To ask what can be done immediately to take the pressure off the NHS?

[Twinklenoseblows]

I've been reading stories about people waiting 4 days in A&E, people being taken into A&E in the back of a van with a broken hip as there are no ambulances ,and doctors and nurses pleading for something to be done right now as lives are at risk. But what can be done that would make a difference within the next week or two?

Promises of more money and more staff will presumably take years to filter through and make a difference.

I guess what is worrying me beyond the immediate crisis is that some bright spark in government is going to say we need a circuit breaker lockdown to reduce flu and covid admissions for the next few months to take some immediate pressure off. The thought fills me with horror so I'm hoping there is something else.

E.g. as a very short term measure could some people be diverted to make use of any spare private GP capacity to try to reduce the number of people going to A&E who could instead be dealt with by a GP if only they could get an appointment. Or is that madness?

Oh, so no thought has been given to the possible death of the elderly person - this is part of the reason we are where we are with bed blocking. I've recently attended hospital with a severely demented relative who had a chest infection - was immediately adminstered antibs. Turfed out after another day to the care home despite not really being fit (bed bound confused can't speak, just make noises), their bed urgently needed, but very thankfully Care home being understanding and doing their best.

We need to plan. Unfortunately said relative has not. Difficult for relatives, the persons themselves needs to decide.

If there's money to give to private companies for their "input" then surely the money to give to the NHS for the same job?

And the NHS can do more with Jess because it doesn't have to make a profit for shareholders.

We need to plan. Unfortunately said relative has not. Difficult for relatives, the persons themselves needs to decide.

Agreed.

I've been in the position with several older relatives who refused to agree to a medical PoA and similar arrangements.

Unfortunately, as non-first degree relatives, we've been in no position to influence medical care for them or express pre-discussed wishes.

Ooooh... That graph clearly shows what those of us who aren't mindless slaves to the leftist wokerati have been saying all along: the NHS was JUST AS BAD under Labour! None of this is the Tories' fault, and it makes no difference which party is in government or what happens to funding, because the real problem is all the overpaid fatcat nurses wasting money on food.

They should sack all the surgeons and get Boris to do the operations instead. People have had enough of experts.

I know my medical treatment was far better under labour and that the criteria for treating flare ups was lower.

The NHS was far better under Labour. I worked for the NHS and many people left when Thatcher was in power because it was being so run down, never mind the complications raised by fund holding GP practices. When Blair became Prime Minister it quickly changed across the board, including care in the home. The change was actually quite remarkable. Nothing is ever perfect but how it is now is pretty dire.

And under Labour the use of private medical care shrank.

@scaredoff All governments are the same you know.

Not when it comes to the NHS they’re not.

I was kidding @Blossomtoes. I should have added a

Exactly. That's why we should carry on voting Tory: because they're all exactly the same, but the Tories are better.

Sorry, this place kind of blunts your irony detector.

Because people had less money?

No because there was no need for it. If you got treatment in a matter of weeks, why would you pay? My gallbladder was removed 11 weeks after gallstones were diagnosed in 2006.

Under Labour an elderly well off neighbour enquired about private hip surgery at the same time as his GP referred him to NHS. He ended up having a hip replacement about 12 weeks later on the NHS and the same surgeon did the operation who would have operated on him privately.

He saved a lot of money and spent it towards staying in a posh care home until he was fully recovered.

That was par for the course then.

All those harking back to the rose-tinted sunny uplands - where would Labour get the money from to water on throwing at a moribund sclerotic dinosaur nhs?

Not in any way a leading question. 😆

@JangolinaPitt theyve said the will introduce VAT on private school fees to fund schools.

Winchester where Rishi went would raise a huge amount.

Roll on Labour👍🏻

Labour is perfectly clear that the issue is that it’s not more money that’s needed but reform. Just like last time.

You need accommodation for the elderly to get them out of hospital into care homes or similar. Hence the Gov has just mentioned the 250million to free up hospital beds - I can't wait for Labour to get in as they will obviously be waving the magic, twinkly, money wand rather than using tax payers money.

Well did MIL have a DNAR. I would think it's due to bed blocking. If she didn't I can't see why you get offended that people ask.
Resuscitation isn't the same as prescribing anti- biotics or painkillers.

She had a DNAR, when she broke her hip in 2020, although as I said it was done between A & E and the ward - she had no idea she had agreed to anything. I am not surprised - she was probably in great pain, confused by the chaos in A & E, then being moved, for someone who can’t cope with change at the best of times! What is the point of a discussion, with someone who does not know is going on? It’s not consent!

A month ago, DH asked her GP for a home visit to see if she had a UTI, to explain why she had got confused. The first thing the GP asked DH was if she had a DNAR and that was what upset him. She wasn’t in end of life care; she did turn out per the hospital to have an infection of unknown cause, causing delirium. It did not kill her.

We would both expect the discussion from the HCP to be about symptoms, treatment and then leading on what happens if the treatment doesn’t work…..and CPR is needed? Instead it comes across, as there is no concern for the individual, ticking the DNAR box is the only concern, as part of paperwork to get through, because the elderly are second class citizens, not worth the resources of the NHS!

As for making sure people get the right treatment in care homes? Some people are naive! It’s all very well, talking about freeing up beds in the NHS, by discharging people into social care; without thinking about how many care homes are inadequate?

The thing is the problem can always be treated - antibiotics will sort out the infection, should we be feeding patients through a tube - that way there is less chance of an infection due to inhaling food and will keep them well?

@SmokeyPaprika Nobody recommends feed tubing for someone very frail and elderly.
My father in law who wanted to die but was against suicide on religious grounds accepted antibiotics as the symptoms were just too distressing otherwise. Although nearing the end of his life he was not in distress usually and just slept a lot.