OT 25309 the NHS

[Andy_Faber]

Sorry to hear you’re unwell GP although that’s a bloody good knock leading up to your confinement

My own observations based on decades of nhs/private care experience could be summarised as

‘Standards of care and organisation vary widely’

The gold standard for us is our local GP surgery who not only have their own house well and truly in order but seem to know as much about the doings of the local hospitals as they do themselves. If funding models are fair and consistent I don’t see
Why all such establishments shouldn’t be as well run, BUT having touched on this point with the practise manager (and she was actually defending the performance of other practises) she identified the quality of the management team, the compliance of patients and communication issues as the three big obstacles to that gold standard

In patient experience as a user and concerned parent has been littered with fubars caused by poor processes and a consultant who’s comms skills written and oral are/were appalling

My A and E experiences are at the low end of the scale, there’s so much that could be improved in the way people are

[Andy_Faber]

Sorry missed the last word ‘processed’

[ramAnag]

But good news whilst hanging around here I got a good deal on cataract operations - 4 month waiting only instead of 2 years previously indicated. Right place right time. And by ultrasound now

That’s good news. Might make you less ‘one eyed’…and improve your keyboard skills.
Get well soon.

[macstheman]

Bed bath time soon GP😉
Get well soon.

[Trickytreesreds]

First reaction, GP…and without intruding, sorry to hear you’re unwell and hope you’re soon back to full health and able to return home armed with glowing reports of your treatment.

I do have experiences to recount, which I’ll save for later, but I can honestly add that when the going has got properly ‘tough’…in my experience they’ve regularly come up trumps despite the apparent chaos all too often caused by the unreasonable behaviour of certain ‘clients’.

Good luck, hopefully you can be our ‘roving reporter’ but not for too long before you’re back home.

I can back that part. When the **** really hits the fan, they can be amazing.
Its from the GP's up, I find the whole thing laughable.
Waiting times, failure to diagnose, lack of staff, lack of attention to detail, lack of capacity.

My last visit over a year ago, i was eventually told kidney stones were my problem. I arrived to an A&E with no more seats available, Luckliy I had been in touch with 111 and they had entered me on the system and instructed me to go there. I got to skip that warzone part. But I still spent 3 hours on a trolley, hooked up to morphine before getting scanned and seeing a doctor. After 7 hours, I was transferred to the City, where I then spent another 5 hours waiting, before being given more pain relief and sent home. The passing part, I'll skip on.

It needs serious re work for me. Too many chiefs, not enough indians and not enough treatment before hospitals should be involved.
Too many people fighting for bed spaces. It is the same as the prisons.
Either more are needed, or the customers need reducing.

[Geoff Parkstone]

Reducing customers is an interesting option. Reducing care standards will deal with that one quickly enough but reducing time wasters at front end in A&E and educating customers that A&E is just that would ensure smooth flow. My experience is very limited but there seemed a lot of people with no clear reason to be there although I accept sight will not always be a reliable assessment

My overriding impression is that there are a huge number of very old virtual veggies staring into space in here (ok I've not been in pediatrics or maternity.) But a more Malthusian approach could ease overcrowding although may not be to my advantage...

[Geoff Parkstone]

That’s good news. Might make you less ‘one eyed’…and improve your keyboard skills.
Get well soon.

No, I'll be even more one eyed as only getting left done first. This time next year though....then your turn - or isn't it in your gene pool?

[Andy_Faber]

Sorry to hear you’re unwell GP although that’s a bloody good knock leading up to your confinement

My own observations based on decades of nhs/private care experience could be summarised as

‘Standards of care and organisation vary widely’

The gold standard for us is our local GP surgery who not only have their own house well and truly in order but seem to know as much about the doings of the local hospitals as they do themselves. If funding models are fair and consistent I don’t see
Why all such establishments shouldn’t be as well run, BUT having touched on this point with the practise manager (and she was actually defending the performance of other practises) she identified the quality of the management team, the compliance of patients and communication issues as the three big obstacles to that gold standard

In patient experience as a user and concerned parent has been littered with fubars caused by poor processes and a consultant who’s comms skills written and oral are/were appalling

My A and E experiences are at the low end of the scale, there’s so much that could be improved in the way people are

And to round it off, my outpatient experience sits between in patient and a and e and I’m currently two hours into an attempt to change the date of an appointment the hospital already know I can’t make. The appointment process is a shambles of wrong numbers, unhelpful staff, the need to repeat security details again and again and again, it’s an MRI scan so I’m trying to save NHS what I guess is an expensive wasted hour, one ‘helpful’ suggestion from the hospital is that I drive in and tell department staff in person. Shambles

[Ramshank72]

No, I'll be even more one eyed as only getting left done first. This time next year though....then your turn - or isn't it in your gene pool?

When are you getting out then Ol' mucker? Get well soon!

[Geoff Parkstone]

Today's theme - IT.

As I said I've never been an inmate before today but on past visits to friends and family in wards, I remember big offices with patient records, treatment plans etc. Patient notes at the end of the bed, about 1-1 ratio of staff to patients.

Now that ratio is about 2-7 everyone is barcoded and all the readings are zapped onto laptop - bloods, blood sugar, blood pressure, temperature done and recorded in no time at all. A huge change in use of technology, shifting the administrative functions away from the care staff and letting them focus on what they're good at.

You constantly hear of IT issues in the NHS but the use of it at the coalface seems to be excellent. Move wards and everything automatically shifts.

There will always be improvements to make but for now it seems to work fine. The train drivers / rail companies could learn a lesson from IT related efficiencies here.