Our NHS a different perspective

We should be grateful we have free healthcare ( yes I know we’re taxed but it’s a drop in the ocean.) Just watched an episode of the Resident which is set in a big US hospital. The way they don’t treat people who are uninsured is chilling.

I had a friend who was in hospital recently. It was an emergency like yours sazz1. They cannot speak highly enough of the staff.

Some people do like to complain and some things do go wrong but overall we are incredibly lucky to have our NHS.

I took a urine sample to my GP for a dip test (as asked) as I had unbroken sleep for last two nights taking trips to the loo.
Different receptionist said oh we don’t dip test, take to the pharmacy. Did that, no I was told they don’t dip test either, nipped into the District Nurse hub, no they couldn’t do it.
Phoned Gp back- told loads of chemist do it, I couldn’t find one.
LSS- minor illness clinic said because my history of bladder trouble, they couldn’t treat me, could I take myself off to Urgent Care- IN A WORD, NO, I said.
Phoned Gp back, he eventually gave me antibiotics.
My own dip stick showed up a possible infection & ketones off the chart (which I took to the Gp in the morning) to show them, btw.
Next available appointment with them was three weeks time 😳

My DH was admitted to hospital twice recently. Once after he fell and fractured his hip and had to undergo a hip operation.

A few days after discharge, he picked up a chest infection from the hospital and was struggling to breathe, so I called the ambulance.

Based on my experience, the ambulance care is good. Ambulance came within 10 to 20 minutes of calling. The community care is also good. Physio therapists, district nurses coming to our home and loan of equipments.

Hospital care not that good. Unsafe discharge, my DH was severely dehydrated upon his first discharge, I was shocked at the colour of his urine yet no one picked on it. He had to have lots of fluids and antibiotics put into his veins since his blood pressure had become dangerously low.

Lack of bed, he was transferred to 3 different wards. Nothing put in place to stop the chest infection from spreading to other patients in the open wards.

I sometimes wonder how elderly patients living on their own managed after a hospital operation. I was taught by a nurse how to administer an injection into my DH's stomach to stop blood clot. He was too ill to administer the injection himself.

The hospital where I had my shoulder replacement was excellent too.

The only thing which worried me was how the meal trays were just plonked down and left. I had difficulty opening packets, yogurts etc due to being in a sling with a still anaesthetised shoulder, s only had one hand, but had help from my DH. I wonder though, about those elderly people who dont have such help and could potentially go hungry surrounded by food they could not eat?

Our GP practice isn’t good either. I just think NHS care depends where you live, I have a friend in Lancashire who has excellent experiences. Sadly where we live most people have had awful experiences.

Cannot say that the care my DH got after a stroke and bleed on the brain was great, I think experiences can vary. Fact is I took over his care at one point because there were quite obviously not enough staff to clean him or change his bed linen, one time I arrived to find him naked in a dirty bed, staff were alerted but it still took them a while before they did anything so from that day on I did it myself. Also there was never a doctor to talk to and staff took way too long to arrive if my DH needed pain killers or other kinds of attention. I also observed other patients on the ward getting scant attention who had nobody to advocate for them.
Was so glad to get him home.

Sounds similar to here - but we have to pay. Not always, depends which hospital you go to. Luck of the draw I suppose.

Luckily I haven't needed hospital care since minor surgery 18 months ago.

Recently though I have witnessed lots of improvements with GP care- namely increased same day appointments and in improvements in waiting times for repeat prescriptions.

Small things maybe but it feels very encouraging to me.

I had a very mixed time last year. I won't go into detail, but three clinicians made mistakes, in my opinion.
1. GP whom I saw should have sent me to hospital about two weeks before pain made me go to A and E. I had an emergency operation the next morning.
2. The underlying stitching "snapped", snipped by mistake I suspect, and the day I was due to go home I had to have another operation to mend it. Eight more very painful days in hospital. Apology from surgeon.
3. Three days after discharge, very weak, back to hospital to have staples removed. The young man took all the staples out although I explained that the wound from op 2 was not healed. Next day it was open and didn't heal for weeks, necessitating many visits to the GP for different dressings etc, and including an MRSA infection.
Fulsome apology from surgeon at post-op consultation. Luckily for all concerned, I have in fact made an excellent recovery.

Parts of the NHS are good, parts are rubbish.

Our experience overall following my husband’s major stroke in Nov 24 and 3 months in hospital is very mixed.

The ambulance service was dreadful even though I rang as the stroke was happening. 2.5 hrs to get to hospital by ambulance following 1.25 hrs waiting for it to arrive. A complaint was made.

Arrival and immediate brain scan was good.

Care on the stroke ward was poor. Could never speak to a Dr or senior nurse despite asking many times. After 3 weeks we were told he would be moved to a stroke rehab centre where he would get great rehab. Total lie, he often sat 9 hrs a day in a wheelchair as 3 of the physios were off work. The gym never opened in the 2.5 months he was there. Day staff were good, night staff were horrible and didn’t want to be there. No patience, poor English and lazy.

He was so disappointed he said he might as well come home.
The service providing equipment we needed at home (ramps, hospital bed, toilet frames, commode, wheelchair etc) was really good.

Physios and speech therapist who visited initially for 6 weeks were great. I had complained about the lack of rehab to the hospital trust so they gave us an extra 6 weeks but we still needed much more and still do.

The GPs at our surgery have been no help at all.

He had a filter inserted in hospital last Dec to prevent blood clots moving to his lung. It should have been removed after about 8 weeks. It is still in there and we believe it is causing an infection as he brings up green phlegm. (sorry!) 9 months later and we are passed from pillar to post. 😥

I think if you just go in for a minor op with a short stay you might hit lucky but anything beyond that (and we’ve had nearly a year now) and you really notice the shortcomings.

I will add my niece had a dreadful car accident and broke her neck plus loads of other injuries and was in hospital for several months and her experience was very poor too.

DH is not well at the moment, he saw a doctor the same day he called the surgery, was given antibiotics, a chest X Ray was arranged which he had two days later and it was noted to refer him to ENT as a possible next step. We have always had excellent care at our practice and no problems getting appointments, we have been with them for 12 years.

I ve had two friends recently in hospital neither have had anything but praise for their care and their treatment
It’s so easy to pass on any bad news it speaks like a wildfire Good news people just ignore

Reassuring to hear there is at least one pocket of good practice left. We are relatively lucky with our health care here in the far North of Scotland and, in particular, seem to have managed to keep most, if not all, of our excellent GP's.

Yes, I've always had excellent treatment and attention from the NHS. Hospitals have been spotlessly clean and visitors made welcome.
My only criticism might be that doctors and consultants did not make themselves available to family, and family were frightened and worried by the lack of communication from the senior medical staff about their loved ones. This caused a lot of distress to my husband when I was lying unconscious for an unknown reason.