One example of many within the NHS
 

NHS officials pay £32 for gluten-free bread that costs £2.25 | Mail Online

I know the cynics amongst you will say ah its the Daily Mail, but this is one hundred % true, and its not the only example of chronic waste in the NHS, paying 15 times the price of a supermarket, there is something not right here, cut out the waste and more money will be available for patient care, it ain't rocket science is it

Re: One example of many within the NHS
 

Good example of why matrons and nurses will always do a better job than managers. Managers live in a different universe divorced from the practical realities of the daily grind, just like many politicians.

Re: One example of many within the NHS
 

This is NHS Wales, which comes under the direct responsibility of the devolved Welsh assembly. It's just one more example of the waste incurred by our celtic friends as they liberally dispense english money.

I suggest we solve the problem by letting them have a couple of thousand saline drips, surplus to requirements from Stockport Hospital, charge 'em a hundred quid each and in a few years time there will be no buggar left in Wales and nowt for us to worry about.

Re: One example of many within the NHS
 

I'm not sure that is exactly true.
Nurses go into nursing to nurse patients.

If they are managing budgets, then this takes them away from their primary role....of nursing patients.
How do I know this...well, because I went into nursing to look after people.....I gained experience and with this, came promotion.....I was moved further away from the actual caring role....the more promotion I got the further away this would take me from caring....and from using my experience, and from passing on this experience to nursing staff who needed and wanted supervision.

I was not trained in management skills until the very end of my career.

What was my influence on the management of budgets? Very little.
Purchasing decisions were made on behalf ot the nurses and patients by someone else, the only input I had, was at a once a month meeting where products in use were discussed(The Product User Group forum).....and we were asked to give recommendations.......these recommendations were rarely followed on expense, but would be followed if we criticised the safety.

I could have been far better employed in being on my ward, carrying out nursing duties.

I have been out of the NHS for 9 years now(after 30 years of service)....I can't imagine that things have changed very much....except that nurses seem to be thinner on the ground.

Re: One example of many within the NHS
 

This is a very insensitive post, taking into account the seriousness of the current situation in Stockport.

Have you no thought for those who have been affected by this situation?

Obviously not!

Re: One example of many within the NHS
 

Fair enough, I was thinking more of the matron/nurse system which older nurses seem to all say was a much better than the system they have now. The matron worked her way up so knew all the ins and outs. I don't know how much they had to do with purchases but if the price of bread or the general costs of what patients needed were restricting the amounts or availability, then the matron would know about it and act effectively before it got out of hand. At least, that's what I've been led to believe.

Re: One example of many within the NHS
 

Surely those who make these ridiculous purchases must know the price of bread & other consumables from when they do their own shopping, or are they so high & mighty others do the shopping for them, and they think thats the right price for bread.
Retlaw

Re: One example of many within the NHS
 

Foodstuffs would be the domain of the catering Dept.
When people think of Matrons, they think of the days beforethe Salmon re-organisation...when one matron ruled the whole hospital...the current system of matrons is vastly different........and I think these senior nurses were just given the title of matron because the general public saw the Matron as being in sole charge......it was just a Google Page Ranking exercise.They were called nursing officers before this.

Re: One example of many within the NHS
 

I've been on placement on my ward for nearly 3 month now..... never seen the matron, never heard anyone mention her. We had a problem one Sunday we were informed that she wasn't available the clinical director came in from home instead.

Re: One example of many within the NHS
 

It's the old matrons I was thinking about, just a few for the whole hospital. That was when the NHS was admired all over the world.

Re: One example of many within the NHS
 

The time you are talking about was in the 60's(and before) and there was only one Matron per hospital.....the one at QPH had a little Scottie dog which she would take on the ward rounds with her........if you were summoned to see Matron it was for something pretty serious.

Re: One example of many within the NHS
 

Not only that Jay but when bread is ordered they provide 8 loaves at a time. When queried we were told to get a larger freezer.
A month or so back Tesco were stocking Warburton's gluten free - that was around £2 a loaf and far better that the NHS supplied ones but we were told there was only one supplier to the NHS:confused:

Re: One example of many within the NHS
 

My cousin in Wales is coeliac and she told me that you have the option of bread or flour on prescription.

A bread machine sounds a better option than 'a bigger freezer'.

I was on a low carb diet last autumn and didn't eat any bread for 3 months.
I didn't feel deprived. Most commercial white bread has a low nutritional value.
When you make your own you can add extras (eg eggs and ground nuts) to make it worth eating.

Re: One example of many within the NHS
 

Don't think that's right Barry, I know the bread Joan gets on script is by a firm called Juvella, but she has had others, but Juvella is by fare the best. as for the 8 loaves at a time it seems strange, 8 loaves is the monthly limit, can little pom not arrange with her doc to get a script for 4 every two weeks as opposed to just one monthly for eight, just a thought

Re: One example of many within the NHS
 

There is a points system Margaret, Joan gets both bread and flour on script, plus some pasta, pizza bases, and biscuits, each item has a points allocation, she doesn't bother with biscuits because they're awful.