My friend is stuck in hospital because there are not enough staff to process his discharge

[Jacaranda75]

My friend has been in a London hospital for a couple of weeks now (not Covid). He has been well enough to go home for a few days, but the hospital are struggling as so many staff are off with Covid or isolating after becoming close contacts. They just don’t have enough medical staff on duty to cope with even basic procedures such as my friend’s discharge. So he’s stuck there. He’s fine, that’s not really the point.

Things are really bad at the moment. Especially in London. The NHS is on its knees. People saying it’s ‘just a mild illness’ need to think about the impact that it is having.

They love blaming the old and obese @mojoj , but I don't know a single obese person who doesn't have other chronic healthcare needs / disabilities that have caused that situation. I'm sure our local NHS service would be a lot healthier if they hadn't built multiple-100s of new flats and houses within 3 square miles of my home, with no extra doctors surgeries, hospitals, ambulance stations etc.

I hope people remember this next time people think we shouldn't control immigration, or the usual mumsnet approach of "if you can afford another kid, just do it" - overpopulation is a massive issue for the NHS as well.

Grab a cab, jump on a bus, arrange a friend to pick him up or walk?

He's disabled, so not really an option. He also needs a prescription and a care plan.

Yay a fat basher joyful

@WouldIBeATwat

My friend’s 82 year old grandmother was left on the floor waiting for an ambulance yesterday for 22 hours. She had a fall resulting in a broken hip.

I'm so sorry.

Nothing to do with A&E wait times, it's all under pressure, not broken, under pressure.

The OPs friend is apparently well, could sort meds from home, get home, all well for them.

The bit about immigrants and children is a lie.

Young people, especially young immigrants, are statistically far less likely to use the NHS than older people.

This type of statement is often intended to whip up hostility towards immigrants, who when working contribute more in tax than they take out ins ervices, on average.

@Jacaranda75

Grab a cab, jump on a bus, arrange a friend to pick him up or walk?

He's disabled, so not really an option. He also needs a prescription and a care plan.

Massive drip feed there.

You said, he was fine.

[quote rrhuth]@LostForWords2021

Someone can be 'fine' to go home if they have what they need, but it would not be fine if they were just to leave without that stuff being in place.

Without the right things in place, many conditions just get worse again and there is a need for readmission.[/quote]
Obviously. Op said they were fine.

@Jacaranda75

Grab a cab, jump on a bus, arrange a friend to pick him up or walk?

He's disabled, so not really an option. He also needs a prescription and a care plan.

What do you mean by a care plan? Do you mean an assessment and a care package?

In which case he may well be waiting a while as social services is even more under pressure than the NHS.

You said it was a straightforward process. Setting up a care plan is not.

People saying it’s ‘just a mild illness’ need to think about the impact that it is having.

But isn't the point that in the overwhelming majority of cases it is mild, it's the fact that hospital staff are having to isolate even if well enough to work, or because they've been contacts of someone with Covid.

I'm sorry about your friend, and don't agree with others saying he should just up and leave, it's not as easy as that.

@Jacaranda75

Grab a cab, jump on a bus, arrange a friend to pick him up or walk?

He's disabled, so not really an option. He also needs a prescription and a care plan.

Social services is shut for Christmas. Nothing to do with the hospital, or covid. Might be open today depending on where you are in the country, but more likely after new year. Same every year, we always try to discharge as many people as we can before Christmas Eve for exactly this reason.

@LostForWords2021 don't misquote me, I said he is fine. Meaning he is fine in hospital. My main concern was for how we got to this situation.

[quote Jacaranda75]@LostForWords2021 don't misquote me, I said he is fine. Meaning he is fine in hospital. My main concern was for how we got to this situation.[/quote]
How did we get to this situation? Christmas office closures? Well 2000 years ago, the Son of God was born under a star…

@Mojoj

The NHS is on its knees as a result of chronic underfunding. And because the UK is full of extremely unhealthy, obese people that take no responsibility for their own health but just expect the good old NHS to come to the rescue when their bad habits lead to health problems. In none of the public health announcements since the start of the virus outbreak, did any of the information say " eat well, exercise and keep an eye on your weight" and you will have less chance of getting really ill. Nah, instead loads of posts about how people have piled on the weight during lockdown. As if it's something to be proud of.

Any public health announcements about exercising would've been and continue to be grossly undermined by some of the policy choices and statements made. The Parkrun ban in Wales is the most recent in a long and daft line of decisions. Michael Gove's opinion on a reasonable time period of exercise was never binding, but did a lot of damage, and the restrictions and policing of park spaces might as well have been designed to deter people from using them to exercise. They could've said nothing at all about the benefits of exercise and still done less damage by not actively placing so many barriers in the way of it.

It's not just immigrants @rrhuth though is it? It's overpopulation in general including the native UK population popping out too many kids.

Its a numbers game - our population is growing massively and our facilities aren't able to keep up. All the babies born after the big wave of inward immigration in 2000s under a Labour govt (and are therefore as British as me) will also need their own housing, healthcare and jobs in the next ten years and will start having children of their own.

It's not about entitlement, everyone who lives and pays taxes here is entitled, it's about forward planning and being able to train and supply enough doctors in time to cope with the boom. Both Labour and Conservative governments have fucked it up.

Unfortunately the NHS has already collapsed. We just can't admit it to ourselves yet

Between this thread, the ambulance thread where OP's Dad was having a heart attack and had to be taken by car and my own experiences as both a patient and employee over the pandemic, I can see that health services in this country are completely done in. and yes, it IS all the Tories fault - even pre pandemic we were on the verge and Covid was the excuse Boris needed to stamp it right down into dust.

Grew up in an NHS working family and have proudly worked there myself for 12 years. It makes me incredibly sad to see it's slow demise and it wasn't until this year I could admit to myself it is beyond the point of repair.

@EatSleepRantRepeat

It's not just immigrants *@rrhuth* though is it? It's overpopulation in general including the native UK population popping out too many kids.

Its a numbers game - our population is growing massively and our facilities aren't able to keep up. All the babies born after the big wave of inward immigration in 2000s under a Labour govt (and are therefore as British as me) will also need their own housing, healthcare and jobs in the next ten years and will start having children of their own.

It's not about entitlement, everyone who lives and pays taxes here is entitled, it's about forward planning and being able to train and supply enough doctors in time to cope with the boom. Both Labour and Conservative governments have fucked it up.

It's overpopulation in general including the native UK population popping out too many kids.

People aren't even popping out kids to keep up with repopulation levels in the UK, so this is totally false.

We've had people waiting for care and beds in nursing homes since way before Christmas. One of the things that holds them up is family making a fuss about what's offered. Everybody wants the nhs to just roll over individual needs and ignore preferences until the day it's YOUR individual who's in need at which point it becomes a different matter.

[quote Jacaranda75]@LostForWords2021 don't misquote me, I said he is fine. Meaning he is fine in hospital. My main concern was for how we got to this situation.[/quote]
No misquote from me, you said it and wrote it on here, the only place i’m reading this evening

If the Op means a care package then its been an issue sourcing care even pre covid.
Carers will be on holidays also and so over a holiday period its often difficult for care agencies to increase their capacity.
Add in covid and seasonal illnesses and its even worse.

This is the crisis in social care in action.

The hosoital would discharge in about 20mins, but cannot do so because there is no care plan

If you block the discharge of a system, you prevent new admissions , irrespective of the capacity between admission and discharge.

@EatSleepRantRepeat

It's not just immigrants *@rrhuth* though is it? It's overpopulation in general including the native UK population popping out too many kids.

Its a numbers game - our population is growing massively and our facilities aren't able to keep up. All the babies born after the big wave of inward immigration in 2000s under a Labour govt (and are therefore as British as me) will also need their own housing, healthcare and jobs in the next ten years and will start having children of their own.

It's not about entitlement, everyone who lives and pays taxes here is entitled, it's about forward planning and being able to train and supply enough doctors in time to cope with the boom. Both Labour and Conservative governments have fucked it up.

Our birth rate is pretty low and falling - record low in 2020.

The main issue we face is too few young people - have you looked at the demographic table for the UK? UK has an ageing population, we need young people.

What is your tax/pension model for a country with no young people?

@LostForWords2021 You knew exactly what I meant. Stop trying to cause problems.

@Northernlurker

We've had people waiting for care and beds in nursing homes since way before Christmas. One of the things that holds them up is family making a fuss about what's offered. Everybody wants the nhs to just roll over individual needs and ignore preferences until the day it's YOUR individual who's in need at which point it becomes a different matter.

Yep, complex discharges can definitely take ages, but OP says her friend has been in hospital for two weeks, and medically fit for “a few days”, ie sounds like much less than a week, so only over the bank holiday.