NHS wasting money

Time2

For those of you giving unwanted medical items to charities, while obviously it's a good thing to do, as it stops them being wasted, but these items should be going back into the NHS, thereby saving us, the British tax payer money, rather than being sent abroad.

They don’t want them back and tell you to dispose of it.

Medical equipment should, of course be re-used. Many years ago, I used to take unused and unopened client medication to the GP surgery where the dates were checked and they were sent to a charity which took them to the third world. Then bureaucracy stepped in and government agencies made it too onerous a task for GPs to do this. Elf and safety took over. "Well the meds might have been stored at the wrong temperature" was the classic mantra.

Some medications can be used for animals. Omeprazole,for instance. There is an organisation either in Devon or Dorset which takes them. Sorry, have forgotten the name.

When I was in hospital recently the food was inedible. The “toast” for breakfast was more like warm bread! Meals were mostly dried out. My family brought me sandwiches and flasks of coffee.
A nurse told me a lot of the food goes in the bin. This is a total waste of money. I thought of writing to the papers but because my medical care was excellent I felt guilty about doing that.

Georgesgran

Yes, they should Time2 but if you read the thread, the NHS doesn’t want them! Believe me, it’s frustrating for those of us dumping supplies elsewhere.

My local NHS Trust is posting on Facebook asking people to return euipment and supplies.

I have boxes of high nutritional drinks, incontinence pads and unopened nebuliser antibiotics! All in date ! My husband passed away in October and I have been told to bin them!! I am really struggling to bin things I know cost a fortune but I can’t find anyone who will take them and use them! So much money wasted on perfectly usable items. I can understand the drugs a little but these are all individually sealed and very expensive and I was given 4 boxes two weeks before he died!

I used to work for an NHS trust and the amount of money wasted was criminal particularly on useless IT systems.These were usually required to do a specific job and were always managed by eye wateringly paid consultants who swanned in and out again leaving systems that were not fit for purpose so were never used. During my time we had so many reorganisations that each time a new manager was appointed they would identify that a new system was needed and the whole process would start again!

Forgot to say that the antibiotics will be returned to the pharmacy not dumped in a bin!!!

sankev

Forgot to say that the antibiotics will be returned to the pharmacy not dumped in a bin!!!

They will bin them.
You should always check your medications at the pharmacy as you receive them. Once they are out of the pharmacy they are deemed as contaminated.

sankev if the individual packs of incontinence pads are still sealed then charity shops will take the incontinence pads.

Or these and the drinks would both be snapped up on freecycle.org

Brandygran hospital food has been inedible for decades.Visited sister in law in 1980 and dinner was a dollop of scrambled egg and 2 tinned tomatoes.Poor thing pushed it away and her husband went out and got her a takeaway

Last time I was in hospital I got 2 meals in two and a half days. Mainly because I was 'nil by mouth' for 2 days because, as I was in for a very minor procedure, it kepy getting postponed.

When I finally escaped I made DH immediately take me to the local gastro pub.for a 3 course meal I felt so much better once I had had a proper meal.

We managed to return walkers, commode, something else I can't remember, with just one phonecall to SS - they were collected. I returned wheel chair to Red Cross.
I think it's just an efficiency thing with hospitals - everything returned has to be checked, and equipment disinfected: simply, no-one has time and to employ someone to do so would not neccessarily be cost-effective. Time is money. I agree the waste is upsetting.However not everyone can be trusted to return things in a safe state & there is opportunity for malice.

Thanks non spaghetti, I will give them a try 🤞

There are costs involved in returning equipment, it’s esssy to be an expert when not directly responsible.

A word of support for our nhs. I’ve had complex health problems for six months. I can’t praise my GPs or specialists enough.

My much loved family member I’d currently in ICU. His life saved and the care he’s receiving wonderful, as is the support his loved ones are receiving.

We are becoming experts at complaining

Our son had HS purpura (spelling?) at 18 months the (21 years ago now). Never forget, we had to do a urine dip test for a week after he was discharged. They gave us a canister of 100 strips. I took them back to the hospital but they couldn’t accept them as it was opened.
When our daughter was born, I couldn’t always feed her as she was in an incubator for a week with jaundice. They fed her from little bottles of ready made Aptamil, maybe 100 ml when she was taking maybe 15/20 at each feed. When she was well and discharged, they couldn’t use the remaining, sealed, bottles from a tray of 24 because the plastic seal had been opened.
Long time ago now, they’re, 31 and 23 now. Hope those things have changed.

Plastic seal on the tray, not the individual bottles of which there were 20 that morning. Thrown away!

Iam64

There are costs involved in returning equipment, it’s esssy to be an expert when not directly responsible.

A word of support for our nhs. I’ve had complex health problems for six months. I can’t praise my GPs or specialists enough.

My much loved family member I’d currently in ICU. His life saved and the care he’s receiving wonderful, as is the support his loved ones are receiving.

We are becoming experts at complaining

The NHS is marvellous in an emergency, as my daughter and DH have every reason to know.

It is the everyday problems and seemingly non-emergency issues where it is such a failure and where DD and DH were brought close to death by errors and ommissions and where I had 2 misdiagnosese that have permananetly affectd my mental health. The health issues, only finally sorted when I paid for private treatment.

Iam64

There are costs involved in returning equipment, it’s esssy to be an expert when not directly responsible.

A word of support for our nhs. I’ve had complex health problems for six months. I can’t praise my GPs or specialists enough.

My much loved family member I’d currently in ICU. His life saved and the care he’s receiving wonderful, as is the support his loved ones are receiving.

We are becoming experts at complaining

It’s natural and appropriate to be grateful to the NHS if a member of your family has had their life saved.

I have spent the past nearly two years in hospitals (5 so far) with my husband and son. Parts of the NHS are very good. I am very grateful to the surgeon who operated on my son for over 8 hours. If he had not had the surgery he would have died in just 3 months. The whole team on the ICU team were brilliant but the care once he got to a ward was patchy.

Other areas of the NHS are very poor. Communication is poor, waiting times are too long, medication is wasted, cleanliness leaves a lot to be desired, staff not able to communicate properly in English is embarrassing for themselves and patients, food is not suitable for sick patients, physio is almost non existent in hospitals.

I’m another who has spent more time involved with hospitals for the past four years. Sadly, my husband’s life couldn’t be saved but the care during his last six months, then end of life was excellent clinically as well as the communication with consultants, nurses etc

I recognise the waiting time issue but that’s not down to careless staff, it’s political. We haven’t trained enough doctors. Medical staff at every level acquire huge student debt then earn less than they can in other countries.

I worked in public service. The push to privatise cleaning, meal prep , residential care settings etc was just wrong.
The nhs isn’t perfect but the care in icu my son in law is getting is streets ahead of that when he was in the European country where he became so sick.

There are plenty of trained doctors, Iam64. Unfortunately, there are not enough jobs for them, so they go off to other countries to work, or they change careers altogether. What a monumental waste that is.

PamelaJ1

Astitchintime

Automatic prescription requests are a pet hate of mine. I used to go to patients homes and they had boxes full of unwanted meds that were prescribed for ‘as and when required’ but were issued every month regardless……….GTN sprays, inhalers etc being examples.
The money wasted was criminal!

Our surgery won’t let me have more than 4weeks supply of medication at a time unless you have a very good reason. I go to visit my DD for over a month each year and I have to write in to request an extra box.

My surgery are very on the ball about repeat meds and checking amounts appropriate. The lead pharmacist at the surgery is quite strict.

SueDonim yes I dont understand it. Same with midwives, we have a shortage but they can’t find jobs

My husband died aged 49 and the teaching hospital he was in passed his notes round the students.One said sir this is wrong.Temperature rose and white cell count had fallen 😨

Anyone knows a rise in temperature sends your white cell count through the roof