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?

Wealth is good.

Wealth corrupts. There are other values in life. The level of wealth in modern times is just unaffordable for the planet. How many superyachts does a billionaire actually need??

And the level of inequality it leads to is staggering. The poverty in the US is unbelievable for such a rich nation.

They can have as many as they want. Their purchase of it actually helps to pay the wages of those make it.

Depends on what the problem was a bit - it’s not always that clear. Risks and benefits of spinal vs GA are different for different operations/medical circumstances/stages of life. Realistically there aren’t many people who can ‘never’ have a GA for anything, but it does need someone to review the scenario at each presentation to decide what is the safest option. For something like a difficult airway/one of the rare reactions to GA drugs then the patient does need to know because that’s more likely to be a recurrent thing, but if it was just something like low sats/BP or whatnot then that’s less useful and the decision re what’s safest the next time depends on the exact circs the next time.

The system wherever the OP is seems to work well for anaesthetics at least if the anaesthetist on the day had been able to access the old chart, spot the problem and make a plan based on the current operation (even after a previous failed spinal it is often still reasonable to have another go if getting it in would be the lowest risk plan). Problem with telling people they’ve had this-or-that problem with a GA is that whatever we say they often seem to take away that they can ‘never’ have a GA for anything and then they don’t present/get referred for things that they could easily have done.

The awful thing - like most things in this country - is that the Government of any colour will not admit it's a mess and won't even instigate some relatively simple rule such as a 5 / 7/ 15 pound payment to see your GP - I suppose a Gov will insist you can't possibly do this because the unemployed/ those on benefits/ those with children / etc can't afford it. It's the cry with everything but the whole lot of us are and our country are falling into an abyss. There has to be someone or something with a hidden agenda wanting and trying to destroy the UK that we can't do a simple thing that many other countries do.
And once you set this up (perhaps excluding some people ) the set up can be used for prescriptions etc Most people I know pay for dental care now on a monthly contract and you pay to see a chiropodist, or private physio. There is some availability for free nhs care for those that can't afford it. I haven't seen rioting in the streets over this change.
Are the ones with an agenda to destroy the country in Gov?

The good old waiting for the pharmacy.

It’s absolutely infuriating for the patients and blocks beds for the hospital and it keeps going on.

It’s awful. They are not recruiting in several Trusts now. It’s the management that I see as an issue and that includes support functions like housekeeping and facilities. The actual clinical staff are generally good but they are working in a terrible culture and with lack of decent equipment and facilities and have to do lots of non clinical tasks which detract from their core role.
I don’t think they need to pour more money into the system but they need better leaders and better support functions who see their role as creating the very best environment for clinical staff and patients rather than depleting everything or not being bothered.

The cost of collecting a small revenue like this will be much more than the benefit- this has beenn demonstrated in countries time and time again.