are currently in planning for extra capacity, but also as with everything, the area has a shortage of clinical pathologists to clear post-mortems.

@KnittedCardi

It’s not a bursary though is it? 5k a year? It’s not enough. My own mum got a lot more than that back in the 90s plus she got more money for each dependent that she had. It was certainly a wage for her. She worked her way up to consultant mental health nurse so I am sure that bursary paid for itself in the end.

You’re not going to get people to train taking out a student loan which is expensive and living on 5k a year whilst at times working 40 hours a week on placement.

What do you suggest? That people should be prosecuted for not taking their medication?

I think people need to stop taking the piss out of the NHS and start looking after themselves better. Two thirds of this country are overweight or obese with all the complications that come with that. We are an aging fat country that takes little interest in preventative health care and just relies on acute health care when things go wrong. Every year, millions of GP appointments are wasted due to no shows, A&E is treated as drop in non emergency service. Too many people think free at the point of use is free overall. I paraphrase Kennedy but I believe in the "do not ask the NHS what it can do for you, ask what can I do for the NHS".

There are often shortages this time of year - suppliers close down for the whole Christmas period and although extra ordering is done in mid December things can run out.
As for the mortuaries -very few funerals are held over the Christmas period - registrars are not open so bodies have to be somewhere.

The GP contract needs to go back to remunerating GPs for the F2f contacts, instead of the number of patients on the list. Locally 250 houses have been built, and sold to a Midlands council this is in Cornwall in a small village in a rural area so 750 new patients have been added to their book. If you are a GP being paid for the patients you register, rather the the ones you actually treat, then it's a great money spinner. Let's all work part time.

Yes - you're absolutely correct.

'The bursary is still in place' - except now it's about half the size of the previous bursary, while the cost of housing has increased hugely.

Why f2f? Given that many things can be dealt with quite satisfactorily over the phone, and that more f2f appointments inevitably = more gp's off sick with covid?

BTW - the reason many gps work part time is because the workload of a full time GP s unmanageable for many who also want to have a family life. "The European Union of General Practitioners and the BMA state that 25 patient contacts per day is the upper limit of safe. In this country, GPs see on average 37 patients a day." www.bmj.com/content/367/bmj.l6813

"I think people need to stop taking the piss out of the NHS and start looking after themselves better. Two thirds of this country are overweight or obese with all the complications that come with that. We are an aging fat country that takes little interest in preventative health care and just relies on acute health care when things go wrong."

Actually the evidence is that people have never been more interested in 'wellness', and that the vast majority of those who are overweight are trying and failing repeatedly to lose weight.

Obesity is a complex, worldwide problem that's proving very difficult to address, regardless of the growth of the wellness and diet industry. What we do know is that people who are subject to the worst social stress have a vastly increased likelihood of becoming obese and of struggling with lifestyle related diseases.

Developed countries with the lowest rates of obesity related diseases are almost all those with lower rates of poverty and inequality than the UK.

Actually the evidence is that people have never been more interested in 'wellness', and that the vast majority of those who are overweight are trying and failing repeatedly to lose weight.

Being interested in wellness and actually living well are quite different things. I'm sure like you I have seen aisles down the supermarket appear stocked with protein shakes, electrolyte powders and healthy eating options but as you observe it is mostly failing as cynical marketing is selling dreams rather then practical steps to succeed. I also think that weight loss solutions are massively over complicated to the point of placing barriers in the way of those wanting to achieve their goals. Every thread on here on the topic often descends into pseudo science, falsehoods and anecdotes masquerading as 'science'. I am a coach down my local rowing club, we will soon be starting our learn to row programmes in the spring where we will get 30 odd people of various shapes and sizes starting fitness training and it is amazing what they can achieve with land and on the water exercise 3 to 4 times a week over 12 months.

To be completely straightfortward. I'm nearly 67. I've earned and saved
for my pension since I graduated in 1977, and had a mortgage most of those years. And I really really get pissed off with the notion that because I have planned ahead and saved not to be a burden on the state in my dotage or my heirs, that all that work could be seized. It's not happening under the rules now but there's a grab being planned.

Unless euthanasia is made legal/compulsory. And what's the right age? Three years past retirement, which was the original assumption for the NHS in 1947?

No, what the NHS needs is for the bloody Tories to stop deliberately underfunding it, in their ploy to sell it off. And giving contracts to their cronies. Also for things like paracetamol to not be on prescription. Investment in social care is needed so that bed blocking pensioners can leave hospital. I do think people also have some personal responsibility to look after themselves and not go to hospital for non urgent things. It's crazy that the beds are full with people with the flu.

Flu and the complications it causes are serious consequences in the over 60s/morbidly obese pls age group. Dishing out paracetamol won't fix it. Those people need a massive jolt into taking care of themselves.

Pinderfields is my local hospital and I dread being ill enough to need and ambulance or to attend the hospital.

The video of the ambulances waiting outside was shocking.

Inside is worse. Usually hundreds waiting for over 8 hours to be seen.

I really feel for the staff. They are burnt out.

There are 2 local minor injury units and they are also super busy. My MIL had a 4 hour wait last month when she fell and broke her wrist.

Apart from the wait, the care she received was excellent.

@NannyOggsWhiskyStash Maybe you need a bit of a reset here. Fullblown influenza, which isn't just a nasty cold, is an illness that can kill. How you teach people to distinguish the conditions is tough. I was told that if you have a bad cold and saw £5 notes being blown around, you'd try to collect them. If you have flu, you wouldn't.

But how many people start at Minor injuries? I have never worked in healthcare, but I'm quite on the ball. If useful, I could volunteer with triaging, and I would. I wouldn't want paying, but I would walk out out on the first person who was not respectful of my volunteer status.

Well done XingMing. I'm facing a poor old age because I've spent years as a carer, which have made it impossible for me to contribute towards a pension. We also bought our first house in 1997, which meant that while we're much luckier than young families starting out today, we still had a proportionately much larger mortgage than my parents did at the same age.

'Unless euthanasia is made legal/compulsory.' Assisted dying and killing the impoverished elderly so that people like yourself can have a comfortable retirement aren't really two concepts I'd mash together in the same sentence....

@izimbra (one of my favourite songs) clearly, I was fortunate that neither of my parents or PIL needed care until their 70s, which I would have thought normal. But so far, I as the DIL with my SIL have picked up all the work. I don't begrugde a moment of the time I've spent executing my DMIL's wishes. I thought and think she had it nailed. She was clever and thoughful, and I have been privileged to execute her wish to leave her body for medical reaearch.

"Being interested in wellness and actually living well are quite different things." - I agree.

The evidence from healthcare research shows that most people who lose weight regain all or most of that weight within a few months/years.

It also shows that most people to maintain healthy exercise habits.

It also shows that the biggest determinant of obesity is having an overweight mother and living in poverty.