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?

What should us aging retired types do then?

Falling into the trap of blaming patients is a valued strategy by those who don't want you to think or understand about how the cash cow is being milked while they prepare for change that will earn for those who lobby hardest rather than those who can run the most efficient and patient centred system.

There are some people who would have died in the UK but lived in the USA

And there are plenty who’ve died in the US who would have lived in the UK and not been disbarred from treatment because they couldn’t pay for it.

Kyle Donahue is alive only due to the medical might and advanced treatment in the USA.

I do not think PFI loans should have been taken out. It was questionable at the time by many Labour MP's. You have to work with budgets when you do not their is a price to pay in the future which is what has happened. Services needed improving not just nice shiny new hospitals being built

I would have increased taxes or preferably moved over to an non profit insurance based healthcare system modelled on the German and French healthcare systems, but far superior to our across the board.

Hospitals are falling apart but a significant amount of money is being paid back on loans that are making a few people extremely wealthy, it was always going to benefit investors more than anyone else

I agree to an extent. However, I occasionally scan my local hospotal's board papers. Hundreds and hundreds of pages produced regularly. Rafts of data noting what is wrong and where the risks are, everybody in the system knows what is wrong but it seems that repetitively writing it down is a legitimate aim, whilst nothing ever happens to put it right. Money to spend on navel gazing but not to translate the gazing to doing.

Ditto, review after review after review where standards are unacceptable and probably every patient or parent has provided feedback but it's never acted on except to initiate a months long complaint investigation that results in NHS double speak and recommendations that never appear to transfer from letter to practice.

The issues appear to be worse now than five years ago because the patients are no longer prepared to accept the notion that the NHS is a UK religion that is beyond criticism and for which we should be grateful. We simply are no longer prepared to be grateful for diabolical standards and the people in charge have run out of slither space.

It isn't fit for purpose and hasn't been for decades. Polotically there have been too many stickong plasters admonistered because no party or politician has been prepared to be honest about what can be done for the money under the current model which is not morrored anywhere in the Western World.

Yes it was always going to benefit investors - and rightly so because otherwise why would they invest? The point is that the contracts were poorly negotiated by people who hadn’t a clue what they were doing. The DoH should have recruited a crack team from the big four to negotiate all the contracts rather than leaving it to individual trusts. If they’d done that they wouldn’t have been so eyewateringly expensive.

@blossomtoes - absolutely but let's not forget that was an NHS own goal resulting from completely incompetent senior management.

The board papers produced by the hospital will be used to evidence where investment is needed to the ICB commissioners and NHSE. The commissioners hold the money and NHSE sets the standards, targets and policies. All should work together to make changes, fund what is needed etc. However, Wes announced that the ICBs and NHSE needed restructuring, again. Too many pesky managers getting in the way. I agree that NHSE needed a review but ICBs have been restructured repeatedly over the past few years and should have been left well alone so that they can actually do their job (as recommended by Lord Darzi's review).
The last year has been spent cutting all ICBs by half and paying out huge redundancy payments - that time and money could have been better spent focusing on delivery of health care. Now we have ICBs covering huge areas with little to no local knowledge that will ensure money is directed to where it is needed, it will simply go to who shouts loudest and things will continue to get worse.

It was a DoH and Treasury own goal. Several senior civil servants dropped the ball.

it was rushed through as a political move it was poorly managed and ultimately that is down to Blair and Brown driving the idea that the NHS was worth saving, with huge investments (whatever the costs) and drive changes (some good some not) more private investments that took over services (again some good some not but rarely spoken about) to keep public support, who still hugely believed in the NHS

it wasn't worth saving in the 90's it certainly isn't now its an utter shambles and as much as the Tories have damaged the NHS so have Labour with short sighted plans

the healthcare system should never be a political football but this idea that Labour will save/have saved the NHS is utter nonsense

I disagree. Parts of it may be an utter shambles, other parts of it - usually the lifesaving parts - most definitely aren’t. As someone closely involved in and observing treatment of life threatening cancer I can testify that when the NHS needs to work it absolutely does. If we lived in the US I’d be a long way down the road to widowhood by now because our money would have run out long ago.

When was the NHS ever "good". I can't remember. I'd rather be treated in SG than there.

100% this

Some parts of it are excellent.

I am pleased your family have had a good service, and for everyone that does, many do but we should all have at least good service and treatment and we simply are not. We do not need to look at the US or compare to the US its a very different culture and they have a completely different outlook to healthcare to what we do in the UK and in Europe

I work for the NHS having spent many an hour with people who are psychotic and can't even be assessed, dealing with many nhs services day in day out (hours wasted chasing up medication/appointments) I can see how even in the last five years it has deteriorated beyond what should be acceptable for a nation that is ranked what 5/6 wealthiest nation in the world

Its appalling how poor our healthcare system has been reduced too and thankfully people are wising up that we do not need to be thankful, we pay for our service and would should expect much better in all areas of healthcare

We all know mental health services are shamefully under funded @HRTQueen. It’s scandalous.

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.

Why didn't you buzz sooner? Did you want a full time nurse just sitting in your room, waiting with you until you needed something. I don't understand why you're compleining you are left alone.

You've got a private room which is more than most people get. you buzz If you need something. I'm not sure what you're on about if im honest regarding your post op care.

Nurse here
So Sorry for your experience OP
that's just not on
I qualified 25 odd years ago and changes aren't always for the better
Everything has been cut to the bone
All the trusts where I am (northern-ireland) have cut back on bank and agency ...
Great you may think
But the consequence is staff working very short in wards
It's like turkeys voting for Christmas as staff are too scared to whistle blown (a term I hate.. it's not whistle blowing its telling the truth)
So to management it looks like it is working
Even though there are more pressure damage, medication errors, staff sickness...
And the get disciplined for it... big blame culture not a learning culture
Media love to blame agency and bank nurses for driving up costs
But many nurses have had to resign from their substantive posts because of child care ... care of older relatives
It's very hard to get set days .. as it comes back to "needs of service".
Please put in a complaint in writing
Only way changes will be made
As then it has to be addressed
Meanwhile there are ridiculous layers of management who can't make a simple decision without having meeting after meeting.
Northern-ireland... population of 1.9 million... size of Manchester and has 5 HEALTH CARE TRUSTS
FIVE!!!
so thats 5 Co directors... 5...Chief of surgery/ medicine/ nursing etc

I do not just deal with MH services I am in constant contact with healthcare services as many MH patients have a number of physical issues too. This is across the board and as for A&E that really is scandalous. To have someone that is mentally unwell/psychotic not seen for hours (and at times not seen at all) is a danger to themselves, staff supporting them (and extremely stressful) and possibly members of the public too this not an unusual situation this happens day in day out in our A&E all over the country

Typical Labour, always the Tory’s fault. It’s laughable now. Labour could be in charge for the next 50 years and they’ll still bang on about those 14 years in charge. Labour will be worse

I completely agree. The gold standard is that there should always be mental health support available in A&E.

Just wanted to say that apart from the anaesthetist who took away my choice of treatment until it was insisted by the lovely nurse, every staff member has been beyond excellent. The lack of drinks etc I mentioned earlier was my grumpiness after surgery and also because theyre run ragged and simply don't have the time to spend on each patient. It's madness and very sad because these absolute professionals are so dedicated. They turn up every day and do a job I'd burn out within a week at! One nurse had had her small kids in the day and then gone on to a night shift. I was in awe of her utter resilience. Bloody saints.

I remember nurses just ignoring my elderly DParent during a shift change.