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.

@CanOfPop yes but NHS guidelines say that infected chickenpox blisters should be seen by a GP straight away. When I rang for advice (that’s 111 not 999) it was nearly 24 hours before I could reasonably speak with our regular GP, and a couple of hours after I had noticed the redness spreading. They themselves determined I needed to speak with a clinician and I’m still waiting over twelve hours later. Thankfully DS doesn’t appear septic to me but this sort of thing is exactly why the A&E is overrun, is it not? Plenty of others do attend because they are tired of waiting for a call back and are worried. The system cannot cope with the demand.

So now the Guardian is printing rubbish?

Interesting.

I am honestly surprised at that. I am older and have seen many cases of children with chickenpox. Infected blisters from children scratching is common. They need a quick look at, but usually do not need treatment or just ointment IME. A bad case would need antibiotics. I am not a medic bit I would never have seen this as an emergency.

I know GPs complain now that older parents like me knew how to manage common childhood illnesses, but a lot of that knowledge seems to have been liost amongst many younger parents.

That Guardian piece is 23 years old, printed when the Blair government was still adhering to Tory spending plans. Try my link to show what rubbish you’re talking.

@Seventytwosunsetstrip How old are you? Those who are older know the NHS was way better under labour. Ambulances got to people quickly, you were in and out of A and E quickly. I remember going in with a suspected broken foot and got triaged, x rayed and discharged in 45 minutes.

the NHS need to concentrate more on diseases and illnesses / life saving rather than doing everything else as well such as providing non life saving surgery such as nose jobs and gender reassignment- that should be done privately
people should pay for medicines they can buy over the counter and that are not essential for life
there was a time when the NHS was prescribing suncream and skin rash cream. These can be bought cheaply in shops
people should not be allowed to go to A&E, unless they have a life-threatening illness or have had an accident, they should be referred back to their GP on triage
The owners of responsibility should be on people to look after themselves properly, such as not smoking and drinking

If it was so good, why did Tony Blair want to sell it off ?

@CanOfPop heres the NHS advice to contact a GP straight away if blisters show signs of infection. I’m sure this has always been the case? Again to be clear, I’m not expecting emergency treatment straight away on a Sunday morning, but was seeking out of hours advice, which is what 111 is designed for (and indeed the call handler determined we needed to speak with a GP). It may also be that advice has changed for younger parents as we’ve learned more about secondary bacterial infection turning to sepsis among children with chickenpox - not just any old blisters

www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/infections-and-poisoning/chickenpox

What link?

And why was Blair using Tory spending plans if they were no good?

People can not have cosmetic surgery unless they have issues like severe burns. Any nose surgery will be medical need.
You have an extremely narrow idea of medical need. Being able to breathe properly by having polyps removed from your nose is not immediatelu life threatening, but untreated it will affect your ability to breathe and this your life. The NHS should not become an emergency service only.

@Seventytwosunsetstrip You are not discussing this in good faith. You are derailing with rubbish and ignoring the stats posted about how the NHS was much better under labour than the tories.

Labour can't run the NHS in Wales it seems;

www.countytimes.co.uk/news/20154194.opinion-labour-breaking-wrong-records-nhs-wales/

Beyond repair is precisely what the government would like you to think. Their comms team will be pleased.

Oh we've got a good little tory spinning the 'akshully it's Labour's fault' line.

any moment now Clavinaoa will be along to take over the second shift with their cut and paste links.

By Tony Blair!! 😅 Wasn't it him that brought in the rule that you had to be seen within two days of making an appointment. But gps didn't have that capacity so if they couldn't give you an appointment within two days, they'd tell you yto ring back next morning.

So everyone went and queued outside the surgery at 8.30 (I saw really elderly people standing in snow once) because they couldn't get through on the phone. And then at some point the receptionist would come out and say no more appointments and they'd all groan and shuffle off home. But it looked great on the figures. This had been going on for a couple of years and remember TB being on an interview show where the audience could ask him questions. Someone brought this up and he was genuinely surprised this was happening. 🤦 How could he not know? To be fair to him, though, I think he did go on to rescind that instruction.

I totally agree that they spent money and brought down waiting lists, some improvements we're still paying for today, but let's not talk like the nhs was functioning fantastically. I mean, how can any health system that is refusing to give sick people an appointment be reasonably voted the best health system in the world!

The NHS was externally judged the best healthcare system in the world in 2010.

The Tories nearly destroyed the NHS last time but did not succeed. It was brought back from life support by Labour. It will be again.

I thought it was 'free speech' - my bad.

We need to remove the government that are doing their best to kill the NHS.

who is denying you your free speech?

you can post what you like and people can respond to it as they like.

that's how internet forums usually work.

try not to be so sensitive.

By who? By people who were told to go for follow up appointments in two weeks but receptionists wouldn't give them an appointment because it was outside the two day rule. But when they rang in two weeks they couldn't get a free appointment?
Who voted it the best system in the world?

WHO assesses it as the best system. That did not mean it was perfect.
I could always get a GP appointment. And I could get seen quickly by specialists, not like now.

You have to understand that no system is perfect. When france was judged the best by WHO I had French friends who would complain about their health system.

But the NHS was objectively better under labour. Waiting times were way lower, ambulances were usually sent quickly, and other services like physio were much easier to access. The stats show all this clearly.

Hmm. In 2010 the UK was ranked 2nd behind Netherlands when comparing 7 countries. Out of the 9 categories judged, it came 1st in 2.

It was in 2014 when the UK was ranked 1st out of 11 countries. Out of the same 9 categories it came 1st in 6, 2nd in 1, 3rd in another. And 10th in another. So second to last. And in fact that last category is most telling. We came 2nd to last in 2010 as well. And it was for healthy lives. And that tells us something about the problems we have with the nhs. We don't live healthy lives which puts strain on the system.

Back to yourvpoint, I'm struggling to remember, but in 2014, who was in power?

Actually I hate any of this being political. The NHS should be taken out of political hands and given to a board of professionals to make decisions. It's funding should be on a formula that all parties agree with and political hands should be kept off.

2010 NHS was judged the most efficient healthcare system in the world.
An NHS can not by itself make people live healthier lives. Smoking used to be very common. Government laws changed that.