NHS Rant

[glenimp617]

Not to mention the amount of time in the hospital they need waiting for social care, care home placements or just for someone to be able to get hold of their next of kin's to arrange a future discharge etc.

are these the same people on minimum wage? I remember a friend working in social care. Thank heavens this country has people like her. They could do with a payrise too.
I certainly wouldn't do it for minimum wage....sorry, living wage.

 

[Narj]

I borrowed some money and saw the same consultant privately just for the consultation. They then referred it back to the NHS and I had an operation on the NHS a week or two later. The NHS delay was only in the consultation phase. You might be able to do the same thing, possibly. It's worth looking into. That would make the cost hundreds rather than thousands.

I did the same for a 2nd round of surgery after being private for all previous treatment - private insurance wouldn't cover further surgery related to the previous referral so I paid for another private appointment then got operated on a few weeks later on the NHS. Same consultant doing the procedure.

 

[chrcoluk]

Carers have it bad, they on a very low wage, the ones in my city also dont get petrol costs back and often buy things for those they care for out their own pocket. I have a ton of respect for carers.

 

[Raumarik]

^^ same here, also they don't have the support structure in place where they work and typically rarely see any co-workers/managers for weeks.

 

[Minstadave]

On the GP side of things a ton of stuff can be done to improve efficiency, it just needs doctors to accept more modern working practices like email and video conferencing.

You were sounding pretty clueless until this point, then you took it into utterly clueless territory.

General practice will be saved by email!

Have you thought about working at the DoH? You’d fit in well.

 

[Ace Modder]

Hi all.

Interested news today, I wrote a complaint letter, and then provided it via email to the Chief Executive of the hospital.

But prior to doing that I left a voicemail with the specialists secretary today explaining I wanted to speak to her before I send a complaint - but by 2pm I never got a call back so I sent the complaint letter.

Anyway - at 3:30pm I got a call from the secretary of the specialist who explained the wait time for an initital appointment is 12-15 months, and the referal was only made in May.
I told her that this is crazy time frame, but she explained that he is the last resort specialist for the whole country in this field and he gets referals from the whole of the UK, and there is only one of him. I kind of understand it is not her fault or even his - but the bigger failing of the NHS if they won't recruit another specialist into the UK like him, his workload is crazy.

I asked about other options and I mentioned private, she said that if we paid £160 for a private appointment that could be done in 1-2 weeks and then my wifes case could be referred back to the NHS and the whole wait time could be skipped and proper treatment planning can get underway. So now we are going to go for this, I have set the ball in motion and now I'm waiting for a call from the private health care centre where he conducts his private work. (His schedule is Thursday evenings for this) and is only a few miles from our home.

I just wish the NHS could have explained this months ago to us, as I would have gladly forked out £160 for her to have jumped a 15 month wait.

I wonder what will come of the complaint email I sent though.

 

[Minstadave]

Let the complaint go through the process. Complaints like that are welcomed by teams as they help build a case for investment.

The NHS won’t be allowed to tout for a private service, hence it not being discussed with you previously.

I really don’t like the whole go private to cut the NHS queue, I totally would do it in your position don’t get me wrong, but it goes against the NHS ethos and I’m surprised it hasn’t been stamped out already tbh.

Be careful of your expectations with the abdominal pacemaker too, I believe the benefits aren’t always amazing and can be short lived. There is a NICE guideline on them which is worth a look.

 

[Ace Modder]

Let the complaint go through the process. Complaints like that are welcomed by teams as they help build a case for investment.

The NHS won’t be allowed to tout for a private service, hence it not being discussed with you previously.

I really don’t like the whole go private to cut the NHS queue, I totally would do it in your position don’t get me wrong, but it goes against the NHS ethos and I’m surprised it hasn’t been stamped out already tbh.

Be careful of your expectations with the abdominal pacemaker too, I believe the benefits aren’t always amazing and can be short lived. There is a NICE guideline on them which is worth a look.

I intend for the complaint to continue on, not cancelling it at all.

I have never been a believer of having to pay for private when we pay tax into the NHS service. But £160 a small price to pay to try to move things along quickly. We know the pacemaker isn't something which is a 100% fix, but any attempt to fix things is certainly worth a shot.

 

[Minstadave]

I intend for the complaint to continue on, not cancelling it at all.

I have never been a believer of having to pay for private when we pay tax into the NHS service. But £160 a small price to pay to try to move things along quickly. We know the pacemaker isn't something which is a 100% fix, but any attempt to fix things is certainly worth a shot.

Sounds sensible mate, best of luck getting things moving forwards.

 

[Scrutinize]

I intend for the complaint to continue on, not cancelling it at all.

I have never been a believer of having to pay for private when we pay tax into the NHS service. But £160 a small price to pay to try to move things along quickly. We know the pacemaker isn't something which is a 100% fix, but any attempt to fix things is certainly worth a shot.

That's great news and a reasonable price.

 

[andicole0]

Wow! £160 creates time that the specialist doesn't have - amazing.
Well done on persevering.
Andi

 

[Ace Modder]

Wow! £160 creates time that the specialist doesn't have - amazing.
Well done on persevering.
Andi

I know, the mentality of it is staggering. The system is broken for sure. I'm just doing what is needed to try to help my wife.

 

[glenimp617]

Really pleased to hear things are progressing, albeit with you having to pay for the privelidge

 

[Ace Modder]

Really pleased to hear things are progressing, albeit with you having to pay for the privelidge

Thanks.

 

[dowie]

The NHS won’t be allowed to tout for a private service, hence it not being discussed with you previously.

I did actually once have a consultant rather cheekily hand me his business card (when I was in the medical equivalent of A&E - acute medical unit or something) when he found out I had insurance!

I really don’t like the whole go private to cut the NHS queue, I totally would do it in your position don’t get me wrong, but it goes against the NHS ethos and I’m surprised it hasn’t been stamped out already tbh.

Isn't part of it related to the formation of the NHS? I'm not sure on the history but obviously at one point doctors were private or paid for by cooperatives or non-profit orgs like Bupa etc.. I seem to recall something about how when the NHS was formed a deal was made so that doctors could carry on taking on private work too? Or is that way off the mark?

 

[hominid]

I asked about other options and I mentioned private, she said that if we paid £160 for a private appointment that could be done in 1-2 weeks and then my wifes case could be referred back to the NHS and the whole wait time could be skipped and proper treatment planning can get underway.

I suggested this on page 6, but glad your wife has at least something to aim at, it should help massively to know that she only has a short time to wait. Still be aware that it can still take 1-2 weeks for each appointment\stage, she can still expect to have to wait in the order of 2 months or so to get sorted depending on the perceived severity by the consultant.

Good luck!

 

[tamzzy]

However if we been real here most of the uk population would love to be earning £30 an hour, doctors do the studying and to say they not reaping the awards at £30 an hour is a misstatement.

sure, let's generalise the average uk population vs the top 1% academically. #strawmanargument

However those caps do get breached, they a target thats been failed to be hit.

they are breached when the hospital is deemed "unsafe", whatever that word means.

There seems to be too many locum usage in the system right now.

The issue I think is mainly the locums demanding a kings ransom to cover the gaps, once thats resolved then the cash can get released, and general NHS improvements made I feel.

#marketrate. but i guess because it's doctors everyone is up in arms screaming milking the system amirite? it's okay if other people want market rates, but as soon as healthcare professionals do it, its considered murder?

unsociable hours as part of their contract (your contract is confusing but if I understand you right you have 14 extra shifts of which 7 are unsociable)

i work 4 long weekdays, 4 week nights, 3 long weekend days, 3 weekend nights per 28 days.
i guess i'm better off being a slave then

it just needs doctors to accept more modern working practices

lol. just. lol.
please provide the funds for an infrastructure upgrade first.
i'll give you an example. i had a patient that needed transferring for 'urgent' neurosurgery. the surgical consultant needed to see the scans to see if the patient needed to go straight to theatre or whether this patient could be transferred to intensive care first.
alas, 2 hours later, the scans still couldn't be transferred as the network was 'too slow'. in the end we just ended up using facetime to show the consultant where the bleed was on the scan.
#modernworkingpractices. lol.

 

[tamzzy]

Isn't part of it related to the formation of the NHS? I'm not sure on the history but obviously at one point doctors were private or paid for by cooperatives or non-profit orgs like Bupa etc.. I seem to recall something about how when the NHS was formed a deal was made so that doctors could carry on taking on private work too? Or is that way off the mark?

close but not quite.
consultants are paid by programmed activities (PA) eg, clinic, ward work, operating lists etc. 1 PA = 4 hour session during weekdays, 3 hr during weekends.
PA can be variable eg if it's an overnight on-call - it may only count as 0.5PA even though it's 18 hours on call (don't ask)
most consultants are paid on a basis of 10PA.
so as long as they fulfil that obligation, they are free to do whatever they want in their spare time.

Wow! £160 creates time that the specialist doesn't have - amazing.

I know, the mentality of it is staggering. The system is broken for sure.

see above explanation. blimey, we're not all slaves to the NHS you know.

on a better note, glad to see things are progressing. hope you and your wife gets some answers and treatment she requires.

 

[Dis86]

sure, let's generalise the average uk population vs the top 1% academically. #strawmanargument


they are breached when the hospital is deemed "unsafe", whatever that word means.



#marketrate. but i guess because it's doctors everyone is up in arms screaming milking the system amirite? it's okay if other people want market rates, but as soon as healthcare professionals do it, its considered murder?


i work 4 long weekdays, 4 week nights, 3 long weekend days, 3 weekend nights per 28 days.
i guess i'm better off being a slave then


lol. just. lol.
please provide the funds for an infrastructure upgrade first.
i'll give you an example. i had a patient that needed transferring for 'urgent' neurosurgery. the surgical consultant needed to see the scans to see if the patient needed to go straight to theatre or whether this patient could be transferred to intensive care first.
alas, 2 hours later, the scans still couldn't be transferred as the network was 'too slow'. in the end we just ended up using facetime to show the consultant where the bleed was on the scan.
#modernworkingpractices. lol.

Why didn't you just do that in the first place? We've been using remote inspection for the best part of a decade in engineering. Why send me half way around the world costing a fortune and wasting a ton of my time when everyone has a mobile with a camera on it and it costs pennies for a tech to point it at what I want to see?

 

[tamzzy]

Why didn't you just do that in the first place? We've been using remote inspection for the best part of a decade in engineering. Why send me half way around the world costing a fortune and wasting a ton of my time when everyone has a mobile with a camera on it and it costs pennies for a tech to point it at what I want to see?

you must have a pretty big set, if you would allow a surgeon to operate on your brain based off a facetime image he saw 2 hours ago.
and yes, the patient's images went with the patient to the neurosurgical centre in a cd.

but yes, my point exactly. this wasn't technically kosher by trust standards and all done off our own personal mobiles, when this should be standard.