The n.h.s.

cashman · 07-01-2022, 10:47

to me the NHS has become pathetic,you cannot see your doctor only talk on the phone, the lasses in the chemists i have been in are the exception they are superb,i was told to ring the NHS by my Pharmacy i did got a load of options was asked if i wanted an English Speaking person to answer i said yes cos i am pretty deaf, i got answered and could hardly tell a word said.

end of the day i hung up without knowing what i wanted, i think its probably the bigwigs that run it to blame but its really PATHETIC, is it just me that thinks this?

Less · 07-01-2022, 11:37

I signed up with the practice I'm now with over 3 years ago after my caring doctor retired, I have yet to see a doctor, it's always been practice nurses.
One time the nurse told me she thought I should urgently to go to hospital to check my condition, she went to consult the doctor, 20 minutes later she returned, the doctor didn't even put their head around the door to check me over.
I don't consider this to be a very good practice, but what the hey, I'm still alive so the nurses must be doing something right.

Margaret Pilkington · 07-01-2022, 13:02

Cashy I am sure that you are not alone in feeling let down by the primary care service.

Since the Covid thing, there has been very little access to GP's.....if you need something it is not a GP who will deal with your issue....it will be some other Health Care professional
Yet GPs are still being paid as if they were seeing patients.

What exactly ARE they doing. let me see...oh yes, they are giving Covid jabs at £15 a pop(£20 if they can wangle to be doing it on a Saturday or a Sunday)

GPs are independent contractors who sell their services to the NHS, so they have one leg in the NHS and one leg out.
We are told that there are not enough GPs......but is that our fault?

The NHS needs a root and branch overhaul, but there is no political party that has the guts to suggest this let alone do it,

I cannot see things improving anytime soon

I worked in the NHS for almost thirty years and it saddens me to see where it is right now.
It has good dedicated staff, but a rotten management structure.

cashman · 07-01-2022, 13:30

i suspected it was those in authority to blame, that dont surprise me at all. but it sure aint good enough in my eyes.

Lost in Cornwall · 07-01-2022, 15:10

GP's do seem very reluctant to go back to seeing people. They much prefer the telephone or send us a picture of whatever you've got. The best I had was a hospital eye appointment by telephone about 12 months ago which basically consisted of can you see alright and have you got any other problems? I told them I could see with my specs on and I didn't know of any other problems but then I didn't know I had a problem with my eyes in the first place until they told me I did so I probably wasn't the best person to be asking. I have seen somebody since and fortunately all is as well as it can be.

monkey hanger · 08-01-2022, 11:27

think the majority of the country has had the same problems since covid. situations like stopping your medication as you have not had a revue which is unable to be booked after 50 odd unanswered phone calls. criticising the NHS to some is akin to kicking an ill animal. it way have been the countries greatest invention but that was 70 years plus ago with 25 million lower population that seemed to me the extra population being the main users. some serious talking needs to be done in its future and comparing other countries health service to ours and come out with the best one available for all.

Margaret Pilkington · 08-01-2022, 15:06

MH, don’t be holding your breath while you wait…that is a sure way to make ALL your medical problems disappear…but you will go with them.
There is no one in government or out of it with the small round things to instigate this.
But it DOES need doing.
The NHS is too top heavy….too many chiefs and not enough Indians.
Money wasted on airy fairy ideas instead of the basic care that would benefit the majority of users…..and the staff would benefit too because they would get much more job satisfaction(which is a good morale booster).

monkey hanger · 09-01-2022, 11:44

[QUOTE=Margaret Pilkington;
The NHS is too top heavy….too many chiefs and not enough Indians.
Money wasted on airy fairy ideas instead of the basic care that would benefit the majority of users…..and the staff would benefit too because they would get much more job satisfaction(which is a good morale booster).[/QUOTE]

with the word National in its title its obvious it will be top heavy with non medical staff as were the nationalised industries where when they existed. same as the councils when they were allowed to put up rates by any figure they wanted to do.

Margaret Pilkington · 09-01-2022, 15:12

Yes…I have to agree.
There was a lot of money wasted on stupid schemes like getting people like Lloyd Grossman to come up with ideas for recipes for food to be given to patients…..things like olive oil mash.
What patients need is nutritious food cooked on the premises by cook(not chefs) who understand the concept of food to tempt the eye and the nose before it gets to the mouth.
Silly amounts of money were invested into IT systems which(to my knowledge) failed and had to be replaced.
The PFI that was instituted by that snake Tony Blair, robbed the NHS of obscene amounts of money so that it looked like we were getting new facilities without adding to the national debt.

I think you could get a bunch of nurses together and they could point you in the direction that the NHS needs to go to improve front line services and make the most of the budgets.
It won’t happen because it would rob the cronies of revenue.

cashman · 09-01-2022, 16:30

they will not take the slightest notice of nurses they have too much common sense for the BIG WIGS. in my view. they are ignored.

Margaret Pilkington · 09-01-2022, 16:41

Yes, I know Cashy…it would never happen.

taddy · 09-01-2022, 18:39

[QUOTE=Margaret Pilkington;1262404]

I think you could get a bunch of nurses together and they could point you in the direction that the NHS needs to go to improve front line services and make the most of the budgets.
It won’t happen because it would rob the cronies of revenue

Marge I have to agree with you whole heartedly, as I have mentioned in a long ago post I was given a one in ten chance of surviving a motor bike accident in 1968 ( yes I was a rocker), but with the skill and dedication of Sister Hayes and her nurses and doctors, (yes I have got that the right way round), at Accrington Victoria Hospital and the care that I received from my wife of twelve months when I was finally allowed home, I am still here to tell the tale.

Margaret Pilkington · 09-01-2022, 21:50

Sister Hayes was a legend Taddy.
She was night Sister at BRI when I was a student…I liked her…..and she treated me like I knew what I was doing…that gave me confidence.
She was one of the first to congratulate me when I got my sisters post.

monkey hanger · 11-01-2022, 09:58

what happened also to the matrons who seemed to rule with the iron rod and how many people were employed to replace something that from an outsider seemed to work.

Margaret Pilkington · 11-01-2022, 10:29

MH…..I trained in 1974…..matrons were long gone by then….replaced by nursing officers.
This 1972 Briggs report saw them off. Oh yes and Brian Salmon had a hand in the changes too
The Salmon report predated the Briggs report…..and matrons disappeared as a result of the Salmon report Circa 1967.

Usually there was only one Matron per hospital…..and they were formidable.
Nursing officers were employed per department…..so straight away it increased the costs without having the clout of the Matron.
Current Matrons were just a sop to public opinion…(the public saw Matrons as being the arbiter of all the hospital services) their remit is limited and they do not have the influence of the single Matron pre 1972.