NHS wasting money

The NHS is a brilliant institution, but, no overall strategy when it comes to finance. Potentially they are big enough to make great saving because of their buying power and as someone said, if there was an overall NHS computer system, where every hospital, GP and patient had access to patient records (patients only allowed to see their own notes), with automatic letters only going out to those that fit the parameters needed then it would help. Letter should only be sent if people don't have email or phone messaging. They must also learn how to recycle unused and unopened pills and other stuff (they could have their own recycling unit perhaps?). I have a whole crate full of unopened unused meds in my garage from when my husband was pre kidney transplant (and very ill) and we also had to pour 63 boxes (untouched since delivery) of dialysis fluids (enough for 2 months) down our drain. Their wastefulness is a disgrace!
They are not accountable for it it seems! They just ask for more money instead of making savings - a very bad habit!

Norah

Salti

My doctor's surgery is great at sending texts with links, emails etc but the only problem I have is working out who they are for as they have my mobile number for my husband, my blind brother-in-law and me. The good thing is if there is a link to click you then have to enter a date of birth and the link only works for the correct date of birth.

We're lucky. Ours are always emails. Easy to discern who is going to physio and when. Other appointments, if necessary.

We have the same issue, only having one mobile at home. Ours messages are texts and it isn't always possible to tell whom they are meant for, though some have a "Dear ..." salutation. Emails would be so much easier as you could respond.
We also have the problem that they only contact us via mobile and our mobile reception is very poor. Although they have our landline number they never seem to try it.

Really need to get their act together. My FIL is in a care home and has a monthly telephone consultation with Renal unit at the hospital. They send a letter every month saying that he has a telephone consultation and that he must bring a urine sample with him!?!

We can only get paper letters here. It's awful. On at least two occasions the letter arrived AFTER the appointment. Meanwhile my appointment for a twelve month review of my knee replacement has been postponed three times - currently scheduled for August, 21 months after the operation. And of course each postponement was notified by a paper letter.

I have pernicious Anemia. I have x monthly injections.
You wouldn’t think it was beyond the wit of man that they could program this appointment in for every other month: but no, a week before the due date I have to phone, or, if I’m hanging on too long, drive to the surgery.
I know that our lovely receptionists are just as frustrated as we all are.

A top financial official From Pfizer described Covid as 'Christmas everyday' for his company.
The NHS is Santa Claus
Postage and paper is the least of it

Firstly, there is a lot of waste in the NHS as I am one of many millions of people who asked to be contacted by email only to receive snail mail letters sometimes after the allotted appointment time. Only recently have that the NHS worked to recover costs from overseas visitors. I have had Australian friends with a sudden illlness who went to my GP and offered payment. But there was. No set up to do so.

Now to the definitive way one of the respondents lectured me on funding for NHS, This erudite Gran scolded me for saying we pay the NHS through taxation.

I had read that in more than one place. So here is what Full Fact link which must have lead me astray.
I think the erudite member was Maddie.People like me are guilty of paying insufficient attention to the wrong sources and if Ful Fact is wrong then I apologise.

fullfact.org/health/how-nhs-funded/

Now Annie1 maybe you'd like to explain how you would reorganise the NHS to address real problems rather than describing a bit of tinkering at the edges.

MerylStreep

I have pernicious Anemia. I have x monthly injections.
You wouldn’t think it was beyond the wit of man that they could program this appointment in for every other month: but no, a week before the due date I have to phone, or, if I’m hanging on too long, drive to the surgery.
I know that our lovely receptionists are just as frustrated as we all are.

By coincidence, the computer system threw up something similar yesterday. The nurse at my surgery told me I needed a GP appointment. She could could see that the best GP for the appointment has a slot next week, but couldn't book me in for it because it's too far in advance (!), so has booked me in for this week. It's a bit inconvenient, but I'm happy to have it.

I don't think that's wasting money. It's a result of the people who designed the computer system not being aware of all patients' needs. It's an issue which needs to be brought up in any patient feedback group meetings which take place. It would probably cost more to have a system with tweaks to suit everybody. The administrators need to be aware of people's suggestions, so that future changes can accommodate them.

undines

A top financial official From Pfizer described Covid as 'Christmas everyday' for his company.
The NHS is Santa Claus
Postage and paper is the least of it

Who is the top financial official?

How do you suggest the NHS should have acted to save money in connection with Covid?

Nagmad2016

Really need to get their act together. My FIL is in a care home and has a monthly telephone consultation with Renal unit at the hospital. They send a letter every month saying that he has a telephone consultation and that he must bring a urine sample with him!?!

How much do you reckon that reminder costs? My guess is almost nothing, but it probably saves missed appointments.

Our GP surgery is pretty much paperless, but the local hospital was sending letters last year when my DH was ill and dying. Sometimes a letter was delayed by postal strikes, and arrived after the date of an appointment. Not just a waste of postage, also a waste of valuable NHS resource, avoidable surely with a bit of everyday technology.

I agree. My daughter is a nurse and I asked her what she would do to put the NHS right. She said "Waste, waste and more waste, and stop paying Agency staff".

Romola

Our GP surgery is pretty much paperless, but the local hospital was sending letters last year when my DH was ill and dying. Sometimes a letter was delayed by postal strikes, and arrived after the date of an appointment. Not just a waste of postage, also a waste of valuable NHS resource, avoidable surely with a bit of everyday technology.

So it would seem.

Our car dealers manages email for scheduled car maintenance, their computer system is set properly - but money making dealers.

nandad

Son has had a letter reminding him to get a covid booster jab this spring if he is over 75 yo or has a weakened immune system. A simple database filter would show he’s 29 and doesn’t suffer from either xyz or have weakened immunity. Wonder how many of these letters have been sent out, and at the cost, telling people to get something they are not eligible for?
I have received 3 letters for the same appointment, all sent at the same time. I sometimes feel that the NHS is signing its own death warrant with all the inexcusable waste that goes on.

Sounds about par for the course - so wasteful! Also can I draw attention to all the medical support apparatus that is given to patients and they don't want back e.g, crutches- we currently have two in the loft. Our neighbour has a zimmer frame on her balcony (from when her OH had mobility problems). You'd think they could devise a way to sterilise these and then recycle them.

MrsNemo

Letters I have had recently from the out patients department of our local hospital have all consisted of two sheets of paper; the second sheet says only 'Yours sincerely, Doctor Smith' at the top of the page.
My husband had two letters from them with exactly the same paper waste. I rang them and said that if they moved the text up by two lines on the first page they could halve their printing paper bill. From the reception I received I fear they thought I was some sort of insane nuisance caller.

I'm guessing it is on a separate page so that the doctor doesn't have to sign the letter, they probably have a pile of printed pages to add to every letter.

Someone ought to send this thread to the Health Secretary who probably has no idea of what real people think and certainly has no control over NHS being so wasteful and not acting as one.

Growstuff, I did not say I had any solution to the problems of the NHS but it is clear that the current system has no answers except for people to say it needs proper funding.

One answer is to look at how other countries deal with the provision of healthcare. We could look at France and Australia for a start. All I pointed out was that we spend a third of jour national income on the NHS. So do not deflect to protect Maddie’ s comment that I was wrong. My comment came from Full Facts. Where do you get your facts from?

Apart from duplicate letters, what shocked and saddened me was after I had an accident. I had excellent care. On leaving hospital I was given a commode, an elevated chair. One pair of elbow crutches and a walking stick. After I recovered I enquired about returning said items. I was told do what you want with them, we dont have the facility to take them back. The commode was unused. I tried the physio I attended, and she begged me not to bring them to her, she had no room for them. Commode eventually went to a charity shop. Elbow crutches went to a man who put an appeal on fb for a pair. I use stick. Multiply this by the thousands of people who are given these items and it's no wonder the NHS is on its knees.

Lomol,

Thank you for your account. When my husband needed crutches after a fall we had the same experience as you. Nobody was interested in taking the crutches back so they too went to a Charity shop. This was in NW London.
I wonder why they could not set up a receiving unit?

My Father in Law 93 has received 5 such letters, despite having the jab after letter number one

Anniel

Growstuff, I did not say I had any solution to the problems of the NHS but it is clear that the current system has no answers except for people to say it needs proper funding.

One answer is to look at how other countries deal with the provision of healthcare. We could look at France and Australia for a start. All I pointed out was that we spend a third of jour national income on the NHS. So do not deflect to protect Maddie’ s comment that I was wrong. My comment came from Full Facts. Where do you get your facts from?

No Annie1 I didn't just say it needs proper funding. Try reading what I wrote!

I wrote that it needs reorganisation - reverse the fragmentation, privatisation and profiteering for a start. Introduce an IT system that works for everyone. Listen to the stakeholders ie patients.

I asked what reorganisation you'd introduce, but you seem to have no idea. You just repeat the Tory mantra!

Incidentally, I get my facts first hand from somebody who is a very recently retired senior manager and from reading resources from organisations such as King's Fund, who really do know what they're talking about.

Anniel

Lomol,

Thank you for your account. When my husband needed crutches after a fall we had the same experience as you. Nobody was interested in taking the crutches back so they too went to a Charity shop. This was in NW London.
I wonder why they could not set up a receiving unit?

A few years ago the NHS claimed that it wasn’t worth them taking equipment back because it all had to be checked, sanitised etc. That never did sit right with me bearing in mind how expensive some of this equipment is.

I think it was last year that, after so many complaints of NHS wasting money, they then appealed for stuff to be returned.

When my Mum went into care we had NHS bed rails, walking frame, 2 x toilet seats, 2 x toilet frames, perching stool and we rang the number on the equipment for a firm called NRS to collect. I told them where the equipment was left and that they could access it at any time. After 5 calls to them over 2 months all the gear remained there. On the final day we had to hand the keys to new owner so we took it all to a shed at the GP practice where they loan stuff out unofficially. It was either that or dump it. Our recycling centre is awash with walkers, frames etc.

Now to the definitive way one of the respondents lectured me on funding for NHS, This erudite Gran scolded me for saying we pay the NHS through taxation.

I had read that in more than one place. So here is what Full Fact link which must have lead me astray.

You will read it just about everywhere you care to look, Anniel but that doesn't make it true.

I prefer to make a judgement on the results of empirical academic research (i.e people who have the expertise to closely examine what actually happens in regard to government financing) Much as I respect Full Fact they are only, in this instance, repeating an economic myth.

Try this, instead:

These guys have exhaustively researched the subject. Their conclusion

This paper constitutes a first detailed institutional analysis of the UK Government’s expenditure, revenue collection and debt issuance processes. We find, first, that the UK Government creates new money and purchasing power when it undertakes expenditure, rather than spending being financed by taxation from, or debt issuance to, the private sector.

*The analysis is based on* an extensive review of current and historical primary legislation, official publications from public authorities including HM Treasury, the Debt Management Office, Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC), the Bank of England (BoE) and other relevant institutions, additional pertinent literature describing the historical evolution of the system, and requests made to the above-mentioned departments under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act 2000 (Berkeley et al. 2021).2

Who can argue with that?

www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/public-purpose/sites/bartlett_public_purpose/files/the_self-financing_state_an_institutional_analysis_of_government_expenditure_revenue_collection_and_debt_issuance_operations_in_the_united_kingdom.pdf

It would be helpful if more people took note..

I think the erudite member was Maddie No, it was me...

NanaDana. I live in Northumberland and attend the Newcastle hospitals. I’ve never been offered an email service. They all have my landline and mob numbers but still send letters apart from my gp appointment reminders on text. My mother has appointments at same time for different hospitals. She has had 3 visits to giver her a covid jab when her current medication means it would be to ineffective.
I sometimes think, do these admin workers never look at someone’s details before they send off teams of paperwork