NHS

I was disgusted with Andy Burnham's comment in an interview - that we should remember all the lives that are saved every day - what possible comfort is that to somebody who has lost a relative needlessly?

I suppose most of us were brought up to think that doctors were god-like figures who could not be challenged. Following my daughter's terrible experience at the hands of one of them, I have kept an eye on the GMC's 'Fitness to Practise' site and my rose-tinted spectacles have been well and truly shattered. The fact that the majority of medical professionals are honest and dedicated should not mean that the rogue minority are protected by their colleagues and the system.

I can't remember when the NHS was in so desperate a state. I heard a comment the other day - A and E is like the canary in the coal mine - when that dies, you know you're in trouble.

Burnham has just been interviewed again on Today. Still trying to cover his own back and blame 'the others'. Nobody will be punished or charged with anything, of course.

But, but, but..... Do we all want to be part of what is a deliberate Government campaign to undermine the NHS and soften us up for privatisation? When - you must remember the state of the NHS in 1997 with people dying whilst on waiting lists and no targets for being seen for patients with suspected cancers? I don't want to be seen as defending the present situation but we need to keep a sense of proportion and be realistic. Where's the perfect system? It doesn't exist - and at least here we try and collect data on mortality, near misses, serious events so we have something to work with. Also, I would argue, that with all its faults, the GMC since its reforms in the last decade gives us one of the best systems for the regulation of doctors.

I said one of the best - that means relatively not that its perfect!

I'm with you, bluebell.

Yes, agree with you about the government propaganda that is undermining the NHS. I have Clare Rayner's dying words in my head - if there such a thing as afterlife, I expect she's hovering around Cameron's office right now!

I'm just off to visit my son, who's been doing bank work in A and E and just about to qualify. He says there is so much unrest amongst consultants now, they are very supportive of front-line staff and disgusted about the betrayal of the NHS by this government. Ambulances have been queuing up for hours, and staff coming out to try and help patients waiting to get inside A and E. Staff have offered to work extra hours for free, but managers saying no because insurance doesn't cover them. Where is our fine NHS going to end up?

DH had day surgery yesterday and was delighted with everything. He thought that all the care was wonderful and I thought the communication with me as his 'carer/driver' was very good too. He did say there was too much form filling, he answered the same questions twice on different forms and the nurse told him that for ever one of the second form completed they get £100. I am sure I could devise a better and simpler system.

I wondered why there was a huge TV in the waiting room, thought it was a waste of money which could be better spent but I do have a bee in my bonnet about this. It wasn't even on. Why waste money on TVs in waiting rooms?

I don't think any government will privatise the NHS.

My OH totally dedicated his life to the NHS, sometimes at the detriment of his family and health. He retired in 2009 and is appalled by what is going on.

Maybe not quite what was expected by government and media!
www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/jul/16/report-nhs-hospitals-claims-care

The interview with Andy Burnham on R4 this morning sent my blood pressure soaring. If his civil servants didn't want to publish disadvantageous reports because it would embarrass the government that is because that was the message coming down the line. AB didn't have to say it explicitly or give a specific direction. Civil servants knew how he would respond and acted accordingly.

I accept that no system will be perfect, but the NHS is rapidly becoming a place where it is the survival of the fittest. DD, aged 39, with a buoyant and cheerful personality, rushed to hospital with a severe but less common type of injury to her arm, which had staff of all grades clustering around her bed at ward round times to see and discuss its treatment, was well looked after in hospital and since. DF, aged 92, remarkably fit and still in possession of all his facilities, again a pleasant and co-operative person, got excellent care when finally struck down by heart and infection problems. But an elderly aunt with dementia who had had a stroke and another elderly relation suffering self neglect as a result of a severe depression were treated appallingly. Neither was violent or difficult but they did not interact with staff in a helpful way and had no conversation.

Most elderly people, like those under retirement age now, pay massively into the health service during their working years through National Insurance payments and general taxation but, generally, used it very little. Now when they look to receive the benefit of their many years investment in the NHS they get treated as if they were freeloaders and leaches on the body politic.

Of course, negligent treatment causing distress, injury or death shouldn't be swept under the carpet, but I think it was reasonable to point out that these incidents aren't the norm.

I agree with bluebell that the government has an agenda to discredit the NHS and pave the way for a massive privatisation programme. If anyone believes that handing over the nation's health to private providers is going to improve patient care, they obviously haven't been paying attention over the last few years to what has happened in other sectors that have been privatised.

Mamie's link demonstrates that the findings of the report have been misrepresented in the media, which has concentrated almost entirely on negative findings and ignored positive ones.

I spent 13 years from 2000 to now dealing with 8 different hospitals from Hertfordshire, around the south coast to Swindon as responsible relative for four different elderly relatives, my daughter and myself and there were several occasions when care was excellent but my general experience was of care that ranged from indifferent at best to actively uncaring and malevolent at worst.

Our NHS is possibly the most 'civilised' legislation a government ever authorised . It is now being eroded faster than any of us realise; I can recall three separate visits to GPs in the last two years when I was asked whether I had private health insurance . 'Free at the point of delivery' is what we once had . There is not a business , a bank, a service provider in the world that promises this, nor is there a human being that has not made a mistake in their working lives ; it was , is and will never be perfect but a United Kingdom which has a two-tier health provision based on your income is not one I'd feel pride in, the thought of two sick young or old woman or men being asked if they have private insurance and one with enough money gets treatment and the other ( as in America) gets a skeleton service in every sense of the word - how is that civilised????? I am a working professional nearing retirement age and sought a quote for myself and my husband £270 / month , I'm afraid that's far too much for us to pay in our late 50s , so heaven help us as we get older. We must stop this for the sake of our children .

Poor old NHS getting a bashing again, someone has discovered that the service in top heavy on the management side, is it only me that realises that when job cuts are made to reach financial targets the people who make the cuts are management and they are not going to cut their jobs are they??

BPJ exactly. I've been saying for ages that it is silly for the PCTs to make those sorts of decisions.

My DH's bit of the NHS seems to have acquired more managers lately but there is less money for patient care and, with an aging population, more people needing the care!

Glad I am not alone in this