The NHS. a question.

It's the old Tory blackmail. Vote for us or we'll make you pay

 

Wakefield unfortunately left a lot to be desired in patient care compared to LGI and they were both rammed on the day/night I was there , I was sent on both occasions by my GP due to a back issue , I’ll not go into the full history but Wakefield sent me home after lying on a trolley for 10 hours only speaking to one nurse and a doctor and one set of observations being done when I’d first been admitted to A&E . The GP next day bless him got me an emergency MRI scan at Pontefract and a few days later he sent me to the LGI via A&E with an infection in my lower back and discs . Over the years I’ve had a mixed experience in Pinderfields some excellent some appalling but every time I’ve been to LGI it’s been top notch

 

Whilst that is definitely a thing, I’m in a Labour constituency and our doctor’s surgery is amazing. I can rock up any time of day and they’ll give me an appointment same day or let me choose a more appropriate day/time. It’s crazy the variation by area. (I suspect it may have something to do with the fact that we have loads of doctors at our surgery as there’s tons of students on the books but they never use the doctor).

 

Seriously, it's not a good idea to take medication you haven't been prescribed. There may be a reason they said paracetamol rather than anti inflammatories

 

Yes, we’ll, that just backs up what my wife says, she’s looked after forensic patience as a HCA at both and said the difference in attitude of the staff is like night and day. As she’s part of a different trust the staff on the ward at Wakefield wouldn’t let her use their kettle - I’m not even joking.
My daughter works in admin at mid-York’s and only 2 months in an elderly patient was bought down from a ward and left ( abandoned) in a corridor waiting for an x-ray, she subsequently started fitting- medical staff walked past and ignored her, my daughter stopped and only after shouting up did someone bother to fetch a nurse. Of course she then received a warning for touching a patient when she’s not medically trained- again, not even kidding.
staff and atmosphere much better also at ponty and Dewsbury, if you ever need non life threatening a&e drive to either of those and avoid pinders, it’s always quieter the staff are nicer and so are the patients!

 

Level of service is awful in our area, we have had walk in centres closed, Grantham the A&E closed but we have a Tory MP.

 

Tell him to ring the Docotrs and say he did 111 online and it said to see doctor straight away.
Our GP surgery has improved slightly in that you can normally get a phone appointment and the doctor will phone then "invite you in" if they need to see you.
Sometimes though it's just a bit silly, wife had a ear infection a bit back and had to go through this process. Obviously the doctor wanted to look in her ear and you can do that over the phone.
The main issue continues to be you have to call at 8am in the morning to get a appointment. This can take a hour or so, meaning if you work those hours and are unable to phone from work you can't have a appointment. Last time I needed one I actually went upto the Surgery for 8am to make one and was greeted with a huge queue. Its all a bit depressing.

 

I suffered from an acute anxiety attack before Easter which is mentally the worse I’ve felt in my life. It was all triggered by having to go to the airport believe it or not, at the time of the worse queues and chaos. I wanted some tablets to help me through it as it was effecting my ability to function normally, I tried for 4 days to get an appointment with my GP, but every time I called at 8 it either would just continually disconnect me or I’d be on hold for an hour and there would be no appointments. I never felt like I was going to do myself any harm but I really worry about people having an episode of severe depression who can’t get help because they can’t talk to a doctor.

 

Mental health support.is practically none existant. I assume the services are just maxed out. My wife was in hopsital for around 2 months last year with mental health issues. They were fabulous, however since her discharge I think she has had two appointments then discharged from the service completely.
She was left wondering if she is now to stay on the level of medication for the rest of her life.
I called them and all they said was she has been discharged. So with the support of her GP she is now weaning off the medication. The GP actually said when he called the prescribing doctor to get some advice, the doctors secretary said he was too busy and the GP would have to make the call.
Now my wife has me supporting her, but it did make me think how many people with mental health issues would relapse due to this lack of support. How many may just stop taking medication because the side effects are so bad.

 

Receptionist at my Dr’s rang me to tell me I needed to book a blood test, when I tried to arrange one I was told had to ring back in morning to make the appointment!!!

 

The NHS has been deliberately underfunded and forced to contract out many services to the private sector, resulting a degraded service in order to promote a feeling amongst the population that it isn't working and needs to be privatised. Don't fall for it.
I agree that your mate took the right course of action, I would have done the same. The fact that they were concerned enough to X-ray it demonstrates this. Sometimes people get things wrong, the person that told him to stop wasting their time might have been a junior doctor at the end of a 16-hour shift.

If you've not seen it, watch "This is going to Hurt" https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p0b6k5gx/this-is-going-to-hurt.

 

I'm in virtually the most conservative of conservative areas, fortunately I can get private via work as even in this area Doctors now appear to be online only/ an extinct species. Getting an appointment for a referral is nigh on impossible, again walk in centres seem to be the best course of action.

 

I'm in the worst kind of conservative area mate, I live in Swadlincote which houses the headquarters office of the UDM, round here all the pits worked through 1984/5 and we count amongst our past MPs one Edwina Curry. The people here talk about being working class but exhibit all the hallmarks of the middle class and voted overwhelmingly for Brexit.

 

Sunak's solution to NHS waiting lists....

 

It’s easier to get an appointment at the weekend or out of hours than during working hours in donny from my experience.

On Sunday my older daughter had severe ear pain, loss of balance and couldn’t open her mouth. Phoned 111 at 11:30, triaged, told we’d get a callback within two hours. Called me at 12:25 and offered an appointment at the same day centre at 1pm. She was seen on time and they sent a prescription for a strong dose of antibiotics to boots in town which I picked up straight away. Home in time for the start of the f1 race at 2pm.

Whereas today I’ve got a really bad back - twisted myself last night and struggling to move today, can’t take ibuprofen at the mo due to blood pressure, so had to phone my gp surgery to see what I can have. Receptionist has said she’ll get someone to call me back - in the next 48 hours.

 

This in spades ^^^^
Spoke of my recent transplant surgery a few times on here.. person may have a defined medical condition to not take certain meds which might even not be just allergies. I am not allowed to take non steroidal anti inflammatories as they can damage the transplanted kidney. Certain other meds (poss naproxen but not sure) are very strictly precribed according to renal function, as the half life of the drug may be such that the kidneys are unable to filter the drug to safe levels before a next dose is due, leading to overdose.
These are just things im aware of due to my condition, so i imagine theres plenty of other reasons not to be taking random unprecribed meds.

 

Far from saving the NHS, the lockdown appears to have broken it beyond repair.

In fact, it seems to me that the only thing that the lockdown hasn't destroyed is Covid.