To think the NHS is beyond repair?

[NHSisfallingapart]

DS has been unwell with chickenpox. A couple of the blisters looked like they might be infected. It’s a Sunday and the GP is closed, when I rand their after hours line it just goes dead. I rang 111 for advice at noon and have been waiting for a return pcall ever since. Someone rang me a few hours ago to ask whether I stil want to speak with someone. They could not provide an estimate of when I will receive a return call and told me it’s a 24 hour service and I may be called at any hour.

AIBU to think the standard of care provided by the NHS is inadequate? I suspect DS needs antibiotics and I can’t do anything about it.

Can you not wait till tomorrow and phone your GP, or even take pictures of the spots and go to your local pharmacy tomorrow.

YANBU. There were posters on here yesterday saying a poster needed an ambulance as she was having a panic attack. The system isn’t just broken, we’re breaking it.

Poster also had known cardiac issues and didn't know it was "just" a panic attack, FFS.

I think that would be fine to wait until tomorrow OP.
NHS is not beyond repair. It definitely needs more funding though - role on the next general election…

might be infected suspect regular childhood illness...

Yabu, constantly posters are completely unreasonable expecting some sort of on demand by request service.

Do you really think that requires treatment right now?

On a Sunday night?

Yeah the NHS probably is beyond repair and ridiculous expectations and demands are part of the reason why

This.

The system is definitely broken, but I voted yabu because I don't agree that it is beyond repair. I believe that the problems could be sorted out with sufficient investment and political will to do so. That might mean all of us being willing to pay in a bit more/ change the way we interact with it.

I hope that your ds gets better soon.

No it's not beyond repair.

It needs a lot of work and a lot of funding. And people need to use it responsibly.

Yep this.

People making calls for minor/non issues are one of the things which are speeding up its death…

My son (12 months) was unwell about a month ago I phoned 111 and within 2 hours we had a call back and had been seen by ooh GP at a local clinic. This was on a Sunday.

Hi OP
Sorry your son is feeling unwell. I have the agree that I don’t think this would meet my threshold of requiring to be seen on a Sunday. I’m not from the UK, and I can say where I’m from this would be something that we would just ring the doctor on Monday morning for.
Saying that, I don’t think the NHS can be saved in its current form. Chronic underfunding, treating their staff badly and taking advantage of the staff financially is too much to overcome.

You could get antibiotics from a pharmacist tomorrow. 111 probably haven't called back as they're so busy and it's not exactly urgent.

That’s my concern. I feel like people need better access to improve their mental health so emergency paramedics aren’t kept busy with these things so people who do need their help don’t get the prompt attention. I worry that eventually people, who can afford it, will just opt to pay and this will pave the way for privatisation even more than it has already. If doctors and nurses and other medical staff aren’t paid so well and they feel that they’re better off working in the private sector, then where does that leave the NHS or those who cannot afford to pay? I’m also curious how much of the taxes go towards the NHS and is it enough? We need more skilled migrant workers if the ER is so understaffed.

I have called 999 and had an ambulance attend for a panic attack. I didn't know it was one... I literally thought I was going to drop down dead. If I had known what it was, I would have used my coping mechanisms and dealt with it myself.
No one calls an ambulance if they know they are having a panic attack.

The NHS is in a sorry state. Every year it gets more and more funding, in absolute, inflation adjusted and per capita terms, and it never gets better.

The problem with the NHS is that it had no purpose. It can never say it had met all it's objectives, because the demand for a "free at the point of delivery" health service is unending.

What we need to do is set clear goals for health service, be that an average life span for the country, maximum number of sick days across the national working population etc. Then cut the funding to force the NHS to be more efficient.

Go through this and when there are fewer administrators forcing front line staff to push paper rather than treat patients, and success is measured by outcomes rather than adherence to processes, the NHS will massively improve.

What we need to do is set clear goals for health service, be that an average life span for the country, maximum number of sick days across the national working population etc. Then cut the funding to force the NHS to be more efficient.

How does that work with an ageing population?

I don’t think the NHS needs more funding but it does need restructuring perhaps with a return to doctors and matrons running hospitals rather than overpaid non medically qualified managers.
Plus they have to stop expensive non medically necessary surgeries like cosmetic surgeries and genital mutilations as well as totally unnecessary chosen mastectomies . Medicine should also only be prescribed for illness and not for people who just say they want it.
They should also manufacture their own drugs rather than buying them in from over expensive private companies which would all save billions.
If a business is failing then you rebuild it. Simples.

@bibbybox "How does that work with an ageing population?"

There are standard statistical methods to deal with this. The agging population is a non-issue when it comes to setting goals.

Your expectation is way out of line that's why you're not satisfied

@TreadLight but how does it work in terms of achieving those goals?

I've only ever found the NHS to be brilliant. Mind, I only use them when I actually need to.

This, the NHS is not some sort of on demand automatic fix for all issues of health minor as they may be, surely common sense tells you that isn’t an urgent inquiry

Why would you phone 111 about that on a Sunday OP? What do you expect them to do exactly? I think along with being under funded it is being abused by people who seem to have lost all common sense / confidence. No doubt calls to 111 get triaged and I doubt yours (just going by the information you have given) was top of their priority list. Personally when I have ever used the service I have found them to be excellent. But that's been twice and both times for serious issues that ended up in being admitted to hospital.