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Old 02-11-2006, 13:06   #6
jambutty
Apprentice Geriatric
 
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Angry Re: NHS - Is it really that bad?

I would have demonstrated to “Two Jags” that I was still capable of drawing a long bow with either hand or use the middle finger of my hand to point to a flying pig.

I don’t have any recent experience of the hospital arm of the NHS so I cannot say if things have improved or not since my last stay two or three years ago. However during my last stay I was not impressed with the level of service but that was probably due to the lack of staff. But I have to point out that during the course of a day what few nursing staff we had on our ward they spent almost as much time in the office with the sister in charge of the ward discussing Corry or whatever as they did attending to the patients. And woe betide a patient who had the temerity to summon one of them during their natter time. To be fair though many of the nurses, but not all, were dedicated and caring but their care and dedication was constrained by the amount of time they had with a patient – due to lack of other staff to share the work load.

However the non hospital side of the NHS is a different matter. I can get an appointment with my doctor the same day that I ring up IF my problem appears serious enough and I am prepared to wait and wait and wait in the surgery waiting room for either a cancellation, someone not turning up or to be seen as the last patient. Fortunately there is always someone who just hasn’t turned up but that’s a thread on its own.

I recently attended because I was passing blood in my water. Not just a slight pink but a dark red. My doctor decided that I must have some sort of infection and prescribed antibiotics, which I dutifully took as prescribed. Later that same evening I started to experience pain in my big toe left foot. By next morning the pain was more than severe. Even a gentle cough would produce spasms of excruciating pain in my foot and even walking became an exercise in gritting teeth.

I don’t know about anyone else but I always read the leaflet that comes with medication and when I read the leaflet for the antibiotics I was informed that one of the possible side effects might be sore, swollen and painful joints. So I rang the doctor and explained my predicament. “Come to the surgery” the receptionist suggested. “I can’t walk” I replied “Can I speak to the doctor?”

Eventually he rang me back and he decided that I should try a different antibiotic, come and collect the prescription. “I can’t walk.” However to be fair he did arrange for the new prescription to be delivered to a chemist who would then deliver the tablets to my flat but not until the next morning. He did not offer anything for the pain. I take Warfarin so no Aspirin and with a history of kidney problems Paracetamol or Codein are not recommended.

By mid evening I was in agony so I rang NHS direct fully expecting them to suggest a visit to A&E and to arrange it. But no, after talking to one nurse who said that someone would ring me back I was left to my own devices. Some two hours later another nurse rang me back and we went through the same procedure of name, address, medical history, how severe was the pain etc and all she could advise was that she would contact the hospital doctor and he would ring me back. By this time it was close on midnight and the doctor did ring me back. Same old routine only this time it was more difficult because the doctor’s command of the English language left a lot to be desired. Eventually he agreed that he would come out to see me. “When?” I asked. “Within a few hours” he replied.

By this time I had discovered a way to propel myself around the flat sat on an office chair on castors so I was able to unlock the front door and make myself a very welcome brew.

The doctor arrived looked at my foot with disdain in his face suggested that it was gout and told me to take some pain killers. “But I don’t have any” and explained why I cannot take over the counter pain killers. He delved into his bag and brought out a blister strip of tablets together with a prescription form that I had to sign. These tablets worked enough to enable me to get some sleep in my recliner chair until daylight. The new antibiotics arrived and by evening, although still in a lot of pain, I was able to get around and make brews and soup to keep me alive until the morning. By evening I had used all the pain killers so taking my life in my hands I didn’t take that days dose of Warfarin and took Aspirin instead. Aspirin has always worked well on me as a general pain killer and I was able to actually go to bed to get some sleep. Within a week I was back to my normal self and no longer peeing blood.

Compared to the last time that I was forced to invoke the services of NHS direct when a severe kidney infection and a swollen closed tube from kidney to bladder had me in agony and whisked off to hospital faster than you could imagine, this latest episode underlined the deterioration of the NHS. No doubt due to the cut backs that the government claim haven’t happened.

However a more recent experience was down to the nurses but then their morale might be low because of what is happening to the NHS as a whole. But it is still no excuse.

A few weeks ago I was attending my annual check up with the GP’s nurse. I went in sat down and she went through the process of making sure that I was the right patient. I was weighed and she started off about smoking and diet. Then the phone rang, which she answered. Ten minutes later she was still nattering on the phone, which judging from the conversation, that I could hear, was more personal than professional. I was left sat there starting to quietly fume. To be fair as I can be she did repeatedly apologise for the interruption but made no attempt to end the conversation by informing the caller that she would ring back because she had a patient to attend to. Whatever happened to good manners? Surely an attending patient is more important than discussing things on the phone especially as the topic seemed to be personal.

Only this morning I attended an appointment at the Warfarin clinic only to be told when I arrived my usual ten minutes ahead of time that the clinic had been cancelled because the nurse was having a day off. They claimed to have either written to or phoned all those scheduled for today. “Sorry but we don’t have your address or phone number” was the excuse. They had my domestic details last year when an appointment was rearranged and I’ve been attending the Warfarin clinic from my current address for the last five years.

Then to add insult to injury, the nurse who was supposed to be having a day off rang me minutes after I got home to arrange another appointment for next Thursday.

So to answer the topic of the thread, I think that the NHS, as a whole, has gone downhill.
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