NHS - oh dear!

Luckygirl3 That is absolutely disgusting. You must contact PALS (Patient advice liaison Service) at the hospital where you were seen and get them to sort it out. I used to work in OPD in a large hospital. The powers that be in their infinite wisdom (NOT!) decided to cut costs by getting rid of half of the secretaries allocated to each consultant and those that were kept on had to do the correspondence for two consultants. Now it doesn't take an idiot to work out what happens if a particular secretary is on annual leave or is off sick for any length of time, There are no available staff to take over her work because they are all ready doing two peoples work. Unless they get temporary or agency staff all those letters to GP's and other departments are stuck on a dicta-phone somewhere! If this is typical of all hospitals no wonder the letters take so long to be written and sent out. Oh and the post only went out once a week on a Friday.

I don't like to boast but .......... my husband was due have a brain scan at 10.30 am. As parking at our hospital is expensive and difficult I decided to take him by bus. Allowing extra time for the vagaries of buses we went successfully, had the scan which took 5 minutes waiting time and 5 minutes for scan, returned home by bus and sat down at home for a cup of tea/coffee before the designated scan appointment at 10.30 am. We giggled about our success all day.

Golly 5 mins for a brain scan is quick. I have to have them regularly and way more than 5 min especially when they insert the dye. Was it a CT or MRI?

I am also receiving excellent service from my local NHS hospital. It’s so heartwarming to find doctors who care. I enjoy meeting all the nurses and doctors from such diverse countries - Egypt, Syria, Romania and India so far . A truly global experience. And great service!

Could all those people getting wonderful service from the NHS,specfically GPS and hospital outpatients, tell us which Primary Trust (or whatever they are called) they live in, so that we can start planning our next house moves.

Monicagps are probably average but West Herts definitely has a lovely bunch of doctors, surgeons, nurses and robotic surgery. In fact, so impressive that I have signed up to the hospital lottery! Small way of saying thank you.

Oh dear, we hope to move just north of Herts to Cambridgeshire - Hinchinbrook and Addenbrooke's hospitals.

MOnica I moved from the black country Dudley heath authority. To Merseyside and the health care I have had is excellent. I only picked my GP because the bus stopped opposite. And I couldn't have chosen better.

In 2020 sent to my new neurologist who prescribed Clonazepam and after 32 years of limb jerks and 4 seizures within 2 weeks my limbs where still. He sent my blood to have my whole genome genetically tested. But didn't get sent the results until March 2022 because of covid. I was born disabled but didn't know until April 2022 what with I was finally was diagnosed with hereditary Hyperekplexia gene mutation SLC6A5 type 3.

Also my GP sent me to see a cardiologist and over 2020/2021 and was finally diagnosed with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and found I was born with small hole in the side of my heart . And on heart medication. But I had to laugh when my cardiologist told me as I have had 3 major and 2 minor ops all with a dicky heart.

Moving here changed my life for the better healthwise and am living my life to the full instead of just existing like I did after my husband died. Moving here made my happy even though things have happened that tried to mar it. I can honestly say I have a home again and real friends and see my daughter and family regularly.

Having the 2 diagnosis my whole life finally made sense and found people with HPX. I am no longer weird but normal for HPX and PAF. Funny how life can change in a few years.

M0nica well Cambridgeshire is probably less busy than here. I think stay optimistic.
My friend who is a retired hospital consultant was very surprised by the care I had received and asked me what had I done to get so much support? For example, I was sent home with 3 pairs of hospital stockings and this is unusual.
Maybe I just enjoy the global experience!

Well, the incometence continues this end. My surgery texted me today to say that they had succeeded in making me an appointment with a cardiac consultant in September, something I already have.

What I am trying to get is a 24 hour cardiac monitor. As some one up thread has said. there is no point in having an appointment with a cardiac consultant if they do not have the results of the 24 hour monitor.

I will leave it now, until next week, I am going away for the weekend, but when I come back I will reply to the admin lady and also try and contact the GP who made the original referral at the request of the hospital, sigh.

This morning I returned from a sojourn in the A&E local to the Welsh self-catering accommodation where I have been staying. I went in at about 5pm on Thursday and came out at 7 this morning. I went in with chest pain.

Here are some of the things that happened:

- Ambulance was not able to come for 3-6 hours, so the control sent a taxi to take me in. That was a plus, but the long wait for an ambulance is not good.
- when I got there I waited 3 hours to be seen at all.
- they did all the right things, but slowly.
- there was a lot of waiting around - some due to work pressure and some to awaiting the results of blood tests, which had to be repeated 3 hours apart.
- the waiting room was appalling - not very clean and rammed with people. And designed in such a way that staff had to yell to make themselves heard when calling out people’s names, as it was in two halves on either side of the entrance.
- some of the people waiting were fixed up to drips or retching into bowls and were clearly in distress and would have been better off for some comfort and privacy.
- I sat on a chair for the whole of the night.
- the lack of space meant that the doctors were carrying out consultations and procedures in the waiting room with no possibility of privacy or confidentiality. It also meant that one man had to get dressed in the waiting room for want of anywhere else.
- there was a drinks machine that only contained coke, and the water jugs were empty with no cups. The receptionist could see that (directly in front of her), but did nothing till prompted - there were quieter moments when she could have dealt with it but didn’t, until it was pointed out to her.
- there was a general air of the staff being totally inured to the suffering going on around them. One young man came in with an adrenal crisis and he was so weak that he was crawling across the floor, but the staff ignored him. I remember my DD telling me of being in an A&E recently where a young woman was lying on the floor vomiting - she had to wait for the results of a blood test before she could have an anti-emetic (makes sense) but staff just walked round her.
- taking bloods from me twice was chaotic - first of all the nurse could not find the assorted equipment she needed, then she dropped stuff on the floor and had to leave me with a needle hanging out of my arm while she went off somewhere to find clean stuff. Some of my blood dripped onto the floor (I am on an anti-coagulant) and when I returned to that room, which was in constant use, a few hours later it was still there
- now this is comic - I feel a sitcom coming on! - I was sitting in the department waiting for the next procedure and my mobile rang in my pocket - it was a doctor in the department ringing me to ask me where I was! - it was such chaos that he could not find me! He had rung my NOK (DD 100 miles away) - she said try looking in the toilet - she knows me well!

It was generally a thoroughly dispiriting experience - but with a good outcome, as it was not a heart attack (in spite of raised markers in the blood tests) and I was able to go home - well, when I had spent 3 hours trying to get hold of a taxi.

Most sad was the general air of lack of care - of staff having got to the point where they just shrugged off people’s suffering. I am sure they did not start out like that. How dispiriting for them to have got to that point.

Throwing money at the NHS is not the whole answer, although it would help - there is a crisis of commitment and spirit that also needs addressing. I am sure there are lots of very caring staff around, but the ones I saw yesterday were burnt out.

An appalling if interesting experience Luckygirl3!

But, none of what you wrote surprised me one bit.

Because our local A&E mirrors exactly what you have just written. Almost to the letter.

But I'm glad you had a good outcome - the raised markers in the blood tests must have been worrying though at the time.

What an appalling experience Luckygirl.

Glad to hear you’re okay though.

Our system is also crumbling, I don’t know what the answer is really. Too many people, not enough resources. When we first came here 50 years ago you could just walk straight in and get a GP appointment that day. Hospital emergency care was always within an hour at the very most. Those were the days and we didn’t even realise how good it was!

nanna8

Our system is also crumbling, I don’t know what the answer is really. Too many people, not enough resources. When we first came here 50 years ago you could just walk straight in and get a GP appointment that day. Hospital emergency care was always within an hour at the very most. Those were the days and we didn’t even realise how good it was!

I think you have hit the nail on the head, there are far to many people living in our small island. We are lucky where I live in Dorset where our NHS is good. However, can,t imagine what it must be like in big cities with the added numbers created by migrants

Tiley

nanna8

Our system is also crumbling, I don’t know what the answer is really. Too many people, not enough resources. When we first came here 50 years ago you could just walk straight in and get a GP appointment that day. Hospital emergency care was always within an hour at the very most. Those were the days and we didn’t even realise how good it was!

I think you have hit the nail on the head, there are far to many people living in our small island. We are lucky where I live in Dorset where our NHS is good. However, can,t imagine what it must be like in big cities with the added numbers created by migrants

Migrants are more likely to be treating you than sitting in the queue with you.

I cannot see doctors and nurses coming over here in Rubber dingies

Should have said I have no problems whatsoever with qualified people coming to this country.

Doctors and nurses don’t come in dinghies because they can get visas to come.

The vast majority of immigrants to this country are legal, the illegals are quite a small %.

Can yu recognise an illegal immigrant when you see them in the street? Can you tell who is legal and who is illegal just by looking ata them?

I often feel that righeous indignation about illegal immigrants is a mask for resentment about all those people with different colour skins and different cultures who now live in this country.

Given that I think all governments are reponsible for us needing so many people from other countries to run our economy. Proper planning, especially in the higher education system should mean that we have many more places for student doctors, engineers and structured trained careers in the care industry.

I am sure the current present situation of so many younger people not working or with mental problems, does not have its roots in the events of the last 4 years, but lie far firther back with the lack of clear and sufficient training opportunities for school leavers at every level of ability.

Tiley

I cannot see doctors and nurses coming over here in Rubber dingies

Who said they did? "Migrants" were mentioned - most of them are here legitimately with a work visa.

maddyone

Doctors and nurses don’t come in dinghies because they can get visas to come.

Exactly! They're still "migrants" though.

I have no problem with the colour of anyone's skin, I myself are brown skinned!
But if you think there aren't many migrants you obviously don't live in Dover.

M0nica

The vast majority of immigrants to this country are legal, the illegals are quite a small %.

Can yu recognise an illegal immigrant when you see them in the street? Can you tell who is legal and who is illegal just by looking ata them?

I often feel that righeous indignation about illegal immigrants is a mask for resentment about all those people with different colour skins and different cultures who now live in this country.

Given that I think all governments are reponsible for us needing so many people from other countries to run our economy. Proper planning, especially in the higher education system should mean that we have many more places for student doctors, engineers and structured trained careers in the care industry.

I am sure the current present situation of so many younger people not working or with mental problems, does not have its roots in the events of the last 4 years, but lie far firther back with the lack of clear and sufficient training opportunities for school leavers at every level of ability.

Or it could have something to do with the level of pay and conditions, especially for those working as care workers and the lower levels in the NHS.

Tiley

I have no problem with the colour of anyone's skin, I myself are brown skinned!
But if you think there aren't many migrants you obviously don't live in Dover.

There are "migrants" in every town and city of the UK. Most of them are here perfectly legally. You seem to be a bit confused with your terminology.

PS. Some of the people with brown skin were even born in the UK and are as British as I am.