A and E admissions

This is Dr Louise Irvine talking on radio 5 about trolley waits and the reasons for them. This is not people who are drunk.

https://audioboom.com/boos/2749476-dr-louise-irvine-on-a-e-waiting-times-and-trolley-waits-bbc-five-live

I have just put this on another thread but it is worth mentioning on this one.

I appreciate people do not have the time to watch Parliament live but you can get it on 'Catch Up'. Not sure if you can still get the following but try if you have a genuine interest in seeing and hearing from the horses mouth facts, figures, debate by both Jeremy Hunt and Andy Burnham.

I am referring to an 'Urgent Question on A&E' December 18th 2014. Andy Burnham was given permission to bring the Urgent Question but sadly for Andy Burnham only 10 Labour MP's attended to ask questions of Jeremy Hunt.

It was an own goal for Andy Burnham as he had to sit and listen to the numbers for extra nurses and doctors, his stewardship of the NHS which resulted in the Francis Report etc. Even the 10 Labour MP'S that were initially interested dwindled.

I think Speaker Bercow slumped in his chair as much as Burnham at one stage wondering if it was the wisest move to try and put Jeremy Hunt on the spot as it backfired stupendously on the Shadow Health Minister.

Here's a link to the Hansard report. It was on the last day of parliament when most MPs had gone home.
If you read it and read the statement by Louise Irvine who actually works in the NHS, you will see that Jeremy Hunt's claims about the NHS are laughable.
If you have been following vampire's thread about what happened to her friend, you will also see that Hunt lives in fairyland.

www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmhansrd/cm141218/debtext/141218-0001.htm#14121837000003

This is what voters think in Cameron's and Hunt's constituencies about the NHS and TTIP.

nhap.org/voters-odds-nhs-cameron-hunt-constituencies/

The problem with people going to A&E because they have not organised their repeat prescriptions could be solved by having an "Emergency prescription" pharmacy open beside the A&E - and charging them double for the prescription. If there were an large notice to that effect at the door as they came in, they could be deflected to it. It would mean that the pharmacy had to be manned (and protected against invasion) but if it takes some pressure off A&E it could be worth it.

Another large notice could direct those who just want a sick note to their own GP.

Educating people to take their own measures against simple ailments is a bigger problem, involving public views of exactly who is responsible for their health. There are many who expect someone else to do that. Perhaps it is yet another thing that needs to be added to the school curriculum, possibly as a part of a "Citizenship" course?

Going back to who should and who should not receive treatment on the NHS, when I was approaching the recent hip op, a registrar who was filling in all the relevant forms mentioned that funding would not have been available if I had been very much overweight. He reckoned such a person would be expected to lose weight first.

Durhamjen

That's your opinion.

I do accept there are faults in the NHS and I do not believe there will ever be a day where that won't be the case.

So what re the Hansard Report?

The fact is Burnham asked for the Urgent Question, it was totally his doing. He chose the day!

It's his fault if his fellow MP'S had b------d off home early. That doesn't excuse them, it just makes the affair even worse in that they 'clocked off' before Parliament officially finished.

Perhaps he thought he could get one over on the government by choosing that day!

It was Burnham who was let down by his fellow MP'S not the government benches who had higher numbers turn up, if they could do it I would have thought Burnham and the Labour Whips could have rallied some of his MP's, especially given the subject.

Your link to the doctor who is a member of the NHA is valid but for every comment you put forward there are other doctors opinions who will have their opinion too. I have told you before I make my mind up by reading, listening to various outlets and I make my opinion up on more than just your links.

I read other peoples posts but I note both good and bad reviews of the NHS from GN's I do not concentrate on negativity only..

I have told you before and posted on GN that as far as I am concerned Andy Burnham and Labour are not the Saviours of the NHS that they claim to be. Neither do I believe the residing government are. That's just crass political spin. We all have had dealings of a good and bad nature whilst using the NHS in our lives, under governments of both colours so I make no apology for reminding posters of that fact.

I respect you and others have a strong view on the NHA and the conservatives but some of us are trying to find out answers for ourselves and will continue to do so, not as you and a few others would have us do and refer only to the NHA, The Greens, Peoples Assembly, The Guardian or 38 Degrees.

So if I refer GN's to another source of information which is perfectly valid just for once accept there maybe other GN's who might be interested in watching the horses mouth speak to help to try and make important decisions 'for themselves'.

I've been taken to A&E by ambulance nine times in the last two years, and waiting time is not the problem in the majority of cases. The slowest was the first time, but that was when they had a large number of ambulances tied up on duty at the local pop festival, which is not an everyday occurrence.

On a couple of occasions I have been taken directly into Resus on the red phone, and directly into EAU, bypassing A&E altogether. Most shouts, the paramedic arrives at my door within about 5-15 minutes, but sometime there can be a bit of a wait for the ambulance after the paramedic calls for one. Generally, I'm moved from cubicles to EAU promptly at the end of the four hour target time

Sorry, POGS. There I was thinking I was discussing the NHS with everybody on this forum who wants to read about it. Silly me.

But that's just it - you don't actually do much discussing, do you durhamjen? You post links and expect everyone else to read them.

There was no need for that snarky response to POGS's post.

durhamjen

You do discuss your thoughts on the NHS with everybody on GN because it is an open forum. Nobody could/should stop you, nor equally myself.

Well I'd like to thank durhamjen and everyone else who puts links on. I do read and think for myself but I'm not aware of everything out there and it's interesting to see what other people have found.

Everyone's perfectly entitled to their point of view.

I'm not averse to links per se, but don't like being told what I 'need to read', especially on political threads.

I haven't noticed anyone telling me I "need to read" anything in particular but, even if they do, I can always make up my own mind whether to read it and I expect others can too.

Can we please live and let live on here. We all have views and many of us have problems but let us live life with all points of view considered and not judged. Happy new year.

Ana

Sorry I should have said thank you for your post.

annsixty.

You are correct with the sentiment in your post but sadly debate/discussion on certain topics does lead to division and we all have points to raise so the inevitable cross word will arise but that's only because we all have a passion for what we believe, not necessarily out of malice, or at least I hope not.

crun - sorry to read that, you clearly are invincible!

(It does amaze me sometimes, how someone can post something like you did, and the discussion just continues around it as if you're posting in invisible ink!)

Thanks Grannyknot, it's not as desperate as it sounds, just an arrhythmia, I mentioned nine times just to make the point that it's enough to get a bit of an idea what typical waiting times are likely to be. (Perhaps I should add that all my 999 calls are under circumstances specified by the doctors, but it doesn't stop them making me feel like a timewaster, though.)

People are still waiting too long but it used to be a lot worse. In 1998 my 87-year-old mother spent two nights on an A & E trolley after she had fallen and broken her hip.

At least the tories/liberals have managed to keep the NHS going more or less intact.

Is that why they're selling parts of it off to their mates?

No idea.

I thought 5% of the NHS was privatised under Labour and 6% to date??????

Control the sale of alchohol as they do in parts of Canada.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholic_beverages_in_Canada

There is a huge mix of reasons for acute problems with A&E- and alcohol and drug abuse are therefore not totally to blame- but really is does not help- worst of all because staff are scared witless of being attacked by drunken thugs of both sexes- which under such hard working and streeful circumstances, is the very last thing they need.

When DH was casualty officer at a large London hospital- these instances were very very rare indeed. Alcohol consumption in the UK is a huge problem, and it's a shame many, even here, deny it.