AIBU to be frustrated by NHS delays and inefficiency?

[LovingLilacDuck]

I think the NHS is so incredibly inefficient sometimes, I mean the system not the care. From getting an appointment in a GP to referrals to actual appointments literally take months sometimes. WHY?

Why do we have to keep up with this? Surely a proper healthcare system that works as it should must be a priority? It’s 2026, goodness sake!

Some can afford private healthcare and some can’t. Yes, NHS is free for all but is it ACCESSIBLE, I’m not sure. Therefore I think this rubbish situation where you have to be on a waiting list ??? for months must, must be sorted.

AIBU to be so frustrated?

It's because the NHS isn't fit for purpose. I'm not saying it should be dismantled - I strongly believe healthcare is a universal right and should be funded by taxes and free at point of access. But it has been turned it a poorly run business. The idea that something as simple as pens or paper towels needs to be sourced by a specific supplier that overcharges a ridiculous amount is insane. So much money could be saved by renegotiating contracts so that pockets of millionnaire bigwigs aren't being lined. A lot of middle management is entirely unnecessary. Bureaucracy is making paperwork take precedence over care.

I am by no means an expert, but I would think that the people running the NHS should be highly experienced in the healthcare field, there should be far more say from doctors, nurses, paramedics, midwives, and other actual medical staff, and changing population and demographics should be part of a full restructure.

I was at the end of my tether on a waiting list
work nearly sacked me through capability, I couldn’t cope with the pain, kept ending up in a&e and the wait from the MDT meeting to operation was 5 months
then everyone else’s operations got cancelled as mine took a full day instead of the planned 3hrs

As a HCP, my days are far busier working in the private sector compared to the 20 years I spent working in the NHS. Staff who make the change are often really quite shocked as they think that private is going to be more relaxed - it’s the total opposite and there are consequences when expectations aren’t reached. We have elective operating lists running 7 days per week from 7am-10pm. None of this 8-4, couldn’t possibly work on a Sunday unless it’s a dire emergency rubbish.

What a lot of people don’t realise is that “the NHS” is actually a large number of individual organisations, who each have their own finances, staff, software, buildings etc - so it’s not always easy for these organisations to coordinate.

Sorry OP but if you have to question this, you are a bit naïve.

Unless you are prepared to pay much much more than you currently do with your NI, assuming you are, you won't get any system much better.

Few social healthcare systems in the world offer what you seem to think should be the norm.

Without a major restructure no amount of money or NI increases are going to ‘fix’ the NHS. The system is just broken.

I have paid over £480 as one person in NI contributions each year for the last 4 years. For the last 3 years I have been bleeding none stop, in horrific pain (period pain) and have terrible mood swings and truly awful hormonal imbalances. After repeatedly getting stonewalled and a load of crap from my Gynae, I’m still struggling daily. I’ve lost work because of it, I’m seriously poorly and NO ONE GIVES A SHIT!
I’ve had 4 operations that were supposed to help. They did jack shit but made me loose a week of clients each time and left me feeling utterly awful.
I keep getting pushed from pillar to post - I’ve been begging for weight loss intervention, but I cannot access it. I cannot have baratric surgery to loose weight. As soon as I’ve had a fucking hysterectomy I would be able to stop taking the tablets that are making me fat: no wonder the system is failing. It’s shit and not fit for purpose right now.

Maybe if we weren't giving free treatment to so many refugees, asylum seekers (including refused asylum seekers) illegal immigrants and others who have never contributed to the system we might be able to cope better ?

Just one example of one reason:
There are only one consultant providing the service you've been referred to. That's because it's a smallish hospital or trust and the number of referrals couldn't justify employing another consultant.

The consultant has gone off sick. One week. It's then 2. Not worth the time taken to find an agency one. Then the hospital receives a fit note for 3 months. This time, the hospital start the process to get an agency. Agency consultants are very expensive so there is a process for it to be approved.

That consultant is young, or old, or not very good, so they see half the patient the other one saw. They then go in holiday for 1 month, approved before. The 3 months come to an end, and the consultant is off for another 3 months, or put in for retirement or given their notice... Need to recruit another one...

Before you know it, what was a 6 weeks wait is now 1 year.

This is only one of many reasons for long waits. Way above the comprehension of the average patient.

Without a major restructure no amount of money or NI increases are going to ‘fix’ the NHS. The system is just broken
Well obviously, but the money required to make it a slick system is much above what any government can afford.

Thankfully, we still have a very good, highly recognised and envied system in the meantime.

Very good & envied? From my recent experience, I think not! DD had to wait an entire year on major spinal surgery at the age of 17. Incredibly damaging both mentally & physically as she rapidly deteriorated in that timeframe. The worst part is that this was considered quick.. I met parents on the ward with children who had been waiting 5 years!! Thank god we are now insured - cannot rely on the NHS to get things done in a timely manner anymore. It’s either pay or suffer for many people.

It’s shit and not fit for purpose right now
Really? So you've seen a GP, a consultant, had 4 surgeries to try to help you and you think it's shit?

Doctors are not wizards that can do miracles. Sometimes it does come down to having to try different things before sorting out the problem. You are now going to get a hysterectomy that should sort it out. And you think it's shit when you've paid less than £2,000 in NI which of course doesn't cover the NHS only. This hardly covered one surgery, let alone all 5 you'll receive.

If course it's shit to be in pain and feeling helpless. It doesn't mean the system that is trying to help you is shit and not fit for purpose.

Sadly your entire NI contributions over the past 4 years would not even touch what it would cost for weight loss surgery, never mind the 4 surgeries that haven’t helped you plus the multiple appointments you’ve had being pushed from pillar to post.

We all think we already pay enough in. But we don’t. Not nearly enough for the service we have come to expect. We live longer therefore there’s a lot more folk to serve- that all costs money. Money that most of us do not have in abundance nor do we want to part with it.

The NHS is broken.
It needs root and branch reform, but every time anyone mentions this, people throw their toys out of the cot.

Everyone fears what Reform would do with/to the NHS if they ever got voted in.
I fear what will happen to all of us if nothing happens and the NHS continues as it is.

Very good & envied?
Go and speak to Americans Indians and the many who think the NHS offers some of the best consultants and care in the world.

British people can act so entitled, it's bewildering!

GPs are Independant contractors to the NHS. If your GP is running an inefficient service it is to do with how they are choosing to provide that service.

At my GPs, they have enough staff, and run an excellent phone triage service. You can get an appointment the same day you ring, without an 8:30 am scramble.

This is true. My friend is returning to India to birth her first child. She told me she had been praying daily that she had a straight forward vaginal birth as a complicated c- section delivery would be terribly costly in the private sector but she was scared to go to the government hospitals available in her region.

Some of the best consultants in the world, absolutely. I work with plenty of them and they are equally frustrated at the current level of patient suffering due to lengthy waiting lists. All they want to do is get on with their job and they can’t!

It’s no coincidence that many of them now have their own families insured.. Unless you’re critically ill then the NHS cannot be relied on for timely care anymore. Even then, standards have certainly slipped.

Wanting quality health care within a reasonable timeframe is not unreasonable or entitled. This attitude that we Brits should be grateful for any old rubbish from the NHS as it’s free at point of use is a massive part of the problem.

Then there is the fact that some areas have problems recruiting consultants in certain specialities or geographical areas.

Geriatrics isn't a popular speciality.

In North Wales they can recruit staff around the Wrexham area easily but not further West because of the requirement to speak Welsh.

In my experience no-one wants to work in Lincolnshire, especially Grimsby.

I could say more but I think you see what I mean...

£480 per month? or per year?

It says each year- less than £2k 🙈

IKR?
It's peanuts... doesn't go anywhere near funding those procedures and interventions she's had FFS

YANBU, I’ve had to wait up to 2 weeks for a GP appt or longer for a medication review. Currently on a waiting list for fertility and I’ve been waiting 5 months so far. Considering time isn’t on my side with such issue, its completely ridiculous.

The NHS is an inefficient shitstorm. It has been for years, no matter how much money is chucked at it. 🤷‍♀️

But, unless you can afford to pay privately it has be endured.

My friend just had her first baby in Mumbai. They paid privately and had a 5 star experience. What they paid is far less than we all pay in tax for the NHS (at approx £3500 per person).

We need to start focusing on how much it is costing and what we’re getting for our money. It’s not good enough.