NHS Sentimentality?

[Burgoo]

For transparency purposes I've worked in the NHS. I adore the NHS. I think the NHS is by far the most wonderful creation that politicians have devised in the past 150 years. I am not in the "privatise it" category, I don't believe in gaining from other people's misery...

My Question:

AIBU to think that the public in the UK need to seriously reflection on what the NHS stands for and whether it can continue in the same form it was initially intended for? What would YOU do to reform the NHS?

There are a huge list of problems that the NHS is facing at the moment - built up over decades.

• Staffing levels are dire - in terms of how many are available for the amount of demand
• Ambulances are stacked up outside A&E due to poorly funded social care
• Mental Health Services are swamped with the worried-well - all demanding that the NHS "fix" their misery
• There is a huge issue with the public not taking responsibility for their own health - expecting the NHS to fix problems they (often) created
• GPs are creaking - they have 1000 patients per GP and the public demand a face to face service, despite there being of upward of 300 missed appointments a month in my local surgery
• Staff are demoralised and burnt out and can't keep going

These are just a few issues, there are hundreds more.

The public need a kick up the arse. They need to realise that if they eat badly, drink too much, take drugs, don't exercise etc that they are actually crippling the service. I am compassionate for people who fall ill through no fault of their own. Cancer, accidents, genetic diseases, degenerative conditions like knee replacements - yes, yes, yes. That is what the NHS is for.

BUT... John who opts not to change his diet and gets diabetes? Come on. Sharon who is repeatedly told advice about mental wellbeing but doesn't get up and do things that can be helpful? Why waste the NHS's time? Bob who insists on smoking 30 a day and then needs life-saving treatment despite knowing it'll kill him at some point? We also know that dementia is often linked to poor diet, alcohol use, diabetes, stroke etc. Many of which we have direct influence over.

Again I am NOT saying that people who need help shouldn't get it. That isn't compassionate. And at the same time, people really take the NHS for granted. My friend works in a mental health outpatients service. She has 25 HOURS of non-attended appointments EVERY MONTH. 25 HOURS! They have a wait list of over a year. Then she has people who won't accept that they are being discharged - so they demand being kept on. It is astounding.

Another person I know is a paramedic. Most of her call-outs are (and I quote) "bullshit, nonsense" that people don't need an ambulance for. She describes herself as a "taxi service" for people who haven't got transport and she is demoralised that she is stuck waiting in A&E when she should be out resuscitating people!

Sorry for the rant. Its so frustrating. And people claim to love the NHS.

My dm needed paramedics recently. They couldn’t save her but I know they tried their best. I was there, it was horrendous. But they were amazing. It’s fucking horrible to describe skilled professionals as a taxi service and far less than they deserve. Yabvu.

So sorry for your loss.
But I read the ‘taxi service’ comment differently, my understanding is that the paramedic felt she was just a taxi service for some people, when she could have been saving lives instead

Take it up with the tories. I’ve been booked an appointment in august. A wait of a year. Apparently the letter was sent out over a month ago but I’ve not received it, no text message, had to call in. I’m sure there are many people who miss appointments because the letter is stuck in the postal system and its impossible to get through to a real person and not be stuck in endless queues and triaged by receptionists who think they’re doctors. We all know it’s broken but putting the blame on service users rather than chronic underfunding is like that adage about a rich man taking 9 cookies, giving a worker one and telling them to watch out because an immigrant want to take his cookie. We’ve had the census, time to fund for the population we have, not to make sunaks rich mates even richer.

I hate that people like you work for the same organisation that I do!

what next? Well you crossed the road so chose to be run over, no help for you!

do you have any understanding of the trauma that some overweight/alcoholics/smokers have gone through or are going through?

do you have any idea how hard it is for someone with mental health problems to just wake up in the morning and make it through the day?

your “friend” needs to feed back to her duty station officer or ambulance operations manager that their clinical department are sending ambulances to inappropriate calls if she deems herself a taxi service, rather than moaning to you!

yes appointments are missed but often for very good reason and often due to clinical error

I am compassionate for people who fall ill through no fault of their own. Cancer, accidents, genetic diseases, degenerative conditions like knee replacements - yes, yes, yes.

How big of you.

also know that dementia is often linked to poor diet, alcohol use, diabetes, stroke etc. Many of which we have direct influence over.

Well if we are going to that degree so are lots of cancers.
If you have a child but you have a high chance of passing on a genetic disease why should it be covered?
An accident is okay? Okay so a person chose to get into a care knowing there was a risk of a crash - why should they have treatment anymore than someone who has diabetes or lung cancer from asbestos?

I don't think sentimentality is the issue it's more fear of an American style system which is just a horrific prospect.

The NHS has been deliberately run down here in the UK by the Conservatives and by the incremental privatisation by both the Tories and New Labour. If you look back to the early 90s there were meetings with US health and disability insurance firms which set thr wheels in motion for an American style system and these big US firms are desperate to get into the UK market and they cannot while the NHS exists.

I do think there maybe some issues around the messaging on mental health. It's of course great to normalise seeking help and talking about feelings but there is now and expectation that you shouldn't ever feel sad, anxious, unhappy, down and so on and if you do feel that way you need to be fixed. All these feelings are normal human emotions that we all need to learn to cope with but I've seen it with friends who feel anxious and down because they are not as well off or successful as other people so they seek treatment for depression rather than make peace with themselves. I don't think social media helps. Bullying can follow people and kids home, many feel crap about themselves comparing themselves to others online. But it's a difficult one, it still a societal issue as much as a personal one.

After my dm passed away I saw a fb post with 22 ambulances waiting outside A&E as they were backed up. It’s insulting and downloading incorrect to say that they are a taxi service. If they are stuck it’s through no fault if their own or the service users. Personally i feel it’s nothing more than an urban myth perpetuated by those with an ulterior motive.