NHS

But this is what happened to my relative 12 years ago ninathenana. Once in, after successful surgery, he got 2 hospital acquired infections and an avoidable embolism.
I am pleased to say that he is fine now (well, he was last time I spoke to him, fingers and toes crossed).

Another sad tale. A friend's brother has today had confirmation (he's been in hospital since 22nd Dec) that he has bowel/stomach cancer. He's been sent home to wait for a call from King's London (50 miles away) to tell him when they can schedule surgery.

Gillybob, have you seen that Chris Williamson has resigned from the Labour front bench as he mentioned a plan similar to yours.

"Williamson's resignation is connected to his recent comments about a possible plan to be launched in Derby to charge significantly higher council tax to owners of properties in the top tax band, in order to protect other residents from any rise. This was misrepresented by the Conservatives' official Twitter account as a large rise for all residents.

In fact, it was a very good 'for the many' idea designed to protect those who need it - and was in any case a local issues rather than party policy. The idea was also not news, having been announced in September."

Not necessarily for the NHS, but it could have helped with care.

"I stand by the idea, which was designed to make use of rules set by the government and aimed, supposedly, at giving more power to local authorities to raise their own funds and manage their own budgets.

However, the fake-news furore raised by the Tories meant I risked being a distraction from the important work that Jeremy has to do. I felt it was better to step down rather than let it drag on. I also hope to be focusing as a back-bencher on a couple of new issues around the environment."

Shame, really, as he's good.

So how can we expect any hospital to cope with 7 times more patients than they normally would have? It would be impossible.

Do we really expect a department that normally treats (for example) 100 patients to be able to suddenly accommodate 700?

ITV News:

The number of cases admitted to hospital is seven times higher than at this time last year

Personally I would like to see the NHS taken out of politics altogether or at least run by a team of specially selected MP's from all parties.
gillybob I have thought that for a long time - it is too precious to be used as a political football.

No MazieD not back in time. Forward.

If politics was taken out of the NHS then all parties would work together for the greater good instead of point scoring against each other.

www.theweek.co.uk/90878/nhs-faces-watershed-moment-say-hospital-bosses

The same with the Union workhouse in York, Maizie, where we stayed last year for a few days. Amazing flats, near the city walls. Union workhouse to hospital to flats.

And the guest house we owned, so I have found out, was built as a union workhouse for orphan boys in the early 1900s.

Oh, goodness! Back to the days of the Hospital Boards and Matron in charge!

I was working in a Sheffield hospital when the Hospital Boards were abolished in the early 70s. The layers of admin that took their place were quite eyewatering...

Mind you, that particular hospital, the former Union Workhouse, is now, ironically in view of its origin, luxury apartments...

Absolutely Gillybob the NHS should be above party politics, and I’d go further and say that the body who should run it ought to be mainly those with a medical qualifications.

Personally I would like to see the NHS taken out of politics altogether or at least run by a team of specially selected MP's from all parties.

My little GD was quite poorly with tonsillitis over Christmas. The GP closed on 22nd December (re-opened on 2nd January). Walk in centre (who would have normally provided antibiotics) has closed down. Pharmacist advised urgent need of antibiotics so we had no choice but to go to A&E. How ridiculous is that?

Population increases, too, Primrose

Cutting spending from average 4% of GDP to 1.2% doesn't look like out of control spending. It looks like cutting NHS spending.

Primrose65 Wed 10-Jan-18 16:17:54

I really cannot believe you are still trying to defend this government. The funding is only higher in cash terms.

It is time we had an hypothecated tax for the NHS and Care. We could then be told what we percentage of GDP - the common way countries look at this - we are collecting and decided whether we want more or less.

How much worse does it have to get before May or her boss Hunt will have to act? Front line senior doctors have written of their serious concerns that conditions are intolerable and patients are dying prematurely in hospital corridors. The chief exec of NHS Providers has described it as a "watershed moment". How this can be "what was planned" , it is quite mad and will turn out to be May's epitaph, along with "strong and stable".

A massive part of the NHS problem now is that all those places have been cut, closed, privatised- and all cottage hospitals gone.
Not all though because a relative of mine has been in one for several weeks; she went to hospital where she got two infections so was in for longer than expected and has now been in a cottage hospital (NHS) recuperating for weeks. The SS are now looking for a care home, as she doesn't need nursing now, until she is fit enough to manage at home.

I agree though, we do need far more 'cottage hospitals', convalescent type homes for people who are well enough to leave hospital but not quite fit enough to return home.

There's a meeting on at the moment to discuss closing the last walk-in centre in south east London. That means that veverybody who would have gone to it will now have to go to A&E.

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2018/01/11/who-says-hmrc-does-not-work-for-the-1/

HMRC got Apple to pay some tax back. Now for the rest of the 13 billion euros.
Yes, gillybob, I've never understood the sense in closing walk-in centres. Isn't that what GPs surgeries used to be in the good old days?

Just been looking at the effects of the STPs on the north east.
My area of Durham is linked with Northumberland and Tyne and Wear, and they need to save over £650 million by 2021. One of the ways they see of doing it is closing more A&Es. Doesn't sound sensible to me.

It's not the paying more (income) tax that get me OldMeg its the unfairness of how council tax bands vary so massively around the country, with residents in the biggest houses in the richest boroughs paying considerably less than those in the lowest band A properties in the poorest local authorities. How can that be fair? Anyway apologies again for digression.

We had a perfectly good walk in centre that served several towns in the Borough. It closed last year and now everyone is directed to A&E. How short sighted can anyone be?

I’m sorry you took my point personally Gillybob - but look at the wider picture behind my post ie that underfunding is behind this running down of the NHS and this government is playing on the fact that nobody wants to pay more tax.

I totally agree that there may be genuinely ill people, who do not look ill.
Looking at me you would never know I have serious health issues and people don't make allowances.
However, one particular group were in and out in ten minutes, still laughing and clutching their phones, thinking it was funny, as they left.

The trouble with time wasters is that there may possibly actually be something wrong with them and they tend to be the ones who threaten litigation at the drop of a hat and run to sympathetic newspapers (depending on the government in power at the time). They're now setting up drunk/drugged wards so perhaps there could be a similar arrangement for the walking wounded. Take them completely off to one side so student medics can practice.

I have just experienced an NHS Scotland falling apart. My own experience with lots of health issues has always been excellent.
We often end up in A&E in the middle of the night with BIL, who has multiple health problems. However, usually our experience of his care is good, not this time.

Two nights ago we phoned an ambulance, five times, nearly four hours later it arrived. We then waited in A&E for another four and a half hours before we were told that they were sending him home. This was at 4.30 in the morning. He was a very unwell man, being sick everywhere, but they insisted we take him home.
The following morning he was still being sick, SIL phoned her GP as she was extremely worried. GP came out immediately and phoned an ambulance. He was admitted to a surgical ward at at 9pm last night was still waiting to see a surgeon (still vomitting and on morphine).
I suspect there were no beds the previous night, as ambulances were stacked up outside and patients in trolleys in corridors. The poor staff looked extremely stressed.
Oh and don't mention the "time wasters" who turned up and who were being fitted in between emergencies. Talking on their phones in very loud voices , stuffing their faces and generally treating it as a social outing. Sorry about the rant!
I hope I never have to come in to that hospital as an emergency!

Several departments in our town hospital are now “temporarily” closed . I suspect they will not re open . The next hospital is miles away and getting there for routine appointments is very difficult without a car. At the moment we still have an A&E in the town but I wonder for how much longer?

Thank you for understanding my point NfkDumpling .

Norfolk has three A&E hospitals. Paramedics and ambulances can be anywhere out on the road and a free one may be hours away. Quicker to drive yourself rather than face the stress of playing Russian Roulette wondering if and when help is coming. There are other small hospitals, but they can’t take emergencies. I think things have been centralised too much. So much time is wasted just driving, often having to pass the smaller hospitals to get to A&E.

And I agree Gillybob. Add to that a Band D property in a wealthy area is so much larger than one in a less well off!