Has care in the NHS and in social care improved over the last year? The Department of Health wants your views: £50 to be won NOW CLOSED

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello

As some of you will know, following the public inquiry into the failings at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust, the government responded last year with a set of commitments for improvements.

A year later, the Department of Health would like to know what you think about whether there has been a real improvement in the care provided by the NHS and social care providers as a result.

They say:

"When we receive care, whether that is in the NHS, social care or in our own homes, we expect, and have the right, to be treated with dignity, respect and compassion."

"Two independent public inquiries reported appalling failures in the standards in patient care at Mid Staffordshire hospital, and in the system of healthcare regulation. As a result of these inquiries, the Government said that improvements had to be made. These include a new inspector for hospitals and a tougher, independent inspection system; more nurses on hospital wards; and plans in place for turning around failing hospitals. (To see the Government's response in detail, have a look here.)"

"We are looking now at what progress has been made in improving patient care."

"Have you noticed an improvement in care you or your family have received in the past year? Do you have examples of how it's improved or changed? Do you feel more confident that any changes introduced will improve NHS care? What do you think are the biggest challenges for making care even better?"

"Material from this thread (and from another thread we're running on Gransnet, and other activities including discussions with people working in the NHS and care providers) will help inform our assessment of progress. It may also be included in an annual progress report, the first of which will be published later this year."

Over to you. Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £50 John Lewis voucher.

Thanks
MNHQ

I think the biggest problem is lack of staff!! My dad was in ICU for 5 weeks due to listeria meningitis and if you sit back and look at whats going on around you the nurses work soooo hard but there is not enough of them! xx

No i don't think so, if anything it's got worse

Stop privatising everything. Hire more frontline staff. Pay existing staff more.

I have no complaints regarding the NHS based on the treatment received by myself & my family. Our local surgery is amazing - running an open clinic every morning so if you need to see a GP or nurse, you just sit & wait - yes sometimes there's a bit of a wait, but if you KNOW that your child, or yourself will definitely be seen that morning - then it's worth it. Maybe rolling this system out nationwide would help everyone.
I know I don't have the experience of some forum users who have had a lot more contact with the NHS & are a lot more knowledgeable than myself. I totally respect their views & I hope improvements are made where needed.

I think it is worse. We have to accept the cuts but it should be higher up the chain rather than front line staff, too much red tape and not enough common sense. With an increasing population and the influx of migrants its only going to get worse.

I personally think it's worse than ever. Bless the amazing staff they do their best but they are under unbelievable pressure. The budgets are lower yet the demands are higher it just cannot continue.

More money and staff need to be put into the NHS to feed what it is all about patient care and overall people's health and lives! That surely is more important than the majority of things the government splash money out on!

Institutionalised racism in the NHS means ethnic minorities (even if UK born) are systematically not appointed to permanent posts, or promoted, and my perception is that ultimately this is why the NHS has shot itself in the foot.

Of course it is more lucrative to work for agency rates if being permanent means only being appointed to lower bands, no prospect of promotion, doing dogsbody work for lower pay, and watching those whose faces fit get promoted.

The agencies themselves are very skilled at ensuring that departments become dependent on the agencies by making sure that appointing agency staff to permanent posts comes with a very high premium commission for the agency.

no! with more and more cuts to services, nurses and dr are being stretched to the max!

Hello all

Thanks very much for taking part; lot of food for thought here. We're going to draw a line now so that we can do the prize draw.

Thanks
MNHQ

My NHS care has been very constant and brilliant for the past four years, no complaints in that department. However I have two close family members who are nurses, one has recently left the NHS due to the pressure of looking after a ward and being understaffed and the other is looking for work as she rarely works with the same members of staff each shift, it's usually bank staff and they are mainly trained abroad, which is a massive cost to the NHS. The feeling is generally "it's a job" now and not a vocation.

Not for me. Had to make a complaint to the trust and ended up eventually with an apology

Thanks for all the responses - am pleased to say ShowMeTheWonder was picked at random and wins the £50 JL voucher

I have just moved from the South West to South West Wales - and my medical care has been discontinued since July due to waiting lists - even though my dr informed them I was coming all the way back in May and I am an Army wife (so the Covenant should protect us) - so my 3 years hard work to try and drag myself out of a life threatening mental health crisis is hanging in the balance with no support, not even a CPN.

I don't think either have improved. I don't know if the NHS or social care will ever be at the standard it needs to be. Each day there's new problems, new challenges that change circumstances. Doctor's are very rarely open on a weekend, mine isnt even open in the week, I have to phone an appointment that morning to see if I can even have one for that day, the phone's always engaged and by the time it isn't there's no appointments left, you can never book one in advance, it's horrific, trying to fit them in around work is mission impossible, especially for those who have typical 9-5 monday-friday jobs, which causes things to be left untreated, and develop into bigger problems. The social aspect, that has made so many cutbacks, that the elderly aren't getting the level of care that they both need and deserve. Cuts have led to shortage of staff, that work longer hours, overwhelming career paths, for a lot less pay, there's no way that everyone can have the exact care or treatments that they deserve, cause there's just not enough money, not enough hours in the day for the few staff there is and no way of suddenly fixing it.

unfortunately i think they continue to get worse! :-(

I'm not sure, luckily I haven't had much experience with them however I am very grateful that we have access to the service.

I lost first my Mum and then my Dad one year apart on the same ward in the same hospital, in 2013 and this year. The hospital failed my Mum last year and I'm afraid that it failed my Dad this year. Terrible standards of care. I have complained.

With the nhs no, it's very completed to know who to go to e.g. A and e or just gp. also trying to follow advice one minute it to do one thing and next it's another.

Social care however is good