Well NHS and local Gp's. and here's why? 2 reasons First/ My cataract op which I has done less than 2 weeks ago. I had 2 choice. wait 5-6 months to get it done on the NHS or less than 4 weeks Private. As my sight went rapidly I went for private. and glad I was in a position to as I was told after the first meeting with my surgeon that I may be blind in my other eye by Easter. 7 Now if I went with the NHS would they let a 36yo, sole earner for my family and the only person in my family business who can do my job legally. IE: other than paying for another to do my job with my qualifications no one can step in. if that makes sense. I was told that I would have to wait a minimum of 3-4 months for my op even if it was rushed through thanks NHS let me go blind before you do anything Second/ My 80yo gran has been in a lot of Hip pain for 2-3 months. She's active and does not look her age. All she gets from the various GP's she has seen over the months was 1 X-Ray that did not show much, no referral to see anyone. And basically told it's a sports type injury and just take some painkillers it will go. So after having feck all done, no checks and was told last week if she wants to see a GP next it would have to be the first or second week of jan WTF So me and Mum told her to go and see as specialist private just to put her mind at ease. and or try and find out what's going on. So she booked up to see a surgeon yesterday and got to see him yesterday evening. Within 15 mins of seeing him he told her she may have joint problems, and after 1 x ray taken on her side it shows she has worn away cartilage in her hip resulting in a full hip replacement is the only way to remove the pain and help her So no help from the GP's or referrals in 2-3 months but by paying for it and in less than 2 hours have found out the issue GP's and the NHS are not on my or my family's Christmas list this year Sorry for the long rant
I have to agree with you, Matt. This year has really opened my eyes. No pun intended. I've had BUPA paid for by my employer for years but have never had cause to use it but this year I've used it twice. After my quad bike accident last year I had physio. First with the NHS and then at a private hospital and the difference was huge. The NHS guy gave me a whole 10 minutes of his time and gave me a series of exercises to do at home. They were all painful as f*ck and ineffective. The private guy spent an hour with me for the first consultation and then took me into a fully decked-out gym. Sat me down and got my shoulder moving within 20 minutes or so. I'd pretty much fully recovered after 5 sessions. 2nd time I used it was to sort my tonsils out. I went to see my GP and they were barely interested. Suggestions of gargling with this, rinsing with that etc etc. Then I informed them that I was in BUPA and they just wrote me a referral. I went to see a brilliant surgeon who talked me through my options and we decided to take them out. I had assessments, pre-op assessments. The OP. Post-op assessments. Etc. He even identified a problem with the hearing in my left ear and sent me for a hearing test and wanted to do a subsequent operation to correct that. It made me realise. It makes ALL the difference when you're paying them £200+ each time you're seen. They can't do enough to help you. I'd sum it up like this. NHS - Ryanair Private - Emirates
It's amazing what you get when you pay for it ey After spending the last two years refurbishing a hospital you do realise what a shower of shite the NHS is run by, what money they waste and how inefficient they can be. However, you cant forget that they have had the arse torn out of them in terms of budgets and funding and are under immense pressure (particularly in the winter) with patients to deal with. End of the day, you cant forget it's a service which is still envied across the world, and although you havent had great service, there is still a service should you need it. My main gripe with the whole thing though is it seems (in london) that a huge portion of the people benefitting from the service dont appear to have contributed a great deal to the funding of it or and the fcukwits on deaths doors clogging up beds and staffs time being treated but still summon the strength to haul themselves outside for a fag! should be told to fcuk off there and then.
Similar experience for me also. Got cellulitis of the leg 2 years ago, I was in high fever when my wife brought me to A&E. Now my wife was a senior nurse in a HD/ITU ward (she now lectures nursing) so she knows her stuff. On arriving at A&E she already diagnosed cellulitis and told the staff on duty and said I should be immediately put me IV antibiotics and fluid, did they listen, feck no, because I didn’t have chest pains, have a head injury I was way down the queue never mine my temperature, the Triage Nurse wasn’t really fussed about me. My wife at this point started kicking a fuss. It took hours before a Dr could see me an only then did they start listening , they put me on IV’s any delay longer I would have died. In the end they stuck me on an NHS ward . The ward was terrible. I was next to folks who had days or hours to live. Some of these guys were probably on their last few suppers and the food was so bad you wouldn’t give it to the dog. The general state of the ward was dirty and the toilets were just filthy. The Drs could not tell me how long I would be in there for and it depended how far the infection had taken hold, so I could have been in there for weeks!. Then I remembered I had private health from work. As soon I mentioned this several consultants came out of the woodwork and could not be more helpful, I was then immediately transferred to a plush Bupa Hospital, I promptly recovered in about week. I truly believe had I been left in the hands of the NHS I would have been a gonna. Its makes me mad of the state of things now, the NHS was great establishment but the funds are stretched, staff resource is over worked and good care is no longer sustainable. Good people will go where the money is and that’s sadly the private sector.
You will have the people who use the NHS but are not really entitled to it but are in the Uk just at the right time on holiday if you get me. But I don't really want that to be the issue here. but will affect the funding side of it I am in and out of hospitals for my work and I can just see the money doing down the drain from the waste. Little example and not for work this one I went to see my surgeon after my last hip op. Only 2 consultants in all day. just 2 in the orthopedics section of frenchay in Bristol. blood good hospital that they are closing FFS. but thats off topic 2 of the consultants. all the people in there are pretty much in to see them. but their are: 3 receptionists. about 6 care staff on, talking to people, pointing people in the right direction. 4 nurses calling people in 1 or 2 at a time. 4 nurse!! and go knows how many cleaners popping in and out. 13 people doing what? not including the cleaners We just need to go in, sit and wait to be called. see consultant then leave. While I was there 2 hours in total every person could walk or wheel themselves into see the consultants. Most of the time the care staff and nurses did very little at this time I am not saying they don't all work hard as I know nurses do but just seems to be overkill the amount of people working for what really needed to be done on that day. so wasting money Make sense. I hope it does ^^ I would also like to add I have up-most respect for the people who work in the NHS and have many friends who work in it. just the NHS in general seems not to work how it was intended
All anyone has to do is head off to A&E during the nite shift an your eyes will be opened with every passing minute! I have unfortunately had the experience of this a few times and every time it's filled with useless fekers that's downed a bottle of pills that were someone else's just because ???! Are in there coz they have not spoke to anyone for a while n just want a chat so that defo warrants them to get a psych evaluation! Another woman was there for a check up as she was wanting to claim whiplash for a car incident but skipped out the place after waking in like a 90 yr old cripple! Oh an let's not forget the noisy feker that's always there keeping every bugger up all night shouting out he wants to die and someone should just come and kill them now!
Doesn't sound good Remal. I think the NHS service seems to be different depending where you live. Some of my elderly customers ie 80 to 95 year olds only had to wait up to about 8 weeks to have a cataract operation. My partner who is only 40 gets terrible service locally both from the GP's and local hospital. To get the medication she needs she has to go to Cambridge because Suffolk health authority will not prescribe the drug she needs because of the cost. Suffolk will not monitor her treatment because the drug is supplied by Cambridgeshire. Thus we have to travel to Cambridge frequently, which is not only time consuming but expensive. On the other side of the coin, when we had to use the 999 system a month ago due to my partner not being able to breathe they were outstanding. I am glad we have the NHS, but IMO it is quite poorly run in some regards, seems managers and admin get quite well looked after but the actual nursing/medical staff seem to get a bit of a raw deal.
I do have to applaud the actual front line nursing staff tho as they really do take the brunt of everything that happens in there, paid a pittance in comparison with those higher ups and if there are any cutbacks it's the front line staff that go not the overpaid fat cats that can't run a pi55 up in a brewery!
Its nhs staff that put us back together when the worse happens,I think the majority are hard working and dedicated but its the luck of the draw ive got no complaints but know plenty that do have complaints
i blame the doctors for being greedy, i had knee problems years ago . went to nhs specialist was given the usual long waiting time ,had an accent at work and twisted the same knee , so i went private … straight in , no problems ,the thing that got on my goat is , it was the same bloody doctor that i had seen on the nhs who was working for the private hospital… sorry but if the nhs have paid to get him qualified ,he should be working more for the nhs rather than working on the side. all doctors do it ,that is why they only work a couple of hours for the nhs and spend the rest of the day moonlighting. THAT is why you have to wait 4 months to get owt done.
Do you honestly beleive that? Last time I checked dr's committed 7 years of their lives doing a Uni degree at a huge personal cost, often resulting in massive debt which takes years to pay off? Hardly blame them for splitting their time between Nhs and private can you? If it were me, I wouldn't do any Nhs work at all. Ever think it might be down to funding, sheer demand and priority that determines your waiting time for your FREE operation?? Of course you'll get it quicker if you pay, because you are PAYING for the service? That's life I'm afraid. I wish we lived in utopia where we all got weekly checkups and instant treatment but unfortunately it doesn't exist. The last 4 phases I completed at the hospital I'm working on have included a icu children's surgical ward, an adult burns unit and a children's burns unit. All of which I can assure you are incredible facilities with world class staff that by Christ if you ever was unfortunate enough for you or a member of your family to be in, you'd be thankful for the Nhs and the service they provide - FOC I've personally dealt with these people before and after the facilities are in use and I've seen the hours and commitment the staff put in, honestly mate, they deserve a medal for some of the things they deal with and the salaries they are on. I'm sorry but a busted up knee, as much as it might be painful and a hindrance on your daily life, isn't the biggest problem they have to deal with.... Is the Nhs efficient - no, could it be run better - yes, should. We be grateful for it. I think so
See I had a great experience when I went in for my vasectomy a few weeks back. Couldn't fault the medical staff. On the other hand the administration side that lost my forms twice wasn't so clever.
i was in hospital after a big bike crash , don't get me wrong , saved my life , but wasn't too impressed when my lung collapsed for the second time and had to wait until the following morning to be seen by a doctor . also didn't help that when they re inflated it ,i was saying something wasn't right as the pain was horrendous . i was told to man up as they pushed a big corkscrew thing through my ribcage and into my lung. i was told later that they had only given me the first part of the anaesthetic ,and forgotten to give me the bit that actually made it work. my wife is a nurse who used to work nights /weekends etc, she left because there were too many managers in the job and not enough nurses, she hated going to work so moved into school nursing and immunisation.
My wife Elaine has just had a neck operation at Halton Hospital near Runcorn and although NHS the place was spotless and every aspect of nursing and treatment was 100 % spot on ?We are going back tomorrow to see the consultant to see if the neck support can be removed ,but I have only praise for this stress free total experience .
my old man had a serious heart attack a few weeks back while he was in Plymouth the paramedics picked him up and he was in derriford operated on and in recovery within 5 hours AMAZING PEOPLE. I know what youre saying mat sometimes they are slow BUT when you really need them they are the best in the world,my old man would be dead if they were not there !
My biking days are numbered with the litany of medical problems every time I visit a GP he is more intent on slapping a prescription in my hand and showing me the door ASAP. They are just prescription writers. Tossers
My big sis and partner work for the NHS. If you are up in scotland particularly somewhere remote or one of the islands it will be my brother in law in a chopper that will come and treat you. She deals with casualties near Glasgow, both trauma specialist first response paramedics. Lovely couple bringing NHS's finest service
I was only commenting on the 2 recent situations. and as I said I have up-most respect for what the NHS has to do with the budget. Just seems due to it being such a huge business and run so differently that often it gets mishandled and run poorly not due to the front line staff. IE: letting a 36yo do blind before rushing to get a simple 15 minuet cataract op done. Or missing a full hip replacement after 2-3 months of going to see doctors and getting given wrong information. to be told after 15 mins you will probably need a hip replacement then after another hour and a x ray. re the private GP and working in the NHS. I've had 3 Hip op's. I pointed my gran in the direction of the Spire in Bristol and to see the Surgeon who did my op's. Now it took me 6 weeks to see him after my last op. My gran paying to see him took about 6 hours. But I have no issue with this. as I understand if you go NHS you have to wait. Private then you don't.
Ok, I've had some things to moan about but on the whole I've personally had good experiences. When a very good friend had a serious off last August the treatment he got was outstanding. Over a year on and they are still operating to get him just right. Without the NHS I would have lost a pal that night.
