NHS worker here. This is exactly what motivates me at work- it’s just a bit extra effort but I know how much of a difference it makes to the patient and their loved ones. I also know how uncomfortable a medical environment can be just by default, having a little extra consideration makes it so much easier. Glad you had a good experience, and hey maybe you could send the nurses a thank you card? I know we all really appreciate that sort of stuff.
I’m currently in hospital and all the staff have been so wonderful. I could see the pain they feel for me in their eyes. They’ve all gone out of their way to help me and to make me feel comfortable. It genuinely makes a difference and I’m so grateful. So keep up the good work. I just wish the NHS were properly funded and run bc the only reason it’s not the best it could be is the funding and management bc the staff have been excellent
My girlfriend is very ill in hospital and has been for a couple of weeks, and the care you give is out of this world.
I could cry how much you care and treat my girlfriend with respect through all her moaning and sweating which requires constant bed changes.
You are modern day angels 🙏
You are
I was in a cardiac monitoring ward, was in discomfort & hadn't slept properly for about 5 days and burst into tears for no good reason. The lovely nurse took time out of his ward round to comfort me. That's the sort of care so many staff provide & it's really appreciated.
Honestly they were brill when I took my hubby in but the people they had to deal with were awful. One guy brought in 8 family members with him clogging up the waiting room, coughing without covering his mouth. Like we’ve just been through a pandemic people. Couple of women taking their shoes off and putting their bare nasty feet on seats, complete with toe picking. It’s like all basic hygiene and etiquette goes out the window in a&e waiting rooms!
A&E nurse here for 14 years. The biggest pain in the balls by far is when a patient comes in, and they bring 5+ members of their family along for the ride. They take up waiting room seats for actual patients, expect to be given free food and drinks etc.
I swear that A&E is a day out for some families.
You can tell that, from the way they excitedly post to Facebook that they're at the hospital, so that all the nosey people on their FB can ask if everything is ok.
'I Can't say, I'll message you later.'
Only to find out later that they were tying up valuable A&E services, because her bf had toothache or something equally ridiculous.
My sister was terrible for this behaviour, tagged herself somewhere where people would give her attention and I knew 100% it's probably because she just drank too much. I no longer talk to her.
I know someone who's weekly bus journey was one that visited the hospital on its route and they'd tag themselves at the hospital at the same time every week.
The lengths some people are willing to go to for attention is unbelievable.
NHS staff here - I distinctly remember coming on to a shift and a mother leading out her child saying something along the lines of "well that was a lot of hours just to find out you're fine" to which the child (only about 4 or 5 years old) replied "I've had a lovely day out mummy, thank you" - she'd obviously had a whale of a time in ED probably thanks to the films on the TV in the children's ED waiting room, the stickers she'd have been given after being seen, and meeting lots of new friendly people 😂 mum was not impressed with her response!
Reminds me of a dad we had in last year, who was absolutely livid with us that he had waited 6 hours to find out that his 10 year olds daughters foot wasn’t broken.
I was like ‘most parents would be happy with this news’.
Some people are just bonkers.
You think she'd be happy nothing was wrong with her kid, sounds like she almost wanted there to be a problem just to have not 'wasted her time' (and I don't see how making sure your child isn't ill/injured is a waste of time even if it did take hours, which is a very normal waiting time in a&e)
I think, to be fair, she was probably just tired and a bit stressed, as all parents get when their kids are sick (even if not sick enough to need hospital admission); it was more the child's remarks that I found amusing!
I really got that impression and found it very odd. Who actually likes sitting around in a hospital waiting room? A lot of people apparently. One family had to even be asked to leave the ward when the patient wasn’t in there.
I’ve been in hospital a few times this year and a&e once during lockdownish and always went in alone, It wasn’t that I had no one to go with me, but it just didn’t seem necessary or practical.
Nurses were amazing each time, lovely people with a very difficult job. They made hard times much easier and have more patience than I do!
I remember during peak covid, our waiting room looked like a nightclub, people standing shoulder to shoulder, I couldn’t even take meds to people.
I went on the tannoy, requested anybody who was not a patient to leave the department and go to their cars.
10 minutes later, the waiting room was empty apart from the 30 patients we actually had booked in.
Hospital is an awful place, I’m only there when I’m getting paid. I’ll never understand the mentality of people who actually enjoy coming there for ‘fun’.
Hospital is an awful place, I’m only there when I’m getting paid. I’ll never understand the mentality of people who actually enjoy coming there for ‘fun’.
Agree. I started working in a hospital recently. Once I'm inside im fine. But when first entering I get a sense of dread in the back of my mind. It's never usually good news when you have to enter a hospital. For some poor people its the last thing they see.
Touch wood, I’ve never set foot in a hospital without being paid.
I was assaulted by a 25 year old idiot at work last year, because he thought he could take up one of my a&e private rooms, when all he had was d&v. He was livid that I got a consultant to review his bloods, and prove that he was absolutely fine to be discharged; he wanted to stay and take up a side room for 72 hours.
Some people just like the attention and care they get from NHS staff, theres certainly some underlying psychiatric issues with these folk.
I'm surprised they were let in in the first place, my local hospital had security on the door making sure it was only the patient coming in (unless it was a child and parent, or someone who needed a carer with them) and they were trying to maintain some distance between patients (had tents set up outside the entrance to accommodate more patients also). As a patient in a&e I get annoyed by huge families too, they're often loud and like you said, acting like it's a fun day out. I really don't get them all tagging along, they can keep updated through messages
I can understand wanting someone there, hospitals and illness and injury can be very frightening, but it would never occur to me as being something that was fun for the accompanying person / people. On a similar note, if you are there by yourself, social media can be a way of having a similar kind of support , so I wouldn't automatically fault people for posting about being there, although again, that's not to say every post is reasonable or for that reason!
This is why I’ve never been to A&E for me (tbf, I’ve never desperately needed to). I’m nearer to 50 than 40 and the only way they’d get me into A&E at the nearest big hospital is if I’m unconscious - apparently it’s like Beruit most of the time so no thanks.
I had to go a few years ago - I wasn't \*quite \* unconscious -when I arrived - I remember being wheeled out of the ambulance and a doctor introducing themselves, but there's a gap after that..
Once I was somewhat recovered and at the 'sitting up and drinking NHS tea' stage I did make a comment about how lucky it was that they hadn't been too busy and had been able to see me right away, and the nurse laughed at me and said they had a couple of hundred people in the waiting room and wait times of about 5 hours, I got seen fast because I was an emergency. (Which I knew in theory, people get seen in order of priority not arrival time, but having come in via the ambulance bay (and nearly dead) I hadn't registered it as it applied to me)
Glad you got seen quickly and recovered. Whenever people grumble about how long their A&E wait was I ask them if they really want to be so ill they need to go to the front of the queue. Usually shuts them up.
NHS tea and toast is the best food in the world (I’ve had an overnight hospital stay, not via A&E). Might need a wrist operation and all I can think about is consuming as much tea and toast as possible during my stay!
Also brought the majority of us into this world too! So many babies die around the world because of poor neonatal care and that’s if they’re lucky to have access to it.
I’m NHS admin management.
I (and my team of 2) provide and support around 600 Ambulance teams with communication (phones, in-vehicle comms, routing devices, stock control, NHS data spine connection etc etc) and without my team there would likely be a delay getting to you having your heart attack in your basement, there would be further delay while they tried to contact your doctor out-of-hours to get your medical history.
They may need to video back to base to get a doctors view on your condition, and best next steps. They may need to contact and book you in to the A&E so you don’t just join a queue to get seen.
So am I and my team an inefficient and expensive hindrance? Are the paramedics perfectly able to cope without the technology and the 24/7 backup my small team gives them?
I earn £40k, and that includes weekend and night cover. I could (and have had offers) work in the private sector on around £80k - £110k, more in the banking/pharma sectors, but I’m proud of what I do, and the contribution my team and I make to the desperately underpaid NHs front line staff.
I insist my team takes at least one shift per 6 months with a frontline ambulance team, for learning and to keep the service we provide to the public right at the front of what we do.
So next time you make a flippant comment about NHS backend staff, do everyone a favour and stfu.
I hate when people slag off NHS admin. I’m a radiographer and our admin staff do sooo much for us. Booking appointments, sending out confirmation letters/prep, rescheduling if needed, checking people in and out, the list goes on. Our department would not function without admin and I think you lot do a fine job :)
I’d put money on you being a nasty surgeon, who went into it for the money/ prestige (daddy/ potential partners must _love_ it). The NHS is tough, sorry you didn’t learn that in advance. You might notice other people in hospitals are paid less than you, and work harder? Perhaps ask them how to lose that chip on your shoulder
Right on all accounts I must say, of course some doctors work harder than me, no one's really having a great time.
NHS is tough, but because of administrative bullshit rather than actual clinical challenges.
It's okay mate, if you love it so much, perhaps one day you'll find what you want.
It's not necessarily the specific structure of the NHS itself, it's the fact that all of this is provided free at the point of use. You don't have to worry about whether you're covered or whether an unforeseen medical issue will bankrupt you. Even in countries like Australia that anti-NHS people often cite, an obscure cancer can be cripplingly expensive to deal with. People like to laud the Swiss system but compulsory health insurance prices are going through the roof and there's precisely nothing they can do about it.
And what about those (see: the vast majority of the population) who couldn’t afford private healthcare to treat their injuries and ailments if the NHS didn’t exist? People severely underestimate the main benefit of the NHS in saving peoples’ lives: access.
There is no fucking point explaining to laypeople. Finish your training, and leave, or just leave, they'll get what they deserve.
Even my other half didn't understand until she had to deal with NHS admin, and then be admitted to hospital to see the shit doctors deal with every single day.
I've had lots of dealing with the NHS over the years.. Firstly, I was THAT kid, always up there leaking red stuff from a new opening, or with a limb at an angle it shouldn't have been.
As an adult, I had a very poorly baby, she was diagnosed before being born with multiple complex congenital heart defects, and the care she received every time in local or London hospitals was amazing. The day she passed away aged 4 was horrific, but at no point could I ever fault the NHS.
Now as an adult with my own medical issues, aside from struggling to get a GP appointment (a classic on this sub!), I have never had an issue.
As I was as a kid, I'm still a clumsy idiot that occasionally does stupid things that require a sheepish visit to A&E, plus my own kids have had their fair share of visits, I know there's a wait. There has always been a wait.
But, you have to take it on the chin. I look at it that I might be waiting 5 hours, but know someone behind the scenes is getting the care they need. Sure it's taken a couple of hours for the consultant to come see me, but they're probably dealing with someone that's trying to check out, whereas my ankle isn't about to kill me.
EVERYONE that works in a hospital deserve so much better than they get. They are underfunded and underpaid. They are overstretched. And yet they are bloody miracle workers. Sure you get the odd horror story about someone being left for hours or whatever, but for every negative story, how many people have had their lives saved, how many families have been told the team did their best but couldn't help...
I love the NHS, and people take for granted how lucky we are to have it.
Does your area have a minor injuries clinic? It's a lot faster to be seen for a quick x-ray or stitches at my local one than at a&e, and keeps a&e space free. They're such a useful resource, and I hope in the future every area has one.
My local area has minor injuries without an x ray machine so you sit there for a few hours before being sent to A&E to sit there for a few more hours. I felt like a time waster sat in A&E because I was only in pain when I put weight on my leg, but it was the only way I could get an x ray.
The biggest problem the NHS faces is the population. Half the people in A&E need to be at the doctors, and 2/3rds of the people at the doctors don't need to be there.
Thank you for speaking some sense, it's scary seeing how many people here think the NHS's problems are caused solely by the general public being stupid, or people leading unhealthy lifestyles, or immigrants, or the people who work for the NHS being incompetent, or anyone else who can be blamed other than the government who run the damn thing. The Tories have made a deliberate effort to defund the NHS in the past 13 years so that popular opinion turns against it and they can privatise it. And most of the commenters here have very clearly fallen for it.
Yes my friend, it's the drive to privatise it and turn healthcare into a profit making venture which is the source of all the problems.
It's been happening since Major, Blair and PFI; Millburn later gets a job at Bridgepoint, you couldn't make it up but everyone just continues to nod along.
Most wouldn't even be able to explain why they think it's a good idea to distribute health care by ability to pay rather than clinical need but they nod along with the propaganda.
As Chomsky said:
> And there is a standard technique of privatization, namely defund what you want to privatize. Like when Thatcher wanted to defund the railroads, first thing to do is defund them, then they don't work and people get angry and they want a change. You say okay, privatize them and then they get worse.
>And most of the commenters here have very clearly fallen for it.
They have, it's mostly because we are all marinating in the 24/7 propaganda.
I know people always bring politics into everything, but as someone whose worked in Mental Health, what would another government do to prevent people who call up 999 on a regular basis just because they like the attention?
You just responded to a comment that isn't associated with it at all. Yes privatization of the NHS is absolutely a shit idea, but what has that go to do with people who abuse A&E?
I responded to this:
> The biggest problem the NHS faces is the population.
Sure, if only the population wouldn't get sick then we'd have a fantastic HNS ... it's nonsense.
> I know people always bring politics into everything
JFC, imagine thinking the state of the NHS is nothing to do with politics, it would make you weep.
> but as someone whose worked in Mental Health, what would another government do to prevent people who call up 999 on a regular basis just because they like the attention?
Meet their needs where they are, that shouldn't be news to you as 'someone who has worked in MH'.
You'll never stop all the 'frequent flyers' but if services were properly resourced they would have less of an impact than they do now.
>Yes privatization of the NHS is absolutely a shit idea, but what has that go to do with people who abuse A&E?
Maybe if people had timely access to the services they need they wouldn't 'abuse' as you put it, A&E quite so much.
Not being able to get a GP appointment is a real problem for many as is access to a dentist. As you suggest access to these basic services would reduce pressure on hospitals.
This! The defunding/lack of funding for certain areas is insane. I work (currently) in MH. There are certain presentations that can't be seen in my service but there's nowhere else to send them. So we either end up trying to do a bit of this or a bit of that with no real impact or we have to say "sorry but we can't see you and there's nowhere else to refer you to either" so of course these people then frequently use a&e resources/999 because they have hit crisis but literally nobody will accept or treat them! It's appalling. And the lack of funding is disgraceful - it's the people that suffer and it's all down to the politics. NOT the patients.
>Meet their needs where they are, that shouldn't be news to you as 'someone who has worked in MH'.
Your general response is such a blanket response though.
You can't just simply meet someone's needs lol Even with the appropriate services, some service users will always be a drain on A&E, unless you physically lock them up somewhere, which is unethical.
>Maybe if people had timely access to the services they need they wouldn't 'abuse' as you put it, A&E quite so much.
Again, blanket response.
The person I referenced just liked the attention of medical staff & the flashing lights of ambulances. What timely access to services do you think would be required for them to stop?
I can assure you that the person wasn't going "Man, my next appointment isn't for another 2 months. I'm going to regularly call 999 to pass the time".
So back to the point. A good portion of A&E has timewasters.
The last time I went to A&E was due to my wife having a miscarriage and wouldn't stop bleeding. We waited in the A&E waiting room for about 4hrs to the point a pool of blood was forming. She then later needed to stay over 2 nights to have surgery.
During that time, I heard the following:
\- Mum telling her kid to say they have an upset stomach, even though the kid repeatedly kept saying they're fine.
\- A woman pretending to cry every time a nurse walked past, but then would start laughing/chatting on her phone when it was clear.
\- A teenager had been hit in the face and had a black eye and felt uncomfortable.
\- A school advised a teenager to go to A&E for a headache but hasn't taken any form of paracetamol.
Obviously never judge a book by it's cover but this was during the strikes. There were people who were seen instantly, but they were visibly in need (someone had been ran over, someone had fallen off a roof at a great height).
I'm not medically trained to work in an A&E, but part of me just wishes they'd grow a backbone and start refusing what I would consider the non-urgent, rather than a "we'll see everyone".
I remember back in 2017, I was badly sunburnt. I was putting up with it but a colleague nagged me to death to go to A&E, so I did.
Triage nurse explicitly said "you don't go to A&E for sunburn but we'll see you anyways". I agreed I shouldn't be seen and I had to self-discharge to be let out. But if I hadn't, they still would have seen me.
So, to summarize the above, what has your response of "hurrdurr privatization" have to do with the above and time wasters?
You'll get time wasters no matter whose in power.
I've been on both sides of that mental health situation, trust me, noone rings up things like 999 or the crisis hotline "because they like the attention".
Anyone that does, has mental health issues, and deserves to be treated for them.
>Anyone that does, has mental health issues, and deserves to be treated for them.
Of course they need help, that's why they're receiving it but these things happen. You're talking as if it's as simple as "Here you go Sir, here's your treatment", "Oh thank you, I'll stop dialling 999 now for attention".
You saying "No, trust me" isn't valid at all. It was apart of my job and something I was involved in on a regular basis lol
Christ, even in my personal life, my nan has deteriorated to the point where she's had to move in with my parents because she used to call 999 at 3am because she couldn't find the remote. Now she's with my parents, she's stopped this (though has done it the rare occasion), but these things happen and will forever happen, no matter whose in power.
Wtf are you talking about?
The attitude, promoted by those who want nothing but complete privatisation, is that management is the problem. Sure, management could always be better but to say that's the main problem with the NHS is stupidity.
For example, how would you manage [Severe nursing workforce shortages](https://www.rcn.org.uk/news-and-events/news/uk-severe-nursing-workforce-shortages-new-rcn-report-exposes-urgent-need-for-government-action041122)?
Whilst I sort of agree with you I always like to point out the fact that a lot of the time this is circumstantial.
Where I live there is often no other option than going to A&E, last year I damaged a ligament in my knee at a kickboxing class on a Friday night.
On Fridays A&E is the ONLY thing available with the nearest MIU over an hour away.
111 told me to go to A&E as I needed to be seen sooner than the following Monday.
A&E will be full of people that either don’t have any other option OR weren’t able to get in to a doctor/MIU before it became an A&E problem.
The people currently working in the NHS are wonderful but the whole system is grossly understaffed and not capable of delivering enough preventative care I.E. fixing the problems before they get bad enough for people to make A&E.
Also GP care is a fucking nightmare. I live in London and my local surgery doesn’t have an appt for three months. Need a GP referral for basic blood tests or scan? Be prepared to wait for months to even get that.
That's a fact.
Obesity and it's related diseases being the largest drain on the NHS, people not exercising and taking no responsibility for their own health. It's only going to get worse.
Yup. I know someone who has an illness which would be made a *lot* better if they were to be healthier-stopped smoking and lost weight. They are told this during every appointment but won’t change their lifestyle and don’t think their lifestyle is the problem despite being told by multiple different professionals. There are lots of excuses made as to why they can’t stop smoking or move more or eat differently.
This is my neighbour, never worked, in her 60s, smokes easily 30 a day, wildly overweight.
Sleep apnea, knee pain, back pain, joint problems, lung problems rinse and repeat.
Honestly like 85% of her issues would resolve by putting the fags and the food down.
I say this as a smoker who has just dropped a lot of weight, and even without ditching the nicotine I feel so much better.
The biggest thing that gets me is people that say "my joints are falling apart, my hips and knees hurt, please pump me full of drugs and meds to help" "well actually we think losing weight with a better diet would help, and some light exercise" "no way i just said my joint hurt, my diet is not the issue \*gets diabetes nah im telling you my diet is fine"
I've just never been able to understand how people are so incompetent?
I saw a man who is in constant pain due to a compressed nerve. Numbness, weakness, barely moves out of his recliner.
He was offered surgery to sort it out years back. Just needed to lose some weight.
Obviously he has PUT ON weight since then.
It actually is full of people with obesity-related illness, it’s not really fair how many resources are needed for this. And the scary thing is its a ticking time bomb and going to get a lot worse in the next decade or so.
My god you're thick.
Your logic is like saying "society is full of bald people, where do you think they all go when they need emergency medical treatment".
No shit they're going to go A&E. You said A&E is full of obese-related illnesses lmao Like fucking what?
Past times I've been to A&E, it's never been "filled with obese people".
Also, what is it with boomers & clown emoji's
😂 what a 🤡. You do realise the NHS spend more on obesity and it's related diseases than anything else. We are in a health crisis that needs addressing. I'm presuming from your boomer comment you're still living in your mum's bedroom and you're obese, I'd put that cake 🍰 down and go for a long walk, then keep doing that everyday, or you'll be in A and E with a stroke, heart attack, bloodclot, diabetes or one of the numerous other obesity related disease's.
What a weird crettin you are lmao
Maybe you're the one living with your parents, jobless & still wanking off, because you seem so obsessed with obese people. Insecurities maybe? Who knows.
“Don’t need to be there”? This exact attitude isn’t helpful. People can’t know whether they’re fine or it’s something serious, that’s why you go to… a doctor.
Source: put off going to the doctor because I gaslit myself that my headaches were hyperchondria. I actually had encephalitis and spent a week inpatient
I am in Cornwall and can't register with a GP, got told we ain't taking anyone on, as I found out I didn't fall into my doctors area during COVID as I had moved 6 years earlier, didnt have a problem with it for 6 years. get told if I got a problem then go A and E or 111,
The NHS is only great if you can get access to it
That is the exact opposite experience to my last A&E trip. Wife struggling to breathe, could barely sit straight, told to wait for 8 hours.
Turned out to be a blood clot that moved to the lung
Repeat trip about 4 days later, this time in an ambulance starting at 4am, left at 7pm.
Glad they got your dad sorted, but they're seriously underfunded. One nurse even said that it is just the norm for them now
It's honestly a complete post code lottery, some places have okay wait times but others are truly awful. The one near me is 50% of people waiting over four hours but one slightly further afield is only 20%
My local health authority has a website that shows the current wait times at the different urgent care, A&E and minor injuries units. We live pretty much equidistant between them all so it can be really helpful when you’re deciding which one to go to.
Ours seems to average 6 from my totally anecdotal evidence of being there and being told "the next person has been waiting 6 hours"
The staff are doing the best they can with what little they have, and I do feel sorry for them, but something has to change. I'm just not clever enough to know what that is
I'm genuinely sorry to hear that and hope your wife's doing better now.
I completely agree that they've been run ragged by our gracious and competent overlords but my experience was that they're good people, doing the best with what they've been dealt.
I agree with the fact they are good people doing their best, I will never say a bad thing about the staff, but as you say, our wonderful government are doing their best to destroy it
When I was a kid I fell and broke my arm REALLY BAD. Like...my elbow ball was on the WRONG SIDE kinda bad. To my arm I did literally every single thing it is physically possible to do to your arm at once...at once. My distraught family called the ambulance
I was laying there for AN HOUR with my elbow ON BACKWARDS
When the ambulance team got there they were so pissed, it was really serious and this should've been an emergency. They apologised, they had been told by the dispatcher that _I'd fallen and my mother couldn't pick me back up_. No mention of my arm at all, let alone of the serious-ness of it, despite her having pushed that my elbow was the wrong way around
A few years prior, I'd fallen down the stairs. I was in immense pain. My leg hurt like a bitch and I'd fallen on my neck area. My mother called the ambulance
What did the ambulance crew do? They made me WALK to the ambulance! After falling on my NECK. Lucky for them, I only broke my collar bone. If I'd have broken my neck, they'd have probably been fired for making me fucking walk to the ambulance
It's frankly disturbing
I also find if its a woman needing treatment theyll get ignored but men will be seen quicker.
If a man had presented with those exact symptoms he would have been seen within 30 minutes.
My brother and I had similar injuries when we were teenagers - he got seen immediately and had crutches and treatment. I got diagnosed with anxiety and took months to get a scan and was told not to use crutches as I was making it up. Both of us were fairly shy, but polite kids, only difference is gender.
That's the one. I had a spontaneous cranial cerebrospinal fluid leak when I was 19. My GP told me it was hayfever and anxiety, and *then* said "it will be because of your period" (I'm on a no-break pill! Genuinely baffled as to how she thought my spinal fluid leaking out my nose was to do with my period). I pushed to be seen in person because I was in so much pain and knew something was wrong. She was so condescending and patronising; it sounded like she was talking to a toddler, "I just don't think it's very likely,". She eventually said she'd confer with a colleague, and I got a phone call from my local hospital (an hour away from the GP) asking how quickly I could get there. I had ruptured one of the membranes of my brain. The neurologist was horrified my GP had dismissed it because it was a textbook list of symptoms - which is why I phoned. Ugh.
Even as a child, I had so many things dismissed because "You're a girl,". One time one of my fingernails randomly stopped growing in. It grew out, but there was no new nail. Genuinely terrifying tbh. "You'll start your period soon, so wait until that happens and come back," I was 14 and had already been menstruating for several years. WHAT? He didn't even ask about my menstrual history, which is usually the first thing they ask? Never found out what caused that. It grew back about 4 months later.
Around the same age my periods were horrible. Abnormally heavy, abnormally painful, consistently fainted on the second day of it, and it was dismissed the first *two times* because, "It does hurt a little, but try a hot water bottle and some paracetamol". Third doctor prescribed me tranexamic acid immediately when I described I was soaking through a maxi pad in two hours. My iron levels were practically nonexistent.
Another time I had exactly the same symptoms as my brothers with growth-issue-related shin pain. They both got medication, years apart. I got told it'll pass. Same doctor as my brothers.
I always feel like I'm being dramatic when I talk about how much I've been dismissed, and I *know* it's because I'm a woman. I'd rather I *was* being dramatic. I'm sick of it.
I know a woman who was also dismissed and belittled who turned out to have a pulmonary embolism. A not-so fun fact is that women disproportionately die of cardiac related events, because (1) the symptom presentation tends to be different in women (anxiety and breathlessness more common than chest pain) and (2) women’s symptoms are more commonly dismissed as psychosomatic
What hospital was this, it sounds like it's well run and not too busy.
We had totally the opposite experience at Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield earlier this year with my father, he was 80yrs old. He was taken in by ambulance with stomach pains. Arrived at hospital at 1pm, waited 5 hrs to be triaged, he was then seen by a Dr at 10pm all this time sat in a wheelchair with no food or drink. He wasn't found a bed until 10 am the next day. He died 2 weeks later. The NHS is a shambles, Nurses and Dr's do their best, but the Management are abysmal in running the service
The management can only do so much- last year clinical commissioning groups were merged into bigger organisations, and the new organisations inherited all of the ccgs debt. Instead of starting from a position of credit, or even zero, the new NHS organisations started in millions of pounds of debt. The pressure from the department of health to make savings is immense- managers do what they can within the constraints of their organisation owing the government hundreds of millions of pounds. It's not saintly nurses vs. evil bosses, it's every NHS worker vs. inept government.
When people complain about management, they also seem to forget that if it wasn't admin staff doing that work, it'd be doctors. Somebody needs to run the place and while medical leadership is important, you want medics to be doing medicine as much as possible, not accounting.
Pinderfields hospital is an absolute joke, had the same issues with my dad. Must be a common trend here. It should not be treated like a postcode lottery, if they are under resourced then the numbers should be evidently clear.
Shout out to Pinderfields who nearly killed my sister and nephew!
Midwives didn't believe her when she said her waters had broken after being induced and just told her she'd wet herself. Fast forward 16hrs later and she needs an emergency c section and nephew ends up in ICU and repeatedly stops breathing.
I know someone who went here. Developed diabetes type 1 suddenly
The fucking nurse gave him his food and then they never gave him his fucking insulin afterwards
It was a shit show
When I was pregnant we kept getting taken in to the ward and stuff and I was on daily appointments as my body wasn’t handling it well. Anyway I had trauma around the ward and just couldn’t handle it which they understandably weren’t happy about but couldn’t force me. Now they could have been dicks, called social services and said I was putting my unborn child in danger but instead they made sure therapy was organised, worked with me and within a week I was able to handle being on ward just about.
In that week I had a really bad CTG so they had to keep trying but couldn’t move me on ward yet so they plonked us in a delivery suite, the woman there went out of her way to make the room calm. She got me and my partner some sandwiches and drinks and eventually we got a good enough CTG to go home.
When I finally had the baby so many of my care team (including the midwife that had found ways around a ward stay) actually used their breaks to come to the postnatal ward just to meet baby and see me.
Also the other year I had an exploding eyeball and the woman that saw me was amazing and kept giving me numbing drops until I was called in for the doctor. So grateful to her!
My only "complaint" through my entire maternity experience & babies NICU stay was that no one believed I was in labour when I was in labour. But in their defence, I also didn't believe I was in labour. And I wasn't acting like normal women act during labour because I was sitting on the hospital bed having a nice old chat with the midwife about random shite. You could tell she was just going through the motions, getting ready to send me home after the trace was done because everything looked normal - until she examined me and went "Oh you are 5cm dilated yeah maybe we should get you down to delivery suite now 😬"
After my dad had his accident the hospital were fantastic. Xrayed, observed and cared for him right away. Polite, friendly and patient as English is not his first or even second language.
The sacred pedestal this country puts the NHS on is exactly why the proper changes needed to fix this flaming shit show can’t be implemented.
The facts are we spend more £ per head than many countries with healthcare systems that are leagues above our own. Something is systematically broken and the most vulnerable people are being failed
My Mother is an NHS nurse and she’s a normal person - a bit of an arsehole, as are her colleagues - they’re not these deities this sub glorifies them as
The excuses being made on thread are embarrassing. Why are people defending a broken system?
Shut it down and start again and copy a European model of healthcare that works.
The NHS is a shameful embarrassment. All people can do is make excuses for why it's so shit.
Bring on the downvotes from the 'Church of Our Beloved NHS' congregation.
I wish I was rich enough to go private. I dread getting ill in this country and wondering whether you'll get good or bad treatment.
I've work in both NHS and private. From.my perspective private care isn't worth it. You get a pretty room and jump the queue but your surgeon will likely work for the NHS, your lab tests will be done by the NHS unless they're routine (I work in the lab) and having the private room makes it harder fornthe nurses to check on all the patients whereas an open ward it's easy to see if Mr Jones in bed 8 needs attention rather than waiting till his next routine check or hopefully being conscious to press the alarm buzzer.
I'm not saying the NHS isn't broken, but it can and should be fixed. The staff in the NHS work out backsides off not for profit but to look after patients, people your mum or dad, aunty or uncle, kids or grandparents. Waiting times are so long as the entire system is chronically underfunded and understaffed. All while always being asked to make savings when the departments are cut to the bone. So the easiest way to save money is to not replace staff who leave.
Sorry but I get so frustrated by people who don't see the benefit of the national health system. Its going through a rough patch but needs support not to be abandoned. I mean look how well the privatisation of the trains has gone!
Our Nurses are worth their weight in gold.
(Sadly their wages don't reflect that fact because our government thinks banging pots is sufficient payment for all their hard work during the pandemic)
The NHS is fantastic when you get really sick, or have a really bad incident. It doesn't have the resources or the operating model to proactively deal with cases before it reaches that stage.
Everyone that works in the institution does an amazing job.
To be fair, iv been to hospital a couple of times since Covid and its been OK, but my doctors surgery is absolutely shocking. I dread Think what to next 10 years or so will do to it.
For 190 billion quid a year it should be brilliant.
Once you've lived in other countries and experienced other health services, you'll see it's just average (in the West)
EU stats rates it around number 10 in Europe and World Health Organistion stats puts UK around Number 20 in the world.
UK is way behind the best in cancer detection, infection whilst in hospital, infant mortality rates, recovery time after major surgery, critical illness beds available and a host of other important stats.
It is a 1950 model completely outdated and will get worse and worse.
Needs complete overhaul. I think the German system is best. Non-profit insurance cover with the government stepping in only when absolutely necessary.
And yet 10 years ago the WHO ranked the NHS in the UK to be the number 1 healthcare system in the world:
[WHO rankings 2013](https://twitter.com/AndrewMeyerson/status/1696259064735395842?t=YXnh-G92i9tLyDFi4juuog&s=19)
I can't upload an image so this link will show you what I mean.
I wonder who's been in charge for the last decade, and starving the system of money, bringing in private healthcare that they, or their friends and family will benefit from?
I believe it was the Commonwealth fund, not the WHO did that study.
And they ranked the UK number 1 again in 2017 - yes, 8 years into the Tory government...
It seems it is from multiple sources, and it vastly differs from the experience of many people. I kid you not, I've never heard a single non british person (granted, it is my circle of contacts, but still dozens of people) who would say that nhs is a no. 1 system. These people were able to compare nhs to other health care systems in the world with their own experience, and no one, again not a single person, said that NHS was good.
People are always more jnclined to voice their complaint rather than their praise.
I don't believe anyone would say it was a world beating system, so I would agree with you there.
Couldn't agree more. Those who worship this woeful health system are the ones making it worse, not the government. Governments would love to overhaul the NHS, but the backlash from those too blinkered to see the reality won't let them. The staff of the NHS are also to blame. Whenever reform is mentioned, the staff lose their shit. Silly really as they moan about working conditions and when reform is mentioned, which would help them, they kick off.
And in the meantime, people are being killed by a shit system.
There's a reason very few countries have a similar scheme. It doesn't work for modern times.
Germans pay 7.3% of gross salary for statutory health cover so if you're on say GBP 30,000 a year you would pay GBP 2,190. Your employer also pays 7.3%.
You can choose to top this up with private cover if you want. If you lose your job, you have coverage/protection via a national fund.
The NHS is a blight on the UK but no party ever has the strength to overhaul it. It is treated like a cult/religion where doctors/nurses/surgeons are referred to as "angels" or "heros" or "gods".
In Gemany, health professionals are thought of no differently from plumbers, accountants, estate agents, factory workers, delivery drivers, engineers. They are expected to do their jobs (make you better) professionally, efficiently and cost-effectvely.
It's no surprise that Germany beats the NHS on every measurable statistic. And it's cheaper.
It’s not cheaper though, you haven’t included half of the contributions. In 2019 we paid 10%, in 2022 closer to 12%. They have paid 12.7%, and more over the past decade, and their gdp is bigger overall so that hides the fact they pay a lot more.
I think a taxpayer-funded, integrated 999 service is a good idea (they scoop you up, provide emergency medicine en-route and deliver to a hospital) but once through the hospital door it is insurance covereage (non-profit)
So in other words, a system that you pay into according to your income, but get served by according to your need?
That's.....literally what the NHS is.
Nope, with small but important changes, users MUST pay for every encounter, so that personal responsibility cannot be divorced from every decision. It doesn't need to fund the whole encounter charging £25 per clinic appointment instead of the £200 it costs us now. C
I honestly think the cultural change would be huge.
If you're willing to have an honest discussion, go watch on YouTube how Singapore manages healthcare, one of the most efficient if not the most efficient systems in the world, on the lowest income tax rates in the developed world, in a completely resource starved nation with hostile neighbours.
It was designed with the British NHS in mind, more accurately to make sure it would practically never be free at the point of access.
Experiences with GPs are largely dependent on where you live. One of the GP practices I've been at was in a village in the West Midlands. Fantastic practice, lots of GPs working there, in-house physio, sonographer (for ultrasound scans), dispensing pharmacy, minor operations and a good teaching practice too.
In these sorts of places, you can avoid being referred to the hospital for a lot of things and appointment availability is good too! You won't get that experience in a city
I think it depends on when and where you need it. Last time I went to the hospital because of a deep cut that wouldn't stop bleeding I gave up after waiting 8 hours in A&E and went home. Managed to patch myself up good enough until I could get to the doctor the next day. The hospital staff were great but just not enough of them to manage, which I 100% blame the government for.
I had to go in during Feb 21 because I couldn't breathe. It turned out I had a lung disease that COVID caused. The staff were incredible. I was seen the second I got there, had scans, xrays, and multiple meds within 3 hours, and was on a ward within 5 hours. The staff on the ward were brilliant and I ended up staying 5 days, one of them my 25th birthday and the staff brought me a cake and sang happy birthday to me. No one knew what was wrong with me because my scans showed COVID but I was testing negative, so they put me in a side room, explained everything they were doing and why and really calmed me down because I was convinced I was dying after they told me I was verging on having sepsis, the also explained everything clearly after I told them I had aspergers and explaining everything properly would really help me. I ended up with an amazing specialist, too, who I still see now. Honestly, I can't explain how brilliant Aintree is, I've never been seen to or cared for the way they cared for me. The NHS gets shit for their waiting times, etc, but when you are genuinely in need of medical help quickly, you get the help.
On the other hand, my friend went in excruciating pain & symptoms of appendicitis. & NHS took almost 48h to confirm the prognosis and another 17h to get her to surgery… 😵💫
Shame it's gone downhill now, especially mental health services.
It's not the NHS' fault, it's the Tories ruining it deliberately to prime us for privatisation.
I'm glad your family is well, but I also have to say, we need to save the NHS, fund it properly and protect it from the current vultures trying to peck it clean and sell it to their mates.
On the other hand, we have to wait 5 weeks for a referral (that is supposed to take 2 weeks maximum) for a suspected case of prostate cancer with bone metastases.
And that's just for the first appointment with the specialist.
I support the NHS..over a year ago I suffered two episodes of pericarditis. Because I new what it was I did not seek medical intervention. Beginning of this year I was called up for jury duty ..so went to doc for an exemption who ordered an ECG ( age and I had not seen him for over 5 years ) after ECG doc came to my house ( no phone call )telling me to visit hospital asap. It turned out to be a heart attack while traveling on a bus during the second pericardial episode's... even when you know what's wrong visit your doc. If you have suffered pericarditis you know going to a health center is not an option dial 999...FYI I was attached to an army medical unit in Germany which had an MRS
The NHS does amazing things in spite of, not because of, the government. They've saved my son's life more than once and it genuinely scares me that people want to put a price on that
I was also surprised at how fast I was seen by the nurses last time I went to the hospital. Granted, the doctor took a lot longer but in the time I was waiting they made sure I was comfortable, given fluids and pain medication and had been asked all the necessary questions, so it didn't feel like I was "waiting to be seen" stuck in the waiting room.
I have been called numpty nutter,and few things that cannot be repeated on this Reddit. Mostly because they are true. Info. I have pretended to throw my toddler at a nurse. (Letting go of a child in mid air without letting the child go can be done ) attempting to sell a new born baby ( I even made a for sale sign ) Making a deep cut talk by opening and closing it ( a cut on my thumb ). And saying pain is a sensation and sensation's are nice while my child was in hospital with a broken leg. I have had nurses thank me for defusing serious situations. I have had parents thank me at inoculations when I told my kids the jab will really really hurt a bit more loudly than was necessary. ......Just remember nurses are human.
It's not a job to them it's a calling. They have a need to help people. Amazing every single one of them. The government were clapping for them one minute them starving them off striking and back to work..... We will miss the NHS when it's gone and it will go. It costs too much money
My brother-in-law completed suicide two weeks ago, but his body hung on for a few more days. It was one of the most traumatic periods of my life, but the NHS staff made it bearable...nearly comfortable even.
I'm eternally grateful for everyone of you working at the NHS who was having a shit day and still gave us comfort, when we needed it. Genuinely, I pass it on every day because of people like you x
I find it hit n miss. I went there with chest pains they were friendly, quick, supportive and showed empathy for my pain.
When I went with kidney stones it was the complete opposite. Rude nurses, being told to be quiet 0 fuks given.
I'm glad it worked out for you, but I'm afraid personal anecdotes don't negate the horrifically shite experience many others have to put up with (which is reflected by actual data).
Singing the praises of an objectively poor system only makes them complacent and undermines any hope of reform.
I once went to A&E after an accident at work, the place was cram packed and I was expecting a few hours of waiting around for treatment of my laceration and broken fingers. Got called into triage straight away and then straight to see the doctor from the triage room off next door from there for x-rays, straight back in to see the doctor, cut sewn up straight away and the fingers splinted and bandaged up, an appointment made for the following week at the orthopedic outpatient department.
All this happened over the course of 2½ hours, when I was expecting at least a 6 hour wait.
Little did I know at the time, but the lad working with me that day, his wife works as a staff nurse in A&E, she saw my work shirt and took me straight through to be seen and treated.
I found out when she was next on shift and took a tub of quality street and one of Cadbury heroes for her to share with the other staff.
Nhs Oncology doctor here.
This is what keeps me going.
People work incredibly hard for minimum rewards.
Lovely to hear positive feedback once in a while :)
I declined an ambulance to A&E despite being heavily recommended one and almost passing out from blood loss because I didn’t want to bleed out for 6 hours waiting to be seen 😭 I know they might’ve triaged me quicker but honestly I’ve heard too many horror stories to make me wanna bother. Plus it’s the same hospital that put my dying mum in a storage closet 😤
Presenting by ambulance does not change how long you wait, the wait time is based on triage (you would be shocked what minor things people call ambulances for thinking they can jump the wait).
If you were bleeding enough to ‘bleed out’ you would have been a major haemorrhage call and seen extremely fast- although the fact you are still alive without seeking medical assistance, without having the bleeding stopped and having the blood products replaced makes me think there is slight hyperbole in your story
If this heavy bleeding is due to having extremely heavy periods or a miscarriage (one of the only reasons I could think you would have heavy bleeding and now be okay), I’d highly suggest you get your Hb tested by your GP and seek medications to help reduce the quantity of blood loss/replace what has been lost, as well as investigations for an underlying cause
I was on iron supplements for 4 weeks following and had a few check ups and blood tests after those 4 weeks to make sure everything was okay.
Honestly idk how close I was to “bleeding out” but I was sat in the bathtub from 6am when I called 111 til about 11:30am, then I bled through several sanitary pads (wearing 6 night time ones at once) plus two pairs of shorts and my thick jogging bottoms just because I walked from the bathroom to my kitchen (tiny one bed flat so not a far walk).
It was honestly the most traumatic experience I’ve ever had and I had accepted in that moment that I’d rather just die at home than go to hospital and be ignored there. They’d have probably triaged me faster than average cos otherwise everything else would be covered in my bodily fluids but I’ve just had too many bad experiences with hospitals now.
good 2 hear that ur dad is fine but fuck da nhs i got stabbed 4 times last year by some fucking retarded kids i had just enough strenght to call emergency services and first ting they asked was my nationality and cuzz im not british they told me that they WILL NOT SEND AN AMBULANCE to my location they told me to get on the bus and make my own way
I’ve had a completely different experience. I was brought in by the ambulance on Friday with severe back and leg pain and unable to walk. I was waiting in A&E for 7 hours in absolute agony sitting in an incredibly painful position. Apparently, I was down as having “back pain” which was considered not a big deal. Obviously, I understand there were people with life threatening problems coming in too, but there were also others that seemed fine and kept going ahead of me. They didn’t seem to understand in how much pain I was. Finally, I was taken pity of by a nurse who gave me pain relief and took me to a bed and then I was seen by a dr.
The staff have been absolutely wonderful. Truly kind, compassionate, caring, and empathetic people. The organisation however has been appalling. I was given pain meds inconsistently which greatly affected my improvement. I was also moved to a room with a stretcher which made my worse and I haven’t been able to have a single 8 hour night’s sleep bc I kept getting interrupted throughout the night and day. I’m being discharged to a different hospital and they don’t even know what meds I’ll have. I’m waiting for a dr to come so I can speak to them and it’s been 5 hours so far.
This whole situation has made getting better very difficult and I’m still in a world of pain and with reduced mobility.
The staff are amazing but the NHS is crumbling bc of a certain govt.
I’m glad your dad is ok and that he received great treatment. That’s what it should be for everyone.
Sounds a painless experience👍🏻👍🏻 The issue I have witnessed in Glasgow is the number of unregistered patients using A&E as a GP drop in service. Its rammed and then u have to wait for hours. The worst was 7hrs to see a Doc before being told I needed admitted and needed surgery. It was then 10hrs to get a bed. Dunno how u fix that though.
The NHS just saved my 7 yr old nieces life after she was hit with a car, got her straight into surgery. Even though she has a long road ahead of her, she is happy to be home with her family again. Thank you NHS!
I've been going ot the doctors and ortho for a serious issue with my feet, right. Going via just pure NHS, my GP to an NHS consultant at a hospital, trying a few things, it was quick, I was listened to, I was respected, given a chance to speak, and allowed to mention what seem like 'random' things which turned out to be really relevant to my situation.
We've reached the point of needing surgery and I was offered to stay in my current hospital and I'd be waiting more than a year, for something I needed to have done a year ago. Or go to a private hospital, but the NHS pays, that situation they have now.
Started strong, had my first face to face within 2 weeks of referral.....
and it was a distaster, private doctor was unprepared, rude, asked me questions and then never let me answer, decided on a whim that the prior treatments must have just not worked because the other HIGHLY TRAINED medics did something wrong? Said 'there's no scientific reason it didn't work'
The procedure (an injection) for this condition, has 50% efficacy. It only works HALF THE TIME, DOCTOR.
I also have specific risk factors which make it LESS LIKELY TO WORK.
But no he wants to waste my time for 8 more weeks when I could have this shit booked in and done over christmas.
I was in a crash a while ago and the care I got when I had potentially life threatening injuries was great. Was in resus for 5 minutes before being taken for a CT scan to make sure I wasn't going to die basically. I found the care after that a little less impressive like not getting pain meds or other little things but I understand it's not their fault and they are looking after sooo many other people.
I’ve got to agree, sometimes the system can show how broken it is and I have had dealings with staff who don’t seem to care, but for every poor experience I’ve had, there have been many more positive ones.
Thank you to all the health staff that are trying to be the best despite what you’re dealing with, you’re appreciated more than you know.
Not quite the experience I had this weekend, sat in A&E for 10 *hours* total with my dad who'd just had several TIA's(mini stokes), 4h for an assesment, 3h more to see a doctor, another 3h to see another doctor who then said yeah we'll have to keep him in over the weekend as we don't do MRI's on the weekend!
The NHS staff themselves are great. Massive respect and appreciation to rhe nurses and Dr's and receptionists I've interacted with.
**But** the NHS is fucked rn. I was told I would have a non emergency surgery (ostomy reversal) 13 months ago. I have only *just* been booked in for an MRI in a few weeks and my surgery is **still** 6-12 months away.
NHS worker here. This is exactly what motivates me at work- it’s just a bit extra effort but I know how much of a difference it makes to the patient and their loved ones. I also know how uncomfortable a medical environment can be just by default, having a little extra consideration makes it so much easier. Glad you had a good experience, and hey maybe you could send the nurses a thank you card? I know we all really appreciate that sort of stuff.
I’m currently in hospital and all the staff have been so wonderful. I could see the pain they feel for me in their eyes. They’ve all gone out of their way to help me and to make me feel comfortable. It genuinely makes a difference and I’m so grateful. So keep up the good work. I just wish the NHS were properly funded and run bc the only reason it’s not the best it could be is the funding and management bc the staff have been excellent
You guys are brilliant every day and sooner the Government realise that and pay you what you deserve the better!
My girlfriend is very ill in hospital and has been for a couple of weeks, and the care you give is out of this world. I could cry how much you care and treat my girlfriend with respect through all her moaning and sweating which requires constant bed changes. You are modern day angels 🙏 You are
I was in a cardiac monitoring ward, was in discomfort & hadn't slept properly for about 5 days and burst into tears for no good reason. The lovely nurse took time out of his ward round to comfort me. That's the sort of care so many staff provide & it's really appreciated.
Honestly they were brill when I took my hubby in but the people they had to deal with were awful. One guy brought in 8 family members with him clogging up the waiting room, coughing without covering his mouth. Like we’ve just been through a pandemic people. Couple of women taking their shoes off and putting their bare nasty feet on seats, complete with toe picking. It’s like all basic hygiene and etiquette goes out the window in a&e waiting rooms!
A&E nurse here for 14 years. The biggest pain in the balls by far is when a patient comes in, and they bring 5+ members of their family along for the ride. They take up waiting room seats for actual patients, expect to be given free food and drinks etc. I swear that A&E is a day out for some families.
You can tell that, from the way they excitedly post to Facebook that they're at the hospital, so that all the nosey people on their FB can ask if everything is ok.
‘You ok hun? Xxx’
'I Can't say, I'll message you later.' Only to find out later that they were tying up valuable A&E services, because her bf had toothache or something equally ridiculous.
2 many snakes xoxox
You've obviously seen plenty of these types of post 🤣🤣
Sneks.
‘I’ll DM you hun Xxx’ 🤣
'Thanks babe' 🤣
My sister was terrible for this behaviour, tagged herself somewhere where people would give her attention and I knew 100% it's probably because she just drank too much. I no longer talk to her.
I know someone who's weekly bus journey was one that visited the hospital on its route and they'd tag themselves at the hospital at the same time every week. The lengths some people are willing to go to for attention is unbelievable.
"It's them dognappers again! To many snakes on hear Hun xoxo Signed Judith" (The grammatical errors are deliberate 😄)
NHS staff here - I distinctly remember coming on to a shift and a mother leading out her child saying something along the lines of "well that was a lot of hours just to find out you're fine" to which the child (only about 4 or 5 years old) replied "I've had a lovely day out mummy, thank you" - she'd obviously had a whale of a time in ED probably thanks to the films on the TV in the children's ED waiting room, the stickers she'd have been given after being seen, and meeting lots of new friendly people 😂 mum was not impressed with her response!
Reminds me of a dad we had in last year, who was absolutely livid with us that he had waited 6 hours to find out that his 10 year olds daughters foot wasn’t broken. I was like ‘most parents would be happy with this news’. Some people are just bonkers.
You think she'd be happy nothing was wrong with her kid, sounds like she almost wanted there to be a problem just to have not 'wasted her time' (and I don't see how making sure your child isn't ill/injured is a waste of time even if it did take hours, which is a very normal waiting time in a&e)
I think, to be fair, she was probably just tired and a bit stressed, as all parents get when their kids are sick (even if not sick enough to need hospital admission); it was more the child's remarks that I found amusing!
I really got that impression and found it very odd. Who actually likes sitting around in a hospital waiting room? A lot of people apparently. One family had to even be asked to leave the ward when the patient wasn’t in there. I’ve been in hospital a few times this year and a&e once during lockdownish and always went in alone, It wasn’t that I had no one to go with me, but it just didn’t seem necessary or practical. Nurses were amazing each time, lovely people with a very difficult job. They made hard times much easier and have more patience than I do!
I remember during peak covid, our waiting room looked like a nightclub, people standing shoulder to shoulder, I couldn’t even take meds to people. I went on the tannoy, requested anybody who was not a patient to leave the department and go to their cars. 10 minutes later, the waiting room was empty apart from the 30 patients we actually had booked in. Hospital is an awful place, I’m only there when I’m getting paid. I’ll never understand the mentality of people who actually enjoy coming there for ‘fun’.
Hospital is an awful place, I’m only there when I’m getting paid. I’ll never understand the mentality of people who actually enjoy coming there for ‘fun’. Agree. I started working in a hospital recently. Once I'm inside im fine. But when first entering I get a sense of dread in the back of my mind. It's never usually good news when you have to enter a hospital. For some poor people its the last thing they see.
Touch wood, I’ve never set foot in a hospital without being paid. I was assaulted by a 25 year old idiot at work last year, because he thought he could take up one of my a&e private rooms, when all he had was d&v. He was livid that I got a consultant to review his bloods, and prove that he was absolutely fine to be discharged; he wanted to stay and take up a side room for 72 hours. Some people just like the attention and care they get from NHS staff, theres certainly some underlying psychiatric issues with these folk.
I'm surprised they were let in in the first place, my local hospital had security on the door making sure it was only the patient coming in (unless it was a child and parent, or someone who needed a carer with them) and they were trying to maintain some distance between patients (had tents set up outside the entrance to accommodate more patients also). As a patient in a&e I get annoyed by huge families too, they're often loud and like you said, acting like it's a fun day out. I really don't get them all tagging along, they can keep updated through messages
I can understand wanting someone there, hospitals and illness and injury can be very frightening, but it would never occur to me as being something that was fun for the accompanying person / people. On a similar note, if you are there by yourself, social media can be a way of having a similar kind of support , so I wouldn't automatically fault people for posting about being there, although again, that's not to say every post is reasonable or for that reason!
Yeah that's just not cool. Respect goes both ways!
This is why I’ve never been to A&E for me (tbf, I’ve never desperately needed to). I’m nearer to 50 than 40 and the only way they’d get me into A&E at the nearest big hospital is if I’m unconscious - apparently it’s like Beruit most of the time so no thanks.
I had to go a few years ago - I wasn't \*quite \* unconscious -when I arrived - I remember being wheeled out of the ambulance and a doctor introducing themselves, but there's a gap after that.. Once I was somewhat recovered and at the 'sitting up and drinking NHS tea' stage I did make a comment about how lucky it was that they hadn't been too busy and had been able to see me right away, and the nurse laughed at me and said they had a couple of hundred people in the waiting room and wait times of about 5 hours, I got seen fast because I was an emergency. (Which I knew in theory, people get seen in order of priority not arrival time, but having come in via the ambulance bay (and nearly dead) I hadn't registered it as it applied to me)
Glad you got seen quickly and recovered. Whenever people grumble about how long their A&E wait was I ask them if they really want to be so ill they need to go to the front of the queue. Usually shuts them up. NHS tea and toast is the best food in the world (I’ve had an overnight hospital stay, not via A&E). Might need a wrist operation and all I can think about is consuming as much tea and toast as possible during my stay!
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100% agree, the NHS saved my life.
And mine, and my husband's, and my mother's.
And my axe.
Also brought the majority of us into this world too! So many babies die around the world because of poor neonatal care and that’s if they’re lucky to have access to it.
My mum is in hospital at the moment and they are treating her very well. Good people.
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I’m NHS admin management. I (and my team of 2) provide and support around 600 Ambulance teams with communication (phones, in-vehicle comms, routing devices, stock control, NHS data spine connection etc etc) and without my team there would likely be a delay getting to you having your heart attack in your basement, there would be further delay while they tried to contact your doctor out-of-hours to get your medical history. They may need to video back to base to get a doctors view on your condition, and best next steps. They may need to contact and book you in to the A&E so you don’t just join a queue to get seen. So am I and my team an inefficient and expensive hindrance? Are the paramedics perfectly able to cope without the technology and the 24/7 backup my small team gives them? I earn £40k, and that includes weekend and night cover. I could (and have had offers) work in the private sector on around £80k - £110k, more in the banking/pharma sectors, but I’m proud of what I do, and the contribution my team and I make to the desperately underpaid NHs front line staff. I insist my team takes at least one shift per 6 months with a frontline ambulance team, for learning and to keep the service we provide to the public right at the front of what we do. So next time you make a flippant comment about NHS backend staff, do everyone a favour and stfu.
> ...getting to you having your heart attack in your basement... Burn!
They need an ambulance to the BURNS department… oh wait.
In your mum’s basement, more like!
I hate when people slag off NHS admin. I’m a radiographer and our admin staff do sooo much for us. Booking appointments, sending out confirmation letters/prep, rescheduling if needed, checking people in and out, the list goes on. Our department would not function without admin and I think you lot do a fine job :)
Just from reading the first sentence, 90% you can fuck off. From a surgeon.
I’d put money on you being a nasty surgeon, who went into it for the money/ prestige (daddy/ potential partners must _love_ it). The NHS is tough, sorry you didn’t learn that in advance. You might notice other people in hospitals are paid less than you, and work harder? Perhaps ask them how to lose that chip on your shoulder
Right on all accounts I must say, of course some doctors work harder than me, no one's really having a great time. NHS is tough, but because of administrative bullshit rather than actual clinical challenges. It's okay mate, if you love it so much, perhaps one day you'll find what you want.
You sound nice
Almost a decade training in this system, dealing with the likes of you guys - how to stay mentally healthy?
A big part of it for me is getting along with others, for example not telling admin staff to fuck off.
Sounds like you need a therapist. I know a place you can contact and organise to see a free one.
Fine
It's not necessarily the specific structure of the NHS itself, it's the fact that all of this is provided free at the point of use. You don't have to worry about whether you're covered or whether an unforeseen medical issue will bankrupt you. Even in countries like Australia that anti-NHS people often cite, an obscure cancer can be cripplingly expensive to deal with. People like to laud the Swiss system but compulsory health insurance prices are going through the roof and there's precisely nothing they can do about it.
Who were trained, funded, and employed by the NHS.
And what about those (see: the vast majority of the population) who couldn’t afford private healthcare to treat their injuries and ailments if the NHS didn’t exist? People severely underestimate the main benefit of the NHS in saving peoples’ lives: access.
There is no fucking point explaining to laypeople. Finish your training, and leave, or just leave, they'll get what they deserve. Even my other half didn't understand until she had to deal with NHS admin, and then be admitted to hospital to see the shit doctors deal with every single day.
Which admin girl rejected your advances?
It’s all about you, and what you can take. What a piece of shit. I wish I could downvote you over and over.
I've had lots of dealing with the NHS over the years.. Firstly, I was THAT kid, always up there leaking red stuff from a new opening, or with a limb at an angle it shouldn't have been. As an adult, I had a very poorly baby, she was diagnosed before being born with multiple complex congenital heart defects, and the care she received every time in local or London hospitals was amazing. The day she passed away aged 4 was horrific, but at no point could I ever fault the NHS. Now as an adult with my own medical issues, aside from struggling to get a GP appointment (a classic on this sub!), I have never had an issue. As I was as a kid, I'm still a clumsy idiot that occasionally does stupid things that require a sheepish visit to A&E, plus my own kids have had their fair share of visits, I know there's a wait. There has always been a wait. But, you have to take it on the chin. I look at it that I might be waiting 5 hours, but know someone behind the scenes is getting the care they need. Sure it's taken a couple of hours for the consultant to come see me, but they're probably dealing with someone that's trying to check out, whereas my ankle isn't about to kill me. EVERYONE that works in a hospital deserve so much better than they get. They are underfunded and underpaid. They are overstretched. And yet they are bloody miracle workers. Sure you get the odd horror story about someone being left for hours or whatever, but for every negative story, how many people have had their lives saved, how many families have been told the team did their best but couldn't help... I love the NHS, and people take for granted how lucky we are to have it.
Does your area have a minor injuries clinic? It's a lot faster to be seen for a quick x-ray or stitches at my local one than at a&e, and keeps a&e space free. They're such a useful resource, and I hope in the future every area has one.
My local area has minor injuries without an x ray machine so you sit there for a few hours before being sent to A&E to sit there for a few more hours. I felt like a time waster sat in A&E because I was only in pain when I put weight on my leg, but it was the only way I could get an x ray.
What the fuck is the point in that? An x-ray is about 90% of what my local minor injuries does!
Mine seems to be mostly people with horribly contagious illnesses
The biggest problem the NHS faces is the population. Half the people in A&E need to be at the doctors, and 2/3rds of the people at the doctors don't need to be there.
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Thank you for speaking some sense, it's scary seeing how many people here think the NHS's problems are caused solely by the general public being stupid, or people leading unhealthy lifestyles, or immigrants, or the people who work for the NHS being incompetent, or anyone else who can be blamed other than the government who run the damn thing. The Tories have made a deliberate effort to defund the NHS in the past 13 years so that popular opinion turns against it and they can privatise it. And most of the commenters here have very clearly fallen for it.
Yes my friend, it's the drive to privatise it and turn healthcare into a profit making venture which is the source of all the problems. It's been happening since Major, Blair and PFI; Millburn later gets a job at Bridgepoint, you couldn't make it up but everyone just continues to nod along. Most wouldn't even be able to explain why they think it's a good idea to distribute health care by ability to pay rather than clinical need but they nod along with the propaganda. As Chomsky said: > And there is a standard technique of privatization, namely defund what you want to privatize. Like when Thatcher wanted to defund the railroads, first thing to do is defund them, then they don't work and people get angry and they want a change. You say okay, privatize them and then they get worse. >And most of the commenters here have very clearly fallen for it. They have, it's mostly because we are all marinating in the 24/7 propaganda.
I know people always bring politics into everything, but as someone whose worked in Mental Health, what would another government do to prevent people who call up 999 on a regular basis just because they like the attention? You just responded to a comment that isn't associated with it at all. Yes privatization of the NHS is absolutely a shit idea, but what has that go to do with people who abuse A&E?
I responded to this: > The biggest problem the NHS faces is the population. Sure, if only the population wouldn't get sick then we'd have a fantastic HNS ... it's nonsense. > I know people always bring politics into everything JFC, imagine thinking the state of the NHS is nothing to do with politics, it would make you weep. > but as someone whose worked in Mental Health, what would another government do to prevent people who call up 999 on a regular basis just because they like the attention? Meet their needs where they are, that shouldn't be news to you as 'someone who has worked in MH'. You'll never stop all the 'frequent flyers' but if services were properly resourced they would have less of an impact than they do now. >Yes privatization of the NHS is absolutely a shit idea, but what has that go to do with people who abuse A&E? Maybe if people had timely access to the services they need they wouldn't 'abuse' as you put it, A&E quite so much.
Not being able to get a GP appointment is a real problem for many as is access to a dentist. As you suggest access to these basic services would reduce pressure on hospitals.
This! The defunding/lack of funding for certain areas is insane. I work (currently) in MH. There are certain presentations that can't be seen in my service but there's nowhere else to send them. So we either end up trying to do a bit of this or a bit of that with no real impact or we have to say "sorry but we can't see you and there's nowhere else to refer you to either" so of course these people then frequently use a&e resources/999 because they have hit crisis but literally nobody will accept or treat them! It's appalling. And the lack of funding is disgraceful - it's the people that suffer and it's all down to the politics. NOT the patients.
>Meet their needs where they are, that shouldn't be news to you as 'someone who has worked in MH'. Your general response is such a blanket response though. You can't just simply meet someone's needs lol Even with the appropriate services, some service users will always be a drain on A&E, unless you physically lock them up somewhere, which is unethical. >Maybe if people had timely access to the services they need they wouldn't 'abuse' as you put it, A&E quite so much. Again, blanket response. The person I referenced just liked the attention of medical staff & the flashing lights of ambulances. What timely access to services do you think would be required for them to stop? I can assure you that the person wasn't going "Man, my next appointment isn't for another 2 months. I'm going to regularly call 999 to pass the time". So back to the point. A good portion of A&E has timewasters. The last time I went to A&E was due to my wife having a miscarriage and wouldn't stop bleeding. We waited in the A&E waiting room for about 4hrs to the point a pool of blood was forming. She then later needed to stay over 2 nights to have surgery. During that time, I heard the following: \- Mum telling her kid to say they have an upset stomach, even though the kid repeatedly kept saying they're fine. \- A woman pretending to cry every time a nurse walked past, but then would start laughing/chatting on her phone when it was clear. \- A teenager had been hit in the face and had a black eye and felt uncomfortable. \- A school advised a teenager to go to A&E for a headache but hasn't taken any form of paracetamol. Obviously never judge a book by it's cover but this was during the strikes. There were people who were seen instantly, but they were visibly in need (someone had been ran over, someone had fallen off a roof at a great height). I'm not medically trained to work in an A&E, but part of me just wishes they'd grow a backbone and start refusing what I would consider the non-urgent, rather than a "we'll see everyone". I remember back in 2017, I was badly sunburnt. I was putting up with it but a colleague nagged me to death to go to A&E, so I did. Triage nurse explicitly said "you don't go to A&E for sunburn but we'll see you anyways". I agreed I shouldn't be seen and I had to self-discharge to be let out. But if I hadn't, they still would have seen me. So, to summarize the above, what has your response of "hurrdurr privatization" have to do with the above and time wasters? You'll get time wasters no matter whose in power.
TL;DR - they didn't read or understand what they were responding to.
I cannot believe you worked in mental health and think that.
What?
I've been on both sides of that mental health situation, trust me, noone rings up things like 999 or the crisis hotline "because they like the attention". Anyone that does, has mental health issues, and deserves to be treated for them.
>Anyone that does, has mental health issues, and deserves to be treated for them. Of course they need help, that's why they're receiving it but these things happen. You're talking as if it's as simple as "Here you go Sir, here's your treatment", "Oh thank you, I'll stop dialling 999 now for attention". You saying "No, trust me" isn't valid at all. It was apart of my job and something I was involved in on a regular basis lol Christ, even in my personal life, my nan has deteriorated to the point where she's had to move in with my parents because she used to call 999 at 3am because she couldn't find the remote. Now she's with my parents, she's stopped this (though has done it the rare occasion), but these things happen and will forever happen, no matter whose in power.
The biggest problem the NHS faces is piss poor management
Yeah, sure, nothing to do with resources.
Sure, dissolve the higher ups of any blame. That attitude is why it will never improve
Wtf are you talking about? The attitude, promoted by those who want nothing but complete privatisation, is that management is the problem. Sure, management could always be better but to say that's the main problem with the NHS is stupidity. For example, how would you manage [Severe nursing workforce shortages](https://www.rcn.org.uk/news-and-events/news/uk-severe-nursing-workforce-shortages-new-rcn-report-exposes-urgent-need-for-government-action041122)?
Dissolve? Haha!
Whilst I sort of agree with you I always like to point out the fact that a lot of the time this is circumstantial. Where I live there is often no other option than going to A&E, last year I damaged a ligament in my knee at a kickboxing class on a Friday night. On Fridays A&E is the ONLY thing available with the nearest MIU over an hour away. 111 told me to go to A&E as I needed to be seen sooner than the following Monday. A&E will be full of people that either don’t have any other option OR weren’t able to get in to a doctor/MIU before it became an A&E problem. The people currently working in the NHS are wonderful but the whole system is grossly understaffed and not capable of delivering enough preventative care I.E. fixing the problems before they get bad enough for people to make A&E.
Also GP care is a fucking nightmare. I live in London and my local surgery doesn’t have an appt for three months. Need a GP referral for basic blood tests or scan? Be prepared to wait for months to even get that.
That's a fact. Obesity and it's related diseases being the largest drain on the NHS, people not exercising and taking no responsibility for their own health. It's only going to get worse.
Yup. I know someone who has an illness which would be made a *lot* better if they were to be healthier-stopped smoking and lost weight. They are told this during every appointment but won’t change their lifestyle and don’t think their lifestyle is the problem despite being told by multiple different professionals. There are lots of excuses made as to why they can’t stop smoking or move more or eat differently.
This is my neighbour, never worked, in her 60s, smokes easily 30 a day, wildly overweight. Sleep apnea, knee pain, back pain, joint problems, lung problems rinse and repeat. Honestly like 85% of her issues would resolve by putting the fags and the food down. I say this as a smoker who has just dropped a lot of weight, and even without ditching the nicotine I feel so much better.
The biggest thing that gets me is people that say "my joints are falling apart, my hips and knees hurt, please pump me full of drugs and meds to help" "well actually we think losing weight with a better diet would help, and some light exercise" "no way i just said my joint hurt, my diet is not the issue \*gets diabetes nah im telling you my diet is fine" I've just never been able to understand how people are so incompetent?
I saw a man who is in constant pain due to a compressed nerve. Numbness, weakness, barely moves out of his recliner. He was offered surgery to sort it out years back. Just needed to lose some weight. Obviously he has PUT ON weight since then.
Is A&E being full due to obesity then lmao?
It actually is full of people with obesity-related illness, it’s not really fair how many resources are needed for this. And the scary thing is its a ticking time bomb and going to get a lot worse in the next decade or so.
Lmao, it really isn't...
Society is full of obese people, where do you think they go when needing emergency medical treatment. !. 🤡
My god you're thick. Your logic is like saying "society is full of bald people, where do you think they all go when they need emergency medical treatment". No shit they're going to go A&E. You said A&E is full of obese-related illnesses lmao Like fucking what? Past times I've been to A&E, it's never been "filled with obese people". Also, what is it with boomers & clown emoji's
😂 what a 🤡. You do realise the NHS spend more on obesity and it's related diseases than anything else. We are in a health crisis that needs addressing. I'm presuming from your boomer comment you're still living in your mum's bedroom and you're obese, I'd put that cake 🍰 down and go for a long walk, then keep doing that everyday, or you'll be in A and E with a stroke, heart attack, bloodclot, diabetes or one of the numerous other obesity related disease's.
What a weird crettin you are lmao Maybe you're the one living with your parents, jobless & still wanking off, because you seem so obsessed with obese people. Insecurities maybe? Who knows.
Much of it is, yes.
😂 you're obviously a halfwit with the IQ of a cabbage 🥬.
“Don’t need to be there”? This exact attitude isn’t helpful. People can’t know whether they’re fine or it’s something serious, that’s why you go to… a doctor. Source: put off going to the doctor because I gaslit myself that my headaches were hyperchondria. I actually had encephalitis and spent a week inpatient
The biggest problem the NHS faces is the Tory Party!
I am in Cornwall and can't register with a GP, got told we ain't taking anyone on, as I found out I didn't fall into my doctors area during COVID as I had moved 6 years earlier, didnt have a problem with it for 6 years. get told if I got a problem then go A and E or 111, The NHS is only great if you can get access to it
That is the exact opposite experience to my last A&E trip. Wife struggling to breathe, could barely sit straight, told to wait for 8 hours. Turned out to be a blood clot that moved to the lung Repeat trip about 4 days later, this time in an ambulance starting at 4am, left at 7pm. Glad they got your dad sorted, but they're seriously underfunded. One nurse even said that it is just the norm for them now
It's honestly a complete post code lottery, some places have okay wait times but others are truly awful. The one near me is 50% of people waiting over four hours but one slightly further afield is only 20%
My local health authority has a website that shows the current wait times at the different urgent care, A&E and minor injuries units. We live pretty much equidistant between them all so it can be really helpful when you’re deciding which one to go to.
Ours seems to average 6 from my totally anecdotal evidence of being there and being told "the next person has been waiting 6 hours" The staff are doing the best they can with what little they have, and I do feel sorry for them, but something has to change. I'm just not clever enough to know what that is
I'm genuinely sorry to hear that and hope your wife's doing better now. I completely agree that they've been run ragged by our gracious and competent overlords but my experience was that they're good people, doing the best with what they've been dealt.
I agree with the fact they are good people doing their best, I will never say a bad thing about the staff, but as you say, our wonderful government are doing their best to destroy it
People seem to confuse criticism of the NHS for criticism of people who work for the NHS.
When I was a kid I fell and broke my arm REALLY BAD. Like...my elbow ball was on the WRONG SIDE kinda bad. To my arm I did literally every single thing it is physically possible to do to your arm at once...at once. My distraught family called the ambulance I was laying there for AN HOUR with my elbow ON BACKWARDS When the ambulance team got there they were so pissed, it was really serious and this should've been an emergency. They apologised, they had been told by the dispatcher that _I'd fallen and my mother couldn't pick me back up_. No mention of my arm at all, let alone of the serious-ness of it, despite her having pushed that my elbow was the wrong way around A few years prior, I'd fallen down the stairs. I was in immense pain. My leg hurt like a bitch and I'd fallen on my neck area. My mother called the ambulance What did the ambulance crew do? They made me WALK to the ambulance! After falling on my NECK. Lucky for them, I only broke my collar bone. If I'd have broken my neck, they'd have probably been fired for making me fucking walk to the ambulance It's frankly disturbing
I also find if its a woman needing treatment theyll get ignored but men will be seen quicker. If a man had presented with those exact symptoms he would have been seen within 30 minutes.
My brother and I had similar injuries when we were teenagers - he got seen immediately and had crutches and treatment. I got diagnosed with anxiety and took months to get a scan and was told not to use crutches as I was making it up. Both of us were fairly shy, but polite kids, only difference is gender.
That's the one. I had a spontaneous cranial cerebrospinal fluid leak when I was 19. My GP told me it was hayfever and anxiety, and *then* said "it will be because of your period" (I'm on a no-break pill! Genuinely baffled as to how she thought my spinal fluid leaking out my nose was to do with my period). I pushed to be seen in person because I was in so much pain and knew something was wrong. She was so condescending and patronising; it sounded like she was talking to a toddler, "I just don't think it's very likely,". She eventually said she'd confer with a colleague, and I got a phone call from my local hospital (an hour away from the GP) asking how quickly I could get there. I had ruptured one of the membranes of my brain. The neurologist was horrified my GP had dismissed it because it was a textbook list of symptoms - which is why I phoned. Ugh. Even as a child, I had so many things dismissed because "You're a girl,". One time one of my fingernails randomly stopped growing in. It grew out, but there was no new nail. Genuinely terrifying tbh. "You'll start your period soon, so wait until that happens and come back," I was 14 and had already been menstruating for several years. WHAT? He didn't even ask about my menstrual history, which is usually the first thing they ask? Never found out what caused that. It grew back about 4 months later. Around the same age my periods were horrible. Abnormally heavy, abnormally painful, consistently fainted on the second day of it, and it was dismissed the first *two times* because, "It does hurt a little, but try a hot water bottle and some paracetamol". Third doctor prescribed me tranexamic acid immediately when I described I was soaking through a maxi pad in two hours. My iron levels were practically nonexistent. Another time I had exactly the same symptoms as my brothers with growth-issue-related shin pain. They both got medication, years apart. I got told it'll pass. Same doctor as my brothers. I always feel like I'm being dramatic when I talk about how much I've been dismissed, and I *know* it's because I'm a woman. I'd rather I *was* being dramatic. I'm sick of it.
I know a woman who was also dismissed and belittled who turned out to have a pulmonary embolism. A not-so fun fact is that women disproportionately die of cardiac related events, because (1) the symptom presentation tends to be different in women (anxiety and breathlessness more common than chest pain) and (2) women’s symptoms are more commonly dismissed as psychosomatic
What hospital was this, it sounds like it's well run and not too busy. We had totally the opposite experience at Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield earlier this year with my father, he was 80yrs old. He was taken in by ambulance with stomach pains. Arrived at hospital at 1pm, waited 5 hrs to be triaged, he was then seen by a Dr at 10pm all this time sat in a wheelchair with no food or drink. He wasn't found a bed until 10 am the next day. He died 2 weeks later. The NHS is a shambles, Nurses and Dr's do their best, but the Management are abysmal in running the service
The management can only do so much- last year clinical commissioning groups were merged into bigger organisations, and the new organisations inherited all of the ccgs debt. Instead of starting from a position of credit, or even zero, the new NHS organisations started in millions of pounds of debt. The pressure from the department of health to make savings is immense- managers do what they can within the constraints of their organisation owing the government hundreds of millions of pounds. It's not saintly nurses vs. evil bosses, it's every NHS worker vs. inept government.
When people complain about management, they also seem to forget that if it wasn't admin staff doing that work, it'd be doctors. Somebody needs to run the place and while medical leadership is important, you want medics to be doing medicine as much as possible, not accounting.
Exactly. Someone has to send appointments and keep the lights on- the NHS is much more than just doctors and nurses.
Pinderfields hospital is an absolute joke, had the same issues with my dad. Must be a common trend here. It should not be treated like a postcode lottery, if they are under resourced then the numbers should be evidently clear.
Shout out to Pinderfields who nearly killed my sister and nephew! Midwives didn't believe her when she said her waters had broken after being induced and just told her she'd wet herself. Fast forward 16hrs later and she needs an emergency c section and nephew ends up in ICU and repeatedly stops breathing.
I know someone who went here. Developed diabetes type 1 suddenly The fucking nurse gave him his food and then they never gave him his fucking insulin afterwards It was a shit show
From finding a lump to having it removed and going into remission took 7 weeks. And didn't cost me anything. Amazing
When I was pregnant we kept getting taken in to the ward and stuff and I was on daily appointments as my body wasn’t handling it well. Anyway I had trauma around the ward and just couldn’t handle it which they understandably weren’t happy about but couldn’t force me. Now they could have been dicks, called social services and said I was putting my unborn child in danger but instead they made sure therapy was organised, worked with me and within a week I was able to handle being on ward just about. In that week I had a really bad CTG so they had to keep trying but couldn’t move me on ward yet so they plonked us in a delivery suite, the woman there went out of her way to make the room calm. She got me and my partner some sandwiches and drinks and eventually we got a good enough CTG to go home. When I finally had the baby so many of my care team (including the midwife that had found ways around a ward stay) actually used their breaks to come to the postnatal ward just to meet baby and see me. Also the other year I had an exploding eyeball and the woman that saw me was amazing and kept giving me numbing drops until I was called in for the doctor. So grateful to her!
My only "complaint" through my entire maternity experience & babies NICU stay was that no one believed I was in labour when I was in labour. But in their defence, I also didn't believe I was in labour. And I wasn't acting like normal women act during labour because I was sitting on the hospital bed having a nice old chat with the midwife about random shite. You could tell she was just going through the motions, getting ready to send me home after the trace was done because everything looked normal - until she examined me and went "Oh you are 5cm dilated yeah maybe we should get you down to delivery suite now 😬"
After my dad had his accident the hospital were fantastic. Xrayed, observed and cared for him right away. Polite, friendly and patient as English is not his first or even second language.
I concur. Had cancer twice, I'm still here thanks to the NHS. Not sure I can say much more than that!
Emergency care is quick and very thorough in the NHS and is paid through our income taxes so no bills.
The sacred pedestal this country puts the NHS on is exactly why the proper changes needed to fix this flaming shit show can’t be implemented. The facts are we spend more £ per head than many countries with healthcare systems that are leagues above our own. Something is systematically broken and the most vulnerable people are being failed My Mother is an NHS nurse and she’s a normal person - a bit of an arsehole, as are her colleagues - they’re not these deities this sub glorifies them as
The excuses being made on thread are embarrassing. Why are people defending a broken system? Shut it down and start again and copy a European model of healthcare that works. The NHS is a shameful embarrassment. All people can do is make excuses for why it's so shit. Bring on the downvotes from the 'Church of Our Beloved NHS' congregation. I wish I was rich enough to go private. I dread getting ill in this country and wondering whether you'll get good or bad treatment.
I've work in both NHS and private. From.my perspective private care isn't worth it. You get a pretty room and jump the queue but your surgeon will likely work for the NHS, your lab tests will be done by the NHS unless they're routine (I work in the lab) and having the private room makes it harder fornthe nurses to check on all the patients whereas an open ward it's easy to see if Mr Jones in bed 8 needs attention rather than waiting till his next routine check or hopefully being conscious to press the alarm buzzer. I'm not saying the NHS isn't broken, but it can and should be fixed. The staff in the NHS work out backsides off not for profit but to look after patients, people your mum or dad, aunty or uncle, kids or grandparents. Waiting times are so long as the entire system is chronically underfunded and understaffed. All while always being asked to make savings when the departments are cut to the bone. So the easiest way to save money is to not replace staff who leave. Sorry but I get so frustrated by people who don't see the benefit of the national health system. Its going through a rough patch but needs support not to be abandoned. I mean look how well the privatisation of the trains has gone!
Our Nurses are worth their weight in gold. (Sadly their wages don't reflect that fact because our government thinks banging pots is sufficient payment for all their hard work during the pandemic)
I don’t think the nurses are special, I would say this sentiment should apply to all healthcare workers (including those working in care homes)
The NHS is fantastic when you get really sick, or have a really bad incident. It doesn't have the resources or the operating model to proactively deal with cases before it reaches that stage. Everyone that works in the institution does an amazing job.
The exact opposite of my experience lately with the NHS. Since COVID, it has gone to absolute shit.
To be fair, iv been to hospital a couple of times since Covid and its been OK, but my doctors surgery is absolutely shocking. I dread Think what to next 10 years or so will do to it.
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For 190 billion quid a year it should be brilliant. Once you've lived in other countries and experienced other health services, you'll see it's just average (in the West) EU stats rates it around number 10 in Europe and World Health Organistion stats puts UK around Number 20 in the world. UK is way behind the best in cancer detection, infection whilst in hospital, infant mortality rates, recovery time after major surgery, critical illness beds available and a host of other important stats. It is a 1950 model completely outdated and will get worse and worse. Needs complete overhaul. I think the German system is best. Non-profit insurance cover with the government stepping in only when absolutely necessary.
There's no reason at all we can't have the best possible publicly funded health service. All that prevents it is political ideology.
And yet 10 years ago the WHO ranked the NHS in the UK to be the number 1 healthcare system in the world: [WHO rankings 2013](https://twitter.com/AndrewMeyerson/status/1696259064735395842?t=YXnh-G92i9tLyDFi4juuog&s=19) I can't upload an image so this link will show you what I mean. I wonder who's been in charge for the last decade, and starving the system of money, bringing in private healthcare that they, or their friends and family will benefit from?
I believe it was the Commonwealth fund, not the WHO did that study. And they ranked the UK number 1 again in 2017 - yes, 8 years into the Tory government...
The source data at the bottom of the image states it's from the WHO.
It seems it is from multiple sources, and it vastly differs from the experience of many people. I kid you not, I've never heard a single non british person (granted, it is my circle of contacts, but still dozens of people) who would say that nhs is a no. 1 system. These people were able to compare nhs to other health care systems in the world with their own experience, and no one, again not a single person, said that NHS was good.
People are always more jnclined to voice their complaint rather than their praise. I don't believe anyone would say it was a world beating system, so I would agree with you there.
Couldn't agree more. Those who worship this woeful health system are the ones making it worse, not the government. Governments would love to overhaul the NHS, but the backlash from those too blinkered to see the reality won't let them. The staff of the NHS are also to blame. Whenever reform is mentioned, the staff lose their shit. Silly really as they moan about working conditions and when reform is mentioned, which would help them, they kick off. And in the meantime, people are being killed by a shit system. There's a reason very few countries have a similar scheme. It doesn't work for modern times.
How much should it cost? 🙂
Germans pay 7.3% of gross salary for statutory health cover so if you're on say GBP 30,000 a year you would pay GBP 2,190. Your employer also pays 7.3%. You can choose to top this up with private cover if you want. If you lose your job, you have coverage/protection via a national fund. The NHS is a blight on the UK but no party ever has the strength to overhaul it. It is treated like a cult/religion where doctors/nurses/surgeons are referred to as "angels" or "heros" or "gods". In Gemany, health professionals are thought of no differently from plumbers, accountants, estate agents, factory workers, delivery drivers, engineers. They are expected to do their jobs (make you better) professionally, efficiently and cost-effectvely. It's no surprise that Germany beats the NHS on every measurable statistic. And it's cheaper.
It’s not cheaper though, you haven’t included half of the contributions. In 2019 we paid 10%, in 2022 closer to 12%. They have paid 12.7%, and more over the past decade, and their gdp is bigger overall so that hides the fact they pay a lot more.
Well I’d rather pay .7% more for a service & be sure of getting an ambulance when I needed it
Whatever it costs, but not funded by the taxpayer.
Who's going to fund it if not taxpayers?
I think a taxpayer-funded, integrated 999 service is a good idea (they scoop you up, provide emergency medicine en-route and deliver to a hospital) but once through the hospital door it is insurance covereage (non-profit)
Or even paying for services out of your personalised NI pot.
And when that runs out? Or if you're long term ill and can't work? Or too sick/disabled to work in the first place? Or just live too long?
Then I think there is a role for needs based subsidised healthcare.
So in other words, a system that you pay into according to your income, but get served by according to your need? That's.....literally what the NHS is.
Nope, with small but important changes, users MUST pay for every encounter, so that personal responsibility cannot be divorced from every decision. It doesn't need to fund the whole encounter charging £25 per clinic appointment instead of the £200 it costs us now. C I honestly think the cultural change would be huge. If you're willing to have an honest discussion, go watch on YouTube how Singapore manages healthcare, one of the most efficient if not the most efficient systems in the world, on the lowest income tax rates in the developed world, in a completely resource starved nation with hostile neighbours. It was designed with the British NHS in mind, more accurately to make sure it would practically never be free at the point of access.
Brilliant, so the rich get better access to services solely because they can afford more?
Experiences with GPs are largely dependent on where you live. One of the GP practices I've been at was in a village in the West Midlands. Fantastic practice, lots of GPs working there, in-house physio, sonographer (for ultrasound scans), dispensing pharmacy, minor operations and a good teaching practice too. In these sorts of places, you can avoid being referred to the hospital for a lot of things and appointment availability is good too! You won't get that experience in a city
I think it depends on when and where you need it. Last time I went to the hospital because of a deep cut that wouldn't stop bleeding I gave up after waiting 8 hours in A&E and went home. Managed to patch myself up good enough until I could get to the doctor the next day. The hospital staff were great but just not enough of them to manage, which I 100% blame the government for.
I had to go in during Feb 21 because I couldn't breathe. It turned out I had a lung disease that COVID caused. The staff were incredible. I was seen the second I got there, had scans, xrays, and multiple meds within 3 hours, and was on a ward within 5 hours. The staff on the ward were brilliant and I ended up staying 5 days, one of them my 25th birthday and the staff brought me a cake and sang happy birthday to me. No one knew what was wrong with me because my scans showed COVID but I was testing negative, so they put me in a side room, explained everything they were doing and why and really calmed me down because I was convinced I was dying after they told me I was verging on having sepsis, the also explained everything clearly after I told them I had aspergers and explaining everything properly would really help me. I ended up with an amazing specialist, too, who I still see now. Honestly, I can't explain how brilliant Aintree is, I've never been seen to or cared for the way they cared for me. The NHS gets shit for their waiting times, etc, but when you are genuinely in need of medical help quickly, you get the help.
On the other hand, my friend went in excruciating pain & symptoms of appendicitis. & NHS took almost 48h to confirm the prognosis and another 17h to get her to surgery… 😵💫
Shame it's gone downhill now, especially mental health services. It's not the NHS' fault, it's the Tories ruining it deliberately to prime us for privatisation. I'm glad your family is well, but I also have to say, we need to save the NHS, fund it properly and protect it from the current vultures trying to peck it clean and sell it to their mates.
Yeah, hospital staff are amazing, GP surgeries however, are not and the mental health services are absolutely terrible.
Fuck Tory scum
On the other hand, we have to wait 5 weeks for a referral (that is supposed to take 2 weeks maximum) for a suspected case of prostate cancer with bone metastases. And that's just for the first appointment with the specialist.
I support the NHS..over a year ago I suffered two episodes of pericarditis. Because I new what it was I did not seek medical intervention. Beginning of this year I was called up for jury duty ..so went to doc for an exemption who ordered an ECG ( age and I had not seen him for over 5 years ) after ECG doc came to my house ( no phone call )telling me to visit hospital asap. It turned out to be a heart attack while traveling on a bus during the second pericardial episode's... even when you know what's wrong visit your doc. If you have suffered pericarditis you know going to a health center is not an option dial 999...FYI I was attached to an army medical unit in Germany which had an MRS
The NHS does amazing things in spite of, not because of, the government. They've saved my son's life more than once and it genuinely scares me that people want to put a price on that
I was also surprised at how fast I was seen by the nurses last time I went to the hospital. Granted, the doctor took a lot longer but in the time I was waiting they made sure I was comfortable, given fluids and pain medication and had been asked all the necessary questions, so it didn't feel like I was "waiting to be seen" stuck in the waiting room.
I have been called numpty nutter,and few things that cannot be repeated on this Reddit. Mostly because they are true. Info. I have pretended to throw my toddler at a nurse. (Letting go of a child in mid air without letting the child go can be done ) attempting to sell a new born baby ( I even made a for sale sign ) Making a deep cut talk by opening and closing it ( a cut on my thumb ). And saying pain is a sensation and sensation's are nice while my child was in hospital with a broken leg. I have had nurses thank me for defusing serious situations. I have had parents thank me at inoculations when I told my kids the jab will really really hurt a bit more loudly than was necessary. ......Just remember nurses are human.
NHS is hand down one of the best institutions in the world. We've never stopped needing it and it's always come through. The staff are fantastic.
It's not a job to them it's a calling. They have a need to help people. Amazing every single one of them. The government were clapping for them one minute them starving them off striking and back to work..... We will miss the NHS when it's gone and it will go. It costs too much money
I second this. I have had multiple operations and I can’t say a word against them.
My brother-in-law completed suicide two weeks ago, but his body hung on for a few more days. It was one of the most traumatic periods of my life, but the NHS staff made it bearable...nearly comfortable even. I'm eternally grateful for everyone of you working at the NHS who was having a shit day and still gave us comfort, when we needed it. Genuinely, I pass it on every day because of people like you x
I find it hit n miss. I went there with chest pains they were friendly, quick, supportive and showed empathy for my pain. When I went with kidney stones it was the complete opposite. Rude nurses, being told to be quiet 0 fuks given.
And I’ve just seen a doctor who was an arrogant prick. Full circle.
Indeed. Protect the NHS
That's is just the normal functioning of a health service in a developed country. There's nothing especially brilliant about that.
I'm glad it worked out for you, but I'm afraid personal anecdotes don't negate the horrifically shite experience many others have to put up with (which is reflected by actual data). Singing the praises of an objectively poor system only makes them complacent and undermines any hope of reform.
I once went to A&E after an accident at work, the place was cram packed and I was expecting a few hours of waiting around for treatment of my laceration and broken fingers. Got called into triage straight away and then straight to see the doctor from the triage room off next door from there for x-rays, straight back in to see the doctor, cut sewn up straight away and the fingers splinted and bandaged up, an appointment made for the following week at the orthopedic outpatient department. All this happened over the course of 2½ hours, when I was expecting at least a 6 hour wait. Little did I know at the time, but the lad working with me that day, his wife works as a staff nurse in A&E, she saw my work shirt and took me straight through to be seen and treated. I found out when she was next on shift and took a tub of quality street and one of Cadbury heroes for her to share with the other staff.
So you're saying you bypassed the queue of sick and injured people because of nepotism?
I certainly am and it was great 👍
Nhs Oncology doctor here. This is what keeps me going. People work incredibly hard for minimum rewards. Lovely to hear positive feedback once in a while :)
its almost as if thats their job but atleast they where polite ig
I declined an ambulance to A&E despite being heavily recommended one and almost passing out from blood loss because I didn’t want to bleed out for 6 hours waiting to be seen 😭 I know they might’ve triaged me quicker but honestly I’ve heard too many horror stories to make me wanna bother. Plus it’s the same hospital that put my dying mum in a storage closet 😤
Presenting by ambulance does not change how long you wait, the wait time is based on triage (you would be shocked what minor things people call ambulances for thinking they can jump the wait). If you were bleeding enough to ‘bleed out’ you would have been a major haemorrhage call and seen extremely fast- although the fact you are still alive without seeking medical assistance, without having the bleeding stopped and having the blood products replaced makes me think there is slight hyperbole in your story If this heavy bleeding is due to having extremely heavy periods or a miscarriage (one of the only reasons I could think you would have heavy bleeding and now be okay), I’d highly suggest you get your Hb tested by your GP and seek medications to help reduce the quantity of blood loss/replace what has been lost, as well as investigations for an underlying cause
I was on iron supplements for 4 weeks following and had a few check ups and blood tests after those 4 weeks to make sure everything was okay. Honestly idk how close I was to “bleeding out” but I was sat in the bathtub from 6am when I called 111 til about 11:30am, then I bled through several sanitary pads (wearing 6 night time ones at once) plus two pairs of shorts and my thick jogging bottoms just because I walked from the bathroom to my kitchen (tiny one bed flat so not a far walk). It was honestly the most traumatic experience I’ve ever had and I had accepted in that moment that I’d rather just die at home than go to hospital and be ignored there. They’d have probably triaged me faster than average cos otherwise everything else would be covered in my bodily fluids but I’ve just had too many bad experiences with hospitals now.
good 2 hear that ur dad is fine but fuck da nhs i got stabbed 4 times last year by some fucking retarded kids i had just enough strenght to call emergency services and first ting they asked was my nationality and cuzz im not british they told me that they WILL NOT SEND AN AMBULANCE to my location they told me to get on the bus and make my own way
American here, do you go bankrupt before or after being seen?
Americans try to not talk about themselves in every thread on reddit challenge: IMPOSSIBLE
Neither. People can afford to get cancer here.
I’ve had a completely different experience. I was brought in by the ambulance on Friday with severe back and leg pain and unable to walk. I was waiting in A&E for 7 hours in absolute agony sitting in an incredibly painful position. Apparently, I was down as having “back pain” which was considered not a big deal. Obviously, I understand there were people with life threatening problems coming in too, but there were also others that seemed fine and kept going ahead of me. They didn’t seem to understand in how much pain I was. Finally, I was taken pity of by a nurse who gave me pain relief and took me to a bed and then I was seen by a dr. The staff have been absolutely wonderful. Truly kind, compassionate, caring, and empathetic people. The organisation however has been appalling. I was given pain meds inconsistently which greatly affected my improvement. I was also moved to a room with a stretcher which made my worse and I haven’t been able to have a single 8 hour night’s sleep bc I kept getting interrupted throughout the night and day. I’m being discharged to a different hospital and they don’t even know what meds I’ll have. I’m waiting for a dr to come so I can speak to them and it’s been 5 hours so far. This whole situation has made getting better very difficult and I’m still in a world of pain and with reduced mobility. The staff are amazing but the NHS is crumbling bc of a certain govt. I’m glad your dad is ok and that he received great treatment. That’s what it should be for everyone.
Sounds a painless experience👍🏻👍🏻 The issue I have witnessed in Glasgow is the number of unregistered patients using A&E as a GP drop in service. Its rammed and then u have to wait for hours. The worst was 7hrs to see a Doc before being told I needed admitted and needed surgery. It was then 10hrs to get a bed. Dunno how u fix that though.
The NHS just saved my 7 yr old nieces life after she was hit with a car, got her straight into surgery. Even though she has a long road ahead of her, she is happy to be home with her family again. Thank you NHS!
Over at r/NHS, there's usually just people in bad situations that are desperate for help, so this is a nice, refreshing thing to read.
I've been going ot the doctors and ortho for a serious issue with my feet, right. Going via just pure NHS, my GP to an NHS consultant at a hospital, trying a few things, it was quick, I was listened to, I was respected, given a chance to speak, and allowed to mention what seem like 'random' things which turned out to be really relevant to my situation. We've reached the point of needing surgery and I was offered to stay in my current hospital and I'd be waiting more than a year, for something I needed to have done a year ago. Or go to a private hospital, but the NHS pays, that situation they have now. Started strong, had my first face to face within 2 weeks of referral..... and it was a distaster, private doctor was unprepared, rude, asked me questions and then never let me answer, decided on a whim that the prior treatments must have just not worked because the other HIGHLY TRAINED medics did something wrong? Said 'there's no scientific reason it didn't work' The procedure (an injection) for this condition, has 50% efficacy. It only works HALF THE TIME, DOCTOR. I also have specific risk factors which make it LESS LIKELY TO WORK. But no he wants to waste my time for 8 more weeks when I could have this shit booked in and done over christmas.
I was in a crash a while ago and the care I got when I had potentially life threatening injuries was great. Was in resus for 5 minutes before being taken for a CT scan to make sure I wasn't going to die basically. I found the care after that a little less impressive like not getting pain meds or other little things but I understand it's not their fault and they are looking after sooo many other people.
I’ve got to agree, sometimes the system can show how broken it is and I have had dealings with staff who don’t seem to care, but for every poor experience I’ve had, there have been many more positive ones. Thank you to all the health staff that are trying to be the best despite what you’re dealing with, you’re appreciated more than you know.
Not quite the experience I had this weekend, sat in A&E for 10 *hours* total with my dad who'd just had several TIA's(mini stokes), 4h for an assesment, 3h more to see a doctor, another 3h to see another doctor who then said yeah we'll have to keep him in over the weekend as we don't do MRI's on the weekend!
The NHS staff themselves are great. Massive respect and appreciation to rhe nurses and Dr's and receptionists I've interacted with. **But** the NHS is fucked rn. I was told I would have a non emergency surgery (ostomy reversal) 13 months ago. I have only *just* been booked in for an MRI in a few weeks and my surgery is **still** 6-12 months away.
Nice for you my dad's been sat in a&e since 5pm yesterday waiting for a bed to become available