To wonder what's happened to the NHS?

[Chefpig]

I went for surgery this afternoon. Waited three hours in a waiting room because there were no beds available. Uncomfortable, especially with pain, but couldn't be helped.

I expressed a wish to the anaesthetist for GA after much trauma from a attempted and failed spinal anaesthetic in the past. Anaesthetist told me that a spinal would be much better for recovery and I should at least trust them and give it a go. Being brave and talked out of a GA, I gave it a go. It was horrific. I have a real issue with things being put where I can't see and it was painful, especially when the electric shocks (?) started on one of my legs. In tears, I asked for a GA. I was told it was very near to being ready and I agreed to keep going with the spinal but after the second electric shock and me in complete panic mode, I begged for a GA and the lovely, wonderful nurse who held me throughout was fierce with the anaesthetist and insisted she stop and give me a GA. That nurse was an absolute angel and held me throughout. I'm now in absolute agony with pain in my leg. Not my surgery site - that's fine!

Back on the ward in a single room, I was left for over two hours without being asked if I wanted drink and food. I eventually buzzed to ask. I had obs done on the recovery unit but not since I've been back in my room and its now five and a half hours after surgery and theres only been two brief visits to me as I buzzed to use the loo with assistance. I waited for painkillers for an hour (not nurses fault at all, she's so busy) and my own tablets haven't been taken care of despite someone earlier saying they'd let the senior nurse know about them.

My details whiteboard hasn't been filled out (dont know if that matters) and the blinds in my room have blinds missing so no doubt across the way has seen my knickers and bare boobs several times.

Staff are absolutely lovely on the ward. They're They're doing their best but I can tell they have very little to give. They need my bed more than I do for a bloody good rest! They're run ragged. AIBU to expect our NHS to invest in staff and their wellbeing so they can care for patients better?

It's been routinely defended so that private companies can profit. We are now like America.

I have no doubt in my mind that Andy Burnham has sold it out further, for the good press headlines he is getting.

Its bloody terrible isnt it? I feel massively for the staff. I'll think of them when I'm having a shit day at my relatively easy job.

I'm so sorry you've had such a horrible experience

It's been terrible for ages

I've heard of a few people who've had procedures when people have tried to talk them out of having a GA. I'm sorry to report it hasn't gone well for them.

they've got a long list of reasons why they would rather you didn't have one but it's not linked up to the general decline of the NHS I don't think. But put the two things together and it's just awful.

Wish you a speedy recovery

It’s terrible and sad for the patients and staff alike. I could never return to ward work even though we weren’t as dire as that- I still knocked myself out every 12.5 hour
shift (and they were more often 13-13.5 hours) and still feeling like I’d never done “good enough” for the patients. I now work in the community/district and I reckon we can and do manage a great service that is personal centred and high quality.

Thank you 😊

Apparently I've had a bad response to GA before now but it was the first time I was told about it. I wanted to get up and run away when she was doing that spinal.

? What on earth are you talking about?

I'm so.sorry. it sounds dreadful.
Wishing you a speedy recovery 💐

@Chefpig you had a bad response? , I can't help thinking if you didn't know you had a bad response, did you really have one? What did they say about it? I understand if you don't want to say.

@Backwardsbinn I didn't get that either

Underfunded for the last 15 years. Plus too much emphasis on middle management rather than frontline staff. Brexit didn't help.

I know so many who work in NHS - they all have similar stories.

For me it's the logistics that are an issue too. U ask about an appointment, you are then passed on to various people who valiantly try and help.but you are told that it's beyond their control- not their dept. It's so frustrating. Also, how is it that when you move from.one part of the country to the other, that your new surgery cannot access your records' ridiculous. We have an individual number. How much money is wasted doing repeat tests etc? The management of the systems is a joke. It could be more efficient if this was dealt with. Hope u are soon recovered OP.

defunded - typo

I feel the rest of the post is self explanatory.

defunded - typo.

I have private healthcare through work, if I ever move companies to somewhere that doesn’t offer it I will pay for it myself. The care you receive compared to the nhs is absolutely unbelievable. Quite sad really.

The influx from the four corners of the world is the main reason the NHS hasn't collapsed altogether. Consistent underfunding has screwed it over.

Influx or exodus? I tend to remember the NHS as a very well staffed multicultural enterprise powered by medical professionals from all around the world. But these professionals have been going back to their own countries since the conservatives promised a “hostile environment for immigrants”, so here you have it, a very understaffed NHS and additionally economically crippled since the Tories started privatisation.

Keep believing Reform and Tories shit, what is crippling this country is not immigrants but having a massive percentage of ageing retired population and a huge amount of people down with mental health issues. Those are the two groups soaking up most of the community services’ budgets.

I’m also a DN - I feel we are constantly being expected to take on more and more patients with more and more complex conditions with no more resources - I feel they get the bare minimum as there is also the pressure and expectation to see more in the same amount of time

Burnham has been in power for 5 minutes, if you want to blame politicians, you should be all the Tory prime ministers under their last 11 year mandate. I would put the blame primarily in Cameron’s privatisation policies, Boris chroniesm and corruption and Teresa May’s hostilities. You may also want to blame Liz Truss who in a single stupid movement made mortgages unaffordable for huge swathes of the population or even Farage who never delivered the millions the NHS was going to get when we left the EU.

Really not! Explain about Burnham.

I think that Starmer got bad press from day 1, despite it not being so bad during the election

Andy has had amazing press coverage - THE TIMES were praising him

Which means he has sold out something for that press coverage. In my opinion, its the NHS

I reckon starmer pushed back, hence the negative press causing him to have to step down.

She was obviously given a GA before where she had a bad reaction- she was unconscious at the time but it was noted that she had a bad reaction to it. She therefore wouldn't know unless told! That is my understanding anyway!

Ageing population: under 20% are over 65 which is 24th in Europe. Spare a thought for the Italians at 24%.
I have generally good experiences of the NHS but I tend to pick and choose due to private healthcare. But I did have a situation recently where I went to my NHS GP who had a ten minutes slot to go through some concerns I had in relation to my health . I didn’t feel like he explored the issue I raised enough with me so I subsequently went private and had a whole hour with a GP which was wonderful.
I think the French system is better personally but I do appreciate the NHS in general. It’s inefficient, but being free at point of use, for those without insurance it’s amazing. The poor in America have it far worse.

The NHS is not under funded - it is very badly run. Huge amounts of money is wasted. It is not just middle managers either - if they weren’t there then front line staff would be taken away from patient care. I think a lot is the fall out from the way it was set up with the inducements needed to bring private practitioners on board. The import of foreign staff rather than training Uk staff (and employing Uk trained staff) is also a huge issue. Last year nearly half of UK trained newly qualified doctors were left unemployed. Hundreds of Nigerian nurses were recently found to have fraudulent qualifications and they won’t be the only ones. Plus there is the very commonly reported issue with poorly spoken English.

As an example of the rot that is NHS senior management - just look at the way they ware determined to break the law on women’s right to safety, privacy and dignity.

But not Blair who saddled the NHS with hugely expensive PPP loans the NHS are still paying off?

Interesting take. I think (as a left leaning person) that Starmer is a poor communicator and misread the mood of thw country and a way to express his (not very coherent) plan. Whereas Andy has strong convictions and is a good, engaging, relatable speaker.