firstly i know there are lots of folk who have had bad experiences with the NHS but last week proved to me why we should be proud of it.

An hour before we were due to head back to Scotland from my folks in S.wales, my little boy had an accident and cut through some tendons in his thumb. We raced to A+E at Morriston hospital in Swansea and after the obligatory wait we were taken to the pediatric ward (Dyfed). The staff there were fantastic and showed real concern for my boy. The consultant was approachable and talked us through the op he needed the next day. When we headed back to the hospital the following morningthe staff were again great and really helped to lower our anxieties and make my wee man feel comfortable. My wife was allowed to go into the operating theater as my 7yr old went for a local rather than general anesthetic . The op was over in 2hrs and all went well.

It made me proud to think that we have such a service in this country and i take my hat off to all folk out there who work in the NHS considering the pressures there are under. Well done all..

i take my hat off to all folk out there who work in the NHS considering the pressures there are under. Well done all..

This I agree with wholeheartedly.

You would hope we do get some decent care for £130bn pa

I am a big critic of the NHS but its not the fault of the front line staff.

Glad to hear he’s doing Ok. The NHS is wonderful to, not perfect but pretty damn good.

I have used all my NHS credit up in he last few years up.
perfect vfm. good people doing a good job.

My BIL is the CE of a hospital in the south and a better man you couldn’t want to meet; the strain of running the place has exhausted him and in four weeks he’s taking his well-deserved retirement. When you see people of his quality you realise how excellent most people are in the NHS.

Mum broke hip before Xmas: medical care including op excellent, front line staff mixed, coordination/communication/attention to post op needs awful/non-existent. Released far too early without correct care in place. We (me, brother and SIL) forced to take over home care for ST and immediately had to abandon NHS care (unreliable and insufficient) and fund alternatives. Lucky that we can do this, I fear for those who cant.

OOI re Brexit debate

Consultant, Carer, Nurses: Muslim (bar two nurses)
Physio: Eastern European
Doctor: Muslim

Thank goodness for immigration!

One puzzle for the layman – why does a nurse continue filling in paperwork while standing next to the bed, when two patients lying either side of her are screaming in pain and another is in clear need of the toilet. When did paper filling > care?

I am a big critic of the NHS but its not the fault of the front line staff.

sometimes it is

2 weeks ago I had 11 screws and a plate put in my ankle during a 5 hour operation and was in for 3 days and nights.

Had it not been for the quick thinking and expertise of the paramedics and surgical team there’s a fair chance I’d be down a foot right now.

Saints the whole flippin’ lot of them as far as I’m concerned.

Just sitting with my daughter now in an acute ward in Nottingham. I’d be sat alone without the great work of fantastic people this week.

That’s not to say that great work can’t be done as well in another model, as I know it can, or even whether none of this would have happened with quicker or better access to necessary therapy in the community. So yeah gawd bless our NHS and all who sail in her, and the people you meet are often straight up fantastic, but things can be patchy too, and when you fall through a gap in provision for whatever reason, the frustration is incredible and consequences severe. Having seen the incredible response and amazing treatment available to American relatives with cancer and a great insurance policy, you can see how far behind we can be, but then you look at another American relative who survived cancer for many years, and as a consequence their family will now be effectively bankrupt for a generation. Whoever you’re seeing the NHS with this week, give them a big hug.

patients lying either side of her are screaming in pain

Been there, done that.
The answer to the pain relief button (epidural pump) stopping working was: “Well don’t press the button”
Was around 6hrs of agony before a shift change brought in a nurse who cared.

I’ve certainly well and truly used up my NHS credits, but in many cases I can’t say it has been a good experience.

Our daughter arrived back in October at 3am on a Tuesday morning via emergency c-section. The place seemed very quiet until a midwife raised a concern, but from that point on people kept appearing out of the woodwork to work tirelessly until everyone was OK. Where did all these people come from? Where did they then go afterwards?

I keep thinking that when you go to the theatre all the people involved come back out at the end for a standing ovation; all the staff we saw that night deserve nothing less, but by the time we were done they were no doubt back at home in bed, or still on shift having done amazing work for loads of other people as well…

You’re all bloody amazing the lot of you.

It made me proud to think that we have such a service in this country and i take my hat off to all folk out there who work in the NHS considering the pressures there are under. Well done all..

+1

Short fund an organisation and gaps occur. Funding needs to be assured long term to make sure we home grow enough talent. As in all organisations – you get bad apples too…

One puzzle for the layman – why does a nurse continue filling in paperwork while standing next to the bed, when two patients lying either side of her are screaming in pain and another is in clear need of the toilet. When did paper filling > care?

Treatment and drugs have to recorded promptly to prevent patients receiving overdoses of drugs or radiation. The people screaming in pain may have just received these drugs and awaiting for them to kick in. Then there’s also those who scream constantly as they think it gets them more attention.

Part of my wife’s role is arranging prompt appointments for cancer, they’re usually within a week or less from diagnosis to treatment, I’ve seen her stay until well after 9 at night to make sure these people get an appointment or ring at 8am on her day off to get it sorted. Still I’m sure in America if you paid them they’d do the same care.

re the paperwork vs pain , people rarely die from pain , people who drop paper work uncompleted often fail to accurately complete it later or an event with the first patient may occur before the paperwork is perfected . Patients whose paperwork is incomplete or inaccurate may receive the wrong treatment with up to fatal results as a consequence.

The people screaming in pain may have just received these drugs and awaiting for them to kick in.

Fair point – albeit not relevant in the case I saw sadly.

I just knew this thread would already contain a healthy portion of bollocks from the usual pair of bell ends.

Please can we have an “ignore user” function, STW techies?

Who’s upset you? All I can see above is positive comments.

Great post, turneround!

This time 4 years ago I’d just been diagnosed with cancer, the treatment I recieved was excellent (and free) and I’m still here, I think the NHS is brilliant, but I may be slightly biased.

My Mum’s in hospital at the moment. The front line nursing staff are fantastic. The ward management (sister etc.) less so. And some of the processes are simply woeful. I know the NHS has a chequered history with non-clinical managers, but some modern effective management ideas wouldn’t go a miss.

patients lying either side of her are screaming in pain

Actually had a similiar conversation with my Nurse housemate today. They had a situation where a patient was given an incorrect dosage of a medication and almost didn’t make it because the practitioner was distracted whilst doing the necessary calculations on the paperwork.

The follow up incident report led to the ward being reorganised to include a separate quiet area for such paperwork to be sorted without distraction.

On the original OP point fully agreed.

I spent Christmas in hospital in Bristol, the staff were great, especially those who would cut through the bs to get the job done promptly. I know from previous experience that some people have a different view on pain relief than me though……

In 2010 I almost died from encephalitis. I spent a week in intensive care at Cheltenham hospital followed by a week in a general ward. I was away with the fairies for the first few days but remember getting great care afterwards.

The ICU staff in particular were amazing. The NHS may have issues but I am a big fan.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/06/three-deaths-worcestershire-royal-hospital-nhs-winter-crisis

Unfortunately this will surprise no one who’s been working frontline over the last few months.

Some front line staff will be hung out to dry over this and Jeremy will do his mock outraged and surprised face; introduce another layer of bureaucracy to fix the problem, all the while pulling the rug from under the NHS feet.

Glad I got out.

Wait until the Sustainability and Transformation plans come out. Not heard of them? Surprisingly the DOH aren’t shouting about them too loud.

*waves*

I’m a nurse just in from a shift. Worked today 7 am to 8pm. Same tomorrow. Nobody died today.

Yes we are only human and sometimes make mistakes, get tired and grumpy. We are under pressure like you wouldn’t believe. Sometimes it means you have to delay some tasks / set priorities in order simply to get thru the day or to do other more critical tasks. Sometimes if you don’t write something up you could make a mistake later on or one of your colleagues could make that mistake or a patients care could be compromised in other ways. I have been that man who made that mistake.

We are not selfless angels – they soon burn out and leave. We are just ordinary folk doing a job and one can only do this job if you get some pleasure out of it. The thanks from the families, the smile from the sour faced old biddy, even going home knowing the patient that died died a good death and you were a part of that can be very rewarding.

You know what made my Christmas? An old man I look after who has minimal conciousness after a major stroke. I gave him a wee taste of whisky on Christmas day. He laughed and smiled – something I have never seen him do before. Its moments like that that mean I can go on doing this job.

Nice touch TJ.

Plastics in Morriston is an extremely good service. I used to work there – and have anaesthetised on that list many times – you must have a brave 7 year old to tolerate much being done under local !

My experience of the NHS is that’s it’s brilliant.

It could be even better if we didn’t have warmongering scum as our govt who waste money on foreign wars to keep the Yanks happy, not to mention nuclear weapons.

OOI re Brexit debate

Consultant, Carer, Nurses: Muslim (bar two nurses)
Physio: Eastern European
Doctor: Muslim

Thank goodness for immigration!

Because the first thing we will do post Brexit is stop medical staff coming here to work! Incidentally muslim doesn’t equal immigrant you know.

I’ve had nothing but positive experiences with NHS staff as well.

My workplace is around 70% “scots” 15% EU immigrants and 15% non eu immigrants. the Non Eu immigrants are mainly in skilled jobs the EU immigrants in non skilled

I owe the NHS my leg, nuff said really.

Its allright – it was one of a cheap job lot we had lying around.

I feel sorry for the staff who must at times feel under siege from all angles.

Sadly I think these are the last days of the NHS

50% of GP places unfilled in the northeast- colleague had a GP from Hull visiting him today, said his practice is about to collapse he reckons that they will all be privatised in very soon

geoffj – Member

My Mum’s in hospital at the moment. The front line nursing staff are fantastic. The ward management (sister etc.) less so. And some of the processes are simply woeful. I know the NHS has a chequered history with non-clinical managers, but some modern effective management ideas wouldn’t go a miss.

I tend to agree but its not the ideas so much as the people. the nhs promotes good clinicians into middle managerial positions without training them and much NHS senior management is weak.

However and its a big however – more reorganisation is not needed. Get rid of some of the most idiotic bits and then leave it alone. Get better trained and more effective managers then let them get on with it – and of course spend significantly more money. We spend less than almost anyone comparable. Going to the EU average would mean a 20% increase in funding

I gave him a wee taste of whisky on Christmas day.

I hope you charged him and at double rates being a bank holiday. Just like America.

Charge nurse here:

People often have to wait for pain meds. I can’t give you more opiates and paracetamol just yet. You’ll have to wait unless you want a pickled liver and/or narcan.

And yes, those who shout loudest most definitely get the most. The ones who are quiet lying in bed are often forgotten.

Lots of pressure to complete paperwork. Lots. Over 60 in my trust? Automatically require a 6 page risk of falls pathway….

But yes we make mistakes, we arent perfect, but I don’t think we set out to become nurses to do a crap job and be neglectful, defeats the point doesn’t it?
When your escalated by 7 beds to 28 but woefully under your staffing establishment for 21 then things take a turn for the worse.
Nothing like going home knowing your best wasn’t good enough by your own standards.

Really disheartened by it all. Biggest regret was doing nursing as a career.

TJ thanks for sharing and the Christmas story. Olly, yes tough times. I guess my question would a nurse in France Germany or the US say the same ? Posted my thoughts before but NHS needs a re-think IMO, spending needs to go to £175bn+ (Not Labour’s 136 or Tory 144) how do we fund it ? My view it has to be via better integration of state and private insurance. Health service will always have non-UK staff and they can have a specific visa programme (my friend in NHS HR says currently many nurses are from Phillipines)

My 7 month old son was born with nhs ivf. He wouldnt have existed without the skilled folk at ninewells and the excellent midwife “just jill”. Cant praise the system enough.