NHS=Negligent Health Service

[Minstadave]

When I’ve gone for surgery at a private hospital, I always ensured they had an ICU. I overthink everything which isn’t a bad thing sometimes.

The staffing of these ITUs is usually very dubious. Any one properly sick gets knocked back to the NHS.

 

[Werewolf]

The staffing of these ITUs is usually very dubious. Any one properly sick gets knocked back to the NHS.

I'm only vaguely aware of how common it is, but it made me shudder when I read about a couple of the private hospitals that had deaths because basically they had the facilities, but no suitable staff on site or similar so when patients took a turn for the worse at night it was lower level nursing staff who were the ones on duty.

There is zero point in claiming to have the facility if there aren't the qualified staff on site at all times as they are the "facility" at least as much as having a couple of bits of equipment that might not have been used since the last scheduled test months ago.

For all it's faults i'd much rather be in an NHS hospital where even with staff shortages the likes of the ICU will be manned and if need can pull staff in from other locations on site.

 

[Narj]

The staffing of these ITUs is usually very dubious. Any one properly sick gets knocked back to the NHS.

If you're at a flagship hospital then I think you're alright.

I like London Bridge Hospital - they have been amazing for me every time I have been there for procedures. If anything ever went seriosusly wrong then Guy's is across the road.

Like I say, I overthink everything

On the other hand, plenty of people are dying in A&E anyway now so it's a lottery.

I really don't want to dig into the clinical negligence cases I have seen within my own social circle - ie: people with no descendants who will challenge anything. The NHS has literally gotten away with murder through negligence in my own experience and probably still does every day.

 

[Minstadave]

If you're at a flagship hospital then I think you're alright.

I like London Bridge Hospital - they have been amazing for me every time I have been there for procedures. If anything ever went seriosusly wrong then Guy's is across the road.

Like I say, I overthink everything

On the other hand, plenty of people are dying in A&E anyway now so it's a lottery.

I really don't want to dig into the clinical negligence cases I have seen within my own social circle. The NHS has literally gotten away with murder through negligence in my own experience and probably still does every day.

Yeah London Bridge and Cleveland look like legit facilities.

 

[Narj]

Yeah London Bridge and Cleveland look like legit facilities.

Struggling to figure out if you're being sarcastic or not. Please explain. Consultants are usually NHS people leading teams with extensive experience and excellent outcomes.

EDIT: I suppose I should expand on my previous statements.

Mum: given the all-clear and we asked for a full body scan to be sure. Denied, all fine apparently. Dead within a year.

Dennis: Survived throat cancer but had kidney issues. Had a fall and ended up in A&E, died from painkillers that his system couldn’t deal with.

Excuse my cynicism. My sister’s current struggles are only making me despair even more.

 

[Minstadave]

Struggling to figure out if you're being sarcastic or not. Please explain. Consultants are usually NHS people leading teams with extensive experience and excellent outcomes.

EDIT: I suppose I should expand on my previous statements.

Mum: given the all-clear and we asked for a full body scan to be sure. Denied, all fine apparently. Dead within a year.

Dennis: Survived throat cancer but had kidney issues. Had a fall and ended up in A&E, died from painkillers that his system couldn’t deal with.

Excuse my cynicism. My sister’s current struggles are only making me despair even more.

No sarcasm, they actually look fully fledged hospitals.

Many private hospitals have very sketchy out of hours cover.

 

[Narj]

No sarcasm, they actually look fully fledged hospitals.

Many private hospitals have very sketchy out of hours cover.

Fair enough, apologies for the misunderstanding

People do need to do their research before having risky surgery in a place that can’t deal with every eventuality, you are absolutely correct on that point.

 

[SexyGreyFox]

Mum: given the all-clear and we asked for a full body scan to be sure. Denied, all fine apparently. Dead within a year.

Dennis: Survived throat cancer but had kidney issues. Had a fall and ended up in A&E, died from painkillers that his system couldn’t deal with.

Excuse my cynicism. My sister’s current struggles are only making me despair even more.

Then you need to consult a Solicitor if you believe there has been a Breach of Duty.
You won't have to pay, since they aren't allowed to do No Win No Fee they get around it with a Conditional Fee Agreement
The Solicitor will request a Pre Action Disclosure and pass it on to their experts who will decide if it goes to the next stage which is a Letter of Claim and dealt with by the NHSR and Trust Solicitors.

 

[Narj]

Then you need to consult a Solicitor if you believe there has been a Breach of Duty.
You won't have to pay, since they aren't allowed to do No Win No Fee they get around it with a Conditional Fee Agreement
The Solicitor will request a Pre Action Disclosure and pass it on to their experts who will decide if it goes to the next stage which is a Letter of Claim and dealt with by the NHSR and Trust Solicitors.

Honestly, I think we’re past that and don’t want to stir things up with a legal process. What’s the point of causing even more damage to a broken system by sucking more money out of it?

Wish I’d done more in those two instances. If I’d got a private scan for my mum and walked my mate home on that icy night maybe things would have turned out differently.

If my sister doesn’t get sorted out then I’m definitely getting on to PALS as per previous advice. Making a point of being more proactive this time.

I need to stop ranting in this thread anyway, I’m done here.

 

[Goodie]

Honestly, I think we’re past that and don’t want to stir things up with a legal process. What’s the point of causing even more damage to a broken system by sucking more money out of it?

Wish I’d done more in those two instances. If I’d got a private scan for my mum and walked my mate home on that icy night maybe things would have turned out differently.

If my sister doesn’t get sorted out then I’m definitely getting on to PALS as per previous advice. Making a point of being more proactive this time.

I need to stop ranting in this thread anyway, I’m done here.

If poor quality care is occurring then they should be held accountable.

 

[SexyGreyFox]

Honestly, I think we’re past that and don’t want to stir things up with a legal process. What’s the point of causing even more damage to a broken system by sucking more money out of it?

Because if we've done wrong then like Goodie says, we should be held accountable.
I see some horrible stuff that deserve compensation, I also witness lots of liars.
At the very least there should be PALS or Complaints so it will go on our DATIX reporting System, this system records all PALS, Complaints, Incidents and Clinical Negligence which means we could search for a person and see what else has happened.
This can go in favour of a patient or the other way
eg
A patient who had a nasty fall in a ward and now putting a claim in, we have 2x Incident reports and medical Records where the patient totally refused to be helped to the toilet.

 

[Narj]

Because if we've done wrong then like Goodie says, we should be held accountable.
I see some horrible stuff that deserve compensation, I also witness lots of liars.
At the very least there should be PALS or Complaints so it will go on our DATIX reporting System, this system records all PALS, Complaints, Incidents and Clinical Negligence which means we could search for a person and see what else has happened.
This can go in favour of a patient or the other way
eg
A patient who had a nasty fall in a ward and now putting a claim in, we have 2x Incident reports and medical Records where the patient totally refused to be helped to the toilet.

Can't say I'd be surprised at the level of spurious claims - some people don't seem to understand the concept of personal accountability.

I did a bit of googling out of curiosity - this is quite scary: https://www.bmj.com/content/382/bmj.p1688

Payments for clinical negligence in the NHS in England rose by 9.5% in 2022-23 to almost £2.7bn, according to the latest report from NHS Resolution, the body that handles claims.

Can't read the whole thing unfortunately. Stuff like this must be demoralising for those actually working in the NHS.

 

[SexyGreyFox]

Can't read the whole thing unfortunately. Stuff like this must be demoralising for those actually working in the NHS.

Keeps me in a job.
I'm supposed to retire next month but I enjoy my job so much I'm staying on.

 

[Narj]

Keeps me in a job.
I'm supposed to retire next month but I enjoy my job so much I'm staying on.

Fair play - I think I'd find dealing with this sort of stuff thoroughly depressing although no doubt interesting. Maybe write a book when you finally retire

It's so bloody annoying having seen the NHS at it's best and also at its worst. I absolutely can't fault treatment I've had personally and am massively grateful but at the moment, everyone I know that's going through the system is hugely frustrated.

As for my mum's case - that was in the COVID era so everything was utter chaos. We have no idea if she'd have been treatable or not if they'd done thorough checks so any complaint would be pointless. It was just bloody annoying seeing her looking forward to having stoma reversal and getting back to normal only to find it had metastasised and nothing could be done.

As for my mate - I have no idea if any of his family complained but there was a lot of outrage at the time in our social circle. I suspect not given that a broken pelvis finishes a lot of people off anyway.

Cheers for the insights though

 

[tamzzy]

I did a bit of googling out of curiosity - this is quite scary: https://www.bmj.com/content/382/bmj.p1688
Stuff like this must be demoralising for those actually working in the NHS.

the system has been well and truly broken for quite a while now, only running on the fumes of staff goodwill to keep the lumbering giant from dying
everyone is so overstretched that mistakes are easier than ever to make and less safeguards in place to stop them happening ("the swiss cheese")
dunno whether one can call them "mistakes" or "negligence" when it's the actual system setting staff up to fail, we're only human after all...

 

[SexyGreyFox]

dunno whether one can call them "mistakes" or "negligence" when it's the actual system setting staff up to fail, we're only human after all...

IMO nobody sets out to cause negligence.
In 14 years of this job I've only known 4 Clinicians be struck off and as bad as what they did even they believed what they were doing was for the good of the patients.
I take phone calls off crying Staff who have been ordered to go to Inquests and Court Cases, they have to be invited in to be calmed down.

 

[tamzzy]

@SexyGreyFox

i've quit now and have become a "full-time" locum...basically working half my previous hours, but same take-home pay + paying into nhs pension

also don't have to deal with BS and politics which is another perk
walk-in, do my shift, walk-out
best decision i've made

i've personally worked with 4 doctors who have committed suicide due to the stress of working in this broken system

 

[heeeed]

It’s very depressing these days. I’ve been asked to speak at my kids school to their medsoc (kids thinking of applying to do medicine) and I’ve said I’d do so, but that it would be a going in with open eyes talk, and it would probably come across as quite negative. I hope they let and indeed encourage me to do it, because it’s necessary. I think Adam Kay’s “This is going to hurt” should be compulsory reading for those thinking of applying

 

[SexyGreyFox]

It’s very depressing these days. I’ve been asked to speak at my kids school to their medsoc (kids thinking of applying to do medicine) and I’ve said I’d do so, but that it would be a going in with open eyes talk, and it would probably come across as quite negative. I hope they let and indeed encourage me to do it, because it’s necessary. I think Adam Kay’s “This is going to hurt” should be compulsory reading for those thinking of applying

When I started in the NHS in 2006 my first two years was teaching around 120 year 10 & 11s in Health and Social Care plus putting on classes for other school kids to hopefully go into an NHS job.
Out of my original 120 only 3 did it - two Nurses and one in Admin.

 

[tres]

It’s very depressing these days. I’ve been asked to speak at my kids school to their medsoc (kids thinking of applying to do medicine) and I’ve said I’d do so, but that it would be a going in with open eyes talk, and it would probably come across as quite negative. I hope they let and indeed encourage me to do it, because it’s necessary. I think Adam Kay’s “This is going to hurt” should be compulsory reading for those thinking of applying

I've just seen your location. Did you train in Newcastle?