To think you don't quite realise how badly the NHS is suffering until you witness it first hand

[DaisyCat33]

My parents are sitting in A&E today. They've just hit 12 hours. My dad was sent there by his GP for severe neck pain this morning. He's had morphine and an MRI scan, but they're now endlessly waiting to see a Dr about results. He hasn't even got a bed to lay on, despite debilitating neck pain. Many people are standing or sitting on the floor.

The couple sitting next to them have been there since 3am, for difficultly breathing.

I'm shocked. Honestly I knew the NHS had it's issues, but this bad?! It's frightening. I also had an email the other day saying my NHS dentist is closing, and it's basically a "well sorry no dentist for you any more, bye bye"

I don't really know the point of this thread really, I just feel shocked and upset that this is how it is. And I think a lot of people don't even realise? My parents definitely didn't until today. They are losing the will to live sat in that hospital.

Does anyone else just feel utterly helpless and anxious about this?

You don't deserve criticism, also whatever you get paid isn't enough. Bless you

I don't think we can make blanket statements about the NHS.

e.g. Emergency services are clearly stretched, a close relative had to wait over 8 hours and he was very, very poorly at the time (better now). On the other hand, I have a regular out patient appointment where they do seem overstaffed given the amount of standing around directly in front of patients who are waiting to see them gossiping about their weekends and how short staffed they are 🙄.
Some places are stretched, obviously, but some places simply aren't and just need to be managed better. Sorry if that offends anyone, but it's my consistent observation over the last ten years as a patient and as a carer.

This is the problem. The NHS was the best it had ever been under the last Labour government. Wrecked under 14 years of Tories. Then unsubstantiated claims a new Labour government wouldn't make it better again. Guesswork rather than optimism and attempting to improve.

When did people start to give up so much and stop fighting for better snd just accept rubbish?

My optician found bleeding at the back of my 10 year olds eye. She said it could be type 1 diabetes. I'm on the phone to the doctor right now and terrified

I agree we need good care for the elderly.
Treating a very elderly woman who is bed bound, with dementia
that leaves her screaming in terror because she doesn't know anyone, bed sores,
constant pain from fractures that don't heal properly, for every infection with
anti biotics and priority vaccinations so that she can live as long as possible
is not it though. This is a real person btw. It's certainly not a future I want
for myself and not one I want my children to have to see me in. As a nation, we
need to have a serious conversation about how we try to keep the elderly alive
for as long as possible at all costs. It's immoral what we do at the moment
imo.

Watch Breaking Bad.

The US system gives poor value for money, drives up drug prices to ludicrous levels and drives doctors to give unnecessary treatment if it brings them a good profit.

It undoubtedly appears excellent when you are insured.

The biggest problem comes when you are not, which can happen to anyone in the right circumstances. The time when you really need insurance because you are sickest is the time when your insurance is most likely to be withdrawn. Lucky to have that system… until you’re not.

There are excellent systems in place in various European countries. I believe being free at the point of care in the UK is a significant problem, as people don’t value it, alongside chronic government underfunding.

And we need to stop anthropomorphising the NHS. It doesn’t need protecting:
; it is a system under which medical professionals work, some of whom are amazing, a few of whom are awful.

So much this -but also the actual systems sometime need looking at - constantly being passed between different departments is annoying and sometimes frightening.

I'm on the phone to docs right now, rang as soon as lines opened, caller number 9. Luckily my GPS surgery are really good once you get through, I'm terrified if my daughter has got it if she ever needs to go to hospital

My mum had a suspected stroke last year. Collapsed into her dinner and my 93 year old Dad took her to an and e as he was told the wait for an ambulance would be 4 or 5 hours. She was in a and e for 7 hours, then admitted-on a Friday morning to the emergency ward. The next time she saw a Dr was the following Tuesday evening. Nearly 5 days on a ward with no information or assessments being made-just monitored for blood pressure a few times a day by a nurse. We were told that it was because it was 'over a weekend' and then on the Monday and Tuesday morning 'they were catching up from the weekend'. Right, so the moral is-don't get sick Friday to Monday.
I went to visit mum daily whilst she was in. I saw a lot of nurses at the nursing station (often on their phones, some doing admin, some chatting ) and two HCA's who were the only ones actually checking on the patients and ensuring they were hydrated and comfortable. I complained to the ward manager and PALs in the end. It was awful. Badly managed, understaffed in terms of dr's, and a complete lack of compassion, pro activity or impetus from all but two of the staff I saw over the 5 days.
I'm as left as they come. And I think the NHS was the best thing we have ever done as a nation. But I surrender. It's now so shit that I'll concede defeat to the Tories obvious plan to denigrate the service to the
Extent that privatisation in some form is the only bloody option if we are to have any functioning health care at all.

@Supernova23
I've had a couple of TIAs
The advice is to ring for an ambulance because they start the anti-stroke meds in the ambulance
And secondly take you to the nearest hosp with a stroke unit - not all have them

You've 4 hrs before there's no point giving the meds and therefore increasing your risk of a full blown stroke

It is useless
Mine heard chest pain and sent an ambulance
I have permanent chest pain, that wasn't why I was ringing

I did actually need hospital but could have got a lift there

Not a pharmacist, but I don't think this is true. Our pharmacist issues thousands of prescriptions every day and has a constant queue of people asking questions. I'm all for them being used more, but they need funding and extra staffing to do what they're now being asked to do

I wish we'd focus more on public health. Too long term tho isn't it? Not sexy for sound bites. Bit we need a healthier propulsion, and it's in fact going down hilll fast :(

I know for sure that A and E patient's experience very much depends on the quality of management in a particular hospital. Yes, they are all underfunded, yes, there are staff shortages everywhere, however, some hospitals do offer a decent level of service because they managed to set up the whole process in an efficient way. The hospitals where these processes are not thought-through (most of hospitals are of this type) are chaotically disorganised.

Have you had otomise spray?
It sounds like otitis externa

We've experienced the opposite recently. My Uncle fell just after new year and badly damaged the hip he'd had replaced 4 years ago. An ambulance came quickly and he was taken to A&E where he had X-rays and CT scans during the night and then admitted. He had an operation to repair the hip 4 days later and a week after that he was moved to a community hospital for rehab. When he was discharged it was with a care package in place for 2 weeks.

He fell again this week and ended up back in A&E as he cut his head. He had another CT scan and was kept in overnight for monitoring and discharged the following morning.

I actually had more problems with the minor injuries unit than he did with A&E.

I have to say when I had both of my babies (different hospitals 3 years apart, youngest is coming up to 1), a lot of the midwives/nurses seemed to do anything to avoid direct contact with you. They would do the ward rounds and if you asked them for anything they would say they would get someone else, then never come back and the message was never passed on. After waiting hours I would knock on the door of the nurses station as there was nobody around and they would all be chatting in there and look at you quite annoyed for disturbing them.

I couldn’t help but notice the hardest working midwives were Eastern European at both hospitals.

Oh no

I hope you're seen quickly

Thank God for the optician tho - whatever it is, catching it early will help

This is sad.

We need a recruitment programme, more training and whilst waiting overseas recruitment. Spending in crucial areas must be increased. Social care needs more spending to take the pressure off the NHS we all need to pay a bit more for the best of everyone.

Stop the divisive pretending it would be worse under a government that haven't even been given a chance and 14 years acceptance of rubbish is not good enough. Demand better.

Why are they tinkering with paying for social care for richer individuals when the basics of a&e cannot be sorted. We could have a decent NHS will less services but the important ones.

I did say that. Many users just think it is all free. They don't see why they should pay for anything.

And we do need to acknowledge a cohort of the elderly are massively exacerbating the problem by continuing to live in fall hazard houses, relying on ambulances to hospital like a taxi service. I’ve said for a while there needs to be more assisted living apartments and incentives to move into them. This would mean they were less likely to seriously hurt themselves, and would free up housing for younger generations. But… ‘you can’t say that’ yada yada.

Hope your DD is OK @Katemax82

@Naptrappedmummy
I agree broadly

We need more at front and back end
To enable people to leave hospital and free up beds, and to stop them going in first place - eg UTC, pharmacy led services

A few years ago, treatment for conjunctivitis, thrush were from GO, now you can get OTC

Some vaccine jabs too

The NHS isn't fit for purpose anymore. My GP surgery now only accepts e-consults between 7-10am and aims to reply within 5 working days. Repeat prescriptions take 10 days to receive. I am on month 19 now waiting for an outpatient appointment at our hospital. We are told not to attend AE as its on red alert and there are often 20+ ambulances outside AE waiting to unload patients used as a holding area.
I pay NI for a service I cant access and doesn't provide. As a family we have chosen to cutback to afford a basic provision of private healthcare. I don't want to pay twice but I feel there is no safe option.

This. I also find this utterly terrifying and the worst thing for me is how much we have succumbed to the “boiled frog” syndrome: it’s been gradually deteriorating for so long that we don’t recognise how bad it’s become.

You can see this in action on here: every time someone posts about how difficult it is to get an appointment you will get a ton of professional stoics queuing up to say “my GP’s triage service/
telehealth is ok: you get called back within three days. Or “my rural GP’s surgery is fine”. This keep calm and carry on mentality.

FFS. It’s not good enough. I am old enough to remember when you could get same day F2F appointments. It’s time to stop being stoic about it and start kicking off. Not at GPs and nurses, at the politicians who have groomed us into thinking this is OK.