Save the NHS!

What hunt is doing is to upset the doctors so much they all leave and go overseas, creating an even worse staffing problem, this will then be filled with Locums (already a problem) which will bankrupt the NHS. Services will suffer further and public opinion will change, Hunt will blame it on "greedy" doctors, all the while slowly offering the whole NHS up to US healthcare companies. The end result will end up in the destruction of the NHS as we know it, the single biggest social security in the history of the world that the tories hate so much.
 
tom_nieto said:
You mean locum and bank staff? Much of this is due to poor staff retention rates, sickness (stress is a big one here) and terrible work force planning. We're not just talking about planning next year, but occasionally next week!
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You both make good points.

From what I can see the successive governments are destroying the NHS.

Labour played a huge role by accepting private loans to the NHS - check out the PFI scandel which is costing us billions in repayments, money that could be spent on new nurses and doctors is being spent to cover interest repayments.

Now the Conservatives are trying to outsource loads of NHS work to private companies that are only interested in making profit and private contractors that loan you staff and charge several times more to do the same work compared to hiring the staff directly.

All this whilst making the conditions for those working in the NHS even tougher. It's almost as if the goal is to undermine the NHS until it collapses..
 
Can the current system ever work with the demand put on it or will it require more and more money ad infinitum? I don't like what the Conservatives are doing or the direction it's going, but are we willing to pay for what we want?
 
alx said:
...but are we willing to pay for what we want?
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No, the electorate is rarely willing to pay for the services they want. Or rather, they're not willing to do so by means of rewarding that sort of political behaviour with their vote.

The majority are willing to protest at an unpopular status quo, or cuts, but are far less kind once it starts to impact the cost or their take-home pay.
 
The_Abyss said:
No, the electorate is rarely willing to pay for the services they want. Or rather, they're not willing to do so by means of rewarding that sort of political behaviour with their vote.

The majority are willing to protest at an unpopular status quo, or cuts, but are far less kind once it starts to impact the cost or their take-home pay.
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The problem is we have a system that allows people to demand that other people pay tax to provide services they want. Until we address this flaw in our political system the problem won't go away.
 
The problem isn't limited to locums, or contracted hours. This is a big problem (sure) but there's so much wrong with staffing in general. That rota ^ sums it up tbh.

For instance, our trust simply cannot get enough nursing staff. I had probably delivered 8 sessions to overseas nurses this week (20-30 a time) who have literally been flown over from Italy and given housing, because of staffing issues.

Put simply, giving someone 6 months off full pay sounds great, but in reality it's created a culture of work-shy wasters who play the system with no real punishment. Maybe that's a bit harsh, but our chief exec released a financial briefing last week stating that we have an average of 600 staff off on any one day! (trust size of 14,000). I was on a ward with a 11% floating absence. 1 RGN on a night shift and 2 unqualified... in MAU!

Oh, and we're running £12,000,000 in the red, so please cut back more :(
 
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There is a massive problem with staff absence in the NHS. Healthcare is a pretty tough job even in the best working conditions. Add in pay freezes, poor management, understaffing and poor morale, it's no wonder there are people going off sick. I don't think it's right, but this is the current situation.

I did some soul searching the other day and realised that I'm not just going to up sticks and flee to the other side of the world (overseas training fellowship excluded). I need to stick it out here and complete my training. It's very disheartening to see the government taking advantage of some of the hardest working, most motivated and dedicated people working in the public sector. There will be a great deal more doctor bashing in the coming months, but if they impose this contract they'll sure as hell go after other healthcare professionals and the entire NHS as a whole. Then there'll be more blame on the workers for not fighting hard enough to save it.
 
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This winter is going to be hard, I think we will see trusts collapse under demand. We're almost at breaking point already and it's not even got cold yet.
 
Dave does not care, They can just pay to go abroad and the NHS can pay the bill. Rich people get seen to this way pretty damm quick. Last i heard my dad went in for chest pain a month ago and was told he needed a triple by-pass.

I think he was told it can be up to 6-12 months. The best thing is both my parents did 20 years each for the local NHS hospital and my mum pretty much wrecked her joints as a nurse. It is actually kind of odd that they both met in the same hospital heh and left after the closure.
 
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OldCoals said:
What exactly are you suggesting here?
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Single tax rates that apply to all people in all circumstances, coupled with universal benefits.

That stops the adversarial system and forces people to understand that things have to be paid for by everyone, not just other people.
 
My wife has just come out of hospital in London, she had fluid around a lung which was drained, and she has a serious heart condition. Her follow up appointment is supposed to be in six weeks, an appointment letter has just come through for December. That's December 2016.
They have nothing sooner apparently...
 
tres said:
I feel for you, really I do. Just don't hate or blame the NHS staff.
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We are thinking of just scraping the money together to see the consultant privately. That way she would probably be seen in a week, rather than a year. Most people won't have that option though I bet.
I suspect that's what the government want people to do.
 
Uther said:
We are thinking of just scraping the money together to see the consultant privately. That way she would probably be seen in a week, rather than a year. Most people won't have that option though I bet.
I suspect that's what the government want people to do.
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Look into going abroad ask your local NHS trust. You pay the money up front and go abroad for the treatment but the NHS will refund you the money. I wonder how many people die like this and is there a legal comeback?


If my dad dropped tomorrow with his heart with 40 years combined NHS service in my family, I would sue the life out of the NHS.
 
tres said:
I feel for you, really I do. Just don't hate or blame the NHS staff.
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When the staff are constantly demanding money from the budget is diverted from patient care to their pockets, there has to be some responsibility placed on the staff.
 
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