Got something to say or just want fewer pesky ads? Join us... 😊

[Politics] NHS today







Thunder Bolt

Silly old bat
That's fair enough but you did say the average was 7-10 hours but is that based on statistics across the country or anecdotal evidence. Also, there is a big difference between waiting for an ambulance and waiting for admission at A&E. If you're waiting for the ambulance you're pretty much on your own but once the ambulance get's to you at least you are having medical attention even if you then have to wait in the car park at the A&E. Big problem is getting people out of hospital back into the community to free up beds so that those in A&E can be admitted to wards when necessary.

Sort out social care and that will have a positive effect on the through flow of patients in the hospitals. Unfortunately, despite promises of a ready made plan, this government has done **** all, again.

Another anecdote although this time it was 5 hours and the elderly gentleman died.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-61791151

One paragraph from that article

It talks about "high demand" in the Gloucester area, with more than 60 patients waiting for help, some for more than eight hours.
 


Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
NSC Patron
Oct 8, 2003
49,975
Faversham
All the best HWT :thumbsup:
I'm currently waiting for major surgery that should have been done two years ago :moo:

Blimey :nono: I recall your previous surgery - and your admirable stoicism. I hope they get to you soon. :thumbsup:
 


dazzer6666

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Mar 27, 2013
52,400
Burgess Hill
Just had a text with a link to a 'survey' related to an MSK appointment I requested........basically apologising for the delay and lack of appointment so far and asking if it was still needed. It's the first I've heard since putting the request in using their online portal - nearly a year ago.
 


1066familyman

Radio User
Jan 15, 2008
15,185
Another anecdote although this time it was 5 hours and the elderly gentleman died.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-61791151

One paragraph from that article

It talks about "high demand" in the Gloucester area, with more than 60 patients waiting for help, some for more than eight hours.

I heard that report on the radio yesterday morning.

Alarming to say the least.
 






Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
NSC Patron
Oct 8, 2003
49,975
Faversham
Small update on my relatively trivial travails. No more pain, but not eating, and still with a 'lively' (frankly, it's Vesuvial) bowel.

Chatted with GP this morning. My hospital notes are noncommital - but there are five pages of them. I could hear her eyebrow raise, even over the phone. No wonder they were too busy to see how I was...

GP asked me to pop in and get a 'blue lid stool pot'. Mrs T got it for me. It is a small tube with a white screw top. Not quite sure how the person on the desk got that wrong. I may be shitting through the eye of a needle, but I can guarantee neither precision nor accuracy. So Mrs T went back and they apologised and replaced it. (An example of how we trust the NHS implicitly even when this defies what we see with our own eyes; Mrs T asks for a blue lid receptacle and is given a tiny white lid receptacle, which she accepts, assuming the professionals know what they are doing).

Much of the rest of the morning's acivities, and indeed a couple of episodes yesterday are probably best left unsaid.

Sufficed to say, with the pain gone, I am more than happy to join any orderly queue, going forward, with a reasonable expecatation of some resolution. I have test results Wednesday and a lesiurely GP appointment a week later (hopefully to move on what I suspect is weeks or months of creeping wrongness - something isn't right, for sure). Anyway....

And on the plus side, I've lost five kilos in three days!

Thanks for all the kind comments during my moments of anguished emoting. Those of you 'waiting to be seen' all have my very best wishes :thumbsup:
 


1066familyman

Radio User
Jan 15, 2008
15,185
It's horrific. The poor old chap died cold and alone.

They were speaking to one of his sons on the radio report. How the bloke managed to hold it together whilst speaking was amazing really, given the circumstances.
 




1066familyman

Radio User
Jan 15, 2008
15,185
Small update on my relatively trivial travails. No more pain, but not eating, and still with a 'lively' (frankly, it's Vesuvial) bowel.

Chatted with GP this morning. My hospital notes are noncommital - but there are five pages of them. I could hear her eyebrow raise, even over the phone. No wonder they were too busy to see how I was...

GP asked me to pop in and get a 'blue lid stool pot'. Mrs T got it for me. It is a small tube with a white screw top. Not quite sure how the person on the desk got that wrong. I may be shitting through the eye of a needle, but I can guarantee neither precision nor accuracy. So Mrs T went back and they apologised and replaced it. (An example of how we trust the NHS implicitly even when this defies what we see with our own eyes; Mrs T asks for a blue lid receptacle and is given a tiny white lid receptacle, which she accepts, assuming the professionals know what they are doing).

Much of the rest of the morning's acivities, and indeed a couple of episodes yesterday are probably best left unsaid.

Sufficed to say, with the pain gone, I am more than happy to join any orderly queue, going forward, with a reasonable expecatation of some resolution. I have test results Wednesday and a lesiurely GP appointment a week later (hopefully to move on what I suspect is weeks or months of creeping wrongness - something isn't right, for sure). Anyway....

And on the plus side, I've lost five kilos in three days!

Thanks for all the kind comments during my moments of anguished emoting. Those of you 'waiting to be seen' all have my very best wishes :thumbsup:

The staff competence thing is certainly a worry. A recent Panorama report highlighted the use of unsupervised PAs due to lack of GPs recently.

When I finally got my hernia op last year (a very long story!) several of us were still waiting to go to surgery come 4pm, having not taken any fluids since 6am. So they went round putting cannulas in us to give us fluids. The student nurse doing mine took 4 attempts and had shaved the hair on both hands with the all the hair just going on the bed and floor. Nothing underneath to gather it up. I had to request the hair was cleaned up as she just left it. I even felt bad about having to ask. Strange times.

Good luck with everything. Hope they can get to the bottom of what's going on with you and get you sorted and back to full health.
 


Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
NSC Patron
Oct 8, 2003
49,975
Faversham
I heard that report on the radio yesterday morning.

Alarming to say the least.

Adding to your comment about competence....someone is the person managing a list. Certainly they have some sort of algorithm, but no two cases are the same. Using a box tick algorithm is never a substitution for what is really needed:

Knowledge, expertise, experience and judgement. The person overseeing the prioritization should be highly paid to deploy that skill set.

Instead we have someone on a modest salary at best, highly trained in working through the algorithm, exercising no judgement or common sense. So one poor old man slowly dying on his own does not tick enough boxes to be put before others who are at no risk of death.

Having been involved a lot in inventing certain decision process I can easily see how this can happen. And this is all done by the book, nobody to blame. It is a systems failure.
 


Feb 23, 2009
22,996
Brighton factually.....
Small update on my relatively trivial travails. No more pain, but not eating, and still with a 'lively' (frankly, it's Vesuvial) bowel.

Chatted with GP this morning. My hospital notes are noncommital - but there are five pages of them. I could hear her eyebrow raise, even over the phone. No wonder they were too busy to see how I was...

GP asked me to pop in and get a 'blue lid stool pot'. Mrs T got it for me. It is a small tube with a white screw top. Not quite sure how the person on the desk got that wrong. I may be shitting through the eye of a needle, but I can guarantee neither precision nor accuracy. So Mrs T went back and they apologised and replaced it. (An example of how we trust the NHS implicitly even when this defies what we see with our own eyes; Mrs T asks for a blue lid receptacle and is given a tiny white lid receptacle, which she accepts, assuming the professionals know what they are doing).

Much of the rest of the morning's acivities, and indeed a couple of episodes yesterday are probably best left unsaid.

Sufficed to say, with the pain gone, I am more than happy to join any orderly queue, going forward, with a reasonable expecatation of some resolution. I have test results Wednesday and a lesiurely GP appointment a week later (hopefully to move on what I suspect is weeks or months of creeping wrongness - something isn't right, for sure). Anyway....

And on the plus side, I've lost five kilos in three days!

All the best Mr Harry Wilson's Tackle, hope everything goes ok for you.
Your one of the good guys.
 




Thunder Bolt

Silly old bat
Mike, sorry to hear of your frustration at the hospital and the ineptitude of some of the staff. You are not alone mate. I hope things get better for you. I haven't read all of the thread because I've hardly been on NSC in the last couple of months.

I've been tearing my hair out in the last two months re: my father, who suffered a stroke. I'd like to personally thank everyone that posted their best wishes on here. He got (fairly) good treatment afterwards in the hospital and was allowed home after four weeks. To say looking after him has been a challenge would be the biggest understatement of the century. Only two nurses have visited him at home and they were both box-ticking check-ups - nurses that had just qualified it seemed. Then, a month ago he suffered another stroke - but this time nowhere near as bad. Kept in for a couple of days before he was discharged. Mentally, he has fallen apart. The frustration of not being able to speak clearly and shortness of breath with severe fatigue has created depression which he has never suffered from before in his life.

It feels like I've become almost his full-time carer with little help from the NHS. My sister has a young family so doesn't have as much time as me. I don't mind the burden - it's not my dad's fault whatsoever. My mother has been a rock throughout all of this. She's allowed me a chance to let off steam when life has ground me down. I need to work (part-time at mo) to pay for bills and the rising cost of living. I just pray that there's some sort of light appearing in a long, dark tunnel. I feel absolutely shattered. :(

Please ask for help, and keep on asking. You may be entitled to carers allowance or attendance allowance which will ease the financial burden. Ask his GP surgery about a regular nurse visit. It is a pain but those who shout the loudest get the most help.
 


sydney

tinky ****in winky
Jul 11, 2003
17,750
town full of eejits
my gp retired 3 months ago , i paid $55 .00 to have my medical records transferred to a particular practice , two broken legs and broken pelvis ( car crash) , septicaemia and cancer to name a few so my medical file looks like the yellow pages , anyway i rang my selected medical centre to book an appointment as i now need a shoulder recon so i need a referral as the surgeon i have paid about 1200 bucks to doesn't want to fill out any paperwork regarding income protection/insurance etc ........upshot of phone call they never heard of me and don't have my records , took me a whole day on the phone to find out where my records were , went there on Tuesday to get them but the girl i was dealing with was off sick , was told to come back today , went today , the girl was off sick again , melt down ensuing ..!! don't get angry with us sir...!! this isn't angry , just give me my file please , you need to wear a mask in here sir ..!! just give me my file , here's my id i'll wait outside (in the pissing rain) 10 minutes later i'd had enough , went back in , they cant find my file ......my exact words were " you people have taken incompetence to a level that makes me question my faith in the entire medical profession" i was asked to wait outside or security would be called , i text the practice manager and told her i was there to ,pick up my file and her colleagues were unable to locate it , she text back " it';s in the out tray in my office , sorry" i opened the door and told one of the women , she scurried off like a middle aged , masked up , fear driven twatt and brought my file to me nearly 40 minutes wasted and a missed appointment with a client.

what is wrong with these people , if i ran my business like that i would not have any clients.
 


Thunder Bolt

Silly old bat
my gp retired 3 months ago , i paid $55 .00 to have my medical records transferred to a particular practice , two broken legs and broken pelvis ( car crash) , septicaemia and cancer to name a few so my medical file looks like the yellow pages , anyway i rang my selected medical centre to book an appointment as i now need a shoulder recon so i need a referral as the surgeon i have paid about 1200 bucks to doesn't want to fill out any paperwork regarding income protection/insurance etc ........upshot of phone call they never heard of me and don't have my records , took me a whole day on the phone to find out where my records were , went there on Tuesday to get them but the girl i was dealing with was off sick , was told to come back today , went today , the girl was off sick again , melt down ensuing ..!! don't get angry with us sir...!! this isn't angry , just give me my file please , you need to wear a mask in here sir ..!! just give me my file , here's my id i'll wait outside (in the pissing rain) 10 minutes later i'd had enough , went back in , they cant find my file ......my exact words were " you people have taken incompetence to a level that makes me question my faith in the entire medical profession" i was asked to wait outside or security would be called , i text the practice manager and told her i was there to ,pick up my file and her colleagues were unable to locate it , she text back " it';s in the out tray in my office , sorry" i opened the door and told one of the women , she scurried off like a middle aged , masked up , fear driven twatt and brought my file to me nearly 40 minutes wasted and a missed appointment with a client.

what is wrong with these people , if i ran my business like that i would not have any clients.

Which just goes to show that privatisation isn't going to improve matters. Humans make mistakes no matter how the funding is done.
 




AmexRuislip

Trainee Spy 🕵️‍♂️
Feb 2, 2014
33,802
Ruislip
Small update on my relatively trivial travails. No more pain, but not eating, and still with a 'lively' (frankly, it's Vesuvial) bowel.

Chatted with GP this morning. My hospital notes are noncommital - but there are five pages of them. I could hear her eyebrow raise, even over the phone. No wonder they were too busy to see how I was...

GP asked me to pop in and get a 'blue lid stool pot'. Mrs T got it for me. It is a small tube with a white screw top. Not quite sure how the person on the desk got that wrong. I may be shitting through the eye of a needle, but I can guarantee neither precision nor accuracy. So Mrs T went back and they apologised and replaced it. (An example of how we trust the NHS implicitly even when this defies what we see with our own eyes; Mrs T asks for a blue lid receptacle and is given a tiny white lid receptacle, which she accepts, assuming the professionals know what they are doing).

Much of the rest of the morning's acivities, and indeed a couple of episodes yesterday are probably best left unsaid.

Sufficed to say, with the pain gone, I am more than happy to join any orderly queue, going forward, with a reasonable expecatation of some resolution. I have test results Wednesday and a lesiurely GP appointment a week later (hopefully to move on what I suspect is weeks or months of creeping wrongness - something isn't right, for sure). Anyway....

And on the plus side, I've lost five kilos in three days!

Thanks for all the kind comments during my moments of anguished emoting. Those of you 'waiting to be seen' all have my very best wishes :thumbsup:

Wishing you all the best :smile::thumbsup:
 


sydney

tinky ****in winky
Jul 11, 2003
17,750
town full of eejits
Which just goes to show that privatisation isn't going to improve matters. Humans make mistakes no matter how the funding is done.

mistakes i can deal with , being inept i have problems with ....it took them over a week to find my old gp and ascertain he had a copy of my records as they need to be kept for 7 yrs by law , that is what i paid the 55 bucks for to have my file copied and sent to my doctor of choice , that never happened , in the meantime my phone got drenched in my pocket at work and shat itself so i lost all my covid certificates , qr codes etc and my provider won't give me a new phone till the 22nd because that's when my next bill is due and i'll need to pay my old contract out then , i can't pay it before because its all computer generated...:lolol::lolol: you couldn't make it up ..!! no wonder i'm a crackpot....:lolol:
 








PILTDOWN MAN

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Sep 15, 2004
18,704
Hurst Green
It's horrific. The poor old chap died cold and alone.

It's so common though and is a worry. Waiting times for the medics to arrive is getting worse. My wife collapsed in front of me while putting in a better position to assess her I immediately called 999, it was over 50 minutes before they got to me as which point I had three crews turn up at once. It was too late I'd done resus for all that time on my own, knowing full well it was too late to save her. I live just off the A21 midway between Hastings and Pembury. I thought I may have been "unlucky" but in truth I wasn't.

A and E is clogged up with people who have given up on their doctors called 111 and the computer says go to hospital. The wards are clogged up the ambulances are full of people waiting outside.

Our GP's have basically stopped working. Still taking the money but now you weeks to see them. Ever since they were given their new contracts under the Blair tenure their service has become so poor. My doctor's has two surgeries, Robertsbridge and Battle, six doctors employed but the surgeries are ghost towns. To be honest even if you do get to see a GP they are just a referral person. Then you wait forever for an appointment at hospital.

This useless government have got to do something it's not acceptable.
 


Weststander

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Aug 25, 2011
63,938
Withdean area
Small update on my relatively trivial travails. No more pain, but not eating, and still with a 'lively' (frankly, it's Vesuvial) bowel.

Chatted with GP this morning. My hospital notes are noncommital - but there are five pages of them. I could hear her eyebrow raise, even over the phone. No wonder they were too busy to see how I was...

GP asked me to pop in and get a 'blue lid stool pot'. Mrs T got it for me. It is a small tube with a white screw top. Not quite sure how the person on the desk got that wrong. I may be shitting through the eye of a needle, but I can guarantee neither precision nor accuracy. So Mrs T went back and they apologised and replaced it. (An example of how we trust the NHS implicitly even when this defies what we see with our own eyes; Mrs T asks for a blue lid receptacle and is given a tiny white lid receptacle, which she accepts, assuming the professionals know what they are doing).

Much of the rest of the morning's acivities, and indeed a couple of episodes yesterday are probably best left unsaid.

Sufficed to say, with the pain gone, I am more than happy to join any orderly queue, going forward, with a reasonable expecatation of some resolution. I have test results Wednesday and a lesiurely GP appointment a week later (hopefully to move on what I suspect is weeks or months of creeping wrongness - something isn't right, for sure). Anyway....

And on the plus side, I've lost five kilos in three days!

Thanks for all the kind comments during my moments of anguished emoting. Those of you 'waiting to be seen' all have my very best wishes :thumbsup:

Get well soon.

Fingers crossed for you, that it's not serious or chronic.

What a rapid way to lose the Lockdowns weight gain :)
 


Albion and Premier League latest from Sky Sports


Top
Link Here