NHS cutbacks??

lindsay ormerod · 18-05-2006, 17:13

My 10 year old daughter had an operation at Blackburn Royal on Tues morning;she went to theatre at 9;30,was back on the ward by 10;50 after a full anaesthetic and an epidural.she has both legs in casts from the knees down and was hugely brave.The nursing staff and consultants were brilliant;so what is my whinge?
Well;we were discharged from the hospital at 4pm WITHOUT a wheelchair or crutches!
We had to find a wheelchair ourselves from a list given to us by a very helpful nurse (cheers Andy CSU ward 11).It took 15 phone calls before we tracked one down,on loan from the Red Cross which we then had to collect from Darwen and pay a donation for.
My daughter is an average 10 year old;how on earth was she supposed to get about without a wheelchair;yet even the consultant could not get us one;"they are like gold dust" he said. Had it not been for a friend collecting the chair and the list of possibles from BRI we would have been housebound for a possible 6 weeks!
This situation just beggars belief.......grrrr

cashman · 18-05-2006, 17:19

i too would be very angry in the same situation. WITH sucessive goverments who have underfunded the nhs and made silly cutbacks.

BLACKBURN RAVER · 18-05-2006, 17:32

change your name ud get one then

accymel · 18-05-2006, 18:10

Blimey Lindsay thats so pathetic of BRI, my son will be having an op in a year or 2 on his foot he has severe club foot so his mobility will be bad. So i hope to god that they will have a wheelchair or at least crutches altho his balance is not good enough for crutches but better than nowt cos i aint carrying a then 10year about!!

Certainly when i go back for referral before his op i will make a point of reserving one!! Cheers for the warning.

AccyMad · 18-05-2006, 18:11

Unbelievable, you've got enough on your plate with your daughter in plaster without having to cope with all that as well. The sad thing is it probably happens all too often, anyway just wanted to say hope your little 'un is feeling better soon.

Neil · 18-05-2006, 19:06

I hope she gets better soon Lindsay.

Madhatter · 18-05-2006, 19:33

Very believable to me, once your discharged and they do that very quick, they more or less leave you to it, don't care how you get home and if anybody is there to look after you. I had a double hernia operation, got pushed out of the hospital and was made to walk acrossa a carpark to a volunteer taxi that I had had to kick a fuss up to get. It was absolute agony getting in the damn thing, a bit better getting out though. The guy was brilliant, although had I known I was getting a taxi cab, I could have ordered one myself. I thought I was getting the ambulance that was going to where I lived anyway but go told thats only for old age pensioners. So it doesn't matter what op you've had done, how fit you are, it's how old you are. My gran who can walk can but I can't. Then I had to get up 13 steps to the flat, they wasn't bothered how I did, they gave me the wrong medication and I had to pay for the replacement prescription, which I also had to find some way of collecting. Then I had to get my ex to look after me.
I'm not impressed with any of it tbh.

SPUGGIE J · 18-05-2006, 20:09

I cant believe there is no cash for basic mobility aids!! Yet I bet there are funds for all these management berks who do nothing to justify a six figure salery. NHS envied by the world not rubby likely just laughed at and a lot of urine extraction in its direction. When on earth will reality set in???

cashman · 18-05-2006, 20:49

thats reality spug- whats happened to lindseys poor kid- get used to it.

Wynonie Harris · 18-05-2006, 20:57

So why does that horrendous woman, Patricia Hewitt keep telling us that there is no crisis in the NHS in her oh-so smug, patronising voice? Just how stupid does this government think we are?

lindsay ormerod · 19-05-2006, 20:05

Thanks for your good wishes and concerns chaps;little un is doing very well;she will be back at school on Monday;thankfully Peel Park have disabled access and the teachers have been very supportive and have done everything possible to make this difficult time more bearable.Just to reiterate;the staff at BRI were great;they are fighting a losing battle against the system that constantly lets them and us down.Maybe things will improve when the hospital moves to it's new home at Queen's Park....

.

jimmi5bellies · 20-05-2006, 07:52

Best wishes for your little one and hope her legs heal quickly.

Just a thought, could social services not been able to help ? When i needed aids to help me in my flat (grab rails on shower, toilet, flashing door bell and other aids they was up within a few days after i rang them.

garinda · 20-05-2006, 10:35

Missed this thread, hope she's making good progress.

It's bad enough for you, but what would have happened if it had been an old lady say with no transport to drive around to find a wheelchair?

Would they have just been seen to the door and expected to crawl around until the cast came off?

lettie · 21-05-2006, 12:41

I wouldn't bank on things being any better after the move to the new hospital (now called Royal Blackburn Hospital). Almost every department is cutting back big style and losing staff. Ms Hewitt must have been taking some strong drugs if she is happily locked in cloud cuckoo land and cannot see that there are huge problems with the system... Then again that's what you get from having a Health minister with no background in the NHS..

SPUGGIE J · 21-05-2006, 15:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by lettie

I wouldn't bank on things being any better after the move to the new hospital (now called Royal Blackburn Hospital). Almost every department is cutting back big style and losing staff. Ms Hewitt must have been taking some strong drugs if she is happily locked in cloud cuckoo land and cannot see that there are huge problems with the system... Then again that's what you get from having a Health minister with no background in the NHS..

How many managers are going in the cuts?

If what Hewitt is taking drugs wise I want some if the world looks that rosie.