Hinchingbrooke Hospital

BobQ

Wookster wrote: »

Perhaps because most of them will only ever have worked in the NHS with very little private sector experience and crucially, never have faced the threat of insolvency/ being fired for failure or competition.

I have to admit that I was under the impression that most of the top NHS CEOs were appointed from external roles. But I have to admit that I am wrong.

http://www.yorksandhumber.nhs.uk/document.php?o=3626

This is a fairly revealing publication commissioned by the NHS in Yorkshire&H to undertand how their CEOs reached these positions. First thing that amazed me is that only two thirds of them cooperated in the survey. The pen pictures of those that did show that CEOs are mainly promoted from within and have very few non-public sector jobs between them. This indeed may explain why wo have inefficiencies in the system. Why misiters have consistently failed to ensure that appointments to such positions demonstrate business skills I cannot understand.

oldvicar

I'm not one who thinks that employing even more private sector 'expertise' is the answer to the NHS's ills.

Sure there are massive savings to make, but even a public sector eejit could do that if they stopped playing silly boogers and politics.

Here's my real life example:

Over the years I got used to medically neccessary 'annual' reviews being booked typically 14 or 15 months after the last one. No real harm done. Everyone understands that NHS resources are stretched and all that. The country probably cannot afford to boost spending by say 25% to eliminate the 'waiting list' and ensure annual reviews come every 12 months.

Come the revolution (a tory/liberal government is formed) and the NHS Trust is told that whilst its money will continue to increase a bit, they will need to economise and become more efficient:

Annual review comes around. Time to book next year's. Surprise surprise, in exactly 12 months time. NHS receptionist: "Oh, hang on a minute, you missed out on one last year. Tell you what we'll book you two appointments next year, one in just 6 months time, to catch up!!" Me: "No that really isn't neccessary, for medical reasons I only need an annual check-up, er, annually, and I'll call you if there's a problem meanwhile". NHS (crestfallen): "But you must, my manager has told me I have to book extra appointments to catch up. We have got a new computer, and I have to". Me:"OK". [No skin off my nose - my public sector employer will give me the day off]

Now there's a bit of the NHS that has suddenly become over-resourced and has to provide double the service medically required. Or, more likely IMHO, a deliberate attempt to build up a crisis and waiting list / backlog, in order to "prove" a need for yet more resources and to "prove" that efficiencies being demanded are "not feasible". Maybe even a deliberate attempt to sabotage 18-week waiting targets etc.

This has to be a deliberate conspiracy rather than incompetance.

Cynical? Me? Surely not?

ILW

BobQ wrote: »

I have to admit that I was under the impression that most of the top NHS CEOs were appointed from external roles. But I have to admit that I am wrong.

http://www.yorksandhumber.nhs.uk/document.php?o=3626

This is a fairly revealing publication commissioned by the NHS in Yorkshire&H to undertand how their CEOs reached these positions. First thing that amazed me is that only two thirds of them cooperated in the survey. The pen pictures of those that did show that CEOs are mainly promoted from within and have very few non-public sector jobs between them. This indeed may explain why wo have inefficiencies in the system. Why misiters have consistently failed to ensure that appointments to such positions demonstrate business skills I cannot understand.

As said before, it's an exclusive club looking after their own interests. They really do not want an outsider coming in and showing how awful they are, and will do everyting they can to stop it happening.

RenovationMan

Everytime I have had any dealings with the NHS I have found that the front-line people are outstanding (doctors and nurses). It's the people in the back office who are letting everyone down. Swinging the lead and messing about on internet forums while they count their salary and cast iron NHS pension. We all know who I am talking about, but I'm the only one with the integrity and courage to pull him up about it. Until you all do the same then you can't moan about the NHS because you're just enabling the waste of money. Shame on you all. :mad:

CLAPTON

lets take an example of what's wrong with the system

take MRSA as an example


in the public sector it takes a lot of time to identify the problem

- the government acts
- MPs grandstand
- committees are set up and ordered to report within 6 months
- parliamentary committee holds an inquiry
- after 6 months or so targets are set
- government produce 2,000 pages of guidelines
- the government may make extra money available
- hospitals say they are working on the problem
- things get better slowly


private sector
- MRSA isn't really a problem because if it were known that there was a problem in a private hospital it woul go bankrupt with a matter of days/weeks;
so every doctors, nurse, manager etc know that they will face unemployment within a small number of days/weeks so everyone has a massive incentive to keep things clean and manage MRSA properly.


the problem isn't really the people but the system.

CLAPTON

RenovationMan wrote: »

Everytime I have had any dealings with the NHS I have found that the front-line people are outstanding (doctors and nurses). It's the people in the back office who are letting everyone down. Swinging the lead and messing about on internet forums while they count their salary and cast iron NHS pension. We all know who I am talking about, but I'm the only one with the integrity and courage to pull him up about it. Until you all do the same then you can't moan about the NHS because you're just enabling the waste of money. Shame on you all. :mad:

my view that is was the front line doctors and nurses that let 300 or more old people die at Stafford hospital and that poor chap at St Georges die of dehydration even after calling the police.

BobQ

RenovationMan wrote: »

Everytime I have had any dealings with the NHS I have found that the front-line people are outstanding (doctors and nurses). It's the people in the back office who are letting everyone down. Swinging the lead and messing about on internet forums while they count their salary and cast iron NHS pension. We all know who I am talking about, but I'm the only one with the integrity and courage to pull him up about it. Until you all do the same then you can't moan about the NHS because you're just enabling the waste of money. Shame on you all. :mad:

By definition "front line" staff are those you as a member of the public come into contact with. So, in what authoratative way can you criticise the people in the back office you do not actually meet for what you think they are doing.

grizzly1911

CLAPTON wrote: »

my view that is was the front line doctors and nurses that let 300 or more old people die at Stafford hospital and that poor chap at St Georges die of dehydration even after calling the police.

Was it the clinicians or the way they were managed?

stonethrower

RenovationMan wrote: »

Everytime I have had any dealings with the NHS I have found that the front-line people are outstanding (doctors and nurses). It's the people in the back office who are letting everyone down. Swinging the lead and messing about on internet forums while they count their salary and cast iron NHS pension. We all know who I am talking about, but I'm the only one with the integrity and courage to pull him up about it. Until you all do the same then you can't moan about the NHS because you're just enabling the waste of money. Shame on you all. :mad:

My wife was in hospital recently and the quality of care was mixed, from very good to terrible. In the emergency ward they were great. In the general ward the nurses and cleaners were hopeless, from wrong medicine given to her twice and wrong diagnosis once. The cupboard beside my wife's bed had buns in it that must have been there for a week, hard to tell because there was so much fungus on them. In the end I cleaned it myself as it would have been unfair to interrupt the cleaners gossip and tea time.

RenovationMan

stonethrower wrote: »

My wife was in hospital recently and the quality of care was mixed, from very good to terrible. In the emergency ward they were great. In the general ward the nurses and cleaners were hopeless, from wrong medicine given to her twice and wrong diagnosis once. The cupboard beside my wife's bed had buns in it that must have been there for a week, hard to tell because there was so much fungus on them. In the end I cleaned it myself as it would have been unfair to interrupt the cleaners gossip and tea time.

Too much money is being spent on IT and not enough on primary care and nurse training. You have Graham Devon to thank for that, while he is on here all day the NHS have to employ another person to do his job for him.