NHS

I heard yesterday that the NHS is thinking of giving all pregnant women and young children vitamin D because of the rise in the number of cases of rickets.
How Dickensian can you get?

durhamjen

Re rickets.

Why Dickensian?

In Dickens time it was thought that 60% of inner London children suffered from rickets. It is thought that Tiny Tim suffered from rickets.

I just have to tell someone about the experience of the NHS I've had recently, in a very impoverished SE town. Where we're living now.
I don't want to name it. Not yet anyway.
We went to register as patients. The premises are modern but cramped, right in the the centre of town. There was a never-ending flow of people of all ages and colours, mostly looking very poorly, or socially deprived, or psychiatrically ill.
The 2 receptionists were almost overwhelmed.
All I needed was a repeat prescription - TG even at my age (82) I'm in a better condition than most of them.
After 2-3 weeks of filling in forms, begging and telling our hard luck story, I got to see a doctor this afternoon. a lovely elderly lady, probably from India.
I MIGHT get my prescription tomorrow.
So how the NHS is going to cope when further cuts are made I don't know.

Jen, that already happens in Scotland.

What does, kids get rickets?

Do you mean give them vitamin D?
Is it because you are further north, and therefore lack vitamin D because less sunshine?
Or it's because your NHS is better than ours.

Jen - I meant gives vitamin D to pregnant women and young kids. Partly yes, it's a sunshine thing, but AFAIK, there is also evidence that inadequate Vit D levels may have a link to multiple sclerosis. Scotland has one of the highest rates of MS in the world (cause unclear).

As you say, NHS Scotland also pays for a lot of services etc that NHS E&W no longer does.

Never knew that about MS, gummybears. I wonder if there is research into whether the number of cases reduces the more sunshine you get.

There is indeed, jen. Will leave this source here for now and am picking through journals for the sources I am actually looking for. I know the very research you mention does indeed exist but finding it is a PITA...

www.nhs.uk/news/neurology/low-vitamin-d-levels-linked-to-increased-multiple-sclerosis-risk/

So the genetic component depends on whether you are European or not, not whether you live in Scotland or England.
If I go due West from here, Scotland is about five miles north. If I go due North, it's nearly 80.

Pretty much. The sunlight level seems to make the difference. Vit D supplementation is at a population level an incredibly cheap public health intervention so it is worth doing. MS is a bloody nasty disease

This is a very interesting piece of research gummybears. The conclusion at the moment seems to be that it is not clear whether supplementation with VitD will prevent MS, or whether low levels are a consequence of MS. However as I'm pale skinned & of Scottish heritage I'm hedging my bets and off to buy some Vit D!

Torres must be a bit desperate - 6% pay rise just before the May local elections. I wonder if it will impress many voters. Surely they aren’t that gullible.

All power to the nurses though

I don't think those who work for them will be taken in, particularly as it's over three years.
Anyway, lots of NHS area groups are trying to privatise all the catering and cleaning, etc., which means they will not be paid by the NHS.

I am pleased that the longsuffering NHS staff are getting a pay rise and that the supposed non existent money tree materialised, but the Government had no choice considering the NHS lost 33,000 nurses last year, which far exceeded recruitment. Sadly many of the poorest paid ancillary staff won't benefit because their jobs were privatised long ago, but as dj says those that weren't soon will be!

Reference the debate today in the HoC about Brexit and the NHS.
The government couldnt name a single benefit to the NHS from leaving the EU.

So that is that. As Maybot might say.

metro.co.uk/2018/03/23/nhs-nurse-dedicated-career-patients-forced-crowdfund-treatment-7410142/

This shouldn't be happening in the NHS.
I hope those in charge feel ashamed. I certainly do.

It is all chaos at the moment. I spent 7 hours on a trolley in A&E earlier this month, having made a sporting attempt to die at home (unconscious, grey, drenched in sweat) and the para-medics struggled to get me round. By the time I got to A&E my BP had returned. Saw a doc for 2 minutes after 7 hours and he sent me home to talk to GP about investigations - he did not examine me in any way.

Urgent CT ordered by GP. I rang this morning and they have the referral and it is waiting in a pile for the consultant to decide if it really is urgent; then it will lie in another pile awaiting the scan (4 weeks I am told), then I will have to wait x weeks for the actual result to filter through. If he decides it is not urgent, add another 2 or 3 weeks to all that.

In the meantime I have this anxiety hanging over my head - it is the second time this has happened. OH worried sick that I will drop dead and he will have no carer.

So...rang local Nuffield. They can do it Friday week and you get the result the same day. Great - but it costs £800 - £1000. Hmm.

In a similar situation with youngest grand-daughter Luckygirl. She has had numerous bouts of tonsillitis/ear infections and just general "not well" episodes. Also she has only 7/8 Words in her vocabulary despite the fact she is nearly 4.
She needs a tonsillectomy and grommets as well as further investigation whilst under anaesthetic. NHS waiting, best scenario, is 8 months. Privately it can be done in Mid-April but at a cost of just shy of £4000.
Daughter and son-in-law are not in a position to fund this.
Do we pay or do we wait at the mercy of the NHS?

Yes you can see why the rich live longer can't you? Our NHS was the best and most cost effective in the world but sadly this is no longer the case. Those in real need, are having to wait for treatment and meanwhile the the Government is planning to reduce taxes. I was advised by a GP that I could go privately if I wanted to be seen quickly and I said that he should be ashamed of promoting private medicine and I'd worked in the NHS all my career. As you have discovered Luckygirl GPs are no longer able to refer for scans or to consultants without being triaged to see if referral is really necessary. It is a way of rationing, and I can only see that the service is being run down deliberately to open the way for full privatisation.

I agree - it is sickening. But what do you do? We can afford it by taking out savings, and the worry that is hanging over our heads at present is so stressful. It could be something very serious (e.g. aorta) and the second time it happened I could have died if I had not managed to get through to my OH before I lost consciousness. There is no way of knowing when/if it might happen again. It is doubly stressful as I am carer to my OH and if I died there would be huge practical implications for the entire family.

We have decided to just spend the money and have done with it - peace of mind is beyond price.

Both of us have worked in the NHS all our lives nearly and find this choice unacceptable but do not know what else to do. I realise that someone who could not find that money would be stuck in this situation for months; that does make me feel bad.

Are you both on 38 degrees?

speakout.38degrees.org.uk/campaigns/3553

This is what is happening to you.
Complain about it to someone who can try and do something about it.

weownit.org.uk/public-ownership/nhs

www.crowdjustice.com/case/jr4nhs-round3/

This is the group that Stephen Hawkin was involved in to take Hunt to court.