NHS. The Good, the Bad, and the Indifferent.

Quackers

Fruitcake wrote: »

We have certainly had our money's worth. :T

And us over the past 2 years

My daughter had neurosurgery almost 2 years ago and the care at Manchester Childrens hospital was fab.

She had surgery again back in November & the after care was mostly excellent.

Like others, I could grumble about some things but I'm not going to - the good most definitely outweighs the bad.

Tandraig - my daughter had her hair washed by a nurse just before she was discharged as they knew I was going to struggle at home - no need to do it - totally not necessary & she was really rushed for time - but she did it to cheer up my daughter and make her feel better about how she looked

shirlgirl2004

I could give lots of examples of poor care in the NHS and some good but even when bad it is better than the equivalent in Spain. My relative is now in a private nursing home and the care there still isn't great. There are still the same issues of shortages in staff and equpment. I guess any place is only as good as the staff.

brightonman123

i had 1st hand experience of NHS docs / ambuilance crew, with a breathing (lack of) scare last year..

All front line staff are ACE.

snapping_crocodile

tandraig wrote: »

Over the last 55 years I have seen the NHS decline, as a child I remember nurses on their hands and knees wiping up vomit. now they just leave it and eventually its cleaned up by 'hotel services'.

Please dont tar us all with the same brush of your bad experiences :mad: I would never dream of leaving vomit on the floor, neither would anyone else I work with...and as for so called 'hotel services', the domestics where I work are actually not supposed to clean up bodily fluids. We all do it our selves, and one night I actually ended up going straight from clearing up urine and faeces from one patient, to unblocking a sink full of vomit from another :rotfl:

Liz3yy

I've also had up and down experiences of the NHS.

When I was 18 I got gastroenteritis (sp?) I was in agony and couldn't keep any food down, my doctor at the time said I had a muscle spasm?! luckily I was able to get a second opinion from another doctor who knew what they were doing.

A year later I got chickenpox and looked so grey and sore that I was taken to A&E one evening. I was seen quickly as they suspected meningitis, I was seen though by 9(!!!!) doctors before they eventually realised what was wrong with me! I narrowly escaped having a lumber puncture.

In 2006 during a nasty bout of tonsilitis (sp?) I called an ambulance one morning as the cocktail of drugs I'd been given to fight the infection disagreed with me and I swelled up like a red balloon. Once at the emergency room I was left to stand swaying by the desk as the receptionist, paramedic and nurse argued over where to treat me. Once they found me a bed they stuck a drip in my arm then left me there for two hours!

The worst one though had to be Basildon Hospital, which has been in the news alot lately for terrible hygiene problems. My partner drove me there one evening to see a ear, nose and throat specialist when I was having trouble with my tonsils. We were asked to wait in a room that my partner said had dried blood on the walls and floor! I was too out of it to notice luckily.

churchrat

Most of the "care" we have recieved from the NHS has been fantastic. They are helpful and (mostly)kind. BUT the admin is dreadful.. Letters get lost, telephone calls are not acted on and receptionists lie about what they have and have done.

Having said that, I would much rather have this system than the American one.

go_cat

My experience definitely gives the NHS big thumbs up
I was 39 weeks pregnant when my doctor randomly checked my blood as I had a urine infection ( she still doesn't know why she did it ). the results came back that I had a very low plalet count - was rushed into hospital and induced. After a lengthy labour and having every consultant in maternity seeing me they eventually discovered I had HELLP syndrome a rare complication of Pre Eclampsia.
Baby got into distress, I was deteriorating fast had to have emergency c section but both me and my son were fine
If it hadn't been for their care and determination to find out what was wrong with me, neither of us would be here today.
I have nothing but admiration for the nurses and medical staff.

tandraig

when my son was a child I spent at least two weeks every month in hospital with him. for about 12 years. i saw the good the bad the indifferent. i also saw the decline in care. i saw kids which werent washed on paediatric ward because parents werent there to do it. I also saw my son taken into a & e into filthy cubicles and yes i raised hell. I also saw my son rushed into a & e by ambulance staff because he was in severe respitoraty distress and the ambulance staff were ignored and so was my son! for over an hour!! he ended up in ICU, who were fantastic! but also said that it could have been avoided!
I also saw my son admitted by a doctor who ordered a drug he was allergic to. if I hadnt been there he would have died all because the doc didnt read his notes. and you wonder why I am not a fan of NHS?
dont get me started on my sis in law who has cancer hmmm took months to get a diagnosis because she shouldnt have that cancer because she had hysterectomy in that hospital. then, oh dear - they lost her notes, so her treatment was delayed. and can you believe? her consultant says how important this second lot of chemo is (as the first lot nearly killed her as they mistaknly gave her too much) to be given on set periods, they can record her apppointments for the blood tests but when it comes to the chemo - they is no appointment for that so she has to wait two weeks!! that has happened twice! if it was me - I would be getting solicitor involved - my sis in law is tooo nice! i would live just to get the !!!!!!s in court to be honest! trust the NHS? lmao

madeforidiots

I must also extol praise (and vent) for NHS Tayside. To make matters worse, my OH is a nurse so I better watch what I say!

My mother had been admitted 3 times to A+E in a period of 24 months for various reasons. She also had to stay overnight at least once on all 3 occasions.

My only one vent is that they promised to do a bone scan twice (due to her age and one accident was a broken wrist) and yet has still not been done.

Thankfully the whole process has been no problem and she has fully recovered from everything. Hospital food was good as well apparantly!

My own personal health and it being dealt with by them is currently.... under review!