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?

One of the problems is lots of primary care ends up in A&E. People cannot get seen by GP so go there. Social care go there. Mental health issues go there. Drug related go there. Falls in many residential care hones, call an ambulance. Other areas stretched and so end up in A&E. Its really only supposed to be for accidents and emergencies.

Add to that the shit government who don't give a toss a out the NHS and an electorate that keep voting the twats in, since too short sighted to look ahead, or to dumb to care UNTIL it's there mum, sad, grandad, grandma, brother sister or child. Then they suddenly realise there is a major problem.

Reliance on Royal Mail letter delivery is a major issue. I know that not everyone can access the app but it is strange that my hospital can upload appointment letters to the app but not result letters. I had one disappear in the post last year so had to contact the consultant who had a new letter typed up when uploading the letter in the first place would have been more convenient and safe.

Tbf as much as there were things I didn’t agree with the whole point was to lower numbers getting hospitalised so that starts with the elderly for the vaccine

@TTCSoManyQuestions88 ’too many old people’. Nice.

I was left having a brutal, bloody late term miscarriage in A&E for hours. I'll never forget it. There were no beds.

I saw some shocking stats on tv this week. I can't recall the exact year but around 10 years ago no one ever wait 12 hours for a bed. It was just unheard of. Now something like 35,000 do per year.

It’s not a horrible comment it’s a pragmatic one. The woman is 95. Physio is a waste of time for her.I am not saying she shouldn’t be treated for any illness or be left in pain but 95 year old bones are not going to get better. It’s a waste of time and money.

There are a lot less of us GPs than there were 5 or 10 years ago - we can only stretch so far. Do you not think we're affected by the same underfunding that is hitting A&E?

Are you a physio then?

@Winberry yes a severely aged population and not enough young people paying taxes. Which means we can't fund the NHS through taxes alone anymore.

From companies with a reputation for buying PPE who weren’t even asked would have been a start. No sensible reason to choose small new companies set up by mates of Tory MPs with no assets and no experience.

It would definitely have avoided the issue of overpriced PPE that wasn’t fit for purpose and couldn’t be used.

And yes it was necessary to stop healthcare workers dying.

Was there really PPE floating around for reputable companies to buy from?

The whole world was trying to get the stuff

If you think it stopped people dying then demand was pretty high

Completely agree with you. My friend’s father died a couple of weeks ago as a result of NHS negligence. I have friends with awful birth stories due to a complete lack of staff/capacity. It’s terrifying. I’m scared to have another baby as I don’t want to roll the dice again.
Hope your dad recovers soon.

It’s horrendous. You roll the dice when you go into an NHS hospital.

I’m not looking forward to seeing what things look like when the population hits 70 million. Or when it hits 74 million in just over 10 years’ time. Unless a lot of those people are doctors and nurses, things are going to get a lot worse.

GPs do want to see patients, they just can't see all the patients that need to be seen because there's a lack of GPs. You make it sound like they are just saying behind their desks laughing about the poor sods trying to get an appt

Not necessarily true. I know several locum GPs for whom the work has pretty much dried up.

The government provide money to GP practices to use to help with staffing levels, but they're not allowed to use the money to buy doctors, only other health professionals such as nurses or pharmacists.

That's partly why you can't see a GP, it's by government design

What's wrong with her having physio?

This.

There is money for government mates eg 'Lady' Mone and husbands millions of pounds for crap products. Hundreds of millions for Rwanda hotel scheme. Billions wasted on other projects.

Yet the NHS needs it. Education needs it. Social care is in crisis. Dumb government waste.

Ten years time 1 in 11 will be employed by the NHS

It’s a behemoth and the projections are nuts

I don’t know what the answer is, maybe tech stuff to reduce workload

So vote for a change. The NHS was the best it could be under Labour.

But why would someone already at the end of life, be hospitalised with a virus in the first place?

Yup.

Too many old people

Classy, TTCSoManyQuestions88 - you must be a nice person. So many arseholes, too - but thankfully some of them living outside the UK.

Yes, 11 hours last weekend. Atrocious.

Do you mean just let them die en masse?

I guess… it wasn’t very popular iirc

I wonder if Labour will deliver that graph people expect

Not sure there’s much extra funding planned