NHS Waste of money and resources

When I had my first hip replacement 9 years ago now, the trolley, raised loo seats, perching stool etc. were all taken back by Millbrook but I needed the crutches etc for longer and I was told to throw them away when I had finished with them. After several more replacements etc. I now have two zimmers and a pair of crutches that I don't know what to do with. The local hospital weren't interested.

There are many many ways the nhs could save money or limit waste. I have read all the comments with interest and find it appalling if it is indeed true that items are not returned and reused. I also feel that people being sent home with packets of dressings is wasteful. They should be asked if they can supply their own dressings and non prescription drugs unless on benefits. It may seem trivial but add up the cost of every hospital and it is a significant saving. I worked with a woman who previously worked for nhs and witnessed consultants loading their briefcases with gauze, bandages, plasters etc to use in their private practises. Why is a fortune spent on agency staff instead of using the money to employ full time staff without agency fees escalating the cost? Why employ contractors to clean (often not properly trained or aware of basic hygiene rules) rather than permanent staff doing deep cleaning with a matron breathing down their necks? Why are patients not charged a small amount for their food whilst in hospital, after all they are saving on their own food bill and the quality might improve! So many ways for nhs to save money but no one with the right attitude to accomplish it, so much easier to just keep the status quo.

When my mother died in Sussex, whichever organisation delivered the aids to her (organised by the hospital) came and collected them all, including to my annoyance the zimmer I had bought and could have re-used. Of course I have no idea what they did with them. The Red Cross came for the wheelchair.
4 years ago in London I was in need of a raft of aids, signed for each one and was given a phone number to get them collected when no longer needed. Again I don’t know if they ended up in a skip somewhere.
Metal aids that have sometimes to bear considerable weight would surely stand reuse. Pity someone hasn’t started up a business steam sterilising the metal and replacing rubber parts.

I take it you will be standing for Parliament and hoping for Secretary of State for Health?

So easy to criticise.

Sorry, addressed to Lollee ( what the NHS could do with)

I believe it's hygiene and fear of infections.

Along with fellow patients on the ward with me, I was bemused as to why every time we were given tablets, they were dispensed in little plastic cups (like medicine measures). Why not just give us the tablets? I forget what the reason was, when I queried it.

Well, I couldn't do much worse could I, that is exactly the attitude that never gets things done!

Lollee why is it wasteful people being sent home with dressings they need? When I sliced the top of my finger off two years ago, the nurse gave me an appropriate dressing to use myself to replace the existing one in x days time. If she hadn’t I would have had to go to the GPS and use up the nurse’s time. Of course I could also have made an appointment with the GP so he could write me a prescription so I could go the chemist to get the dressing . Or I could have not looked after my finger myself with the dressing she gave me and ended up with an infection back in hospital......

We had the same problem returning aids when my MIL died. Hers included expensive items like a wheelchair, walking frame, a bath lift (only ever used twice because she didn't like the carer that came to bathe her!), four huge unopened packs of incontinence pads for the bed, and lots of grab handles and small items. Nobody wanted to take any of it. All of it was pristine clean, I made sure of that. Medical Centre and Hospital both refused them. We offered it to the Red Cross and charity shops, they didn't want to know. It's such a dreadful waste of money. No wonder the NHS is struggling! Apparently the issue is cleaning and sterilising items for reuse. It can be done but they can't get the people to do it!!! We eventually sold the wheelchair, bath lift and stair lift privately but nearly everything else went to the Tip.

My husband recently had a hip replacement and we had a visit from the Occupational Therapy Department, the result of which they recommended a raised toilet seat and grabber. These were later delivered to our house and when we had finished with them we phoned them and they came to pick them up after we had cleaned the seat. I have seen mobility aids in the local Charity shop. When we tried to return his crutches they said to keep them and when we went for an outpatient appointment we saw a large pile of crutches. It just goes to show that policies vary depending where you live.

The Freecycle sites are excellent and it’s amazing what people will take from you.

Maryeliza, dressings and the like can be bought over any chemist counter and I believe it is beholden on all of us to save taxpayers money wherever possible. We all take those things for granted but where several are given over to maybe thousands of patients per day that is a lot of money. Obviously it is a case of need and ability bit most walking wounded could get their own, or someone on their behalf.

I would imagine the supply of dressings is realted to the fact that there are now many sorts of dressings and the correct sort needs to be used, and that they need to be changed regularly. Using the wrong sort or failing to change because of cost or supply could result in an infecion which would be much more expensive to treat.

Ageed, but there is too much waste in all areas of local and central government these days. Recently a friend suffered a bad dog bite and went to casualty. After hours of waiting (time for infection to set in), it was wiped, dressed and he was sent home with instructions to return if it got worse. 2 operations and a week in hospital later, 4 lots of antibiotics, 6/8 weeks off work and at huge expense (police involved too), one might wonder the outcome had it been dealt with sooner and properly by being irrigated and tended in the first instance. Similar story of friend's grandchild bitten by a dog. And can someone explain why a single child is transported by hired car with a driver and passenger assistant over 150 miles each time in order to attend a school in one county while living in another. Not an isolated instance but costing hundreds of pounds which could keep an old person in a care home or supply several carers. I know that is off subject but cannot stand government officials squandering taxpayers money because it is not theirs and they dont have to be held accou table.

This was a special dressing for a specific type of injury. But anyway, why should I not have been given it? It was part of my treatment. As for your comment about paying for food in hospital - whenever I’ve had family members in hospital, the ‘savings’ in not feeding them has been wiped out and more by petrol and parking charges when I’ve visited them, the costs of taking in treats or additional food for them and buying more expensive convenience food for myself or eating at the hospital whilst I waited for them to come out if theatre. Can you imagine having to produce bills for the food and patients saying I didn’t have the pudding that day or the stew was inedible - I’m not paying.

The DM seems to be alive and well and living on this thread. I really can’t be bothered

Same here in the north east of Scotland.

Ah now it's not the being sent home with dressings, but the being sent home without any! Emergency care is just that. With injuries it is expected that if the situation worsens the patient will have the sense to return for more treatment. Of course you can never accommodate the idiots who don't do this.
What the hell has a child's transport and school got to do with the NHS?

I had to clear out a house and offered it to the Sally Ann's across the road!

Maryeliza, it takes 2 to argue but just to be clear, i am not suggesting, nor would it be beneficial, to refuse all dressings to all patients carte blanche. My initial suggestion related to a time when i was given half a dozen plain gauze dressings for a relatively minor wound, did not need them all and they sat in my bathroom cabinet for ages before being thrown out. Of course if a wound merits a special dressing or ongoing visits to doctor or nurse to check and redress wound it goes without saying you would not take your own. As for food, you have to pay for your meal in a restaurant, even if you leave some. I do not feel that a token payment of £5 per day for food could ever be complained about and those who stamp their feet and refuse on the grounds of ' I pay my NI contributions, why should I, it's my right etc' are the ones who will happily stand by and watch our wonderful nhs collapse. I for one am so grateful to live in a country that has this fantastic benefit I would be happy to contribute to food, medical supplies or whatever. Damn site cheaper than dying because i can't afford a life saving operation.

lollee it's not clear to me how patients would pay this charge for food? would they not be given a meal if they didn't have 5 pounds with them? or would the NHS accept card payments? If you are admitted via A&E as I was, they may not have any money with them... or are they billed after discharge from hospital - and again, how do they pay? surely the bureaucracy might cost more. And what about people (including myself) who would pay less than half of £5 for a meal at home???

But lolee you wanted treatment at A&E that might not be necessary, just in case of infection. How does that differ from being given non-essential dressings?. Surely treatment should be the decision of the medical staff and not on-demand treatment simply because a patient thinks there might be a danger of infection?
As for food many patients are being monitored and on special diets If they were charged they might well decide to provide their own and send out for unsuitable meals.

After a hip replacement, I gave all my aids to my local hospice, where the were very gratefully received. Occupational therapy were not interested in them being returned.

Lollee you must stop reading the Daily Mail and The Daily Express! No child is transported 150 miles to school! Some children are driven to a special school suitable for their needs, usually this journey has to be made at great expense because the funding has been withdrawn from the local, suitable school. I really can't be bothered to correct answer all your statements, but......cleaning of wards is part of the great outsourcing revolution, we all know what a success Carrillion made of it don't we? It is all about cutting costs to the bone which is one of the reasons why I was asking why my aunt's local hospital did not want her disability aids returned. As to your comments ^rather than permanent staff doing deep cleaning with a matron breathing down their necks?^ I have this vision of a fierce Hattie Jacques snorting over some trembling cleaner with a bucket and then marching towards a patient and demanding to know why they haven't eaten their lovely tapioca that cost them £2!

Gill