Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

A friend of mine was due to go to the Royal Blackburn today for a pre-arranged appointment. Transport was booked and when it hadn't arrived by the appointment time my friend rang to ask why. He was informed that due to a crisis at the Royal Blackburn all appointments had been cancelled (don't know if that meant for all clinics). Is this crisis down to the flu outbreak does anybody know???

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

It is yes

East Lancashire flu cases rocket (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

I heard yesterday that there were problems because of flu, I have two appointments in the next two weeks, one at the Victoria and the other at the Royal, I'm seriously considering asking for the one at the Royal to be deferred until March, as I am allergic to the flu jab and just don't want to put myself at unnecessary risk

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Whole UK has a flu problem its horrendous.

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

:( Unfortunatly my Grandma had to be taken to A&E early yesterday morning at Blackburn, she managed to get a bed straight away as she was very ill but there were a long line of stretchers waiting on the corridor to be placed some-where as there were no beds on the wards and no beds in A&E.

Doctor informed us that there had been a woman there since 2am and they couldnt move her off A&E as there were no-where for her to go.

My Grandma has since been moved to Intensive Care @ Preston but as soon as they wheeled her out they were wheeling another patient straight in her room.
:(

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

For those who pray please (if you dont mind) add my Grandma to your thoughts she needs all the positive thoughts she can get at the min. Thanks :(

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Heth....sending your Gran a huge helping of positive thoughts(prayers too).

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Thoughts and prayers are with your gran and all of you Heth

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Thankyou Margaret, will be going to see her soon so will let you all know how she is. She had brain surgery last night (her 4th one in total in the past 8mths) so she will be quite groggy but hopefully I will get a smile out of her

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Thankyou Bernadette, I appreciate your thoughts, will let her know when I see her in a bit that people are sending there prayers and thoughts.

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Ah bless, Heth .. fingers crossed for your Gran.

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I've had an Appointment for Monday cancelled & rearranged for February!

Best Regards - Taggy

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Thanks,been to see her this aft, she was awake for 20mins so managed to get a giggle out of her but she is high as a kite on the drugs when she was awake but then gets tired very quickly.
Long journey but hopefully she will be back home soon, she is still in high dependency intensive care and the next few days are the important.

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Glad that you got to see her and that you could raise a chuckle out of her......laughter is the best medicine...next to sleep.
Hope she recovers well and is soon back at the heart of her family.

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

I have one on the 27th of Jan, but have decided to ask them to defer it until March, I don't have the flu jab as I'm allergic to it so I need to be at the Royal anytime soon like I need a hole in the head

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Just been speaking to another two people who have had their apointments put back between 5-6 weeks too Jaysay!...Strangely i had an appointment there last week for the eye clinic, which went ahead as normal, but the clinic was unusually quiet, its normally very busy but was about 25% full in the waiting room!

Best Regards - Taggy

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You are still alive John..........be thankful for that.

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I thank the good Lord every day Roy, but the only reason I'm still here is I have never taken chances where my health is concerned and attending the Royal for what is a routine appointment, would be taking an unnecessary risk

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Been a tough few days, she is still in Preston Intensive Care and not doing too well. She keeps suffering from mini strokes/fits and when this happens her heart keeps stopping.
She can talk while she is awake and we are trying to keep her spirits up, its hard but we manage to hold it together for her.

While she has been there a young lad passed away from Swine Flu which is quite scary as he were in the next room to my Grandma.

Thanks again to all that have wished her well, its nice to know I can come and let off some steam on here :)

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Fingers crossed for you.

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Thank You :)

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And mine Heth, you are in my thoughts and prayers, Berniexxx

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Thanks Bernie xxx

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Things arnt looking good for Blackburn Hospital.
This is disgraceful.

Staff survey reveals major problems at Royal Blackburn Hospital (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Its a pity that the same source didn't come up with this two years ago because it was just as bad then, I know I experienced it first had

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Like you say its been like this for a while but it makes uncomfortable reading.
They have praised the nurses which I think was a good thing to do.

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My beef has never been with any front line staff heth, its with the ones in the ivory towers, you know, the ones that sit there all day on 50 or 60 grand a year and are nowhere to be seen after 5pm or weekends as they are probable polishing their top of the range cars that go with the job:mad:

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Totally agree with you thats why I said that I am glad that they had mentioned the good job that the nurses do. They often over-look that.
Hopefully this will article will give them the kick up the bum that they need and quickly.

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Don't hold your breathe, heth, think it will take more than that to shift these leeches, after all would you sack yourself to free much needed funds for the areas which require it, not a cat in hells chance

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I would actually sack myself John as I could not live with knowing that people are suffering/dying unnecessarily just so I have a job.
I would also use alot stronger word than leeches but Neil will shout at me! ;)

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Neil doesn't shout heth he just deletes:D

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Your not refering to a voted out Labour County Councillor are you , like the one who was given an administration job that was never advertised :eek: :eek:

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

sorry timed out on adding this link
Welcome to East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust - www.elht.nhs.uk

not bad , get voted out in June and get appointed to a part-time sinecure paying £23K p.a. 3 months later , suppose it helps to top up her pension , who says they don't look after their own

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C.
Dont know how they sleep at night

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They get free sleeping pills:hidewall::D:D

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Aye I thought that after posting! :rolleyes:

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Don't get me started, don't care who or what they are SJ to me anybody purporting to RUN the NHS should have a clinical background and know just whats want at the sharp end with the emphasis being more on the shop floor and less paper pushers, then we might get somewhere, and that includes this government too:mad:

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Here,Here

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Well it's certainly not in the Hospital in a single sex ward !

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Concerning The Royal Blackburn, I've just received an outpatients appointment, just the usual time date etc., but on the back there was a update your details, plus asking about your ethnicity as in the the box if your white British, outer-Mongolian etc you get the drift:rolleyes: then at the bottom there was this notice headed Overseas Visitor Policy, which read

There are national regulations about who is entitled to free NHS Hospital treatment and it is in the interest of the public that all hospitals ensure these regulations are enforced. If this is your first visit to this Trust you must provide proof of residency in the UK and this must be produced when you book in for your appointment.

This must be two separate documents from the following list:

Birth Certificate, Utility Bill, Bank Statement, Passport, Entry Clearance documents or Ancestral Visa

Can't say I've ever seen that before, especially the bottom bit about overseas visitors:rolleyes:

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Stating what's required is one thing, the actual implementation is another thing entirely !

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Hooray, Hooray again. Not a minute before time....however, there is always a fly in the ointment.
Getting the details is one thing...getting the money from them to pay the bill is another one entirely.......but give them E for effort.

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

I've been gone 8 years and only now are they doing the things which I banged on about while I was there.

John I agree with you about those who run the NHS having some experience of things at the sharp end.........I would have every single NHS manager work on the frontline(dealing with patients) for a whole year before they could even think of doing the management bit.........they would have to do portering, HCA'ing, records and reception duties, serving meals, cleaning the wards(obviously they would need supervision for all these things).

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I agree with you Margaret, if they can earn to be in a high position job they will treat others better and make better decissions.

They havent had to work night shift, had to deal with confused/agitated patients who will not settle or had to be in 10 places at once like our nurses not to mention all the other things they have to do.

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That's how it should be Margaret, but I think I'll be walking on water before it happens, can you actually see these nonce's getting their hands dirty on the wards bed pans, making beds, feeding patients, helping them get washed, not a snowball in hells chance

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Do like they do in America Dave, Credit Card please Sir/Madam:rolleyes:

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John, while I was still working at the hospital we had a chief Exec who worked on the 'shop floor' one week every year....and he encouraged the other managers to do the same.
This man was approachable and would listen to you if you had a problem.......shame he left. I could always tell him what I thought.......and believe me, I didn't mince my words when it came to making sure patients were getting what they needed.

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Actually they do something similar here, if I go to the Docs which is officially the first port of call (unless I'm hurtled in by Amby) after asking my name they then want my Medical card, it's like a credit card & states which medical provider I'm covered by, they whip it through the machine & this confirms I'm paid up & legal.

Further to that we also have to pay €10,00 "Praxis Gebuhr" (Practice Costs) for every quarter. Okay if I don't go I don't pay, but when I do go if I've paid for that quarter that's me & I can go as often as I like in that present quarter without further costs. This came into effect in 2004 & there was all kinds of screaming & shouting saying people wouldn't go because of cost, they were pricing the poor out of treatment etc,etc !!! Panic mongering, there was no noticeable drop in Folk getting treated, they grumbled right enough about paying the €10,00 but that's just an aside, a part of Human nature, but the system works.

Mind you I haven't had to pay for a while as I let the Witch pick up my repeat prescriptions ! ;)

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I think that doctors should be able to charge those patients who make an appointment and don't turn up for it(if they ring and cancel, then that is different).......Hospitals should also be able to do the same.
I was involved in a pre-operative clinic and the number of people who just didn't bother to turn up was unbelievable. In the end I used to phone them and ask them why they hadn't attended....thing was, if they didn't attend then they didn't get their operation.

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I started a thread on that a few months back and got my ears chewed of Margaret I forget now but the money it costs by missed appointments is ridiculous to say the least, I can honestly say I have never miss one appointment in all the time I've been attending hospital I always try to give notice if I have to cancel, think the nearest I ever came was last year when I started with a bad chest infection the day prior to an appointment and cancelled right away

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Unfortunately my Grandma has been taken back into Blackburn Hospital after suffering a massive epileptic fit on Saturday morning and while we were there on Saturday a nurse told my Mum that they have had to issue GP's in the area with a letter stating that only patients that really need hospital attention to be sent and not to send patients that the doc's can deal with.
This is due to them not having any beds or enough staff on to deal with the patients.
Luckily my Grandma was seen straight away and also dealt with a lot better than in the past and is now on a ward.
One thing I noticed is that the corridors were very quiet and not hustly and bustly like they usually are.

Bit strange I thought doc's would do this anyway? Like I have said though my Grandma seemed to be treated better this time.

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Hope she's well cared for, and recovers quickly, and is soon back in her home. x

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Thanks Gary, she is still a bit dopey :rolleyes: but doing ok. She needs some rest for a few days as it were such a big fit but should be home on Tuesday.

X

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Hope they get her sorted Heth, and back where she is happiest....at home.
Thinking of you.

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Thanks Marg, she hasnt mentioned going home yet, I think she knows in her own little way that she needs a lil looking after but no doubt she will be asking when she is going home soon!

I just dont get why the hospital has sent letters out like that, anyway for the time I were there it looked like it had worked.

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

I know why Heth...GP's can be a very selfish bunch......if they send a patient to hospital they know they aren't going to be ringing the GP on Call service in the middle of the night.

I know from experience that GP's will admit anything if they think the can get away with it.
That was one of the prime reasons we started our assessment unit......to give patients peace of mind, but also to return patients to the care of their GP if they really didn't need hospital care.
Best of both worlds.

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Just heard that my Grandma is being dis-charged this aft so all is good!!

She must have had another good kip last night and feels alot better.

I agree with you Marg on the doctor side, they seem to pass patients from piller to post just to get rid of them.

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

I can second what Margaret has said. Some GPs will send people to hospital with things that should be treated by them... This is to prevent being called out at night, to free up a busy surgery or because they don't feel confident to deal with you in the surgery. The latter reason is especially true if you happen to be pregnant. GPs are terrified of pregnant ladies and will send them to hospital with the simplest of non-pregnancy related conditions eg, colds, chest infections etc. I very much suspect that they send other people with known medical conditions to hospital, even with symptoms unrelated to that condition, because people with lots of medical conditions are time consuming to deal with.

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

glad to hear yer nans feeling better n coming home heth.

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Thanks lettie for confirming what I said.
And you are so right about the non related illnesses!
Doesn't seem like things have changed much for the better.
Personally, I think some GP's are lazy.

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Thanks Cashy, she is going to be well happy that she is coming home!! :D

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sorry to hear your grans not been well again .. but the good news being shes coming home today ....

Re: Crisis At Royal Blackburn
 

Thanks Jen, she cant wait!!

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That's great news heth, if your you've been ill the best place is at home to make a full recovery

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Thanks John, she is all settled now at home :D

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Sorry to hear about your Gran not being well Heth but good to see she is now back home

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Thanks Bernadette, I have told her last night that she has to start behaving herself now!!