The NHS isn't working
Discussion
This pandemic is either the worst thing ever and we are only just keeping it contained or it's all been over blown and there is a re alignment of how we are allowed to live gouig on.
I can't get a dentist appointment nor go to my doctors surgery in person but I could pop into town and have a haircut and get a tattoo.
I have waited patiently and observed all the rules but it's a very mixed message now, not just in the UK but internationally.
Something isn't adding up.
I can't get a dentist appointment nor go to my doctors surgery in person but I could pop into town and have a haircut and get a tattoo.
I have waited patiently and observed all the rules but it's a very mixed message now, not just in the UK but internationally.
Something isn't adding up.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
YesCoronavirus is the largest disruption to inpatient and daycase surgery since the creation of the NHS.
Additionally, the evidence shows that if you contract the disease after a 1hr plus operation and you are over 60, you could have a 1 in 5 chance of dying.
If you are interested, have a look at this https://www.boa.ac.uk/resources/boa-statement-on-n...
Hospitals aren’t a good place to go still
I visited a relative the other day to take in urgent essential supplies. Have to pre book & limited time there.
Just heard that someone on the ward has tested positive so the relative is there for 14 more days, no visitors to the ward now
Wondering if i’ll get a call to self isolate
Although never closer than 5 metres to the person & wearing mask/gloves/disposable gown
The person who had it regularly wheeled themselves out to smokers corner..
I visited a relative the other day to take in urgent essential supplies. Have to pre book & limited time there.
Just heard that someone on the ward has tested positive so the relative is there for 14 more days, no visitors to the ward now
Wondering if i’ll get a call to self isolate
Although never closer than 5 metres to the person & wearing mask/gloves/disposable gown
The person who had it regularly wheeled themselves out to smokers corner..
Louis Balfour said:
anonymous said:
[redacted]
You should probably think of the NHS in terms of the Kwik-Fit of medicine.If you have no other choice, go there. If you can afford it, go private which is probably the equivalent of a franchised dealer.
Now imagine a place where the most at risk people congregate, especially old people with multiple other illnesses and compare that to a place where generally fit people go to have minor surgery. Our NHS is just not set up to deal with infectious disease which affects different ages differently on a long term basis. That would require smaller hospitals that specialised in different procedures and could keep age groups separate. Big general hospitals are great for economy of scale and dealing with patients with varied illnesses but rubbish at infection control.
It is not the NHS or the staffs fault that they have to impose stringent infection control in a place where doing so makes normal working impossible...
It seems to be different from area to area, my wife had her big toe joint fused & plated a year ago, all good & elected to have the other one done,via our GP, this was the start of the year in Feb, nothing done until May when she was contacted by the surgeon that did the first op, she declined due to concerns about Covid, the hospital continually pestered her to have it done as if they were drumming up work, she is now having it done on Sept 23rd, in a private hospital by the same surgeon.
Myself on the other hand had heart issues & taken to hospital via ambulance in June, given blood thinners & beta blockers & a phone appointment for cardio consultant a few weeks later, & was told I require a heart scan etc & heard nothing since, only to be 3 monthly checked for liver function etc due to the medication, the GP has done more to help than the hospital to date.
Myself on the other hand had heart issues & taken to hospital via ambulance in June, given blood thinners & beta blockers & a phone appointment for cardio consultant a few weeks later, & was told I require a heart scan etc & heard nothing since, only to be 3 monthly checked for liver function etc due to the medication, the GP has done more to help than the hospital to date.
Louis Balfour said:
You should probably think of the NHS in terms of the Kwik-Fit of medicine.
If you have no other choice, go there. If you can afford it, go private which is probably the equivalent of a franchised dealer.
Is private back working? Our local private hospital was taken over by the NHS.If you have no other choice, go there. If you can afford it, go private which is probably the equivalent of a franchised dealer.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I think it is the usual NHS lottery. I had an eye appointment at the end of February. They said I needed YAG surgery and would get an appointment within 6 months. Corona hit soon after, I thought - no way I'd be treated this year. They called me mid May and did the op 2 weeks later at beginning of June, I think it was the first week they'd started doing things again - all at NHS hospital though and not private. I'm mid 40's, Midlands. Wonder if they are doing age profiling to keep older "at risk" people away (I've known a few people catch CV19 - all from hospital/local doctors, one very serious). Hospital was empty when I went.in - I think only me and one other person in the whole morning surgery (would think 10/12 normally).
Also wonder if private hospitals have standby contracts with NHS still from CV19 patients so haven't reconfigured their rooms back to normal maybe?
I can only speak from my own experience but between Easter and now I have had 3 sets of x-rays, a CT and MRI, lung function tests, two visits to Ophthalmology for scans and bloods, one visit to Rheumatology and three video consultations with Respiratory and another booked this week and Ophthalmology again later this month.
I appreciate different parts of the country have been affected in different ways but I have experienced absolutely no barriers to treatment, if anything the opposite. My MRI was arranged in under a week at a local private hospital, last MRI I had a few years back took 12 weeks to arrange.
I appreciate different parts of the country have been affected in different ways but I have experienced absolutely no barriers to treatment, if anything the opposite. My MRI was arranged in under a week at a local private hospital, last MRI I had a few years back took 12 weeks to arrange.
Louis Balfour said:
You should probably think of the NHS in terms of the Kwik-Fit of medicine.
If you have no other choice, go there. If you can afford it, go private which is probably the equivalent of a franchised dealer.
This analogy doesn’t stand up to much scrutiny. Firstly, do Kwik-Fit staff moonlight in franchise dealers? The vast majority of private consultants primarily work in the NHS with some private practice on the side and those that currently don’t have almost certainly had long NHS careers. Beware any private specialist with little or no NHS experience because they will have seen far fewer patients/done fewer surgeries than their NHS employed equivalents. If you have no other choice, go there. If you can afford it, go private which is probably the equivalent of a franchised dealer.
Secondly, are Kwik-Fit the best place to go if you have a serious problem with your car that needs immediate attention? If you have the misfortune of having a particular type of heart attack for example, you’re going to be taken by NHS ambulance to a world class NHS cardiac unit to have stents fitted. Even private consultants will tell you that if you need elective surgery and you have multiple serious health problems, you’re better off being treated within the NHS.
Thirdly, is Kwik-Fit rated pretty favourably in comparison with similar services in other countries? The NHS does not generally suffer in comparison to the health services of other advanced nations:
https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund...
The problem with the NHS is waiting times. This is a function of a socialised healthcare model. To the end user, the cost of healthcare is either manifested in an up front payment for treatment or having to wait for non-life threatening care. Things have definitely become gummed up even more due to COVID but I very much doubt this is a problem exclusive to the NHS and socialised health care models.
Louis Balfour said:
You should probably think of the NHS in terms of the Kwik-Fit of medicine.
If you have no other choice, go there. If you can afford it, go private which is probably the equivalent of a franchised dealer.
If anything the reverse is true. The last place you want to be with anything serious/life threatening is a private hospital. They won't have the staff or the equipment. You'll most likely get carted off to the nearest big NHS hospital.If you have no other choice, go there. If you can afford it, go private which is probably the equivalent of a franchised dealer.
To repeat what I've said on another Covid thread
I worked in a NHS Trust for nearly 3 weeks as a contractor.
I visited nearly every ward and their main hospital , their satellite hospital, and lots of community hospitals and stand alone units.
What I saw was terrifying.
Main hospital had maybe half of the beds / rooms empty. 75% of patients over 70.
Satellite hospital was maybe 30% capacity? Many areas like dental completely closed.
Most of the communities were completely shut.
One had over half of it decommissioned and was being used simply to store chairs
The other half barely had any patients.
A couple had some patients but a very low % of capacity
The entire trust was a shadow of it's former self that I saw last year.
Usually cheery nurses and doctors were generally more grumpy. Barely No-one smiled. (Not that you could tell) and the whole vibe was completely different to what it was last year.
Further more, this particular trust has not had a Covid patient for 7 weeks. SEVEN WEEKS.
While there I met everyone from a senior radiologist who didn't wear his mask to a very grumpy lady who while I was walking around AN ABANDONED hospital (she had turned up while I was doing my job elsewhere in the building) had a go at me for not wearing a mask , I said , there are no patients or staff at this hospital, it is shut down , do you really expect me to wear a mask while I'm working alone in the opposite side of the building, also you literally just arrived etc.
I worked in a NHS Trust for nearly 3 weeks as a contractor.
I visited nearly every ward and their main hospital , their satellite hospital, and lots of community hospitals and stand alone units.
What I saw was terrifying.
Main hospital had maybe half of the beds / rooms empty. 75% of patients over 70.
Satellite hospital was maybe 30% capacity? Many areas like dental completely closed.
Most of the communities were completely shut.
One had over half of it decommissioned and was being used simply to store chairs
The other half barely had any patients.
A couple had some patients but a very low % of capacity
The entire trust was a shadow of it's former self that I saw last year.
Usually cheery nurses and doctors were generally more grumpy. Barely No-one smiled. (Not that you could tell) and the whole vibe was completely different to what it was last year.
Further more, this particular trust has not had a Covid patient for 7 weeks. SEVEN WEEKS.
While there I met everyone from a senior radiologist who didn't wear his mask to a very grumpy lady who while I was walking around AN ABANDONED hospital (she had turned up while I was doing my job elsewhere in the building) had a go at me for not wearing a mask , I said , there are no patients or staff at this hospital, it is shut down , do you really expect me to wear a mask while I'm working alone in the opposite side of the building, also you literally just arrived etc.
Sheepshanks said:
Louis Balfour said:
You should probably think of the NHS in terms of the Kwik-Fit of medicine.
If you have no other choice, go there. If you can afford it, go private which is probably the equivalent of a franchised dealer.
Is private back working? Our local private hospital was taken over by the NHS.If you have no other choice, go there. If you can afford it, go private which is probably the equivalent of a franchised dealer.
Yes, the NHS has taken over a lot of private hospitals but you can still get things done if needs be. You may have to engage with some nonsensical NICE guidelines on COVID, but otherwise all good.
There is some low level activity going on though. I was called in a couple of months ago for annual blood check (wait on the pavement until rushed in to see the nurse), my SiL had a procedure for her atrial fibrillation and her daughter has just had keyhole surgery to her hip, all in different parts of the country.
The problem with the NHS isn't the urgent stuff it's the struggle to get an appointment for almost anything - even a GP these days.
I predate the NHS and am grateful to it for a lot but it really isn't fit for purpose any more.
The problem with the NHS isn't the urgent stuff it's the struggle to get an appointment for almost anything - even a GP these days.
I predate the NHS and am grateful to it for a lot but it really isn't fit for purpose any more.
xjay1337 said:
To repeat what I've said on another Covid thread
I worked in a NHS Trust for nearly 3 weeks as a contractor.
I visited nearly every ward and their main hospital , their satellite hospital, and lots of community hospitals and stand alone units.
What I saw was terrifying.
Main hospital had maybe half of the beds / rooms empty. 75% of patients over 70.
Satellite hospital was maybe 30% capacity? Many areas like dental completely closed.
Most of the communities were completely shut.
One had over half of it decommissioned and was being used simply to store chairs
The other half barely had any patients.
A couple had some patients but a very low % of capacity
The entire trust was a shadow of it's former self that I saw last year.
Usually cheery nurses and doctors were generally more grumpy. Barely No-one smiled. (Not that you could tell) and the whole vibe was completely different to what it was last year.
Further more, this particular trust has not had a Covid patient for 7 weeks. SEVEN WEEKS.
While there I met everyone from a senior radiologist who didn't wear his mask to a very grumpy lady who while I was walking around AN ABANDONED hospital (she had turned up while I was doing my job elsewhere in the building) had a go at me for not wearing a mask , I said , there are no patients or staff at this hospital, it is shut down , do you really expect me to wear a mask while I'm working alone in the opposite side of the building, also you literally just arrived etc.
Whereas there is a covid case on 4 person ward where my relative has been for 2 weeksI worked in a NHS Trust for nearly 3 weeks as a contractor.
I visited nearly every ward and their main hospital , their satellite hospital, and lots of community hospitals and stand alone units.
What I saw was terrifying.
Main hospital had maybe half of the beds / rooms empty. 75% of patients over 70.
Satellite hospital was maybe 30% capacity? Many areas like dental completely closed.
Most of the communities were completely shut.
One had over half of it decommissioned and was being used simply to store chairs
The other half barely had any patients.
A couple had some patients but a very low % of capacity
The entire trust was a shadow of it's former self that I saw last year.
Usually cheery nurses and doctors were generally more grumpy. Barely No-one smiled. (Not that you could tell) and the whole vibe was completely different to what it was last year.
Further more, this particular trust has not had a Covid patient for 7 weeks. SEVEN WEEKS.
While there I met everyone from a senior radiologist who didn't wear his mask to a very grumpy lady who while I was walking around AN ABANDONED hospital (she had turned up while I was doing my job elsewhere in the building) had a go at me for not wearing a mask , I said , there are no patients or staff at this hospital, it is shut down , do you really expect me to wear a mask while I'm working alone in the opposite side of the building, also you literally just arrived etc.
So now all in isolation for 2 weeks from now. The one with Covid has been there for at least 5 days, now removed from ward obviously
If the others got it, won’t be pretty as all have serious issues
anonymous said:
[redacted]
My NHS YAG laser treatment in Cheltenham scheduled for end of March was cancelled. This week I was given another appointment in mid-October.It is my near vision that is affected - great difficulty reading a book. I can still (just) read a numberplate at 20M, but I suspect that is my brain learning to favour the other eye.
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