A combination of me being extremely stubborn (if something takes me 10 times as long to do as a healthy person I will still do it myself) plus I was being seen regularly by the community matron for the first few weeks as I had lost a lot of blood and it took a long time to get the blood cell counts back to normal. The community matron and district nurses provide an invaluable service, although another part of the NHS that is underfunded, imo.
Nowt wrong with being independent! In fact it is positively encouraged.
The community matrons in my trust are in management roles. District nursing teams are certainly underfunded and we do see people recently discharged from hospital who do not have a care package in place because they have declined one.
No problem with that as anyone with full mental capacity is entitled to refuse any care or treatment even though they may need it. However, I must admit it can be frustrating because in some cases, although certainly not all...(some people manage perfectly well thank you, once at home), it results in extra resources being needed or someone being readmitted to hospital.
70 million people on a small island and growing by 350k a year supplemented by a totally free at the point of use health care system seemingly for anyone who turns up. Can't think why we have a problem!
The same people who moan about NHS cuts - its budget is going up annually but it will never be enough - are generally also the same people who support seemingly uncontrolled immigration and EU freedom of movement.
If you keep adding nearly 5 million people to the population every decade the demand and pressures are hardly going to fall are they.
Perhaps people should try going go Eastern Europe to get care - their hospitals must be empty. But unless it was a dire emergency you would have to provide your private health insurance details or a credit card before they would even look at you assuming you didn't have a social insurance policy provided by your employer unlike our international Heath Service.
Restrict free non emergency NHS care to those who are UK citizens or new arrivals who have paid in for three years - unless we have a totally reciprocal arrangement for free treatment. Unless you support that stop complaining - its only going to get worse when we have another 10 million people here in 15 years time.
This attitude is not going to solve the problems of the NHS you are living In dream land, sorry
The NHS is unfit for 21st century in its current form. What was laid down in 1948 is not necessarily applicable in 2017. People have a lot more disposable income today and the introduction of a two tier health service would be more appropriate. At the end of the day, an individuals health should be their own priority, not the state`s. More should be done by relatives families to alleviate the crisis caused by bed blocking, one of the main criticisms of this alarming report. The state should only provide so much, the rest has to be the responsibility of the individual. Time for a major overhaul of the NHS to reflect the times we live in and stop allowing it to be used repeatedly as a political football whenever there is a General Election. The days of the NHS being the politicians Holy Grail are long gone.
To an extent I agree with you, having gone through the full gambit of NHS, Private health and paying for treatment, I am shocked sometimes by attitudes that abound where people would rather suffer themselves or let their family suffer rather than put their hand in the pocket, The NHS has become a right the people believe they have above all else, ingrained to such an extent , it's become the equal of gun laws in the US.
Ahh of course it's all Corbyn and the Labour parties fault,
I mean, lets not let the fact that we've not had a Labour government for coming up on 7 years get in the way of blaming anyone but the NHS hating Tories for the fact that the NHS has nosedived like a concrete glider full of very heavy stuff almost from the day they took over,
Best blame the people who created the NHS for the state it has been allowed (encouraged?) to get into since the party which fought tooth and nail to prevent it's creation, came to power, Some people might buy such horse 'droppings' but not many,
Probably some of the same folks who actually believed the 350 million quid LIE on the side of the brexit bus, Like right wing Tories and kippers could EVER be trusted to look after OUR NHS.
Well blame is the name of the game, unless we face facts, and yes the 350 million quid a week for the NHS was a particularly nasty lie
The hospital where I work has been overwhelmingly busy over the past 2 weeks. There is a huge new-ish A&E which has consistently had ambulances parked up outside and paramedics inside accompanying patients on stretchers in every available corridor. Extra beds have been created which are full within minutes of opening.
Most of the really ill patients are people in their late 80s and 90s. The management keep urging clinical teams to send as many patients home as possible in order to free up beds for the queues of patients waiting on trolleys in A&E. The problem is that the hospital is full of really sick, elderly people who can't be sent home. More people are coming into the hospital than are leaving it - and this has been on normal week days, not weekends.
Doctors and nurses are working incredibly hard, non stop, under tremendous pressure. We are sometimes short staffed and sometimes we just don't have the staff with the correct experience and skills who can deal with the type of patients they are receiving onto their wards.
It's winter and more people get sick this time of year. We have an ageing population and most of the patients requiring hospital care are very old and very sick. I am not so sure the current crisis in my trust is related to lack of social care because my trust puts a lot of effort into discharging people, either home with social and nursing support (including our hospital at home nursing team) or to intermediate care beds. Patients can't go home because they are clinically not ready to go home.
I believe the hospital closures of the past few years has greatly impacted on those remaining open. It was madness to close so many A&Es in an era when our population is increasing and ageing.
The hospital where I work has been overwhelmingly busy over the past 2 weeks. There is a huge new-ish A&E which has consistently had ambulances parked up outside and paramedics inside accompanying patients on stretchers in every available corridor. Extra beds have been created which are full within minutes of opening.
Most of the really ill patients are people in their late 80s and 90s. The management keep urging clinical teams to send as many patients home as possible in order to free up beds for the queues of patients waiting on trolleys in A&E. The problem is that the hospital is full of really sick, elderly people who can't be sent home. More people are coming into the hospital than are leaving it - and this has been on normal week days, not weekends.
Doctors and nurses are working incredibly hard, non stop, under tremendous pressure. We are sometimes short staffed and sometimes we just don't have the staff with the correct experience and skills who can deal with the type of patients they are receiving onto their wards.
It's winter and more people get sick this time of year. We have an ageing population and most of the patients requiring hospital care are very old and very sick. I am not so sure the current crisis in my trust is related to lack of social care because my trust puts a lot of effort into discharging people, either home with social and nursing support (including our hospital at home nursing team) or to intermediate care beds. Patients can't go home because they are clinically not ready to go home.
I believe the hospital closures of the past few years has greatly impacted on those remaining open. It was madness to close so many A&Es in an era when our population is increasing and ageing.
Sad times and an indictment of how we have developed health / social care in recent times. It's why the loss of so many recuperative "cottage hospitals" has impacted on the acute services which cannot react with the agility needed.
For those who suspect the Tories are deliberately destroying the NHS, you should know that you are correct beyond a shadow of a doubt. Hunt categorically said this was his aim a long time ago.
In a way, therefore, it is difficult to blame him or the Tories for what has happened. They openly set out a vision for healthcare in this country, and voters have let this happen. Anyone who voted for the conservatives has to take some of the blame for the dead patients on trolleys. Even my sister, an NHS doctor, who "did not realise" the Tories would do this and is now very upset (mainly about her pay cut). In a democratic society, everyone should understand exactly what they are voting for.
Unless they deal with the social care crisis things are only going to get worse, and the government trying to blame councils for the social care crisis is a joke, the government has cut social care budgets by billions when the number of people needing help has been increasing as you would expect with a ever increasing bigger population of elderly people.
The Hunt or the Corbyn? JC has demanded that May attend parliament on Monday to explain to the house the reason for her governments utter incompetence, Just with the NHS part this time.
As for Hunt a search party probably needs to be organised unless he is at home co-authoring another paper on why the NHS has been a 60 year mistake.
The Hunt or the Corbyn? JC has demanded that May attend parliament on Monday to explain to the house the reason for her governments utter incompetence, Just with the NHS part this time.
As for Hunt a search party probably needs to be organised unless he is at home co-authoring another paper on why the NHS has been a 60 year mistake.
;-)
That's oK, IT'S NOT LIKE hunt is in charge of the nation's healthcare. It's not really his responsibility to make sure we have healthcare which is better than that in Syria, is it?
That's oK, IT'S NOT LIKE hunt is in charge of the nation's healthcare. It's not really his responsibility to make sure we have healthcare which is better than that in Syria, is it?
I think it's possible that Hunt realises we are now close to 'mission accomplished' as far as his job is concerned, and that he is now 'keeping his head down' while the fan gets really dirty so that he can emerge from hiding when everyone is covered in you know what, and say "hey folks I really really tried, but as you have seen those commie nurses and doctors just keep getting in the way and keep trying to save lives and make people well, even though I have done all I can to make that as difficult as possible,
perhaps it really IS time to let my friends the profit mongers take over, at least this way the 'decent people' (those with money) will survive while those others... well, who cares?
Sad times and an indictment of how we have developed health / social care in recent times. It's why the loss of so many recuperative "cottage hospitals" has impacted on the acute services which cannot react with the agility needed.
I believe adequately funded intermediate care beds and intermediate care at home teams are the way forward not back to cottage hospitals which are incredibly expensive and difficult to staff.
This is what we could look forward too, only getting treatment if we can afford to pay.
When I think of co-payments I think of a 60-year-old woman with breast cancer three years post-surgery and chemotherapy now in remission. She developed a cough and a fever so received a chest x-ray to look for pneumonia. The radiologist found something not quite right, a spot that was especially concerning given her breast cancer history. She needed a CT scan to see if this is a bit of scaring or if her cancer has metastasized to her lungs. When I asked her why she hasn’t yet had the CT scan she told me she couldn’t afford her $100 co-payment. It will take her two months to save the $100 so she can get the CT scan to find out if her cancer has returned. She looked at me in the eyes for just a moment until a mixture of embarrassment and fear that my eyes might tell her what she doesn’t want to know caused her to look away. And what if her CT scan is equivocal and she needs $100 (or more) for the co-payment for a lung biopsy? If that’s not a circle of hell I don’t know what it. You want to know what’s worse? I’ve heard a variation of this story more than once.
I just want to check that I and all my colleagues who work in A&E, up and down the country, are not living in a parallel universe?
You do realise don't you that this winter 1000s and 1000s of our patients can not get beds when they need them after they have been seen in A&E.
They are lying in corridors of A&Es, despite the fact that 1000s and 1000s of elective operations are being cancelled to free up beds. Yet there is silence from our politicians and the majority of the press.
The government have woefully let the NHS fall apart. Funding has been cut per patient to both GPs, hospitals and crucially social services. But we are faced with a wall of silence. Why?
Theresa May's only comment on Health since she has become the Prime Minister is that Hunt is doing a good job. (Good only in the sense if you want to see it destroyed and thus privatised, otherwise he is far from good). So why this silence?
This photo (obviously taken from the internet/national paper and nothing to with where I work) shows what is happening up and down the county. Patients in corridors are suffering - not just their dignity but their chance of survival falls. Yet no one speaks out. Why this silence?
My collegues are struggling and we are close to being at a point of not being able to cope. When my colleagues leave the NHS, who will then look after our relatives and loved ones? Yet no one is speaking out. Why this silence?
Maybe it is because we are too afraid to face the choices that we need to make as a nation. We have an ageing population and higher expectations. Either we accept that we can no longer cope and scale back what we do as an NHS and ration care at a much lower level (utterly repugnant idea) or we privatise it so that elective care is taken out of the NHS (again a disgusting idea as here should not be a two tiers of care like in the USA)
Or we take the Politicians out of the NHS, reform it and stop pointless semi privatisation and reorganisation and properly fund it (through higher levels of taxation for the rich and multinationals or making health a priority)
But basically what we cant do is carry on what we are doing,
We are failing and struggling and something has to change.
Up and down the country the NHS has amazing staff, who are doing our best in such difficult circumstances. We just need to be given a chance to succeed.
And to anyone reading this - the government is not going to change for years and the only thing which we can do to make them listen is if people start to fight back against what is happening, Please dont accept the current situation. Join campaign groups, share posts like this (with a public profile) and tweets and question what you are told when politicians and the press tell us the downfall of the NHS is inevitable. It is not. Unless we let it be.
_ Rob @drrobgalloway (An A&E consultant -who still loves his job but is concerned for his future patients)
As for Hunt a search party probably needs to be organised unless he is at home co-authoring another paper on why the NHS has been a 60 year mistake. ;-)
He's never around when the shit hits the fan. I can't work out if he hides or if his minders lock him away, knowing that his grinning fizzog all over the media would only make things worse.
One of the things that I find particularly worrying is that this is happening in a "normal" winter. We're not in the middle of a flu pandemic, we're not in the grip of a big freeze and don't have an abnormally high level of admissions from falls etc and the winter vomiting bug hasn't reduced large numbers of people to puking wretches.
If any (or even worse, all) those things had happened, the corridors would have run out of room and patients would be waiting out in the car parks.
One of the things that I find particularly worrying is that this is happening in a "normal" winter. We're not in the middle of a flu pandemic, we're not in the grip of a big freeze and don't have an abnormally high level of admissions from falls etc and the winter vomiting bug hasn't reduced large numbers of people to puking wretches.
If any (or even worse, all) those things had happened, the corridors would have run out of room and patients would be waiting out in the car parks.
My friend is a nurse and she's telling me that these reports are not exaggerating. She says A&E at her hospital is like the aftermath of a major disaster, every night at the moment. People are being turned away or spending their entire visit on a trolley in the corridor.
There is absolutely no excuse to vote Tory anymore. How can people be so blind to what's happening? Their policies are killing people!
What's happening to the NHS is the fault of the Tory government. The solution - protest and don't vote for them at the net election. Kick them out. It's simple.
Political pundits are seeing a cross party concensus developing that something needs doing.
It could only be beneficial if politics could be taken out of the discussion. It is the decisions of politicians of successive governments of all parties that have got us to this place.
As someone whose health is pretty rubbish this concerns me a great deal (not that only unhealthy people need worry about this). I have little confidence that I'll be in safe hands if I suffer a medical emergency.
I do like to hope that the positive legacy of the horror show that has been the last few years of government is that a strong "Tories Out" alliance will emerge. This could also be a wat to stop Scotland leaving if the SNP are involved. Time to put country above party pride and unite to get the Tories out.
Sad times and an indictment of how we have developed health / social care in recent times. It's why the loss of so many recuperative "cottage hospitals" has impacted on the acute services which cannot react with the agility needed.
I'm not sure that actual cottage hospitals are suited for modern times, but we should have some kind of more local facilities for people who aren't well enough to go home, but no longer need intensive hospital treatment. This may be suited for people who live alone, or older people who are technically well, but who need a bit of physiotherapy help to ensure they don't fall over again, or while waiting for their house to be cleared so it isn't an obstacle course.
In these days of increased centralisation of specialist care, which I don't disapprove of on clinical grounds, it would be an opportunity for those who don't need very specialist treatment to receive their care closer to their own home and families, which also eases the eventual return home..
I do wonder if that has been a factor. All of these people who were doing fine until a cold snap, and now they all turn up at once. That's not an excuse - this is the sort of thing that is predictable, and we should be able to cope with.
As someone whose health is pretty rubbish this concerns me a great deal (not that only unhealthy people need worry about this). I have little confidence that I'll be in safe hands if I suffer a medical emergency.
Unfortunately, a lot of people have this attitude towards the health service. In particular, many people are convinced that they've paid more in than they get out, so bristle at the thought of further investment, and convince themselves that the NHS just needs to be more efficient when ordering plasters. The inevitable reality is that most of us will get most treatment in the finals years and months of our lives, and by then it's a bit late to wish you'd voted for a government that promised more investment.
What's happening to the NHS is the fault of the Tory government. The solution - protest and don't vote for them at the net election. Kick them out. It's simple.
At a General Election, people usually vote for a political party because of their own political persuasion and in some cases,(though not many)because they like the manifesto that they offer. If you would like to see how the country feels about a single issue, like the NHS, then a referendum should be called. Then the government could act on the will of the people, whichever way they chose to vote and everyone would abide by it. A bit like the one last June, perhaps.
Comments
Nowt wrong with being independent! In fact it is positively encouraged.
The community matrons in my trust are in management roles. District nursing teams are certainly underfunded and we do see people recently discharged from hospital who do not have a care package in place because they have declined one.
No problem with that as anyone with full mental capacity is entitled to refuse any care or treatment even though they may need it. However, I must admit it can be frustrating because in some cases, although certainly not all...(some people manage perfectly well thank you, once at home), it results in extra resources being needed or someone being readmitted to hospital.
To an extent I agree with you, having gone through the full gambit of NHS, Private health and paying for treatment, I am shocked sometimes by attitudes that abound where people would rather suffer themselves or let their family suffer rather than put their hand in the pocket, The NHS has become a right the people believe they have above all else, ingrained to such an extent , it's become the equal of gun laws in the US. Well blame is the name of the game, unless we face facts, and yes the 350 million quid a week for the NHS was a particularly nasty lie
Most of the really ill patients are people in their late 80s and 90s. The management keep urging clinical teams to send as many patients home as possible in order to free up beds for the queues of patients waiting on trolleys in A&E. The problem is that the hospital is full of really sick, elderly people who can't be sent home. More people are coming into the hospital than are leaving it - and this has been on normal week days, not weekends.
Doctors and nurses are working incredibly hard, non stop, under tremendous pressure. We are sometimes short staffed and sometimes we just don't have the staff with the correct experience and skills who can deal with the type of patients they are receiving onto their wards.
It's winter and more people get sick this time of year. We have an ageing population and most of the patients requiring hospital care are very old and very sick. I am not so sure the current crisis in my trust is related to lack of social care because my trust puts a lot of effort into discharging people, either home with social and nursing support (including our hospital at home nursing team) or to intermediate care beds. Patients can't go home because they are clinically not ready to go home.
I believe the hospital closures of the past few years has greatly impacted on those remaining open. It was madness to close so many A&Es in an era when our population is increasing and ageing.
Sad times and an indictment of how we have developed health / social care in recent times. It's why the loss of so many recuperative "cottage hospitals" has impacted on the acute services which cannot react with the agility needed.
In a way, therefore, it is difficult to blame him or the Tories for what has happened. They openly set out a vision for healthcare in this country, and voters have let this happen. Anyone who voted for the conservatives has to take some of the blame for the dead patients on trolleys. Even my sister, an NHS doctor, who "did not realise" the Tories would do this and is now very upset (mainly about her pay cut). In a democratic society, everyone should understand exactly what they are voting for.
The Hunt or the Corbyn? JC has demanded that May attend parliament on Monday to explain to the house the reason for her governments utter incompetence, Just with the NHS part this time.
As for Hunt a search party probably needs to be organised unless he is at home co-authoring another paper on why the NHS has been a 60 year mistake.
;-)
That's oK, IT'S NOT LIKE hunt is in charge of the nation's healthcare. It's not really his responsibility to make sure we have healthcare which is better than that in Syria, is it?
I think it's possible that Hunt realises we are now close to 'mission accomplished' as far as his job is concerned, and that he is now 'keeping his head down' while the fan gets really dirty so that he can emerge from hiding when everyone is covered in you know what, and say "hey folks I really really tried, but as you have seen those commie nurses and doctors just keep getting in the way and keep trying to save lives and make people well, even though I have done all I can to make that as difficult as possible,
perhaps it really IS time to let my friends the profit mongers take over, at least this way the 'decent people' (those with money) will survive while those others... well, who cares?
I believe adequately funded intermediate care beds and intermediate care at home teams are the way forward not back to cottage hospitals which are incredibly expensive and difficult to staff.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/nhs-american-doctor-privitisation-i-have-a-message-a7207706.html?cmpid=facebook-post
This is what we could look forward too, only getting treatment if we can afford to pay.
An open letter from an A&E consultant,
this is the photo he mentions,
http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/1/590x/stokehospfe-581175.jpg
_ Rob @drrobgalloway (An A&E consultant -who still loves his job but is concerned for his future patients)
He's never around when the shit hits the fan. I can't work out if he hides or if his minders lock him away, knowing that his grinning fizzog all over the media would only make things worse.
If any (or even worse, all) those things had happened, the corridors would have run out of room and patients would be waiting out in the car parks.
And we have had a very mild winter up to now
There is absolutely no excuse to vote Tory anymore. How can people be so blind to what's happening? Their policies are killing people!
It could only be beneficial if politics could be taken out of the discussion. It is the decisions of politicians of successive governments of all parties that have got us to this place.
I'm not sure that actual cottage hospitals are suited for modern times, but we should have some kind of more local facilities for people who aren't well enough to go home, but no longer need intensive hospital treatment. This may be suited for people who live alone, or older people who are technically well, but who need a bit of physiotherapy help to ensure they don't fall over again, or while waiting for their house to be cleared so it isn't an obstacle course.
In these days of increased centralisation of specialist care, which I don't disapprove of on clinical grounds, it would be an opportunity for those who don't need very specialist treatment to receive their care closer to their own home and families, which also eases the eventual return home..
I do wonder if that has been a factor. All of these people who were doing fine until a cold snap, and now they all turn up at once. That's not an excuse - this is the sort of thing that is predictable, and we should be able to cope with.
Unfortunately, a lot of people have this attitude towards the health service. In particular, many people are convinced that they've paid more in than they get out, so bristle at the thought of further investment, and convince themselves that the NHS just needs to be more efficient when ordering plasters. The inevitable reality is that most of us will get most treatment in the finals years and months of our lives, and by then it's a bit late to wish you'd voted for a government that promised more investment.
At a General Election, people usually vote for a political party because of their own political persuasion and in some cases,(though not many)because they like the manifesto that they offer. If you would like to see how the country feels about a single issue, like the NHS, then a referendum should be called. Then the government could act on the will of the people, whichever way they chose to vote and everyone would abide by it. A bit like the one last June, perhaps.