vole Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 A nurse of 30 years . Cardiac mainly .Intensive , coronary , cardio thoracic , catheter lab . Hands on and devoted to my job as long as possible . Deeply worried as to the future of health care , but what do I know ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medic1281 Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 Your not the only one that's worried Vole. The ambulance service is falling to bits, the hospitals are bursting at the seems, social care is massively under funded. I could go on. The trouble is unobtainable targets, fines for not achieving these targets and then bringing in profit making private companies as the nhs foundation trusts can't meet targets. Privatisation by the back door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vole Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 Public support meant alot to us . Same as other public sector workers ie teachers , cops , paramedics , etc . Now we are seen as parasites on gold plated pensions and killing people rather than helping , morale has never been worse . I see more foreign staff filling our vacancies . Health care will be seen as a dead end job and not worth the hassle and stress which is kind of the case now . I thought I would work another 10 years but the last year has helped me decide ; health and family 1st . I am off asap . This is the wrong forum to get any support as a public sector worker hence my dearth of posts these days . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medic1281 Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 This was a 'job for life' when I started 10yrs ago, now I can't wait to get out. Anyone want to employ a paramedic?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vole Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 You guys have had a rougher deal than most . I do alot of inter hospital transfers and see alot of what you do . Sad times seeing the job relegated to something far less than its worth . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medic1281 Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 Cheers Vole, I still love the emergency side, but most of our work now is primary care and social work, not many true emergencies that we train for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KFC Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 Some figures published in Private Eye mag this week show how unsustainable PFI is. In the North East build cost for PFI hospitals was £812m but total repayment costs will be £5.51bn. In the North West build cost was£1.34bn but repayment cost will be £10.32bn. Seems like a hell of an expensive way to keep government borrowing 'off books' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keg Posted January 10, 2015 Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 Another classic from the B & B show... A nurse of 30 years . Cardiac mainly .Intensive , coronary , cardio thoracic , catheter lab . Hands on and devoted to my job as long as possible . Deeply worried as to the future of health care , but what do I know ? 30 years of up front experience is what you know. My sis in law is a nurse but she baled and now lives in NZ, still as a nurse. It was the number of admin and managers than made her move e Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoggysreels Posted January 10, 2015 Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 Ambulance Service strike ? 12.00hours 29/01/15 - 12.00 hours 31/01/15. ... not certain its to take place, but heard nothing that it isn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medic1281 Posted January 10, 2015 Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 24 hour walk out on 25th feb too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil82 Posted January 10, 2015 Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 A nurse of 30 years . Cardiac mainly .Intensive , coronary , cardio thoracic , catheter lab . Hands on and devoted to my job as long as possible . Deeply worried as to the future of health care , but what do I know ? serious question for you Vole do you think the standard of skills that the foreign nurses have compares to the standard of home trained staff, after all most that I know are degree trained, does the degree make them better or was the old system producing better nurses, and do you think the fact that most of them come out of the degree course in debt up to a point puts a lot off and to do some care work they end up as HCA`s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vole Posted January 10, 2015 Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 There are some excellent foreign staff . Hard working and skilful . With increasingly old patients though there is an advantage to cultural familiarity ie home grown staff . The training is too academic now . I have not written a single essay while doing a shift ever . What you need is common sense and willingness to commit to doing some fairly awful thankless stuff most working days for the whole of your career . Patients can spot staff who are not cut out for it a mile off . It is about skills too and good old fashioned service , not forgetting patients pay your salary . Wielding a defib and emptying colostomy bags in the same morning does not require a degree if you ask me and graduates can have unrealistic expectations . Sorry quick answer and missing point but have to dash . Cheers though . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdubya Posted January 10, 2015 Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 . This is the wrong forum to get any support as a public sector worker hence my dearth of posts these days . Got my support mate, there are a few of us on here that can see the reality of what is happening. KW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Mike Posted January 10, 2015 Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 Nothing wrong with the NHS its the general population of chronic hypochondriac's who are the problem. Plus people who have spent a life of smoking and obesity now picking up the tab. It can only get worse. Its got nothing to do with bad organisation, excessive external consultants, or poor house keeping, they just don't have sufficient resources per capita. Go to any A&E on a weekend at your will find it full of drunks, smackheads and ne'er-do-wells who 100 years ago would have been thrown in a cell hosed down, and told to sleep it off. I had to pick up my daughter from her local Hospital a week ago as she was on 24 hour call ( third time in a week ) 4 of the patients she attended had COPD ( Smoking) 2 diabetics (Obesity) 1 Swollen joints ( Arthritis caused by obesity) 3 drunks who had fallen over. ...add this to the people who use it as a GP surgery ( coughs colds and sore throats ) its no wonder its creaking under the strain. They even had a woman a week or so back who wanted her 20 year breast implants checked because she thought one was lopsided...you couldn't make it up !! People need to toughen up.. we have become a nation of soft, self centred whingers. They need more money not more cuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keg Posted January 10, 2015 Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 Public support meant alot to us . Same as other public sector workers ie teachers , cops , paramedics , etc . Now we are seen as parasites on gold plated pensions and killing people rather than helping , morale has never been worse . I see more foreign staff filling our vacancies . Health care will be seen as a dead end job and not worth the hassle and stress which is kind of the case now . I thought I would work another 10 years but the last year has helped me decide ; health and family 1st . I am off asap . This is the wrong forum to get any support as a public sector worker hence my dearth of posts these days . I support you and disagree at the same time. Many public sector workers do a great job. It's the top end merry go round of quangos and looking after friends that grate with me in all areas, not just the NHS Why do hospitals need so many managers. Our local surgery has as many admin staff as GPs. Nothing wrong with the NHS its the general population of chronic hypochondriac's who are the problem. Plus people who have spent a life of smoking and obesity now picking up the tab. It can only get worse. Its got nothing to do with bad organisation, excessive external consultants, or poor house keeping, they just don't have sufficient resources per capita. Go to any A&E on a weekend at your will find it full of drunks, smackheads and ne'er-do-wells who 100 years ago would have been thrown in a cell hosed down, and told to sleep it off. I had to pick up my daughter from her local Hospital a week ago as she was on 24 hour call ( third time in a week ) 4 of the patients she attended had COPD ( Smoking) 2 diabetics (Obesity) 1 Swollen joints ( Arthritis caused by obesity) 3 drunks who had fallen over. ...add this to the people who use it as a GP surgery ( coughs colds and sore throats ) its no wonder its creaking under the strain. They even had a woman a week or so back who wanted her 20 year breast implants checked because she thought one was lopsided...you couldn't make it up !! People need to toughen up.. we have become a nation of soft, self centred whingers. They need more money not more cuts. Need to cut the top end, not the front end and use the money better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keg Posted January 10, 2015 Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 This was a 'job for life' when I started 10yrs ago, now I can't wait to get out. Anyone want to employ a paramedic?? Sadly there is no such thing as a job for life in my view Medic. To pick up on one of your points, one of the reasons people get peed off with the public sector is that they see their final salary pensions gone after many years of paying in yet the public sector does not seem affected. I know that you have no control over this but i can see why it affects people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellow Bear Posted January 10, 2015 Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 Why do hospitals need so many managers. Our local surgery has as many admin staff as GPs. Need to cut the top end, not the front end and use the money better. One of the problems is not the number of managers but what they do - over the years the ward sister has become the ward Manager - the hospital secretary the chief executive, the almoner the social work manager, etc. This increases the number of "Managers" whilst reducing the number of "Front line" for no effective change in jobs or staffing - just a title change ploy to increase pay. Granted there are a few more admin staff but this is a factor of, the litigation risk - everything has to be recorded in triplicate, and the fact that a large number of patients fail to attend appointments (and then expect to be fitted in at a moments notice when it suits them). There are undoubtedly problems but most are not due to lack of funds but peoples expectations of everything now. We have friends that work in A&E who tell us that if you take out the 25% that come in with non urgent issues (they can't be ****** to contact their GP because they have had the cold/cough/ache for 2 weeks and may have to wait a day or two to see the doctor) and the 20% drink related injuries through over indulgence, there would be little problem.. You can also add the large number (almost as many as long term issues due to weight/smoking which some keep stating) of "sports related issues" caused by "keeping fit" you can see where the problems lie. Anecdotally we were told that on one day between Xmas and new year nearly half the people in A&E had so called sports related issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Galore! Posted January 10, 2015 Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 last august my father had a serious fall, while a paramedic was quickly despatched and arrived in good time, it took an age for the ambulance to get there to bring him to hospital. he was sat in the ambulance for over an hour while they waited for a space in A&E. it then took another 4 hrs for just a nurse to see him, then another hr for a completely useless so called dr, only to be told he could go home, he tried to get up, passed out in a heap, then vomited. after that they decided it might be a good idea to keep him in after all. on further investigation it was found that he had fractured ribs, fractured skull, along with a serious concussion. i'd like to add this happened late afternoon, midweek, with just a few serious cases and several more sprains and strains that could have waited til the morning and a gp surgery, my fathers symptoms, the fainting, incoherent speech, blood dripping out of the back of his skull, and the vomiting all seemed to go unnoticed and unrecorded until he flaked out in front of the doctor. as you might guess i'm not that impressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norfolk dumpling Posted January 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 If you could sum this up it's a case of unrealistic expectations of the public unable to be satisfied by the limited resources of the state. Still much better to live in the UK than probably the other 90% of the world should you have an accident or fall I'll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kes Posted January 11, 2015 Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 I suggest an attendance deposit whenever one goes to A&E - publicise it so everyone knows that inappropriate use of the service will result in confiscation of the deposit for the NHS. Any alcohol related injuries will not be treated for 24 hours and the deposit taken. Add to that a critical review of so-called managers and staffing levels. One of the functions of senior managers seems to me to be planning for their own retirement. How to be made redundant for example just as they plan to retire and gain even more money - the NHS pays pensions too from their budgets. Rises in Senior Manager salaries, if looked at in isolation, are well ahead of any other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdubya Posted January 11, 2015 Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 I suggest an attendance deposit whenever one goes to A&E - publicise it so everyone knows that inappropriate use of the service will result in confiscation of the deposit for the NHS. Any alcohol related injuries will not be treated for 24 hours and the deposit taken. Add to that a critical review of so-called managers and staffing levels. One of the functions of senior managers seems to me to be planning for their own retirement. How to be made redundant for example just as they plan to retire and gain even more money - the NHS pays pensions too from their budgets. Rises in Senior Manager salaries, if looked at in isolation, are well ahead of any other. So the guy with a fractured skull and a brain bleed due to falling over ****** will have to wait 24 hours for life saving treatment? (which he probably wont need then) once again the true caring and compassionate side of the forum comes to fully to the fore.How about if the older generation are not allowed out in icy conditions another burden on the NHS in winter,or better still why not simply cut to the chase and say I can afford it so I want a private system and stuff those who cant. KW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kes Posted January 11, 2015 Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 So the guy with a fractured skull and a brain bleed due to falling over ****** will have to wait 24 hours for life saving treatment? (which he probably wont need then) once again the true caring and compassionate side of the forum comes to fully to the fore.How about if the older generation are not allowed out in icy conditions another burden on the NHS in winter,or better still why not simply cut to the chase and say I can afford it so I want a private system and stuff those who cant. KW I think you need to calm down a bit - naturally they would be traiged and prioritised appropriately and not denied life saving treatment but why should some self inflicted drunk expect to be molly-coddled by others. Perhaps you would defend a person's inalienable to get ****** and irresponsibly take resources better utilised by others? I do understand your sentiment but I also support the NHS but not at any price and as a 'prop' for idiots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdubya Posted January 11, 2015 Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 I think you need to calm down a bit - naturally they would be traiged and prioritised appropriately and not denied life saving treatment but why should some self inflicted drunk expect to be molly-coddled by others. Perhaps you would defend a person's inalienable to get ****** and irresponsibly take resources better utilised by others? I do understand your sentiment but I also support the NHS but not at any price and as a 'prop' for idiots. I defend everybody's right to medical attention if needed regardless of cause, or social standing, it really is that simple the clue is in the title NHS not HS for some. KW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHOOTEMUP Posted January 11, 2015 Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 I wonder if part of the problem was the new contract that the previous Labour government "negotiated" with GP's - i.e. no out of hours, and no weekends. And a big increase in pay and people still stupid enough to vote Liabour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cant hit rabbits 123 Posted January 11, 2015 Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 (edited) I have some very recent experience of the NHS, the A and E department in particular. There were some notable issues caused not by staff, but by fellow patients. I was assaulted on new years eve, on the way to a do. Hadn't had a drink, wasn't particularly late, pretty normal walk really to a house I'd visited several times before. Anyway, details aren't important but I was attacked without provocation, ending up with two breaks in my jaw and a very painful neck. I was refused an ambulance as they were at full stretch and it wasn't life threatening, made my own way to the hospital with a friend where I sat in A and E literally surrounded by drunks and people with menial injury. I waited for two and a half hours while people with what were little more than colds and drink related injuries were sent through triage until I passed out and was then bumped up the list. Spent several hours in resus again surrounded by people with injuries caused by being drunk or other people being drunk, people brought in by police in handcuffs after drunkenly fighting, people who had drunk themselves into unconsciousness, a woman abusing nursing staff in between bouts of vomit. Assuming this was a new years eve phenomena, my friend talked to the staff about it while they were sorting out some painkillers for me, transpires its not much worse than the average Friday or Saturday. My point being that if hospitals weren't swamped with idiots with self inflicted injuries and those who have gone in with a cold that, at worse they could see a GP about but most would just deal with at home, the NHS would have more time, staff and money to deal with people who legitimately need urgent care and help. We cannot do without the NHS. There are so many people who simply could not get medical help without it, and I believe it is one of the pillars of society that make this country great. However it is being dragged down and choked by an overuse by people who should simply not be there. Edited January 11, 2015 by cant hit rabbits 123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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