NHS

Three members of my family have worked in the NHS for over 20years they are appalled at the vast amounts of money wasted on a daily basis and the total inefficiency of the many layers of management . They can't wait to retire

In my ex mother in law’s day people working on the wards routinely helped themselves to dressings etc to take home. She didn’t consider this was stealing. It went unchecked.

I would have agreed. The first place to be scrutinised should be the “procurement department “ where they place orders over and over to the same suppliers, (even when the costs go up.)If you ran a business like that then you’d go bust in a couple of years!

My mums next door neighbour always had the opportunity to try out medications, get antibiotics and dressings.
That's because her daughters partner was an nhs manager, apparently.

Like others I too have worked in admin in the NHS, and definitely too many managers and also wastage but you as a little cog in a very big wheel it isn't always as easy as people think to report, as it isn't obvious as such but when you look at all the tiers of management and their admin teams I am sure it could be scaled back on but as others have said they would be daft to cut their own jobs. But they will pick up on something daft like how much stationery departments are using , but they will have repeated meetings to discuss it and come to no decision about how to solve the problem, each meeting would have minutes done typed sent to all those present not realising how wasteful this is.

Does anyone remember James Martin trying to change the way NHS cooks worked? Buying fresh veg to make soup and other meals more cheaply (and nutritiously) than the packet/frozen stuff they always used? Didn’t get anywhere, they went back to their old ways and procurement methods.

I remember it well and wondered what happened to the local fresh produce which worked out cheaper,
Germanshepherdsmum.
He visited a hospital here.
Food is now being brought in to a local hospital and isn't even hot when it gets to patients, as well as being practically inedible. I know from the horse's mouth (well, he's not a horse in fact).

Too much trouble Calistemon and some NHS kitchens appear to have no means of cooking and are only able to heat pre-prepared meals (or not, in the case of your local hospital). How are people supposed to recover from illness or surgery without proper nutrition? Meals have to look and smell tempting to get some folk to eat but that seems to take second place to convenience. It can’t be economically sound either, not that that should be the primary consideration.

Inishowen:
“I'd like to know why consultants can't do NHS work but CAN do private work.”
I was appalled when I heard this was happening locally, till I was told that the consultants weren’t allowed to operate in the NHS hospital as the ITU and recovery area were being reserved for Covid patients, and they were therefore operating on NHS patients in the private hospital (my friend was one of those having her hip done there, on the NHS).
You are probably aware that by no means all NHS consultants do private work, particularly outside the big cities.
The question of working solely in the private sector if they do private work comes up repeatedly, but if the consultant works the hours they are contracted to in the NHS, then surely they should be able to do what they want in their own time, whether that is looking after their family or working in the private hospital.

No response to all these messages from Bankhurst.......

It doesn't matter.
It's an interesting and polite discussion.

Your sister is completely right to many chiefs and a massive amount of money wasted.
Why take unbrage with your sister over an opinion thats not worth the upset.

How are people supposed to recover from illness or surgery without proper nutrition?
Just what we said recently.

When I was in hospital years ago, most of the food was inedible.
Nothing has changed, it seems.

I was in hospital a couple of months ago, and the food was great!
I'm a bit of a baby about gristle in meat, so I had a variety of veggie options, and the were excellent.
Fruit juice, veggie sausages, with wedges, broccoli and carrots was my favourite.
It was well cooked, hot, with salt and pepper to hand, and fruit, rice pud, jelly, cake and custard as some of the dessert choices.
No complaints from me at all.

My friend's sister has just been discharged from hospital following an operation. She was desperate to get home so that she could have a decent meal. In the 4 nights that she was in, her evening meal was "forgotten or given to someone else by mistake" and their was only a sandwich or toast as a substitute; she was given a meal with meat and so couldn't eat it because she's a vegetarian and on the other nights, the food was cold and concealed by the time she got it. On the day of her discharge, they forgot her breakfast so she went home mid morning without. What was that about nutrition aiding healing?

I was in hospital a couple of months ago, and the food was great!

Many years ago, DC1 was born in hospital - have you ever eaten a fried egg with thin greasy gravy on it, complete with globules of fat?
Me neither, I had to leave it!

When I was in a maternity home a couple of years later, the food was wonderful! Freshly cooked on site, however, that maternity home closed along with all the others.

What was that about nutrition aiding healing?
The nurses said they were embarrassed by the poor standard of nutrition offered to patients in our new hospital.

I sincerely hope that those stating lack of proper nutrition made complaints to the Hospital Trust involved. Otherwise how can we change things. Our local hospital Trust, turned out the pre chilled rubbish and reopened the hospital kitchen to home cooked food, plenty of local produce available. the domestic support staff were also brought back in house, much better for patients , and the locals who are employed in the trust, and not by a faceless company. Guess it must be cheaper too.

I sincerely hope that those stating lack of proper nutrition made complaints to the Hospital Trust involved
The poor food was way down the list of what I can only describe as cock-ups, Lincslass.

Yes, I know all about inedible food in hospitals, I've experienced it and seen it plenty of times, but it really was great this time.

cold and concealed eh? It never was, more's the pity! It was cold and congealed

???
Found weeks later concealed in the bedside locker

However, if we're talking about cock ups, I can certainly join in there!!!

The money wasted and the shortage of nurses are two things often quoted as being problems with the NHS. I too have up to 20 years experience in the NHS mainly admin, manager and support worker roles and can say this. The role of the nurse has changed and this hasn't been recognised in recruitment for instance all the paperwork they need to do can be taken over by admin. Or the non nursing personal tasks they do can be taken over by healthcare assistants.

I agree with her £70k per annum for equality & diversity officers are a prime example!

I absolutely agree with your sister. Too many management and not enough on the frontline, and the management are so fond of disposing of frontline staff. They treat frontline staff as if they were expendable, and the NHS management get the best salaries and pensions, and they sure as hell do not deserve it.