Something to be proud of

In many places we have already lost it.

There are parts of the NHS that are superb. But a lot of it these days are well below what we should expect and i refuse to succumb to the emotional blackmail that uses the parts that ar good to sugar over the vast areas that are poor to dreadful.

Hear, hear, M0n!

The two GP surgeries nearest to us (both several miles away) have no permanent doctors nowadays. All locums.

Dire.

So, yeah, I and most of my family have been lucky so far but I feel worried about the future.

Which doesn't mean there isn't much to be proud of, just that there's a hell of a lot that isn't working properly.

We can only speak as we find. As a family we have found good treatment for physical illnesses but the support for mental health problems has been dire to the extent of being almost non-existent.

GP's aren't NHS employees Baggs Just a few miles from where I live the surgery has been taken over /bought out by a large American health organisation.They are having issues getting full time GP's now too.Shame really it was always a good practice ,my daughter is a patient ,its rapidly going downhill

GPs are not NHS employees, but they are part of the system and are paid by the NHS, so dancing on the head of a pin over their exact legal status in the system is just a distraction to no purpose.

M0nica

In many places we have already lost it.

There are parts of the NHS that are superb. But a lot of it these days are well below what we should expect and i refuse to succumb to the emotional blackmail that uses the parts that ar good to sugar over the vast areas that are poor to dreadful.

I agree.

Dentistry, amongst everything else, being a case in point.
Slowly slowly NHS dentistry is/has disappeared for many.
Because it was all a slow drip, we have all let it happen.

If we had gone from full NHS to what we have now, in the space of a year, there would have been a national uproar.

I wrote elsewhere, that I went through all the dentist practices in our County, and not a single one accepts normal NHS dentistry for new patients, any longer.

I still see a dentist under the NHS but most of the practise is now private. Can they get 'rid' of me?

According to goo gle..
Due to the high number of people wishing to receive NHS funded dental treatment and very long waiting lists, your dental practice has no choice but to remove patients who have not attended for two years or more from the NHS list. Patients must attend regularly to keep up their NHS dental registration.30 Dec 2022

I phoned to book my check up at my dentist I’ve been going to for ten years only to be told their not seeing NHS routinely now only emergencies ! The dentist I had to visit is a further ten mile away. I can’t get another NHS dentist I’ve tried for weeks now.
I’ve had to make an appointment at a local private dentist the initial cost for a check up is £70. Not happy.

My husband was due a check up during lockdown. When we were allowed out again I nagged him to phone for an appointment but he said they were so busy with catching up there was no point in cluttering up the system as he was perfectly fine.
Last time I was there, a few months ago, I asked for an appointment for him and they turned him down because he hadn't been for over 2 years. I tried to reason with the receptionist and to explain that he was trying not to be a time waster - they wouldn't budge.
He's now without a dentist.

Exdancer Your DH sounds like mine, I think he might have lost his place too only he was lucky they closed down and reopened again under a different name so was automatically transferred. At least there’s only me that’ll have to pay now 🙄

Our NHS dental checkups due in November have been cancelled as the dentist has left the practice. We’re told nothing possible until they can recruit. Asking for an approximate timeline I was told expect six months minimum. No, they wouldn’t remove us from their NHS list - yet. If it gets to two years since our last appointment they will, even though it’s not our fault. There are no practices accepting NHS patients within a 50 mile radius.

Mr C has recently had and continues to have exemplary cardiac surgical and medical care from a centre of excellence. It is a long way from home and access can be both challenging and expensive.

Our GP practice like many suffers from increasing patient numbers and insufficient doctors. Routine continuity of care is very hard to come by since it became part of an enormous group. Patients are often asked to travel many miles to distant surgeries. However a recent emergency was responded to immediately in our nearest surgery and is being followed up there.

Family experience tells me accessing ongoing mental health support in this area requires more persistence and stamina than most possess who are in need of this care.

Moving here ten years ago we carefully checked the local hospital. It provided the majority of medical and surgical services, the exception being cardiac surgery. Now? All change, amalgamation into a huge Trust sees a need to travel what can feel insurmountable distances for most treatment.

We’re actually regretting moving area now. We love the area and our home. Have wonderful neighbours, a sense of community. We did our healthcare homework before moving. Now? The services we need are simply not here. Declining health has us wishing we were back in our previous large, noisy impersonal town with its large and accessible hospital offering all specialisms.

Yes, the NHS can be superb but goodness there are huge holes which the sick of any age aren’t always able to bridge

Cornergran you might find your old area's facilities have deteriorated in a similar way, especially when it comes to cardiac care. We now have to take a complicated train journey for my husband to attend a clinic that used to be available in a nearby town.
He finds the journey very stressful, especially if the clinic is running late and we miss a connection.

ExDancer

I still see a dentist under the NHS but most of the practise is now private. Can they get 'rid' of me?

Most take you off the list if you don’t attend regularly, like every 6 months.