Wow this really has become an NHS slating thread hasn't it? The NHS has many many failings, most of which is down to a lack of money. Not all, but most. To be able to provide you with the blood results Celou, it is meaning that more work is having to be done. Not that I am trying to say it shouldn't. I am a nurse. I work in Intensive care. The only way I am able to get blood results back within an hour (if I am lucky) is to send the samples as VERY urgent. Otherwise they can take up to about 3 hours to come through, and our results, due to the nature of the job, our prioritised. Basically though, if everyone sends their results as very urgent (even we don't routinely) the system just wouldn't work. If everyone is urgent they would just become routine, do you see? Shouldn't be the case but lack of equipment and lab staff means that this is the way the system has to work. Urgent samples should be sent only for people who are in life threatening conditions. If this is not the case, results will not come back as quickly which could cause big problems.
I am also shocked at how upset you are about the nurse who took your blood, I am sorry it hurts and she missed a sample but surely everyone makes mistakes! I know I certainly do. It is human nature, they only way to work around it would be to employ robots which I hope no-one would want?! In my experience most people are grateful for the human caring they recieve from health professionals.
I had my appt yesterday and was very impressed with how they operated. There WAS a mistake made and my midwife was on maternity leave, but they found a midwife who could see me, even taking me into her office rather than a 'proper room' to take my information. This wasn't unfair treatment because I work there, they weren't aware. But I arrived for my appointment correctly, they made a mistake and they tried their very best to resolve it to the best of their ability, for which I am very grateful.
I would also like to add that I have had awful experiences of the NHS, most notably when I presented to A and E after a full morning shift, in uniform with pelvic inflammatory disease. I was refused any pain killers and was left crying my eyes out in the waiting room for 10 hours before being told I had a urine infection (results later showed I did not), although as I had suffered from it before i knew what the problem was.
On private healthcare, it is very good if you are covered or can afford to pay for the often limited service they provide. But many do not have intensive care units, meaning transfers of critically ill patients may be required, they refuse to accept any patients with any kind of infection, no matter how much money you have paid them, and also they lack experience in many fields. In one speciality I used to work in the consultants would admit them to the private hospital, bring them to ours for surgery, and then would not allow them back untill they were well. All the time they are paying for this service to be in a NHS hospital.
I realise that this post may be viewed as offensive and please believe me when I tell you it is not intended to be. I feel I work very hard, very long days under very unpleasant and stressful conditions, as do the vast majority of NHS workers to provide the public with the best service possible. It is very disheartening when people seem determined that we can't do anything right as hard as we try.