NHS improvements - what would you suggest?

[brainstormer]

How do you think the NHS could be improved?

Pay the students a proper wage so we don't have to work part time as well as study and work on placements or starve.

Dramatically increase the nurse to patient ratios.

Improved training and development opportunities for staff.

More doctors.

more time for routine appointments.

Reinstate midwifery teams. Ensure women really do have continuity of carer, not just 'care'.

Increase pay for nurses and midwives, in line with oter graduate level professions.

Ditch Choose and Book

Stop referring people from pillar to post (GP - Physio = treatment not working, so back to GP. GP to Orthopaedic Surgeon = MRI, nothing there, back to GP. Again)

They should be able to refer to whoever is appropriate, and that consultant/physio/etc should be able to refer to whoever they deem appropriate. It's all waiting list bullshit.

Less ticking boxes and paperwork.

If I admit a patient onto the ward on which I work we have to fill in

Admission frontsheet
Family circs sheet
Obs chart
Discharge planning sheet
ADL assessment
Moving and handling sheet
Waterlow score sheet
Nutrirional assessment sheet
Safe handling monitoring form
Mouth care assessment
Pressure area assessment
VIP score for cannulas
Mouth care assessment tool
Pain assessment tool
Ward information checklist

and so on.It is endless.A big thing is that a lot of patients are readmitted for different trewatments and we have to go through the rigmarole each time.It takes forever and though obviously I do agree we need to standardise care and ensure these things are done filling in 20 odd bits of paper takes me away from actually physically caring for people.

I am sure it could be condensed somehow.

More people on the actual wards as well,more HCAs.

Less moving the goalposts and forever changing policy and procedure every 2 minutes.

Better medical staff cover especially at nights and weekends.

These are just a few from hands on practise.Am sure can think of more.

Employ lots more nurses (!) (Another student one here)

I'd love 12 hour shifts. Would make life so much more flexible and options for working further afield would be more practical.

LOL Starlight, no I'm not a journalist - I work in the NHS too.

All understandable suggestions, but how do we actually go about implementing them? To my mind, they will nearly all cost more money - where does that come from?

Are there any savings you can think of that would allow these improvements to be delivered?

Where are resources wasted?

More assistant staff on elderly/dementia patient wards, to assist with feeding, cleaning of patients.

Get shot of Nursing degrees and go back to the old SRN/RGN system, where time was spent on wards and people got their hands dirty.

Amazing how all these questions crop up out of the woodwork on the politics thread by people who have never posted before, and now there is an election looming. There's mulberrybush, ivanahoe and now brainstormer.

I don't care which political persuasion you are ladies; we can decide who to vote for ourselves. We know what you are up to....

scaryteacher, I can't comment for the other mumsnetters you've listed, but I'm intrigued as to what you do think I'm up to? I thought I was just asking a question to get some opinions.....

ok, just realised someone else has posted the same question as me - and for the record i'm a floating voter and never belonged to any party in my life and certainly not an activist of any sort, in case scaryteacher is about to accuse.

I'd like to see more food choices offered to the patient. Hospital food has improved, but when you're ill, it would be nice to have more of a choice. I see loads of hospital food go more or less untouched, with the patient's relatives bringing in takeaways/food, the patient buying crisps/chocolate from the trolley, or if mobile, buying meals from the cafe/canteen.

When you aren't in hospital you have to buy your own food. Why is it free (and therefore as cheap as possible) in hospital? I'd like to see hospital catering services selling better quality food/meals.

What would improve the NHS is removal of unrealistic targets with an every increasing aging population and rising birth rate. More midwives and nurses on the shop floor, enforce that extra money is sign posted for this and does not disapper into the ether.
Almost take the service back to how it was. Bring back some professionalism within the NHS and reduce the amount of unecessary managers who have no idea about health care. THe NHS is about peoples health wellbeing and lives it is not a business.

Make managers and chief execs do what ARGOS management have to do yearly..
work for 3 days on the shop floor to see how it really is - and stop doing that walking around inspection thing they do - that is not how you see what is going on
work with the HCAs
go on an ambulance run/feed an elderly patient
try and drop off to nursery at the hospital , park and make your shift at 7.30 am - and then you will realise that safe secure convenient Parking/decent public transport is a major factor in work/life balance for NHS staff who work shifts

Less Managers
Less postcode lottery
Less paperwork