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?

Thank you for pointing out the screamingly obvious 🙄

It's important to know what kind of reaction it was and how they stabilised it. For example, was it a rash that disappeared? Was it a blip in heart rate that was very easy to correct? Was it something huge and problematic that she was never told about?

There are all kinds of bits of information that the OP needs to know for the future

And some of this will be about the NHS and their risk assessment. Hence them pushing her to not have a GA.

2 newly qualified Doctors that our son knows couldn't get jobs in the UK, one now works in Malta, the other in Jersey.

As someone who also leans left, I dont think anybody remotely left of centre will get the press onside

Positive press isnt for someone who goes against the interests of Murdoch and Co

Which means he's given up something - imo its the NHS

Yes and few want to say the unsaid truth that in many areas of the NHS, workers from abroad are preferred by chaotic and at some times Machiavellian senior management who just want a compliant workforce (if we Google whistleblower punishment in NHS, case after case after case will come up in reports). People whose visa depends on their job, who have no back up if their rent isn't paid and family not fed are far more vulnerable, they depend on the job and cannot stand up for their rights or challenge management about dangerous or inefficient systems without risking losing their job and their visa.

NHS is an absolute cash cow for numerous suppliers and the focus on patient care is lost. It is held hostage by a lanyard class who spend too much of their working hours going from conference to conference talking about their imagined achievements and being sold to at those conferences by management consultants, IT firms, equipment suppliers etc etc.

No nothing like it. The health care system in the US is amazing BUT you pay through the nose with insurance and everything has a cost.

it's the same in canada, death by 1000 cuts.
the patients are sicker the work load is much heavier than 50 years ago, each person is on so many more medications it take much longer to triple check and administer.
much less staff and certainly student hours and volunteers are not as numerous as when i graduated. untrained as some were (new students and volunteers) they were still a pair of extra hands or a pair of eyes.
all the extra kit, the iv and dressing "systems" etc. all very expensive
but so much is mismanaged the burden of modern documentation means the nurses spend more time writing up "notes" than actually providing hands on care.
it's really sad as it's not how i imagined health care would evolve.

My local A and E (rough seaside town) is hell on earth. Waiting times are often over 24 hours with people who are sick and elderly just led to chairs. Hundreds of people crammed in there, security guards day and night. So bad that I have put off going for ages and today got taken to another A and E in another part of the country and oh my god the difference. They were apologising for a wait time of up to two hours. I was out within three having had one, ecg, chest x ray,, blood tests, results of all of that, seen a doctor twice and left the pharmacy with prescriptions. Wouldn’t Eve man have been triaged where I live in that time.

Not really the point of the thread and appreciate my area has challenges this area didn’t have but .. the difference was insane

Decades of abuse and underfunding which really started with Thatcher but in more recent times the "Austerity" from David Cameron onwards.
Turning it around is like steering a supertanker but much, much slower.
Not expecting to see major improvement for another 5-10 years no matter what is done by government.
I had NHS surgery two weeks ago (hip replacement) and felt so unsafe that it will be a cold day in hell that I do so again unless absolutely life threatening with no other choice.
I am a retired nurse and was appalled at the "care" and the lack of communication.

OP, I’m sorry you had a bad experience. Can I just say it isn’t all like that. I was diagnosed with bc and had a mastectomy a couple of years ago. Everything went as planned, fast appt, surgery when planned, post-op care was attentive and supportive.
Since then radiotherapy & chemotherapy have been calm, well organised, to schedule and with lots of support.

Grateful thanks to Oncology at North Hampshire Hospitals NHS.

Great post, agree with everything you’ve said.

Completely agree on the middle management part. It expands and expands. No funding for clinical workers though.

A couple of years ago many wards and functions looked very different kn NHS than 2026.
My best decision ever has been to leave NHS. I am not returning.

Exactly. It makes little sense.

It’s not underfunded - it has taken a larger and larger share of the UK budget over the years. It’s just people want every little thing treated and want to take no personal responsibility whatsoever for their health.

My elderly father has had so much NHS resource spent on him I'm surprised there's any left for anyone else. The increase in people living to be v elderly must be having a massive impact on the NHS. I'm sorry you had an unpleasant experience OP and I hope you feel better soon.

I know nobody will agree with me on here but I think it's time to do away with it. It doesn't work. It's being abused and taken advantage of left, right and centre and it's completely unfit for purpose.

What happened? The Tory Party. 14 years of under investment and mismanagement. It will only get worse if Reform get anywhere near it.

So you really think that all the problems in the NHS have developed since 20th July 2026, when Andy Burnham became PM?!

It won’t exist anymore if Reform get anywhere near it. And the irony is that the very people who the polls are saying are most likely to vote reform are the same people who are least likely to be able to afford private care.

Yep. My SiL who has 30+ years nursing experience in the NHS says they spend a fortune keeping people alive for a few more, poor quality, weeks of life.

There is so much more treatable illness and as a 70 year old I would say more than half the people I know have had or are having medical treatment since say 2022 - and if you think -oh,it’s the boomers -just wait until all the incomers who have swelled the population to 70 million (it was 50 million when I was at primary school) get old - best of luck - though it might all be done by robots then

But I would say go to hospital armed with snacks for AFTER your op - there’s no saying when food comes round

I did take a few snacks but I needed something substantial. A meal of some sorts! The sandwich was fine though and then I went through my snacks! Greedy guts here!

Google says the UK reached 50 million in 1948. The increase from 50 to 70 million took 3/4 of a century. Was there another point you wanted to make?

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience, OP. Perhaps it's area-dependent. I had a positive experience having day surgery at Chelsea and Westminster hospital (west London) this week. Really attentive staff, no delays, everything explained to me, my own private room... it was all very smooth. Wish it could be like that for everyone.