NHS The begining of the end ?

silver fox.

Good old Matron, in those days, Drs And Surgeons had to ask for HER permission, to go onto her Ward.And nurses sat at the desk at the end of the Ward doing paperwork, not standing at the nurses stations, talking.
Bring em back;)
Jim.
Lincoln .7

I have to admit that this whole thing does concern me, and I’m sure most of us. Im 52 yrs young, and within the last 2 years I have sustained significant vision loss, courtesy of a stroke, and have what I now know to be a debilitating and progressive back problem. I’m now not able work, due to a combination of the problems I’ve already mentioned. I’m looking at trying to put together some kind of health insurance, but as has been said already, they don’t want to know if there are previous health conditions. Whilst I was employed in aviation, I had a very good BUPA policy thru them, but of course, that has now gone, along with most of my savings. This is a good lesson to all, that we never know what’s around the corner, and how it can turn your world upside down. I’m very aware there are very many worse of than. Hindsight shows, that for many years, we have not paid enough into ‘the kitty’ to ensure the continuation of the NHS as we know it. The consequences of this underinvestmen by most of us, I guess was always going to come, and now it has.

This caring, sharing compassionate government will book you an appointment with ATOS, these people are miracle workers one visit to them and most people are fit to return to work.

There is massive waste in the NHS, most of it seems to being creamed off by outside contractors, abysmal management and yet the cut backs are all those who work, I find it truly amazing that you can look back to the days when Matrons ran the wards, a pretty fearsome bunch at times and nobody messed with those ladies, wards were cleaned , patients cared for, they didn’t need an army of managers and assorted underlings (many without medical knowledge) to run the place efficiently. For me the present system is a model of inefficiency run by bean counters who as usual know the cost of everything and the value of nothing, the people who save a couple of pound now, but never realise that it will cost them double or more to recover a situation created by them.

I can’t see the NHS surviving IMO. Medicine and treatments are getting more expensive, staff expect annual pay rises, far too top heavy (management wages).

As our population ages (which it is on average), the burden will become far greater. We risk burdening future generations with unsolvable debt, better to face the hardship now.

Typically, those in Government have literally zero idea on how a Hospital runs.

Simply plan, get rid of the majority of the managers, some are a total waste of space.

Senior managerial staff also need to grow a set of balls and crack down on the way some departments are run.

Surely the problem is not the amount of money which is spent but how it is spent. I find it difficult to accept the the NHS is one of the largest employers IN THE WORLD – 5th I believe with 1.7 million, notwithstanding the thousands subcontracted in various aspects of the service.

The NHS has needed root and branch re-organisation for years and all governments of all colours have done is to tinker at the edges because of the ingrained fear that its sacrosanct position will be jeopardised. The truth is, of course, that the system which served us so well for decades is now an anachronism.

I have to admit that this whole thing does concern me, and I’m sure most of us. Im 52 yrs young, and within the last 2 years I have sustained significant vision loss, courtesy of a stroke, and have what I now know to be a debilitating and progressive back problem. I’m now not able work, due to a combination of the problems I’ve already mentioned. I’m looking at trying to put together some kind of health insurance, but as has been said already, they don’t want to know if there are previous health conditions. Whilst I was employed in aviation, I had a very good BUPA policy thru them, but of course, that has now gone, along with most of my savings. This is a good lesson to all, that we never know what’s around the corner, and how it can turn your world upside down. I’m very aware there are very many worse of than. Hindsight shows, that for many years, we have not paid enough into ‘the kitty’ to ensure the continuation of the NHS as we know it. The consequences of this underinvestmen by most of us, I guess was always going to come, and now it has.

The last paragraph is a fair summary.

“One in 10 accident and emergency departments has either closed recently or could shut in the near future…

…part of major plans to reorganise services and prune back departments to concentrate staff and resources at bigger hospitals.“

“Senior doctors and NHS managers have become increasingly convinced that these changes are essential to improve care at nights and weekends, and to deal with financial constraints.”

Typical journalistic ‘spin’ on the plans for the NHS. :rolleyes:

The A&E department at the hospital in my home town closed a few years ago; there just weren’t enough serious accidents or emergencies to justify the highly-trained staff and expensive equipment needed for a modern A&E department to be on standby twenty-four hours a day. It was also affecting the abilities of the medical staff involved; they weren’t getting enough experience to remain fully proficient for working in A&E.

Like everything else we want in the UK the NHS has to be paid for; the UK is in debt and we are having to borrow money to pay for it. We either have to make the NHS more efficient, pay more taxes or make cuts to the NHS. Spending more, or even spending the same amount, is not an option unless you want to pay more in tax.

Something needs to be done about the NHS. It is soaking up more and more tax money, yet the service isn’t improving proportionately.

If these closures are what doctors and managers inside the NHS feel is necessary then who are we to argue against it?

Moggy

Waco. I agree. After putting up for a week, with a painful arm, my youngest daughter went to see her Dr. He asked for an Ambulance, to take her to hospital. The Dr came and told my daughter there was a 4, yes, 4 hrs wait for an ambulance. Such was the pain she was in, the Dr gave her a shot of Pethadin to ease the pain, which it didn’t. My wife was called from the surgery, and she then went and collected my daughter up, and took her in her car to hospital.
The nearest ambulance would have had to travel, (A rough estimate) 40 to 50 miles to the Drs, collect her, and then a further 20 miles back to the hospital
We live in a small Market town, and there is no A&E dept at the small cottage hospital.This small hospital, has a Portacabin, where the physiotherapist works just 3 days a week, he works at the main hospital in Boston, and travels to the small hospital 3 days a week.I am undergoing Physio with him at the moment, and he told me this week, whilst undergoing treatment, he is absolutely sick of all the red tape, travelling, and by the rules and regs of the PCT, he feels he is not working to his full potential, and is leaving the NHS within the next 3 months, and opening his own business, of which will be referals sent to him by local Drs, he will be charging £30.00 per hour. There is a backlog here so he stated of folks who are awaiting Physio, but he is not allowed the time needed to treat them all, in the 3 days he comes to our Cottage hospital.
My daughter has been in hospital now a few days, and cannot wait to get home, seems like the rot has set in already.
Jim.
Lincoln .7