In praise of the NHS

I'm really glad your husband has excellent treatment and that he is hopefully on the mend now. I think the NHS is wonderful and works miracles every day. I had a small op before Christmas and the care was excellent my only problem is its almost a month later and I haven't been told the results of the biopsies but this is an admin failure rather than a clinical one.

We had just the same excellent amazing service when DH had an unspecified viral infection and heart failure 3years ago and when he had his heart attack this time last year. The care, compassion, professionalism and expertise left me so full of admiration and realisation that to lose this would be the biggest folly in the world.

I and my family have always had brilliant care from the NHS ,when my son was born 11 and a half weeks early he was the only baby in the special care unit and his treatment was second to none,both my parents had ongoing health issues and had amazing care both at home( mum had nurses 3 times a day) and in hospital and when my husband had a heart attack 5 years ago not only was his emergency care amazing but the aftercare with nutritionist,physio and exercise classes ,check ups and even phone calls from the after care team to check on him.I had an ovarian problem that meant gynae care for over 2 years and agin it was excellent.So NHS Scotland certainly gets my praise ,I dont know how we would cope without it and as for the American insurance system its my idea of a nightmare

I have good reason to think the NHS is wonderful too I can't imagine how difficult it is for the staff trying to juggle stuff. We will be sorry if we don't fight for it.

I hope your husband recovers vampireqeen and that you too recover from the terrible shock. I agree we must do all we can to save our NHS. I watched the news this morning about Teresa May almost ordering G.P's to work longer and harder. That worries me too. What if my lovely G.P and other good G.P's think they've had enough of this and leave in droves. Anyway I don't want to turn this into a political thread. It's really reassuring to hear how good our hospitals do in a crisis and very reassuring after all the bad news we hear. Thanks for sharing. Once again hope your husband makes a speedy recovery. Best wishes.

Best wishes to you both vq and I hope you soon get a diagnosis and treatment for your H.
You have obviously downplayed how terrifying it must have been for you both, I hope you soon recover.
Well done NHS.

I really dont see why it would be a problem for GP surgeries to have a walk in surgery in the evenings ...many jobs involve shifts and years ago GP's were availabe 24/7 .And not as well paid either .It would certainly take the strain off A and E departments if there was a rota for after hours appointments ,though I honestly think the daytime appointment system is ridiculous anyway ,if you need to see a doctor for a reason thats not urgent you have to take time off work.I'm sure many people just struggle on until it becomes serious enough to go to A and E rather than lose wages

This demonstrates that Accident and Emergency departments are good in emergencies. Unfortunately people attend who don't have an emergency.
However as you were in the department for 13 hours this was a breach of the 4 hour target as your husband wasn't admitted to a ward or discharged within 4 hours.
So in a target driven culture this would be classed a failure not the success story you rightly see it as.
This shows that judging the NHS by targets makes headline stories but it isn't always appropriate.
Best wishes to you both and hope for a speedy recovery.

I hope your DH continued to improve vq I have mentioned on here before the excellent treatment my DH received from the NHS when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer a couple of years ago. We had no long waits for scans, biopsy etc. We had kind, courteous and friendly staff at all times. I can't remember an occasion when were weren't called in to the doctor's office within 10 minutes of our appointment time. He had to have 37 days of radiotherapy. As our nearest NHS hospital was overloaded with patients having radiotherapy we were sent to a private hospital (on the NHS), 20 minutes drive from our home, for his treatment. Apparently this is done sometimes as private hospitals are under-used. Thankfully he is OK now but we couldn't fault the care given by the NHS.

My daughter was rushed by ambulance to A & E late evening on New Year Eve.

It was extremely busy, she was seen by a consultant , bloods etc taken and was in a single side ward same evening still in A & E . Sunday she was in a ward and the consultant brought her the results of the tests. She still in very ill but I was so grateful that even though it was like a circus that night she was less than an hour from ambulance to the reception area to a side ward , they saved her life by acting so quickly that night.

Oh! annie what a rotten start to 2017

Pagzy

A sensible post. Been there done that and got the t.shirt. As long as we were in the hospital being on a ward / admitted was the least of our problems and seeing the despair of others around us the target of 4 hours was not an issue, just greatful the care was being given.

Hubby is at present undergoing tests due to having prostate cancer and so far we cannot fault any of the NHS service.

The NHS is a like trying to get the proverbial square peg in the round hole and if in any business demand outstrips supply you will have problems. Time and again we are told of the rise in population and the rise in hospital at tendencies the 2 cannot be so easily separated.

It should not be a politic football either but a cross party issue, if they could ever agree.

I agree paddyann, I know I'm not the only one who doesn't want to take time off work for a GP appointment. There are people relying on me to be at work first thing in the morning until 5pm. I would be prepared to pay £20 for an out of hours consultation.
A & E is different and I would hope for the same great service your DH had vampirequeen. I hope all goes well once they diagnose the problem.

Our GP appointments start at 7am.

Ha ha Katyk....... I'm on the tube at 6.30 am!

Our local BMI hospital has a private GP service i it is quite costly and drugs have to be paid for. When I was at reception recently a man was paying just short of £80 for his wife's prescription However I know several people who have used it in an emergency. Friends were going on holiday and the wife got an ear infection. Her GP had no appointments so they bit the bullet and paid so that they could fy.

My Dad was a GP. He could never get over the short working hours of modern GPs. He had 2 surgeries a day. Everyone was seen. No appointments. Between them he did home visits. Sometimes these would be to people who hadn't asked for a visit but who he was worried about. We lived above the surgery. Our dining room was the waiting room. Changed days now!!

Yes Jane I remember our old ( to me) Scottish doctor, we went to his house ( front room the waiting room) and simply waited, he would pop his head around the door and say 'who's next?' And everybody was honest !
He did long surgeries, all would be seen and got called out at nights.Just him, no other doctors at the practice.

Things don't always get better!

Oh Lillie Here speaks a retired person!!

Vq Hope you are both ok. The N.h.S A & E staff are superhuman and deserve so much praise.

So a 7.30 appointment would mean you're an hour late for work, Lillie. Sorry, but you'd take time off to see a solicitor or an accountant. Nobody's indispensable at work, especially if you drop dead because you've neglected your health.

Jane10. I hope your Dad wasn't my GP, when I lived in London. He was the rudest, most arrogant person I think I've ever come across. The surgery was a smelly single room. He made it quite clear that HE was the only one who knew about medicine. I only visited him twice and found out later that nobody went to him, if they really thought they were ill. They went straight to A & E. I'm glad I was hardly ever ill.

There are GP surgeries at the major London train stations. Maybe they'd suit you, Lillie.

DH came home yesterday. He's still taking medication for the dizziness and vomiting but is much better. They also did an MRI and discovered that the artery to his brain is a bit blocked. The GP took bloods and his treatment depends on the results. If he's diabetic or borderline diabetic they will treat for the blocked artery but if he's ok then it's just lose weight and take more exercise.