NHS Woes

[kinetic747]

I'm a massive fan of the NHS but a recent experience has woken me up to today's condition of the service. My mother-in-law fell down stairs around 12-30 am last Sunday morning suffering a nasty cut to the head. My father-in-law dialled 999 immediately followed by a further call to myself and my wife. As I'd had a drink, we had to wait for a taxi to pick us up which took well over an hour to come. Still no sign of the ambulance so we went directly to their house. She was still at the bottom of the stairs where the operator had told my father-in-law to leave her. She had lost consciousness for a couple of minutes after the fall but was talking when we got there. The ambulance eventually arrived almost 2 hours since the initial call and, after they had stopped the bleeding, we made our way to the hospital. After another 3 hours in a corridor waiting our turn, we finally got into triage. We then had another 1 hour wait to see a Doctor after which she was admitted for scans etc. She was diagnosed with a broken vertebrae in her neck some time during Sunday and after spending this week in hospital, is now ready to come home. On Monday we were told she had a 60-40 chance of survival so it is great news that things aren't as bad as first feared. I have no doubt that if her condition had been more serious, she would not have made it to the hospital. The hospital phoned this morning to say that she could be picked up so my wife and father-in-law have been there since 10 am and are now waiting for a doctor to sign her release papers. All in all, not a pleasant experience. The staff themselves have been fantastic but to say they are overstretched is an understatement.

 

[Cleisthenes]

I'm not sure what you want us to contribute.

The NHS is a bloody incredible service, I think you've just had a bad experience which overall there are relatively few.

What do you think they could have done better specifically?

 

[DrToffnar]

Not good man.

I work for the service myself in one of the biggest departments dealing with an ENORMOUS volume of outpatients each and every day and we are stretched to breaking...

It's purely a staffing problem. No one wants to work on our site because of the rough community work it often entails.

 

[cu3ed]

Ambulance time is the biggest problem right now. Saying that, you dont come out of hospital with an invoice for about 60k.

 

[Cleisthenes]

Ambulance time is the biggest problem right now.

At a party I was at a few weekends ago a guy had a peanut reaction and within c. 15 minutes someone was there to assist. There are always bad cases.

 

[cu3ed]

At a party I was at a few weekends ago a guy had a peanut reaction and within c. 15 minutes someone was there to assist. There are always bad cases.

Yes, but he would have been prioritized, diverting from a call like the OP had put in, so many others with "less" serious conditions are waiting hours to be seen.

 

[CREATIVE!11]

Strangle NHS, claim privitisation is better. End up like Murica. Profit.

Wonder how long it's going to take...

 

[B@Th*nG]

write to your MP and tell them to properly fund it. and don't vote tory.

B@

 

[Cleisthenes]

Strangle NHS, claim privitisation is better. End up like Murica. Profit.

Wonder how long it's going to take...

Hopefully that'll never happen

 

[kinetic747]

I'm not sure what you want us to contribute.

The NHS is a bloody incredible service, I think you've just had a bad experience which overall there are relatively few.

What do you think they could have done better specifically?

I know it's an incredible service my wife works in it. What could have been improved? The ambulance response time for one but I guess that's a knock on effect of the long wait once you arrive at the hospital. The ambulance crew wait with the patient until they get to triage. The crew that we had told me that on a 12 hour shift, they often spend half of that in corridors, especially at weekends.

 

[DrToffnar]

It's an issue that won't realistically ever be resolved. With rising populations and the very nature of constantly developing medical science, no amount of money will realistically ever be enough

 

[Thekwango]

I'm not sure what you want us to contribute.

The NHS is a bloody incredible service, I think you've just had a bad experience which overall there are relatively few.

What do you think they could have done better specifically?

not sure he was wanting anyone to contribute anything really - he was more just making a statement of how stretched the NHS is. which is true.

he wasn't even having a pop at the NHS so maybe take a deep breath and climb down of the high horse

 

[doodah]

Hopefully that'll never happen

I wish I could share your optimism.

I had a non-serious issue (called 111 but they decided to ring an ambulance) a couple of months back that required me to go to hospital. I was very fortunate, all stages including follow up appointments at hospital went off without a single hitch and the quality of care was excellent. However my grandfather, grandmother and mother have all had pretty bad experiences of the NHS. It has a lot of problems but glad we have it. Glad your mother-in-law is recovering.

 

[kinetic747]

not sure he was wanting anyone to contribute anything really - he was more just making a statement of how stretched the NHS is. which is true.

he wasn't even having a pop at the NHS so maybe take a deep breath and climb down of the high horse

Thanks, got it in one.

 

[Avenged7Fold]

Sorry to hear of things OP.

People are stretched thin and the issue is that the NHS has been used as a trading chip in UK politics for far too long.

We disproportionately blame the expense on foreigners, when money can be claimed back from other governments. Lucrative pharmaceutical, medical and business contracts as well as high paying upper management roles are handed out in favour of friends of those in charge



Yes it may be unrealistic to offer the service as it is considering the boom in population but it would be better to streamline the NHS while stamping out the corruption in management/government before consider throwing it in the bin.It also never really seems to get credit as an employer either, hovering around the 4th in the world behind employers such as... the Chinese Army!

On a less serious note, I went for a lads holiday weekend last week and one of the blokes with us ended up in hospital after a game that was invented on the night, 'turbo-darts'. There was only a nurse stationed at the local A&E so most people were being referred to the nearest hospital 20 mins away.

 

[Kemik]

Ambulances will always be diverted to priority "Red" calls where they are stretched. Unfortunately, a mix of budget and people calling 999 for things they shouldn't results in the crews often being stretched.

 

[Angilion]

Hopefully that'll never happen

It's already happening.

 

[B@Th*nG]

It's an issue that won't realistically ever be resolved. With rising populations and the very nature of constantly developing medical science, no amount of money will realistically ever be enough

horse ****. we've one of the lowest per patient spends in the whole of europe. it's less than Greece.. GREECE!

B@

 

[DrToffnar]

horse ****. we've one of the lowest per patient spends in the whole of europe. it's less than Greece.. GREECE!

B@

That's only because it HAS to be that way. If the money's there, it'll be spent.

 

[B@Th*nG]

That's only because it HAS to be that way. If the money's there, it'll be spent.

that's why waiting lists are so long and ambulance drivers are hanging around in hallways because patients can't be seen fast enough is it? A surplus of cash?

It needs more money.

B@