NHS collapsing....

I don't want to go into political views but I am told that many of the the health service's staff feel that this particular government would like to make changes, echoing the American system. Time and time again I hear this, which of course, horrifies me.

I have only protested on the streets once but this would have me out in a nanosecond. The NHS is being run down with, so it seems, the long-term goal of disbanding what we all know and love in mind.

The only evidence I have for the above statements is that from NHS personnel which of course, are subjective but the ones I know all say the same thing.

Luckygirl 13, I will PM you.

👏👏👏 grandtanteJ.

It is clear that hospitals, departments, doctors and nurses are of variable quality. Patients have bad and good experiences. But it is also clear that pay is not adequate to support recruitment and retention regardless of individuals' wanting more pay. Staff move abroad and into the private sector. Brexit has robbed the NHS of experienced immigrant staff. International comparison shows we have less hospital beds, less staff and up to date equipment per 1000 population in France and Germany to name but two. There is obvious underfunding but also little attempt to reform the NHS and primary care to make them deliver better. Both main Parties must carry responsibility for this but the Tories have been in power 13 years so recent problems were theirs to fix. Social care of the elderly was supposed to be 'fixed' by Johnson but I can see no sign of that and it contributes to NHS bed inefficiency.

We all know that hospitals are understaffed and staff underpaid, but really the problems OP described have more to do with whoever is in charge not being up to their job.

A sister or staff nurse who finds staff not wearing masks when they should be, is not doing her job properly if she only tells them to put them on and does not come back to check that they are actually wearing them.

If she was competent she would have done so, or the problem would never have arisen, as the staff would not have dared take masks off.

Likewise, if hospital notes and journals are not to be found, someone else is slipping up badly.

If British hospitals are not yet using digital journals that any consultant, junior doctor, or nurse can access, then all who need the notes should make sure they are returned to a medical secretary who files them properly and can find them again next time they are needed.

A great many of these problems would be solved if administrators were better at their jobs, or if the day-to-day running of any ward was put back into the hands of the ward sister. We are all of us old enough to remember the martinets that even consultants were afraid of - no-one lost journals or was incorrectly dressed when those ladies were in charge.

The current gov't use lots of private companies to provide different sorts of care and they are more expensive and not necessarily better, because they are allowed to use the NHS logo it's not immediately obvious. Private companies have shareholders who expect a payout so that money does not go into frontline services. In time Labour will return to the old funding model which is better value and more ethical

Sad to say, but it appears that there is a bit of a postcode lottery going on as regards the level of NHS care available. Everywhere is most certainly under intense pressure, but some places appear to be faring better than others. Here in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, my partner and I, with multiple age-related health problems, are still being well-cared for, despite having the odd hospital appointment postponed. No problem with getting GP appointments, either. I'm sure that all involved are doing their best, often with limited budgets and serious under-manning. Even if major Government investment is forthcoming, which there needs to be, I can't see anything improving very much anytime soon.

Oops, pressed the wrong button.

...are we treading the right path?

I am aware that in the worst case scenario I would want treatment at any cost or if my children were in that position, I would want it. However, there are people I see at my mother's end of life where continual treatment seems cruel. Palliative care would seem kinder.

Sadly there are areas/hospital departments which are just not fit for purpose. We need to really have a grown up conversation about what we want from our NHS, how we pay for it, how fund training for those who want to work in it and if there are areas where treatment can be removed from the NHS altogether. It is all very well keeping people alive at all costs but if their lives are uncomfortable and the people with non life threatening problems have a miserable life because they are in so much pain, are we treading the right path?

We are very lucky in our area - things do get done - BUT after 2 years of my husband being on dialysis followed by a kidney transplant all the visits to various hospitals just showed how poor and time consuming their working practices are. They don't seem to have embraced technology to help them and the waste (drugs, equipment, their time - and ours is unbelievable). I witnessed qualified nurses doing admin jobs, and I had the "dispose of 6 months worth of dialysis fluids because they wouldn't take them back, even though they were still in their unopened boxes and double wrapped in plastic inside. I do appreciate the wonderful job they do but they need to understand that such wastage is not acceptable - It isn't a matter of simply throwing more money at the NHS - the staff all need to work smarter and not waste the precious resources they are being given to work with If you gave a beggar a sandwich and he threw it away, you wouldn't give him another one would you!

Sorry you had a bad experience. I got rushed into mine after being given some antibiotics that I shouldn’t have been given with the medication I take. It clearly states on the website that all pharmacies and drs look at. Anyway I kept blacking out I somehow managed to ring 111 and they sent ambulance who took me to hospital from 111 to ambulance crew to emergency department to ward I couldn’t have thanked them enough for all the care I received. They locked my house grab my bag my phone as I was so out of it and only remember vague things. Turned out I had an allergic reaction to the medication. Not all hospitals are bad.

Georgesgran

I’m cross that DD2s podiatry appointment has been cancelled for the fourth time since October. Following a week’s stay in Hospital, she was told she’s at high risk because of her disability and needs to be seen regularly - she hasn’t been seen at all since discharge.
So, what’s going on?

The Tories in charge of us at the moment don't want the NHS cos most of them don't use it, they pay to go private all the time and don't want to pay the part of our taxes & national insurance that they are currently obliged to do. They know this is not going to be a popular policy so they run down the NHS so people loose confidence in it, say its a load of rubbish and sign up to a private scheme. Same with dentists. I don't get podiatry any more now cos of cuts unless I pay same with dentists, my NHS appt. has been cancelled several times over a few months and now the surgery no longer offers NHS appointments. I'm sure the same will be true of GP services if the Tories get in again. Labour built the NHS & Labour will fix it when they get in next time. Rishi will not agree to a general election now cos he knows they will loose badly. I'm furious as are many others cos they don't have a mandate for this cos it was never in their manifesto before the election they won.

I’m cross that DD2s podiatry appointment has been cancelled for the fourth time since October. Following a week’s stay in Hospital, she was told she’s at high risk because of her disability and needs to be seen regularly - she hasn’t been seen at all since discharge.
So, what’s going on?

I am OK - thanks to those who asked. Once my heart settles back into a normal rhythm I am absolutely fine - until the next time!

But the result of biopsy of black thing on toe has not yet arrived. Five weeks now - but I am told by others who have been in the same boat that theirs came after six weeks. I am assuming it would be quicker if it was bad news!

Eloethan

12 years ago (I think it's been 12 years), the Labour Party warned that electing a Conservative government would result in the ruination of the NHS. What a pity some people weren't listening.

This

We have similar issues here. The vast sums paid for insurance only give you a shorter queue but the specialists are the same people. The private hospitals have better food but the care is the same and really, who cares about the food when you are ill? I think we pay higher wages but then the cost of living is probably higher by the sounds of things. We do have sun, though!

12 years ago (I think it's been 12 years), the Labour Party warned that electing a Conservative government would result in the ruination of the NHS. What a pity some people weren't listening.

I hope you get some answers and the right treatment soon Luckygirl

We've found that the administrative systems are completely chaotic - I wouldn't know where to begin with the lists of administrative errors we have encountered which must cost the NHS money and the medical staff additional stress.

Not sure what paddyann54 means - the NHS is devolved in Scotland and has been since 1999, so I’m not sure she can blame the Westminster government for NHS Scotland’s shortcomings. The NHS in general in Scotland is the same as anywhere else in the UK - it varies from area to area. A&E in my area is quite good, GP surgeries not so much, some mums have to travel 60 miles to give birth, on one of the worst and most dangerous roads in Scotland.

How are things going Lucky? Did you find out your toe too?

I’m sorry your experience in hospital was so awful x

Luckygirl3

Had to go into A&E again today with heart rhythm problem - I have never seen such chaos. Right hand not knowing what left hand is doing.

And the clerk and nurses in the unit I was in were not wearing masks and coughing all over the place - a higher nurse came in and told them to put them on - which they did, until this nurse left, then they all took them off again.

I think they were reading the wrong notes when they saw me - talked about a knee x-ray which I have never had; and said they have no record of me having AF - I have been in their coronary care unit with it in the past! - and am on blood thinners for it! And they could not find my recent echocardiogram result - which I had in the same hospital!

I said it might be better if I left as the problem had settled - as it often does. But I had had a heart rate between 130 and 160 for several hours when I rang 111; and I had a long AF episode 3 weeks ago, so I wanted to get it settled this time. But I could not go unless I discharged myself and did not want that on my notes.

A local friend from the village was in there - she has had sepsis and only recently discharged after months in hospital and finishing up with a permanent colostomy. She is still on high dose antibiotics to try and prevent the sepsis returning. She is being looked after by district nurse who did a blood test and found she was seriously anaemic and arranged for her to come in for a blood transfusion today. When I arrived she had been waiting several hours - and by the time I left several more hours later she still had not had the transfusion - and had been told she must not take her antibiotics (which are vital in her case - she nearly died several times of her sepsis) as they would have to get the pharmacy to prescribe it for her even though she was only in as a day case. The district nurse has told her to take them in with her and take them on time.

There was so much more chaos that is indescribable. What a dreadful mess it all is.

I am trying to get some proper advice as to how to manage this arrythmia in the long term but getting an appointment with a GP round here is virtually impossible. I have a phone appointment booked for next week 5 weeks after I rang and asked for it.

It is all so sad.

Hi Luckygirl, I suffer from SVT episodes and am on the waiting list for cardiac ablation, which I think can also be beneficial in AF. Have had a couple of admissions to A&E and doses of Adenosine, which is effective, but a bit scary! Maybe I’ve been lucky, but all experiences have been reassuring and positive here in South West 😊

How are you doing Lucky?

Oreo

I’m not a pensioner.
Many grans aren’t!

You wrote all, so I assumed you meant "all", including pensioners.

I have spent the afternoon at our local hospital after being referred 2 weeks ago for am urgent appointment.
All went well and staff were professional and friendly and I was very grateful that I didn’t have long to wait.

The Nhs is on its knees and the current government have been deliberately running it down for years.
We are so lucky and hope it remains to serve the people.

I've been in A&E twice recently (in Cornwall) due to extreme breathlessness. The first time my doctor booked a CT scan and inserted a cannula at the surgery so I didn't have to wait long in A&E. The second time was on Monday when I had to call an ambulance, which came within minutes and, in spite of the doctors' strike I was given marvellous care and attention, even though A&E was packed. I'm so very sorry to hear that many others are struggling to receive such good care.

I’m afraid you may be right, but surely in the uk there would be cover for the dispossessed, the mentally ill who live on our streets…….. ah.