Of course it gives me the right. It's a service that's funded by the tax payer. Like any other service if you're unhappy with the service and how you're being treated then I have a right to complain. Just like any other business I pay money to. Why do you think that because people are pressured that it's an excuse for patients to shut up and accept bad service?
For the record I have no issues with how I've been dealt with from doctors, nurses and specialists etc. WHEN I've got to see someone.
My gripe is with appointments and waiting times.
Please can you explain how I can be given a 9am appointment and be told I'm first on the list but they're running 2 hours behind? What's the point in giving people appointment times if it's always a 2 hour minimum wait to be seen? This isn't just occasionally but EVERY time. Surely it's bad time management or a cock up on someone else's behalf. One thing is for sure it isn't my fault and I don't even get an apology or an explanation.
Why is it if I'm running late or delayed in traffic and I have the courtesy to ring to let them know I'm gonna be 10 minutes late they get arsey or refuse to see me but it's OK to make me sit and wait hours for them when they are running late?
Why is it that often I never receive a notification of a cancelled or rescheduled appointment until about 3 days after said appointment by which time I've already turned up and wasted my time.
Why is it when I need to cancel or rearrange an appointment the number/address on the letter never seems to correspond to the department I need to speak to so I end up getting passed back to switchboard who don't seem to have a clue and end up transferring me to a dead or engaged mailbox or someone who says, 'Sorry not my problem you got the wrong department'.
A few months ago I was referred by ENT for a MRI scan on my sinuses. I was specifically told to ring the MRI department next week for my results. Rang up and got told, 'We don't have them' So who do I ring? Don't know, not us. Rang ENT but got told it wasn't them either. After much searching round and being passed from one person to another I found out that I had to contact the secretary of the person who referred me who wasn't even based at that hospital and it took several calls to find out what hospital they were based at. Eventually I got through to the specialist's secretary only to be told he was on leave until the following week so wouldn't have my results until he came back off leave and had time to analyse them. It was 2 months from having my scan to eventually getting a letter confirming my results. So much for 'next week'.
Is that acceptable service? Damn right I have a case to complain. Who's fault is it? I have no idea but it sure ain't my fault that's for sure.
Well you had your (free, about £600 private) MRI scan and if it was a life threatening result you would have had a phone call. What would you have done if told the results? would you have understood them? Yes there are delays in appointments, you turn up for you 10:00 and have wait, so why? perhaps the person before you had problems that needed extra time or are you that important that they should be booted out so you could be seen? You see, you simply have no idea of the real NHS world, get frustrated and moan.
I'd rather pay to visit the GP as between the 4 of us we visit rarely to never so a tenner here or there would be far better than £480 a year.
Until the time where you may have a problem that keeps you going back time and time again. Just because you don't use it now, don't mean you will not use it in the future. We are all getting older.
My Dad paid into the NHS for years, never needed it, apart from when he broke his ankle years ago. In his Mid 70's he had a hip replacement, Now he is in his 80's, his health is not great and we nearly lost him last year when he had pancreatitis, he also now have problems with his breathing. So all he have paid in over the years have helped to treat him, no doubt it have cost more than what he have paid in.
The NHS is not perfect, and yes I did have a bit of a barney in the hospital with a Doctor because of some things I was not happy about, but at the end of the day, I still got my Dad for a while longer.
Maybe you will be lucky and go into your old age and have very little wrong until you peg out, but then again maybe you won't.
Charge people who don't turn up for scheduled treatments and appointments. I remember having a small operation a few years ago and overhearing the surgeon saying that four out of the six patients hadn't turned up.
Our surgery is looking into that and so they should. If for some reason I was not able to get to a appointment I would let them know, not that I have ever missed one.
It is often said the NHS is top heavy with managers. Cant be sure of the exact figures but somewhere around 20 to 30 managers to each hospital patient have been quoted. If this is true and they are not really needed but never the less will remain in cosseted employment then its not surprising they are seeking to tax us further.
Well you had your (free, about £600 private) MRI scan and if it was a life threatening result you would have had a phone call. What would you have done if told the results? would you have understood them? Yes there are delays in appointments, you turn up for you 10:00 and have wait, so why? perhaps the person before you had problems that needed extra time or are you that important that they should be booted out so you could be seen? You see, you simply have no idea of the real NHS world, get frustrated and moan.
There you go again spouting the 'Its Free' nonsense. For heaven's sake it's NOT free at all. The tax payer has paid for it and the tax payer pays the wages of the person who does the scan and the tax payer pays the wages of the staff who tell me that my results will be ready next week.
Oh and as for my appointment. I was first on the list so tell me how can they be running behind when is 9am and I'm the first one to be seen. Probably because the consultant didn't get in to his surgery on time because he was too busy dealing with private patients. Yeah we all know that consultants split their hours between NHS and private hospitals and the private one's get priority. Still, according to you it's a free service so we should just all shut up and grateful for being treated like scum.
Tell me this? Why is your attitude one of, 'If you want better service then pay and go private'? Why should people who have the money to pay, be entitled to a better level of care and service than someone who doesn't?
There you go again spouting the 'Its Free' nonsense. For heaven's sake it's NOT free at all. The tax payer has paid for it and the tax payer pays the wages of the person who does the scan and the tax payer pays the wages of the staff who tell me that my results will be ready next week.
Oh and as for my appointment. I was first on the list so tell me how can they be running behind when is 9am and I'm the first one to be seen. Probably because the consultant didn't get in to his surgery on time because he was too busy dealing with private patients. Yeah we all know that consultants split their hours between NHS and private hospitals and the private one's get priority. Still, according to you it's a free service so we should just all shut up and grateful for being treated like scum.
Tell me this? Why is your attitude one of, 'If you want better service then pay and go private'? Why should people who have the money to pay, be entitled to a better level of care and service than someone who doesn't?
My attitude is to stay with the NHS, the wining moaners can go private, please understand that. Your 9 AM appointment was late for whatever reason, whats so bad about that and yes you do 'pay' into the system for your free care (if you have a job that is) but again, you have no idea how much the cost of care is these days do you, how much is a weeks stay on a standard ward, how much for a week in ITU? I've a good idea as I actually worked for the system and retired a ward manager, you will need to go and spend time on Google to find out.
If you feel you are treated like scum there is a very firm and strict complaints procedure in place within the NHS for you to use. Have a nice day
Comments
Well you had your (free, about £600 private) MRI scan and if it was a life threatening result you would have had a phone call. What would you have done if told the results? would you have understood them? Yes there are delays in appointments, you turn up for you 10:00 and have wait, so why? perhaps the person before you had problems that needed extra time or are you that important that they should be booted out so you could be seen? You see, you simply have no idea of the real NHS world, get frustrated and moan.
Until the time where you may have a problem that keeps you going back time and time again. Just because you don't use it now, don't mean you will not use it in the future. We are all getting older.
My Dad paid into the NHS for years, never needed it, apart from when he broke his ankle years ago. In his Mid 70's he had a hip replacement, Now he is in his 80's, his health is not great and we nearly lost him last year when he had pancreatitis, he also now have problems with his breathing. So all he have paid in over the years have helped to treat him, no doubt it have cost more than what he have paid in.
The NHS is not perfect, and yes I did have a bit of a barney in the hospital with a Doctor because of some things I was not happy about, but at the end of the day, I still got my Dad for a while longer.
Maybe you will be lucky and go into your old age and have very little wrong until you peg out, but then again maybe you won't.
Our surgery is looking into that and so they should. If for some reason I was not able to get to a appointment I would let them know, not that I have ever missed one.
There you go again spouting the 'Its Free' nonsense. For heaven's sake it's NOT free at all. The tax payer has paid for it and the tax payer pays the wages of the person who does the scan and the tax payer pays the wages of the staff who tell me that my results will be ready next week.
Oh and as for my appointment. I was first on the list so tell me how can they be running behind when is 9am and I'm the first one to be seen. Probably because the consultant didn't get in to his surgery on time because he was too busy dealing with private patients. Yeah we all know that consultants split their hours between NHS and private hospitals and the private one's get priority. Still, according to you it's a free service so we should just all shut up and grateful for being treated like scum.
Tell me this? Why is your attitude one of, 'If you want better service then pay and go private'? Why should people who have the money to pay, be entitled to a better level of care and service than someone who doesn't?
My attitude is to stay with the NHS, the wining moaners can go private, please understand that. Your 9 AM appointment was late for whatever reason, whats so bad about that and yes you do 'pay' into the system for your free care (if you have a job that is) but again, you have no idea how much the cost of care is these days do you, how much is a weeks stay on a standard ward, how much for a week in ITU? I've a good idea as I actually worked for the system and retired a ward manager, you will need to go and spend time on Google to find out.
If you feel you are treated like scum there is a very firm and strict complaints procedure in place within the NHS for you to use. Have a nice day