NHS IN CRISIS
Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2018 11:31 am
As I read this missive from an NHS doctor, I just thank the stars that it isn't me or my family in there.
I realise that there are critics of the NHS (often those who can happily afford private medicine or Americans, like they have anything to boast about) but if we were to invest properly for the future instead of sticking another plaster on to try to hide the under-investment surely the NHS can be restored to full fitness ?
Take a look at those mentioned in A+E here. They are mostly elderly - so not likely to be immigrants. The mentally ill, the intoxicated - neither should be there. Then there are the people with a sore throat, a pulled muscle or whatever, again they simply clog up the system. It's ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY - not feeling a bit off.
"Most of the patients in the corridor today are elderly. Some clearly have dementia, and are confused as to where they are. There’s no dignity, no warmth and a very long wait ahead before the hospital starts seeing and treating them. It turns out that I didn’t manage to shut them out of my mind at all.
As I walk into the changing rooms there is chaos everywhere. A crisis has hit all the staff. The cleaners have needed to help with getting cubicles and bed areas turned around faster and faster, so the staff areas have moved to the bottom of their list. There are literally no clean scrubs or uniforms left for any of us to wear. “Don’t worry, whatever you’ve got on is fine, just start seeing patients.” The bosses are as stretched and as desperate as anyone else.
I am allocated to the “minors” area. This area was designed for ambulatory patients who could be walked into a room, seen and walked back out to the waiting room to wait for results. It is already full of patients on hospital beds, pushed two together in three out of the five consultation rooms. Some are elderly, confused, alone. Some are young, injured or very unwell. One is a mental health patient with severe anxiety. This is not the place to make her feel better. Far from it.
Over the PA system, pre-alerts for ambulances carrying critically unwell patients are announced – the ones whose condition is life-threatening. In 11 minutes, four ambulances carrying patients who need immediate resuscitation arrive. This would saturate the system on a good day. Today they have nowhere else to go.
The inadequate care we are providing is the inevitable reality of the government’s funding decisions
I hear a call for “security urgently” over the PA system. The call is repeated two minutes later. We all know it’s for show. The security team are stretched and scattered all over the hospital, and can rarely answer those calls. This time a staff member had been attacked by an intoxicated patient.
As I walk back down the jammed corridor, increasing numbers of screaming and crying patients line the lanes, creating an emotional and physical obstacle course that every staff member walks down. It’s truly sickening."
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... own-crisis
I realise that there are critics of the NHS (often those who can happily afford private medicine or Americans, like they have anything to boast about) but if we were to invest properly for the future instead of sticking another plaster on to try to hide the under-investment surely the NHS can be restored to full fitness ?
Take a look at those mentioned in A+E here. They are mostly elderly - so not likely to be immigrants. The mentally ill, the intoxicated - neither should be there. Then there are the people with a sore throat, a pulled muscle or whatever, again they simply clog up the system. It's ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY - not feeling a bit off.
"Most of the patients in the corridor today are elderly. Some clearly have dementia, and are confused as to where they are. There’s no dignity, no warmth and a very long wait ahead before the hospital starts seeing and treating them. It turns out that I didn’t manage to shut them out of my mind at all.
As I walk into the changing rooms there is chaos everywhere. A crisis has hit all the staff. The cleaners have needed to help with getting cubicles and bed areas turned around faster and faster, so the staff areas have moved to the bottom of their list. There are literally no clean scrubs or uniforms left for any of us to wear. “Don’t worry, whatever you’ve got on is fine, just start seeing patients.” The bosses are as stretched and as desperate as anyone else.
I am allocated to the “minors” area. This area was designed for ambulatory patients who could be walked into a room, seen and walked back out to the waiting room to wait for results. It is already full of patients on hospital beds, pushed two together in three out of the five consultation rooms. Some are elderly, confused, alone. Some are young, injured or very unwell. One is a mental health patient with severe anxiety. This is not the place to make her feel better. Far from it.
Over the PA system, pre-alerts for ambulances carrying critically unwell patients are announced – the ones whose condition is life-threatening. In 11 minutes, four ambulances carrying patients who need immediate resuscitation arrive. This would saturate the system on a good day. Today they have nowhere else to go.
The inadequate care we are providing is the inevitable reality of the government’s funding decisions
I hear a call for “security urgently” over the PA system. The call is repeated two minutes later. We all know it’s for show. The security team are stretched and scattered all over the hospital, and can rarely answer those calls. This time a staff member had been attacked by an intoxicated patient.
As I walk back down the jammed corridor, increasing numbers of screaming and crying patients line the lanes, creating an emotional and physical obstacle course that every staff member walks down. It’s truly sickening."
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... own-crisis