Art in hospitals...a waste of money?

SueC_2

Errata wrote: »

If that's Northwick Park, the best piece of artwork there was for years on the roundabout at the approach to the hospital which read, in very large letters, 'Nicholas Parsons is the opiate of the people'
It always made me smile.

OMG - I thought I was the only person who that had a major impact on!

You're showing your age though... we used to drive past it every Sunday as we used to go and visit my grandparents... I was a small child questioning what an opiate was and refusing to accept my parents' assurances that they didn't know (still not quite sure whether they were protecting me or incredibly naive)!

I've not lived in Harrow for the best part of 25 years, but if I'm ever passing through, I still 'see' that graffiti on my way past. By my memory it actually said 'neo opiate'.

Errata

I'm fairly old, I passed my driving test in a chariot. You're right, it was neo-opiate, and here's it's Facebook fan site http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5383543820

SueC_2

Errata wrote: »

I'm fairly old, I passed my driving test in a chariot. You're right, it was neo-opiate, and here's it's Facebook fan site http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5383543820

Amazing, absolutely amazing!

lizziem_2

onlyroz wrote: »

Isn't this more to check whether your condition has got worse? Overall it should cost less to monitor patients on a regular basis, to keep track of their general health and to adjust their prescriptions if necessary, than it would be to treat them if their condition took a turn for the worse.

I don't think it is. The specialists at the clinic only want to see me once a year as they think after almost 20 years of diabetes I have a reasonable grasp of what to do and am able to get in touch if I need to - I have direct phone numbers for the diabetes nurses. They are the people I would go to if I had any problem related to my diabetes. My GP is a generalist and I would not expect them to have any sort of in depth knowledge of diabetes management. They monitor other aspects of my health - if I had depression, an ear infection or wanted to go on the pill, for example, they would be my first port of call.

melancholly

so we've established that the art isn't spent from NHS budgets at all then?

it is interesting that the OP works in the NHS and thought it was NHS spending..... a lot of things are being thrown around about NHS wastage and threads like this make me realise how much is based on assumption (although not a particularly unreasonable one here, i'm not trying to attack the OP). the debate in the public arena seems devoid of actual facts and there does seem to be a general opinion that NHS managers like to throw money away for no good reason. i wonder how much of that is actually true......... probably very little.

onlyroz

lizziem wrote: »

I don't think it is. The specialists at the clinic only want to see me once a year as they think after almost 20 years of diabetes I have a reasonable grasp of what to do and am able to get in touch if I need to - I have direct phone numbers for the diabetes nurses. They are the people I would go to if I had any problem related to my diabetes. My GP is a generalist and I would not expect them to have any sort of in depth knowledge of diabetes management. They monitor other aspects of my health - if I had depression, an ear infection or wanted to go on the pill, for example, they would be my first port of call.

OK, but I have experience of these "review" appointments - my husband has to see his GP every 6 months to monitor his blood pressure (and like you, without them his prescription won't get renewed). At these check-ups it will be decided whether his current drugs and dosages are suitable and whether his symptoms have changed. Now hubby is the sort of person who won't go and see a doctor unless he's dying, so I think it's a good thing that he's forced to take a more active role in his condition and it's good that the doctors can monitor him properly - otherwise they'd be dealing with an A&E admission a few years down the line because he's had a stroke or heart-attack or something (which presumably would be much more costly to the NHS than giving him a 15 minute consultation every 6 months).

I have a friend who is fairly senior in the NHS and his view is that if you cut back on basic GP services and "routine" testing, ulitmately it is the A&E that will bear the brunt, because people will be left untreated until their condition reaches critical mass and are forced to seek treatment.

shirlgirl2004

Some hospitals do buy art from public funds and I don't think they should. They could get work from art students etc. There can't be very many heartless artists that would refuse donating a piece of art either permanently or temporarily.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1316772/Essex-hospital-splashes-421k-modern-art-trying-slash-budget.html

Errata

TOWIE at its best.

Tish_P

I wouldn't trust the Daily Mail to get its facts straight, particularly about NHS spending. They published that nonsense about £32 loaves of bread.
http://wales.gov.uk/newsroom/healthandsocialcare/2011/110719gluten/?lang=en

shirlgirl2004

Tish_P wrote: »

I wouldn't trust the Daily Mail to get its facts straight, particularly about NHS spending. They published that nonsense about £32 loaves of bread.
http://wales.gov.uk/newsroom/healthandsocialcare/2011/110719gluten/?lang=en

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