Crisis At Royal Blackburn

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by DaveinGermany

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

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

[Margaret Pilkington]

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.

[DaveinGermany]

Originally Posted by jaysay

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

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 !

[Margaret Pilkington]

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.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

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.

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

[heth]

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.

[garinda]

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

[heth]

Originally Posted by garinda

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

Thanks Gary, she is still a bit dopey 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

[Margaret Pilkington]

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

[heth]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

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

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.

[Margaret Pilkington]

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.

[heth]

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.

[lettie]

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.

[cashman]

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

[Margaret Pilkington]

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.