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?

It’s such a nightmare - as an A&E hcp I go home from shift and the next time I come in people could still be waiting to be seen, in the back of an ambulance or waiting for a bed.
I feel horrendously guilty and think of patients and their situations even when I get home.
It scares me for the future of my DC & currently my immediate family ie Nan.

I wish I could help everyone as I’m sure everyone else does too.

I’d love for those in the government to do just a few shifts in an acute nhs setting to see what it’s really like!

'Indifference to suffering' sums up what I have seen in the last 5 days. Not unkind but indifferent- nursing and Drs.

I had a suspected heart attack last year. Ambulance was called and arrived within 5 minutes. The must have been stationed very close by.

Straight from ambulance into a bed in casualty and tests run for 7 hours.

I was moved to a side ward in casualty after the initial consultation with a doctor which took place after 45 minutes.

I was fed after this as I'd not eaten that day. Then left to sleep with blankets and a drink. A nurse checked on me regularly.

I couldn't rate them any higher. Superb service 10/10.

What is your understanding of systemic issue? I am not being confrontational, I am really interested in your view? The recent reduction is NI contributions makes no sense to me, when our vital services are in this state! In my view. It is imperative that we support financially to ensure equality for all, especially in regards to health. So why would NI contributions be cut?

@Newchapterbeckons some very interesting posts by you- do you work for the Tory's?? It's all very well saying about Labour overspending etc - but we are now going back 14 years- maybe you can explain if things were so tight why the Tory's found £300 billion under the sofa cushions for Brexit etc or massive amounts for HS2 - which to me seemed pointless- plus all the money they spunked on very poor covid due diligence for PPE or track and trace- - I'm no hardened 'leftie' by the way- this is about priorities-and the Tory's priorities are not those of vast swathes of the population- they are about things that keep the 'ripsnorter' / Rotarian types happy and keeping donors and their right wing MPs on side - Labour have a tough job to pull this around yes- but the difference to me is 'intent' - Labour 'want' to make things an improvement , although they have to work with what they have- which will never be enough for many people- the Tory's though - I'm very suspicious of their motives, it seems to be they actually encourage decline so they can do deals and backhanders with big companies who are donors/lobbying or for whom they fancy a nice fat paid consultancy- and your 'but Labour' won't wash with many intelligent centreist women, as many of us remember very will the difference - and is one reason they are doing badly in the polls.

Therein lies the problem. You think this is “superb service”. It’s not. It’s what should define normal, routine service.

The fact you received standard appropriate care while millions of others don’t doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem, does it?

@Newchapterbeckons ok you’ve persuaded me. No point voting for change, giving someone else ago. You obviously have a crystal ball. I’ll vote Tory despite them having had 14 years to do something 😂
And the poster who keeps saying that there’ll be no money left for Labour to spend, where on earth has the money gone then ? Like that’s a good reason to vote for the Conservatives, actual past record.

I had a conversation today with a lady who works in a management role for NHS England.

She hates her job. Feels it’s pointless…. The layers and layers of management for things like press releases, PR, simple tasks requiring escalation for ‘sign off’ before release… it was an interesting view into the corporate side. She’s handed in her notice as said that in all good conscience she simply can’t bare being witness to the nonsense and waste of taxpayers money whilst feeling like her actual job offers no value to the actual punters.

It was an eye opening conversation (as a front line clinician in the NHS)…

I totally agree. I work on a Rehab ward with elderly patients who have Dementia and Alzheimer’s.
You honestly wouldn’t keep a dog alive in the states some of these elderly patients are!
Filled full of drugs just to prolong the inevitable.
It makes me weep with horror some days! There’s never enough staff and we’ve been recruiting Nurses from the Caribbean as we can no longer recruit from the EU (thank Brexit!)
We pay a fortune for agency staff too…

The lack of social care is horrific. We have ward after ward full of ‘bed blockers’ who are waiting for places in care homes… of which there are non. A&E are constantly on the phone to our wards asking if we’ve got beds…

I’m quitting at the end of the month as I’ve found another job that pays me 50% more than I’m currently on for less hours and is less physically demanding.
i feel terrible for my colleagues but I need to save my sanity and mental health.
There is no saving the NHS. It’s totally fuc%ed!

@Newchapterbeckons and about the seriously rich- i work in entertainment- I know some very successful people - none of them are popping off to Dubai or Singapore - many of them have a mix of money here and some offshore - and plenty of those that are at that level have tax done as such that they aren't paying massive amounts here but prefer to live here-

@Newchapterbeckons we deserve a solution but not under the tories. They’ve had their chance many times over, yes ?

@Boomarang I understand her frustration- may I suggest she will feel the same in most public service jobs- even in many private businesses there can be ridiculous amounts of this kind of thing-

its so sad isn’t it - slagging off the nhs when we are let down - I totally understand and I’m torn too …
I was taken ill before Christmas and the care and speed with which I have received that care has truely amazed me. I wasn’t hospitalised but have had several big tests and am still undergoing weekly blood tests whilst the situation is monitored (I was put on medication which I need to be weaned off🤞🏼) meanwhile my dear elderly Mother (had Alzheimers ) was hospitalised with various additional infections and has sadly passed away; her care was slow, particularly as Mum arrived into A & E by ambulance and a long and painful wait for admittance to a Ward began.
Care on one of the wards was patchy, with an accident regarding being left to fall out of a chair, then in adequate understanding of what out dear Mum, as an Alzheimer sufferer, could tell the nurses about how much pain she was feeling (couldn’t verbalise but was winching in physical pain) it was heartbreaking and we had to keep asking for pain relief, for Mum to be turned (bed sores) and other things too numerous to mention.
Our darling Mum passed away after a month, when for 2 weeks they had said we will transfer her to a Care Home; then a Dr had a word with us and told us Mum wouldn't be leaving the hosp to go into a Care Home (as we were now looking at Palliative Care).
Mum passed away so peacefully and we were with her and the staff were so gentle and kind to Mum and us that all the horrors preceding were forgotten.
I hope the nhs is saved, we saw such horrors particularly in a&e…

@EffieeBriest totally agree- it's also a very bad look when all you can say is 'but labour' rather than proudly campaigning on your own record. The fact is their record of wasting public money is there for all to see and no it wasn't used to build new facilities or improve lives or lots of subsidised housing or maintain roads - it was used to spaff on things that suited their agenda as a political party - Brexit, projects and contracts to donors , - the list is endless

If people are expecting similar to the PFI boost I’m not sure how

Policies suggested are about a couple of days worth of spend

Because NI is an inherently unfair tax that is paid ONLY by workers. It should be abolished completely and the difference in % added onto income tax. Also council tax needs reviewing. The bands are based on house prices from 30 years ago.
I don't mind paying more tax but not NI.

@EasternStandard no one is expecting huge investment by Labour. They’ve pretty much admitted that there’s no money left to implement big investment projects. But most folk are clearly and justifiably fed up to the back teeth with the Conservatives. They haven’t delivered on anything. They’ve lied. They spaffed money like nobody’s business, mainly to their own donors. Why on earth would you actually want to give them another chance ? And why are you so against us having decent functioning public services ? Yes it’s expensive but if you want an efficient effective NHS or educational system or prison service that’s the price to pay. It’s as if you’re happy to live in a third world nation, weird.

My take is mostly based on numbers

The projections for complex care for mostly elderly in an aging population are absolutely eye watering, the NHS projected staff stats similar

The policies for funding are minuscule and headline only

So before you get into who can do much the numbers don’t stack up to me, people seem to be expecting a lot

Yeah. It really feels like end of days. My recent experience last week was Resus was grotty, but it's too traumatising to even really notice what its like in there. The major trauma ward in the hosp my DH is in is pretty rubbish. Desperately understaffed, with stabbing victims waiting hours later than they should for pain medication. No cleaners whatsoever (for a week) and catering staff all on strike.
I was in another hospital over in the other side of London and it was really good. Plenty of staff, clean as a whistle, really on the ball smart nurses, it was like night and day. But this was in 2022. The standards are dropping faster than flies.
Please get the Tories out, they are running it to the ground : (

I appreciate what you are saying, but this wasnt that situation. We overheard the whole conversation, this woman had a first course of antibiotics at the beginning of December and from what we heard just hadnt bothered to go back. In our area it is not that hard to get a GP appointment, and it was clear that many people had opted to attend minor injuries unnecessarily, but when they realised there might be a 2-3 hour wait quite a few just left, so clearly not that urgent after all.

Sorry to hear that. My MIL aged 80 was admitted last week, spent 2 days in A&E, albeit in a bed eventually, before being admitted to a ward. They sent her home after 2 further days with antibiotics, despite her not being better. This has happened several times now, we're sure she'll be back in hospital in a month or so as there's no improvement in her condition.

My NHS dentist left last summer, no sign of a replacement.

My mum, aged 85, rang for a doctor's appointment and has to wait three and a half weeks to see one.

The end is nigh. I don't think the NHS can recover anymore and we're all being pushed towards private health care or substandard care if we can't afford to go private - but then I've been saying that for a few years, it's just getting worse. I get that we have more older people requiring more care, but I can't help but think that if they cut back on the people who earn huge salaries and bonuses, they could invest more in the Nhs.

Reading these stories is appalling and heartbreaking.

I was told about 18 months ago about a young-ish man who had a heart attack at a gym. The staff rang for an ambulance and were told that none were available. A member who was a builder cleared his van out to take him to A&E in that. Disgraceful and it’s not the fault of the ambulance service.

My GP returned from South Africa after 20 years. Her advice to me after seeing how the NHS was going down hill was to take out private health insurance. This was ten years ago. She reckoned that it would come crashing down five years ago. She wasn't far out.

I’ll be voting Labour because if they can even moderately improve this country that’s better than nothing, but PP is right. There is no money. It’s all gone. Furlough, National debt, 25% of working age people not working, and an unsustainable welfare state.

I’m so sorry. This is the kind of environment I work in. Some days I have 2 bays of patients plus 2 side rooms… so 14 patients to care for.
Among them will be at least 2-3 ‘one to one’ patients who have severe dementia and need to have someone with them at all times. This clearly can’t happen as I’m on my own
I’ll have at least 1 ‘end of life’ patient in a side room…
I’ll have patients who have had a stroke and can’t feed themselves so I have to literally run from bed to bed shovelling food into their mouths and try and make sure they have a drink too.
Most patients are incontinent so need to be changed/cleaned and have clean bedding/clothes put on them.

Last week one of my patients passed away and I didn’t notice as I was too busy running around trying to keep another patient in bed… he kept trying to climb out. I had another man who was a falls risk and he kept getting up to dance…
I had to ask a nurse to sedate him in the end as I just couldn’t cope!
So I found my deceased patient and felt dreadful 😢

i have had numerous patients asking me to ‘put them out of their misery’

We are supposed to wash every single patient in the morning, clean their teeth, brush their hair and change their bedding.
This is before breakfast at 8am.
i start at 7am!

This is the reality of Ward life!