NHS "shake up" why?
 

What is the point of all this and why are the Tories hell bent on what they call a "shake up"?... the government that says they will listen to, and take into account the views of the people, have been told by the Medical Association that this will lead to disaster.
BBC News - NHS shake-up 'like gas and water privatisation'

Re: NHS "shake up" why?
 

every government that comes into power always mentions some sort of reform or shake up to the NHS

under labour it means good intentions that dont work out too well and under torys it means a sneaky way to cripple the nhs further

Re: NHS "shake up" why?
 

Of course the Medical Association will disagree - otherwise it is like turkeys voting for a second Christmas.
We have suffered a number of screw ups by NHS Administration staff in the past few months - get rid of the dross, that will save money, make for greater efficiency - and make patients a lot happier.
Read the reports on neglect, inedible food, infections picked up in hospitals and the waste.

Re: NHS "shake up" why?
 

The NHS is a complete mess from the top down.
Yes they save peoples lives so we all like it but the way it is organised and the way patients are treated is very poor.

There are many posts on here about cancelled appointments and ridiculous waiting times when you arrive at the stated time. All that is poor management by staff that do not care about patients. If my GP's surgery starts at 9am and I have an appointment at 10am why on earth did I have to wait 1/2 hour to see the Doctor. How can they be 1/2 hour late 1 hour after opening.

A few bad staff make the good ones look bad and they appear to get away with it. I would like to see the staff sickness levels in hospital as that is one thing that was being milked 20 years ago when my Mum worked on the admin side and I bet it still is.

A family member, who I wont name for obvious reasons, was explaining what they have to do. I was shocked at the breaches of health and safety in a Government run building. The same Government that makes the rules on lifting and handling and lone working etc.

Schools are as bad though and they are another Government run establishment.

The NHS still has 'old school' management and attitudes. Most business and industry sorted out the waste of labour and resources years ago, those that did not went under. If the NHS had been a private for profit company it would have gone under years ago.

Re: NHS "shake up" why?
 

The NHS performed as many operations has it has had shake-ups, waiting lists would be a thing of the past :cool:

Re: NHS "shake up" why?
 

Its a known fact that 70 pence in every pound spent in the NHS is thrown down the drain, mainly through stupidity, when you have 998 support staff to every 1000 clinicians there is something sadly wrong

Re: NHS "shake up" why?
 

I did not take the whole quote.. are you saying it is a good "idea" to transfer NHS funding directly to GP's?.. I'll say the NHS is is a sight more better state than it was in the 80's.. it is not a business but this government have an eye on making it a profit making business.

Re: NHS "shake up" why?
 

No I think it is a bad idea. As I said GP's cant even sort out there own appointments.

Recently a GP ignored me when I asked for my daughter to be referred to see an ENT consultant. After a long discussion on the phone with my wife where he said I never asked for a referral she was referred.

The consultant said it was right to refer her and she will be have a procedure soon.

The NHS is not a money making business and it cant be. It can be run a lot more efficiently though.

Little things they do are wrong. They blame the majority of hospital aquired infections on visitors yet they allow staff to go to work and go home in there uniforms. How is this different than visitors? Are these staff washing there uniforms correctly to kill bacteria/virus picked up at work even?

You have to get the little things right as well as the big ones.

Re: NHS "shake up" why?
 

Always remember that in any profit making business there is no waste, if the NHS is run on the same lines with any savings being used what a much better health service we would have, at the moment nobody gives a stuff just how much the NHS is charged for things like stationary medical equipment hospital furniture(beds, cabinets, bedside tables) because its taxpayers money and nobody gives a fig, cut out the waste and you get a better service

Re: NHS "shake up" why?
 

Thats not true at all.

I work for a profit making company and we have waste.

Spent several days recently improving a water recycling system to make the first stage 10% more efficient and I have not finished yet.

You can always make savings and you don't always have to reduce staff/quality/standards/safety to do it. Sometimes you just need the right person to look at it.

I have spent the last 20 years making efficiency improvements.

Re: NHS "shake up" why?
 

Everyone has had a good say at slagging off the NHS..but the question was .Why?.. will the NHS be better if funding is given directly to GP's.?

Re: NHS "shake up" why?
 

I said no it wont. In my opinion GP's cant organise themselves. Mine still close half days and at lunch time. How pathetic is that. They have more than one receptionist so why do they take lunch at the same time? Some people can only phone up at lunch time and they are closed.

I class my GP's as one of the better ones as well.

Re: NHS "shake up" why?
 

well if its left in the hands of surgeries like peel house it sure wont and i think a lot of people who are there will agree or those that do will have probably switched by now.Iv never known a doctors be closed so much for staff training infact i think astronoughts go through less training to fly the space shuttle than they do for answering phones which isnt their strongest point coming to think of it :rolleyes:

Re: NHS "shake up" why?
 

Well I can well understand that, but does this happen to the same extent in any government funded body, at the end of the day if the company you work for loses money had over fist to wasteful stupid spending it won't be long before your out of a job, public funded bodies don't give a toss because it has no effect on their being, if it did, they would soon look for ways of cutting cost in the RIGHT areas, but don't hold your breath

Re: NHS "shake up" why?
 

I did not say my company does wasteful stupid spending.

The NHS needs most its top management replacing and needs some serious shake ups lower down as well. They need to get rid of lazy useless staff and replace them with ones that want to do a good days work for what is after all a reasonable remuneration package.

I think a lot of NHS staff dont live in the real world work wise. They would have a shock if they were in industry.