Our most precious institution

What a wonderful outcome! So happy for you that he is on the mend. Yes, our NHS is wonderful and I am so scared that it is being privatised by stealth. I can only endorse your words.

I am always astounded by nhs , we personally need it a lot, and when I hear what my daughter has to pay in oz I'm amazed more people here are not more appreciative

What a frightening experience that must have been for you all, but such a happy ending.

Happy for you all.
NHS paramedic responded very quickly after I dialled 111 for breathing difficulties due to my lung problem, was soon in hospital and recovered after a couple of hours treatment by wonderful nurses.
Thank God for our great NHS.

And it is worth remembering that the air ambulance is a voluntary service.

So glad that your wee GS is getting the care he needs.

Thank you for sharing your story Sluttygran, and the wonderful outcome. We sometimes take the precious NHS for granted, but when we need them, they are there for us, as I know for myself.

So glad the outcome was good Sluttygran, it must have been traumatic for you all.
Years ago we were on a coach tour in the US when my daughter became ill in Yosemite national park and had to be taken to the medical centre. The first thing they wanted was proof of insurance before they would do anything. Luckily we had taken out insurance and she was only suffering from dehydration but they charged for every little thing, even the elastoplast to hold the introvenious drip in place for fluids.
When we got home, we got the bill equivalent to £3200 and that was in 1998! we passed it on to the insurance but we would be absolutely crazy to allow this system of medical care to become the norm in this country. We all have to fight for the NHS and not be complacent about it and let big business steal it away from us.

As an EMERGENCY service the NHS is superb, as we too have cause to know. It is just what happens when it isn't an emergency.

I've never moaned about our NHS my family and me have always received fantastic treatment .My OH had a heart attack during the night ,he decided not to wake me but just to call NHS 24 ,they sent a blue light ambulance for him and he woke me to tell me it was on its way.By the time I had thrown on jeans and a jumper it was here and he was being treated by two lovely paramedics.We found out later that day that he had in fact had other heart attacks in the weeks before but becuase they were mild he had ignored them.
Day to day care is always good here too,I can call for an appointment at 9am and see a doctor before lunchtime....or quicker if I think its urgent ,and I have an "open2 appointment with the physio for my herniated disc..just call if theres a problem with it and she'll see me straight away .

I do believe there are many administrative layers of the NHS which need to be called to account as to how their large budgets are spent, but as for the service itself it's wonderful. I have many reasons to be extremely grateful for the care I have received over the last ten years.

Thank goodness your baby grandson is on the mend sluttygran but what a terrifying experience for you all.

The NHS should NOT be a political football, ever.

It's existence and management is a cross party matter and I want to see the day when all parties stand together and pledge it will always exist. The NHS belongs to us all. I'd happily pay a few pence a month if an NHS tax was levied, as has been suggested.

sluttygran that must have been terrifying for you all - yes, thank goodness for our NHS and all who work in it.

menopaws I agree about the cost of healthcare in Australia and the 'care' is often nowhere near the standard that we take for granted with our NHS.

and all the very best for a full recovery for your DGS sluttygran

Thanks everyone for your kind good wishes. DGS continues to improve and has regained his excellent appetite!
His parents and I are still shaking and quaking and will probably feel traumatised for a week or two!
I’m very glad that you all feel as I do about the NHS. It is badly administered in many ways, and could, I believe, be streamlined to great advantage, but nevertheless it has consistently delivered not only superb care for patients but also world-class training for doctors and nurses.
We are so very lucky, and I hope we continue to enjoy this tremendous care in perpetuity.

Hear hear!

Thank you for sharing your experience slutty. My youngest dgs has been taken to A&E 3 times lately with breathing difficulties so we also have cause to be specially grateful.

How terrifying sluttygran, thank goodness he is on the mend. I do appreciate the NHS but I don't agree with all this talk that anyone is trying to privatise it - no party wants to privatise it, it's just scaremongering.

I’m so, so pleased that your little GS is gong to be all right. You must have been absolutely terrified.

Oh lord I can just feel the cold sweat of realising the moment you heard and saw your darling GC was the one being attended to. As you say traumatising sluttygran.

Big hugs to the little one and I hope you all can eventually shake that image out of your heads but probably not for a while possibly.

Indeed your posting actually had me breaking out into a cold sweat.
It does not take much to think what the outcome for that one dear child would have been, had it not been for A/ a mother`s own "feelings" and doing the right thing...........along with our NHS staff working at their best,complete with all the other emergency services, hot on their heels,covering every eventuality.

As a former member of the NHS,and a long time patient ever since, I have nothing but great praise and admiration for the brilliant job of work they do...........and today in the most difficult climate and circumstances.
I firmly support them and have great hopes they will continue their magnificent work.

Whilst sluttygran I am so pleased that you all acted with such speed and although the most terrifying of experiences, hopefully your darling grandson will now continue to progress back to optimum health again..... and this nightmare will soon become eradicated from your minds.

Although it has obviously opened your eyes to the wonderful service our NHS really gives us..............despite all the brick bats.

Oh I felt your absolute fear,thank God baby is ok! Well done to the NHS staff, ?

My heart skipped a beat or two just reading your 1st post, sluttygran. It sounds like he has had excellent and very prompt treatment but thank goodness your dd trusted her own instincts as a mum and acted so promptly in the first instance. I hope your lovely boy continues to recover well and that you can relax a bit, what a traumatic experience for you all.

The NHS is brilliant in an emergency - I too have had personal experience of the kindness and efficiency of staff. However it's the day to day running of the NHS that is the problem and perhaps it is time for a 70 year old service to have a progressive revamp with patients as the focus rather than management

I'm working my way through episodes of the recent series Hospital, and it is amazing the lengths doctors and nurses go to to help people - but the overwhelming sense I have is that the main problems are due to bed-blocking. There is also very clearly a pressure on paediatric intensive care from the amazing advances in treatment of premature babies, so that these tiny babies who would have died before survive but require months in hospital in paediatric ITU, meaning there are fewer beds for other children, and at great expense to the NHS. I really don't know what the answer is..

Agreed. Those politicians who attempt to "weaponize" the NHS should not receive our votes.

Vote instead for excellent management, nursing and clinical care delivering ongoing improvements to prevent and limit suffering.