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What is happening to this once fine country?


Walker570
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11 hours ago, fern01 said:

The paramedics have to spend half their time dealing with drunks, drugies and people with mental health issues.

Also they often have to wait outside A & E until their patient can be seen.

Add to that all the people who should really be going to see their GP with non urgent problems but can't get an appointment for days



People with mental health issues is a legitimate use of NHS resources. As long as we see alcohol and drug misuse as health issues that also (although some don’t like it) is a health issue and legitimate use of NHS time. 
 

I myself would like to see a LOT less people taking the P and time wasting against NHS services, but I don’t think we can blame people with substance misuse issues and Mental ill health for the NHS’ problems, as they are bigger than just that. 

 

On top of that, the scale of demand and the scale and variety of staff and different challenges that are involved, I don’t think any one organisation could magically just run all hospitals to be super efficient. 
 

With the differences between staff teams alone I don’t think two hospitals could even be run the same, let alone all of them. 
 

No company or work force is super efficient and none of them are anywhere near the size of our NHS. 
 

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On 07/08/2021 at 18:08, sam triple said:

Too many people draining resources and not enough people wanting to work 

 I am sure the NHS is funded by NI contributions , also Job seekers ,invalidaty benifits  and mobility viehicles ( I personly know two who drive four by fours and one of these rides  500cc Bike ), alowances for alcohol , methadone addministered by a pharmacist daily, theres more but you get my jist !

😡 rant over!

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14 hours ago, derbyduck said:

 I am sure the NHS is funded by NI contributions , also Job seekers ,invalidaty benifits  and mobility viehicles ( I personly know two who drive four by fours and one of these rides  500cc Bike ), alowances for alcohol , methadone addministered by a pharmacist daily, theres more but you get my jist !

😡 rant over!

Yep it's called A Lame Duck Society 

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19 hours ago, Vince Green said:

If they charged you for ambulances like they do in virtually every other country in the world there wouldn't be the time wasters.

Years ago my brother, then 11, broke his leg in a road accident and my mum and dad got a bill for the ambulance so its not without precident

Never heard of that before, why was that? 

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8 hours ago, 12gauge82 said:

I've never heard of that before, interesting. 

Its gone into family folkiore now but I do have a story that sort of corroborates it. My friend Paul's inlaws lived by a very  busy road junction in the 70s,  where there were frequent pile ups and indeed fatalities.

In the days before mobile phones they would often get people banging on their door at all hours to use their phone. They would say to them you can phone the police but you cannot phone for an ambulance. When you get through to the police tell the police there are seriously injoured people and let them notify the ambulance. The reason being they had been billed in the past just for letting people use their phone.

But I don't see anything wrong with that, in America when i lived there they used to say always carry a credit card because if you wreck your car, keel over in the street or get shot by some wino trying to rob you. If you don't have a credit card the ambulance crew would just drive off and leave you. AND THY DID! often, no compassion. Leaving people literally bleeding by the roadside

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A cousin of mine came off his motorbike years ago and his parents received a bill for the ambulance coming out and taking him to hospital.

I can't remember how much it was but they were pleased to have him in the care of the ambulance staff, but horrified that there was a bill for what everybody thought was a free service.

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18 hours ago, 12gauge82 said:

Never heard of that before, why was that? 

Happened to me, years ago. Motorbike accident, me and my sister taken to hospital by ambulance (nothing major), we both received a request for payment.

And another thing.

A friend used to work for the NHS, and he said that you wouldn't believe the amount of wastage that goes on, from all the 'managers' who order things that aren't needed, or even re-order things that other 'managers' have ordered.    So many chiefs and not enough indians. 

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1 hour ago, Robden said:

Happened to me, years ago. Motorbike accident, me and my sister taken to hospital by ambulance (nothing major), we both received a request for payment.

And another thing.

A friend used to work for the NHS, and he said that you wouldn't believe the amount of wastage that goes on, from all the 'managers' who order things that aren't needed, or even re-order things that other 'managers' have ordered.    So many chiefs and not enough indians. 

Yeah I'm not a fan of the NHS to be honest 

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43 minutes ago, captainhastings said:

Father in law was in a few days ok as he needed a transfusion to reduce calcium. He asked for a glass of water to wash tablets down and was told no. His son had to go buy a coffee and when he got back with it they bought him a glass of water. Just shocking 

Yeah I've seen shocking cases to. From old people left calling for the toilet unable to get out of bed and the look on a member of the nursing staff face when I went and told them as they couldn't simply ignore me, to being in the back of an ambulance circling a roundabout 1 min away from the hospital before parking up for 10 minutes with a guy who had a heart attack as they didn't know if they'd need to drive 50mins to another hospital, that man later died when we finally arrived in icu. 

To arriving at hospital to see my father not knowing if he was alive or dead after a suspected heart attack to be told I couldn't go and see him and they wouldn't give me any information, so I just ignored them and walked through. 

To them being responsible for the death of my best friend. 

While clap for the NHS was going on, I honestly felt like going outside and booing. 

Of course none of this is aimed at individuals, but the organisation itself (and probably government to). Like all organisations there is very good, very bad and everything in between working there. 

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3 hours ago, mel b3 said:

I know that ambulance charges were often made to insurance companies , following accidents.

Yes, I have heard that as well.

 

5 minutes ago, 12gauge82 said:

Like all organisations there is very good, very bad and everything in between working there. 

That is very true.  I was hospitalised for a few days last year (non Covid) - A&E (where I had been sent by my GP) was dreadful, but after 11 hours much of it in a corridor in A&E I was taken to a bed.  Once there - the staff were very good and helpful. 

It is however unbelievable inefficient - with (just as an example) two nurses needed to take temperature, blood pressure, oxygen etc. - and manually transcribe into two different paper records plus a keyboard ....... when everything was all barcode and bluetooth - but "didn't work".  Apparently they should have been able to scan my wristband with bar code ......... and take the readings - but apparently it had never worked. 

I am still waiting for the follow up which should have been in January - and as yet they cannot give me a date.

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1 hour ago, JohnfromUK said:

when everything was all barcode and bluetooth - but "didn't work".  Apparently they should have been able to scan my wristband with bar code ......... and take the readings - but apparently it had never worked

Like most "tec", they just can't be bothered to plug in and charge the equipment so it does not work.   SWMBO was a specialist in moving and handling of patients and the number of patient hoists unavailable due to no power was normally 70%.  The staff then complained they had "never worked" but 30m on charge and perfect operation.

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6 hours ago, JohnfromUK said:

Yes, I have heard that as well.

 

That is very true.  I was hospitalised for a few days last year (non Covid) - A&E (where I had been sent by my GP) was dreadful, but after 11 hours much of it in a corridor in A&E I was taken to a bed.  Once there - the staff were very good and helpful. 

It is however unbelievable inefficient - with (just as an example) two nurses needed to take temperature, blood pressure, oxygen etc. - and manually transcribe into two different paper records plus a keyboard ....... when everything was all barcode and bluetooth - but "didn't work".  Apparently they should have been able to scan my wristband with bar code ......... and take the readings - but apparently it had never worked. 

I am still waiting for the follow up which should have been in January - and as yet they cannot give me a date.

Doesn't sound like fun at all, fingers crossed the follow up is positive for you. 

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47 minutes ago, 12gauge82 said:

Doesn't sound like fun at all, fingers crossed the follow up is positive for you. 

Thanks - it was no fun, but fortunately I am now (I believe) only awaiting a confirmation check to confirm all is recovered - which I have every reason to believe it is as I am well again. 

I was lucky in a way as I was 'in' to be on antibiotic drips - and other than being woken every few hours to renew the drips, I was fairly comfortable - and contrary to what one sometimes reads hospital food was perfectly acceptable, tea or coffee brought regularly and ward staff pleasant and helpful.

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Two weeks ago now my little boy had an accident in the garden and badly broke his arm. Ended up calling an ambulance as he was in a bad way. Just so happened it was the day the hospital's up London were flooded so the ambulance service was even more stretched than usual moving patients from Whipps cross to other hospitals round London. An agonizing 2 and a half hours later the ambulance finally arrived. The two paramedics were amazing, patched him up and made him comfortable and got his arm stable enough to be moved. Then it was a ride in the ambulance to hospital. All the way the poor paramedic who was with us in the back was filling out forms and ticking boxes.

When we got to the hospital it was straight in to the fracture clinic and into x-ray. Then onto a ward where he was put on IV antibiotics as he had an open fracture, had covid tests and continued pain relief. There they dressed his wounds, put a temporary cast on his arm to stabilise it and onto more x-rays. The doctor came to tell us that we would have to go to the royal London hospital as the fracture was too severe and that's where the specialist are based. The whole time the staff kept us up to date and although nothing happened quickly the doctors and nurses couldn't do enough for you.

A few hours later we had another ambulance ride from Southend to the royal London hospital, again the poor paramedic was filling in forms the whole time. We got to the hospital, it was straight to the fracture a&e, straight into x-ray then put in a room on the a&e. A nurse came and done another covid test as well as continue his antibiotics and pain relief. A specialist came and explained he needed surgery to repair the fracture, he also had a dislocation which would need repair and his surgery would be in the morning as it was gone midnight at this point.

Every 2 hours the nurse came and continued the antibiotics and at about 3am we were moved up to the pediatric fracture clinic and put on a proper ward. It turned out that while all this was going on the hospital also had to accommodate about another 100 patients from Whipps cross and had to open extra wards. That's why it took us a while to get on the ward as all the porters and such were already stretched.

Anyway the next morning comes and at 11 he was taken down for his op. In the time before it we had visits from the anethatist explaining what was happening, a member of the 'play team' to get my son books, toys and films or whatever to keep him occupied, a person from catering giving us menus and orders for lunch and dinner. And the nurses keeping his antibiotics and pain relief going. When he went for his op the nurses were reassuring and as soon as it was over they brought me down so I could be there when he woke up. Then after the op as we were in recovery and back on the ward again the nurses couldn't be helpful enough. The surgeons had to realign and pin one bone in his arm, refit the other bone that was dislocated in the elbow and wire it in place as well as wash out the wound where the bone pierced the skin. Up to the point he was discharged the staff were all brilliant. The people who work for that organisation don't get paid half as much as they deserve and I know it's not perfect, and the politicians do their best to screw it up but for my personal experience, I know nothing happened quickly but I cannot fault anyone who helped.

We had to go back on Friday for a check up. While we were there he was x-rayed, they replaced his cast and re dressed all his stitches. Even then the doctors were helpful and even let my son pick out what colour he wanted his cast. We have to go back again next week for another check up and unfortunately in about 9 months time he will have to endure another operation to remove the pin from his arm so it can grow normally as he ages. I know the NHS is not perfect but I am sure glad it is there.

I feel for all the staff when you walk outside the hospital and you see all the smackheads outside smoking and drinking, still in their gowns and think it must be soul destroying when you try to help people and they can't help themselves.

Some pieces of equipment in that hospital are amazing, as are some of the staff, and as the vaccine rollout has shown us, the NHS can do amazing things when the proper investment gets to the proper people. It is such a shame that that investment and innovation cannot be done for the rest of the NHS as it could be the amazing operation it deserves to be.

Sorry for the long post but that's my 2 pence worth.

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