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NHS collapsing....

(114 Posts)
Marydoll Wed 15-Mar-23 16:53:04

I am sorry to hear of your experience Lucky, I had the exact opposite experience about a month ago.

My GP phoned the heart professor for adice, which was given there and then.
The next thing I knew was, a few days later, that I received a phone call, telling me I was being admitted to the cardiology ward, bypassing A & E.
My care was exemplary and all staff wore masks the whole time I was an in patient.
I attend clinics at the same Glasgow hospital and masks are compulsory.

I find your experience shocking.
I hope you get the help and support you need.

Luckygirl3 Wed 15-Mar-23 16:28:33

Freya5

Nothing at all like the experience in my local hospital. Brand new A&E dept, unfortunately had to be used by a dear friend over the weekend, care second to non she said. Newly installed MRI scanner, overseen by my lovely next door neighbour. Polish ENT consultant, German Gynae Consultant, some Spanish and Romanian, Portuguese , African, staff,although majority are local born and bred.
Sorry but I think many on here love denigrating the NHS, due to their left leanings and obvious bias against anything, or anyone, Conservative.

I am not denigrating the NHS - just outlining what has happened to me with a very heavy heart. My OH and I spent many years working in the NHS locally and it is sad to see where things are on our area.

And my political leanings are irrelevant; but on that topic, why would "left-leaning" people wish to denigrate the NHS? Its current problems are there for all to see, whatever their political leanings. I know many conservative friends who are appalled at the lack of support for the NHS.

notgran Wed 15-Mar-23 16:25:03

Sorry your experience was so bad. I spent almost an entire day in A&E last week. They were very busy but I got excellent attention from Doctors and Nurses. Within 3 days I have had a CT scan appointment, a telephone conversation with my GP and am expecting to have a small op in the next 2/3 weeks. I had another call from a specialist reassuring me about the procedure and he said if I had any further questions speak to his secretary and gave me her direct number. All NHS staff and most impressive. I also have my 3 yearly mammogram coming up next month and possibly an ultra sound to see if my gall bladder is OK, which was picked up last week at A&E after a blood test. I very rarely am ill or need medical attention but I have to say there was nothing from my very recent experience to think NHS is collapsing.

vampirequeen Wed 15-Mar-23 16:21:42

Who is denigrating the NHS?

Freya5 Wed 15-Mar-23 16:17:31

Nothing at all like the experience in my local hospital. Brand new A&E dept, unfortunately had to be used by a dear friend over the weekend, care second to non she said. Newly installed MRI scanner, overseen by my lovely next door neighbour. Polish ENT consultant, German Gynae Consultant, some Spanish and Romanian, Portuguese , African, staff,although majority are local born and bred.
Sorry but I think many on here love denigrating the NHS, due to their left leanings and obvious bias against anything, or anyone, Conservative.

AGAA4 Wed 15-Mar-23 16:11:51

My DD, a nurse, told me that they had lost too many foreign, fully qualified nurses with years of experience due to Brexit.
Many medical staff don't want to work in A & E as it is far too pressured with far less staff than is needed.

Luckygirl3 Wed 15-Mar-23 16:08:25

I said that to the Specialist Nurse Practitioner, who said that the junior doctors being on strike made little difference to their workload - I could not think of anything to say to that!

Casdon Wed 15-Mar-23 16:04:45

That sounds like a dreadful experience, I’m guessing the fact that junior doctors are on strike for three days has a great deal to do with the chaos, because they are the backbone of A&E departments and assessment units.

vampirequeen Wed 15-Mar-23 15:54:34

Our A&E is brilliant. My mam was taken there last week as her nose wouldn't stop bleeding (she's on blood thinners). They were incredibly busy and, yes, we had to wait but over the course of 5 hours she was seen by a specialist A&E nurse who took her history and blood for testing, an A&E doctor and and ENT registrar. The following day she was treated by an ENT consultant.

The problem with a lot of A&Es (and the NHS in general) is that the staff are overworked and underpaid. Money needs pumping into the system to employ more staff at all grades. The staff are worked to exhaustion and then expected to continue working. No wonder chaos sometimes ensues.

paddyann54 Wed 15-Mar-23 15:51:57

Tory policy worked in the case of the NHS,they tell us its a mess and it'll be sold off to American health providers .Thats what they have been aiming for for a long time .What a shame brexit helped them get rid of essential staff .
I had the best gynaecologist until Brexit and after being summoned to London to "discuss" his position he went home to greece .I'm sure there are hundreds or thousands more like him.

Kim19 Wed 15-Mar-23 15:51:47

Gosh, that is the exact opposite of the attention I received a couple of weeks ago. Went in as a day patient and ended up being admitted for four days. Nurses and doctors completely on the ball. I was thoroughly impressed (and relieved) as I had been watching /listening to the media and expected a nightmare from start to finish. Simply not true in my case and I'm mightily relieved

Germanshepherdsmum Wed 15-Mar-23 15:51:03

What a shocking experience. My sympathies to you and your friend. It sounds like a serious management issue. Perhaps you should both report it. Clinical staff taking masks off when told to wear them is unacceptable, as is everything else you and your friend experienced.

Grannybags Wed 15-Mar-23 15:47:06

It is very sad and also very scary. I dread having anything that requires a GP or hospital.

Sorry to hear you're still having heart rhythm problems. I hope you get to the bottom of it soon flowers

Luckygirl3 Wed 15-Mar-23 15:41:03

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.