Our NHS a different perspective

My friend has gone into hospital today for a knee replacement op. Over the past few days she has received 5 communications (letters and texts) regarding her op day. All from same dept but giving different times to be there! The money and time they waste is shocking. She had to ring up to see which of the times was correct.

My midwife daughter left the NHS in despair and is now independent and able to give excellent care to her mothers and babies.
She recently had two emergencies during births and I asked if they got fast treatment after arriving at hospital. She said, ‘Yes, the NHS is good in emergencies, it’s just rubbish at routine stuff.’

There are good services but also many poorly functioning services. If you make a complaint they mark their own homework. This invariably results in a series of excuses and no guarantee that things will get better. Things will not get better until there is a separate organisation providing oversight.

I honestly believed the OP was going to finish with …. “And then I WOKE UP” as in dreaming.

Ithink what every one has to accept is that whether our personal expperience is good or bad, it does not give a full pictue of the NHS. Unfortunately, atthe present, the NHS delivers superb care and appallingcare in about equal measure, and we, our family and friends are a far too small sample to represent thewhole.

I really feel quite envious of posters who give glowing reports of their NHS experiences and wonder if they think I am just exaggerating or ungrateful. Is such a stark contrast.

It’s usually ok once you’re in hospital but don’t get me started on the mess that is A&E.
10.5 hours in A&E with severe pain, ruptured appendix, sepsis and convulsions I’m lucky to still be here

All recent experiences with GP and local hospital trust very good. DD less lucky with her GP.

I think those who have had great treatment from the NHS are very fortunate. Those who have had very mixed care, including very poor, would absolutely LOVE to say they too had great care. I know nothing would give me more pleasure but it would be a lie.

As I said in my previous post some areas of the NHS are good, others not so and there is little we can do about it.

Regarding night staff, my husband and his room mate absolutely hated the night staff. Often there were two male nurses on duty who barely spoke a word of English. They never came into their room unless they had to and when they did they made it clear by a lot of eye rolling that they had been disturbed. Several times they were asked to bring urine bottles as both patients were bed ridden and they threw them at their beds! I guess they are the only type of staff who will work night shifts but it’s not good enough.

I’ve posted about my recent emergency, query stroke admission on another thread. I can’t praise the paramedics or hospital enough. I was away from home in a rural area so fifty minutes from the hospital
Last year I had a fall, which resulted in a fracture. Again superb treatment, including four months of physio.
Our GP practice over stretched so waits for non urgent appointments but level of personal care excellent

Both my hospital experiences high lighted what a mess we’d be in without immigration

My experience was mixed, when I was in hospital last Autumn for five days. Night staff terrible, day staff better. There must be an issue with night staff and I agree with another poster that they’re lazy and don’t want to be there. I had heart issues and needed an ECG taken during the night and the chap who did it, didn’t know where to put the connectors and took over half an hour to work it all out ( at 4 in the morning). There was an elderly lady, who had slight cognitive problems in with us in a six bed ward and all the rest of us had to look out for her, as her care was abysmal from all the staff there. She probably wouldn’t have eaten or slept properly if one of us didn’t keep on top of it for her.

DH not SH

While SH was at home, and still relatively able hospital treatment was awful.Wards overcrowded and noisy. How the staff managed to function at all is a miracle being under so much pressure. Once home there was no care at home provided. Plenty offers of equipment which out of 5 items only 2 were appropriate. Constantly having to chase up drugs. Was so relieved when he was admitted to hospital for palliative care, at least he would have better pain control. From what I hear, nothing has changed in my local NHS.

My experience was excellent, too. After around 10 days of a nasty bug I couldn’t shake off, was suddenly hit with very shallow, painful breathing. Phoned 111, they sent an ambulance, was taken straight to hospital, put at once on 2 different ABs, one oral, one drip.

Was too ill for a few days to notice much, but everyone was very kind - I was regularly offered painkillers.
After around 8 days I was discharged - only to return 48 hours later with different chest pain - pleurisy - which needed a drain in my lung.
3 weeks altogether, and they kept me in for a couple of extra days after I thought I was going home - consultant said to be sure, because it was a very nasty infection.
I was on ABs for a total of 5 weeks!

I have nothing but praise for my treatment, and in fact made a hefty donation to the hospital afterwards.

Takes of woe and gratitude, those who had a great experience should thank their lucky stars because it is very much a lottery.
We are presently trying to move, downsizing and relocating in an area with better health services.
We have had an important appointment concerning my DHs bleed on the brain cancelled as we were being brought into the hospital with another being made Oct 31st, the first appointment was the beginning of August.
He was left soiled, wet, and naked in a hospital bed. And when a health assistant said he had atrial fibrillation a nurse tried to dismiss it as my DH exerting himself getting out of a chair 2 hours earlier. Thankfully the health assistant wouldn’t let it drop, he had an ecg and the doc came to say it was AF and gave him a beta blocker.
We have had enough, and with my DH having long term ill health we no longer want to stay in the same area.

The NHS saved my husband's life twice. Once when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and then last year when he was rushed to A&E with a horrible virus. The care on both occasions was exceptional. They also saved my brother after a stroke and two brothers in law after cancer. No complaints here.

Seems very mixed experiences here. We're in Devon but tbh in South Glos where I lived before I had excellent Drs there as well.
The hospital consultant did ask who did the original blood test. When I told him my GP did it himself in the surgery he looked very surprised, and said "the GP?". I told him we have excellent Drs where we live, very caring.

nanna8

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

I've found it can vary in the same hospital, even the same ward. Few years ago so might have changed but DD had an operation, surgeon was excellent but the ward was a nightmare. Few months later DS admitted to the same ward and it was excellent. It always confused me that it could be so different.

Once again the NHS showing how good it can be in acute or urgent cases. I bet elsewhere in this hospital there are patients tearing their hair out over it's inefficiencies.

Before we moved I could not sing too highly the praise of the cadiac unit at our local university hospital. They looked after my Df and Dh superbly, but they were all emergencies.

I experienced the the other side of the hospital. Misdiagnoses, delays in tests, being blamed for delays in minor operations, even though I was in the hospital and waiting.

My son has Crohns & has regular check ups which he has said NHS were good. Then had a nasty bleed which he was told to go to A&E with. Spent many hours there before being seen despite collapsing when he tried to walk to the toilet. Finally saw a doctor who gave him meds & sent him home. When told to go back to A&E my son refused. Saw & received more help from GP. He was given an appointment with his consultant to get results of all the tests that were done. Consultant cancelled! New Appointment was cancelled yet again! Another appointment made for yesterday morning. As he was leaving he had a message saying his Consultant had called in sick! Another appointment will be made but likely to be several weeks at least away! No apologies & even though my son talked to the IBD nurse she cannot give him more than the basics. So still no idea what is wrong & what to do about it. It affects his work which is not good. So in one part NHS very good & in this one useless mainly thanks to a consultant who acts like ‘a little tin god’ as my mother would have said!

For a national service with presumably common standards it seems very patchy and there are real problems with, e.g., maternity services, in several places.

Mt61

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 😳

For the ketones

Where do you live, sazz1? We're moving there!!

Speaking to someone I know the other day who had an accident whilst on holiday in the UK, she said how exemplary and wonderful the treatment was where she was on holiday but attending hospital here on her return, it was dreadful (as usual). Not the fault of the staff who are rushed and stressed.

I hope you're fully recovered now.

Babs03

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.

I completely agree Babs and also practices differ such a lot. I was with a practice which only seemed to have one GP who actually listened, other doctors always gave the impression that they had their budget in mind, not your health and they have just moved into an enormous new building built by them for them.

By contrast, a move for us coincided with a change of surgery and the present lot feel as though they work miracles. Their reception team are patient and kind, the triage system is conducted with sensitivity, you can get a same day appointment if you really need it (otherwise it's 3 or 6 weeks) and they are thorough about doing tests and we get all sorts of prompts for vaccination and health prevention measures. There is clearly a lot of work quietly going on to make the NHS function much better.

It always strikes me as strange that people don't make the leap into imagining that their own good fortune is not necessarily how it is everywhere for everyone, eg. someone has a problem with neighbours is answered with 'well, our's have always been fine.' Ho, ho.

We should also see the immense progress made since 1948! Blame who or what you choose, we have problems as a country, but moving to something akin to the USA is certainly not the answer and that seems to be the only alternative offered against the progress being currently made.