[NSC] Royal Sussex County Hospital.

Tom Hark Preston Park · Feb 8, 2024

PILTDOWN MAN said:
Live in Brighton by chance? A clue is in the name, it serves people outside Brighton and poorly usually. Not the staff but the building and where it is

The number 7 bus goes straight to the RSCH from right outside the front entrance to Brighton station.
Frequency? Every 7 minutes :shrug:

Getting there by car? It'd be a damn sight easier getting dropped off at the RSCH than it would be at the Amex :shrug:

Hamilton · Feb 8, 2024

I spent time in RSCH at the beginning of the month and I echo some of the points made above.

The care and diligence of the team of nurses, health assistants, doctors and consultants who cared for me was exceptional. They are succeeding despite the overwhelming odds.

Someone on here said it looked like a war zone in A&E. It does, and yet still the team working there are brilliant. They are drawn from all corners of the world all working to treat patients - many of the old and infirm and unable to be discharged.

I hope MPs go and visit the wards on unofficial visits to see what it is like before the walls have been painted and the corridors cleared of patients awaiting treatment.

The phrase, "I trust you with my life" is sometimes used glibly, but not in the case of the team who cared for me.

The individual parts of the NHS and the people within it are - 99% of the time - brilliant. The system though - that is often held together with sticky tape. It's getting better, but it could be so much better. But hey, the NHS was in this state in 1997 after the previous stint the Tories had in charge. Let's hope a new government can fix it (albeit they also are inheriting a bust economy.)

Eeyore · Feb 8, 2024

Ironically, I was taken in last night with chest pains. It's not my heart, but needs further investigations.

From the start the staff seemed on it and over 4 hours I had ECG, blood tests, lung x-ray. I pondered, when I was laying on the trolley in a quiet area near the x-ray room, how much that would have cost in another country.

The place is hectic near A & E. There wasn't a cubicle available for a while so I was constantly monitored by first responders.

The place does seem ageing and I wondered how they made it through the worst of Covid. It's clear the NHS is struggling with an ageing population and has done so for years. I kept my jumper up my face as I was worried about picking up and infection. The bloke in the next cubicle dropped a number two so the face cover was kept on for a while...

The treatment was efficient, but I can see how the hospital seems to be creaking at the edges.

Sid and the Sharknados · Feb 8, 2024

Eeyore said:
Ironically, I was taken in last night with chest pains. It's not my heart, but needs further investigations.

From the start the staff seemed on it and over 4 hours I had ECG, blood tests, lung x-ray. I pondered when I was laying on the trolley in a quiet area near the x-ray room how much that would have cost in another country.

The place is hectic near A & E. There wasn't a cubicle available for a while so I was constantly monitored by first responders.

The place does seem ageing and I wondered how they made it through the worst of Covid. It's clear the NHS is struggling with an ageing population and has done so for years. I kept my jumper up my face as I was worried about picking up and infection. The bloke in the next cubicle dropped a number two so the face cover was kept on for a while...

The treatment was efficient, but I can see how the hospital seems to be creaking at the edges.

All else aside, hope you're alright.

Same goes to anybody else who's said they or a relative have been recently.

Stat Brother · Feb 8, 2024

As good a place as any.

Earlier this week I rather badly burned myself, at work.
I solidered on like a big bravo boy, but left work a little early so I could pop into the local 'minor injury unit', before they closed.

When I arrived it was rammed.
People around me were saying they'd been there for 5+ hours.

Yet when finally called and met with a 'sorry for the delay', everyone and I mean everyone replied 'that's ok, it's not your fault'.

We love the NHS so much... (subsequent political point redacted!)

PILTDOWN MAN · Feb 8, 2024

Tom Hark Preston Park said:
The number 7 bus goes straight to the RSCH from right outside the front entrance to Brighton station.
Frequency? Every 7 minutes

Getting there by car? It'd be a damn sight easier getting dropped off at the RSCH than it would be at the Amex

Just accept it's in the wrong place.

seagullwedgee · Feb 8, 2024

I go back to late 1984 when I was blue-lighted from my flat in Hove to the RSCH with cardiac issues, they were brilliant then, and it sounds like 40 years later they are brilliant now. I woke up the morning after and one of the Nurses said ‘you’re a lucky man, we had that Norman Tebbit in this bed last week’. It was about 10 days after the bomb. Incredible people, I praise you.

brighton terra · Feb 8, 2024

An Albion fan (I bumped into him in Amsterdam) and the club’s crowd doctor is a A&E consultant at the RSCH. He regularly writes a column in a National newspaper about the current state of the NHS. He wrote the following on Facebook a couple of weeks ago.

I have just finished another set of incredibly difficult weekend nights as the A&E consultant incharge.

Some thoughts:

The NHS no longer provides unscheduled care - we provide treatment. Care is with dignity - that's impossible for our patients in corridors.

The model of acute care is not working or sustainable. We need a completely different approach - with long term investment in prevention and community care

111 need to change risk thresholds as far too many come to a&e when they don't need to.

There needs to be alternative pathways to get care overnight for those who don't have accidents or emergencies. A&E shouldn't be anything and everything

Staff are broke - supporting staff is just as vital as looking after patients

This government have totally decimated our the NHS. They are the ones who should be apologising to our patients not our staff.

Hundreds are dying each week because of lack of hospital capacity and corridor care in a&e, yet it's not on the news and no public uproar. As staff and patients we have accepted the unacceptable.

Everyone needs to know the reality of what is happening - so that politicians offer a different solution and patients get the care they deserve. Sadly most of the public have no idea of what is genuinely going on.

And finally, a post night fry up is the best antidote for the stresses of the weekend.

Goodnight!

Ps In the past I've been criticised for being too political in my job as an a&e consultant.

I disagree - what's happening to our patients is a political choice.

I am in a blessed position of being able to see the reality of what's happening to the NHS.

The GMC says we have a duty to highlight unsafe care.

Only politicians can truly make change

Hence why I feel that it's not just my right to be outspoken and political but I have a duty to speak truth to power.

A widely shared tweet is often the best way to get politicians and journalists to hear the reality.

Hence why I will continue to speak out when I see our patients and staff coming to harm.

Weststander · Feb 8, 2024

Hamilton said:
I spent time in RSCH at the beginning of the month and I echo some of the points made above.

The care and diligence of the team of nurses, health assistants, doctors and consultants who cared for me was exceptional. They are succeeding despite the overwhelming odds.

Someone on here said it looked like a war zone in A&E. It does, and yet still the team working there are brilliant. They are drawn from all corners of the world all working to treat patients - many of the old and infirm and unable to be discharged.

I hope MPs go and visit the wards on unofficial visits to see what it is like before the walls have been painted and the corridors cleared of patients awaiting treatment.

The phrase, "I trust you with my life" is sometimes used glibly, but not in the case of the team who cared for me.

The individual parts of the NHS and the people within it are - 99% of the time - brilliant. The system though - that is often held together with sticky tape. It's getting better, but it could be so much better. But hey, the NHS was in this state in 1997 after the previous stint the Tories had in charge. Let's hope a new government can fix it (albeit they also are inheriting a bust economy.)

I sat for endless hours in the Royal Sussex A&E warzone in 1982, 2000. Colossal waiting times, junkies and alcoholics causing mayhem, overwhelmed with people who shouldn’t be there, people on trollies in corridors.

I’d love to see an in-depth apolitical analysis of why the NHS was always this way, whilst Germany with its mandatory private health insurers has shiny, quieter hospitals, not overwhelmed by red tape. The obvious answer is that the public pay far more in whether they like it or not, and smaller entities are far more manageable than Europe’s largest manmade monolith.

One Teddy Maybank · Feb 8, 2024

Eeyore said:
Ironically, I was taken in last night with chest pains. It's not my heart, but needs further investigations.

From the start the staff seemed on it and over 4 hours I had ECG, blood tests, lung x-ray. I pondered when I was laying on the trolley in a quiet area near the x-ray room how much that would have cost in another country.

The place is hectic near A & E. There wasn't a cubicle available for a while so I was constantly monitored by first responders.

The place does seem ageing and I wondered how they made it through the worst of Covid. It's clear the NHS is struggling with an ageing population and has done so for years. I kept my jumper up my face as I was worried about picking up and infection. The bloke in the next cubicle dropped a number two so the face cover was kept on for a while...

The treatment was efficient, but I can see how the hospital seems to be creaking at the edges.

Hope everything works out for you.

One Teddy Maybank · Feb 8, 2024

Weststander said:
I sat for endless hours in the Royal Sussex A&E warzone in 1982, 2000. Colossal waiting times, junkies and alcoholics causing mayhem, overwhelmed with people who shouldn’t be there, people on trollies in corridors.

I’d love to see an in-depth apolitical analysis of why the NHS was always this way, whilst Germany with its mandatory private health insurers has shiny, quieter hospitals, not overwhelmed by red tape. The obvious answer is that the public pay far more in whether they like it or not, and smaller entities are far more manageable than Europe’s largest manmade monolith.

I’ve looked at hospitals abroad as well.

It is a completely different culture as well, not necessarily for the better, and many of them raved about our services.

It does boil down to funding IMO….

Weststander · Feb 8, 2024

One Teddy Maybank said:
I’ve looked at hospitals abroad as well.

It is a completely different culture as well, not necessarily for the better, and many of them raved about our services.

It does boil down to funding IMO….

The Germans luck out yet again. Unintended consequences of the Austrian Corporal, funded by The Marshall Plan. Few one would’ve known in say 1946 that a market of private insurers would work so well for all.

drew · Feb 8, 2024

brighton terra said:
An Albion fan (I bumped into him in Amsterdam) and the club’s crowd doctor is a A&E consultant at the RSCH. He regularly writes a column in a National newspaper about the current state of the NHS. He wrote the following on Facebook a couple of weeks ago.

I have just finished another set of incredibly difficult weekend nights as the A&E consultant incharge.

Some thoughts:

The NHS no longer provides unscheduled care - we provide treatment. Care is with dignity - that's impossible for our patients in corridors.

The model of acute care is not working or sustainable. We need a completely different approach - with long term investment in prevention and community care

111 need to change risk thresholds as far too many come to a&e when they don't need to.

There needs to be alternative pathways to get care overnight for those who don't have accidents or emergencies. A&E shouldn't be anything and everything

Staff are broke - supporting staff is just as vital as looking after patients

This government have totally decimated our the NHS. They are the ones who should be apologising to our patients not our staff.

Hundreds are dying each week because of lack of hospital capacity and corridor care in a&e, yet it's not on the news and no public uproar. As staff and patients we have accepted the unacceptable.

Everyone needs to know the reality of what is happening - so that politicians offer a different solution and patients get the care they deserve. Sadly most of the public have no idea of what is genuinely going on.

And finally, a post night fry up is the best antidote for the stresses of the weekend.

Goodnight!

Ps In the past I've been criticised for being too political in my job as an a&e consultant.

I disagree - what's happening to our patients is a political choice.

I am in a blessed position of being able to see the reality of what's happening to the NHS.

The GMC says we have a duty to highlight unsafe care.

Only politicians can truly make change

Hence why I feel that it's not just my right to be outspoken and political but I have a duty to speak truth to power.

A widely shared tweet is often the best way to get politicians and journalists to hear the reality.

Hence why I will continue to speak out when I see our patients and staff coming to harm.

It would therefore be nice to think that all the consultants vote out the Tories then!!

Eeyore · Feb 8, 2024

One Teddy Maybank said:
I’ve looked at hospitals abroad as well.

It is a completely different culture as well, not necessarily for the better, and many of them raved about our services.

It does boil down to funding IMO….

Thank you for your previous wishes.

The care and attention I received was first class- they even coped with my jokes. Although I think that’s part of the service. The staff were delightful and friendly. Somewhat different to the environment itself. The place is a cramped theatre of sickness and pending death with very little space to move. I think the porters need an advanced driving licence to wheel you around.

It is clear they are dedicated and coping as best as they can. But I do feel the NHS in these environments, if Brighton is typical, is struggling. I was told I would be in assessment cubicle within 45 minutes and they were obviously counting down the time. Targets, targets. It’s clear that such things could be subject of stress and things could end up being overlooked. In my view that is not a good thing.

So thank you NHS for your quick response. But something, and I’ve seen it first hand, is not right. The personnel are good and worthy, but I see an archaic system struggling with the solution being figures and stats. This is a political issue, or is too political. And I think it will only get worse as we live longer.

On a separate light issue. The first responders are often female these days. Which is a good and much needed thing as more and more have entered the profession. They all seem to look like England football players. I was sitting up in bed working out which position each one would play to pass the time. And also wondering what the pay was like, thinking that despite having such a frontline job, they would probably still be worrying about the bills.

drew · Feb 8, 2024

One Teddy Maybank said:
I’ve looked at hospitals abroad as well.

It is a completely different culture as well, not necessarily for the better, and many of them raved about our services.

It does boil down to funding IMO….

Funding!! Political choice.

Per capita health spending by country 2022 | Statista

The U.S. had the highest per capita healthcare costs in 2022. Per capita health costs in several high-income nations were half or less of what the U.S. spent.

www.statista.com

(warning: you need to expand the list to find the UK).

Weststander · Feb 8, 2024

drew said:
Funding!! Political choice.

Per capita health spending by country 2022 | Statista

The U.S. had the highest per capita healthcare costs in 2022. Per capita health costs in several high-income nations were half or less of what the U.S. spent.

www.statista.com

(warning: you need to expand the list to find the UK).

I’m blocked from seeing that by a having to register pop up.

Now accessed.

One Teddy Maybank · Feb 8, 2024

Eeyore said:
Thank you for your previous wishes.

The care and attention I received was first class- they even coped with my jokes. Although I think that’s part of the service. The staff were delightful and friendly. Somewhat different to the environment itself. The place is a cramped theatre of sickness and pending death with very little space to move. I think the porters need an advanced driving licence to wheel you around.

It is clear they are dedicated and coping as best as they can. But I do feel the NHS in these environments, if Brighton is typical, is struggling. I was told I would be in assessment cubicle within 45 minutes and they were obviously counting down the time. Targets, targets. It’s clear that such things could be subject of stress and things could end up being overlooked. In my view that is not a good thing.

So thank you NHS for your quick response. But something, and I’ve seen it first hand, is not right. The personnel are good and worthy, but I see an archaic system struggling with the solution being figures and stats. This is a political issue, or is too political. And I think it will only get worse as we live longer.

On a separate light issue. The first responders are often female these days. Which is a good and much needed thing as more and more have entered the profession. They all seem to look like England football players. I was sitting up in bed working out which position each one would play to pass the time. And also wondering what the pay was like, thinking that despite having such a frontline job, they would probably still be worrying about the bills.

There’s no doubt the front door of the hospital is under immense pressure.

I mentioned funding, which I stand by, but there is a culture issue as well….
Too many people misuse NHS services both GPs for common colds, but also the ‘front door’.

Re A&E the clue is in the title….. Accident and Emergency….
Too many of the public present with issues that do not fit this criteria IMO.
I once spent 12 hours shadowing the triage service in A&E, some of the things that came in were just ridiculous.

Targets. Rightly or wrongly they’ll be around for the foreseeable future. Personally, I do agree with them, as I think there needs to be comparison, and potentially sharing of better practice on the basis of a better performing service. Does it put pressure on front line staff? Not really, Thankfully, they’re too busy focusing on patients. They should also be protected by the General Manager/Clinical Director who deals with these things.

Since1982 · Feb 8, 2024

On this night 14 years ago I was in the RSCH awaiting surgery the following day which radically changed me but which saved my life. The NHS then, while not perfect, was a different beast to what we have today - another legacy of 14 years of Tory govts.

perseus · Feb 8, 2024

PILTDOWN MAN said:
Live in Brighton by chance? A clue is in the name, it serves people outside Brighton and poorly usually. Not the staff but the building and where it is

I ARRIVED BY AMBULANCE AND THEY SAVED MY LIFE. From SHOREHAM. Food was inedible.

PILTDOWN MAN · Feb 8, 2024

perseus said:
I ARRIVED BY AMBULANCE AND THEY SAVED MY LIFE. From SHOREHAM. Food was inedible.

SHOREHAM IS 6 MILES AWAY WOW. TRY BEING IN HAYWARDS HEATH, HASTINGS, BATTLE and the Sussex being the ONLY HOSPITAL offering the service YOU need and need to BE THERE every DAY.

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