NHS Resources - best use?

LadyDee

Health Centre locally has various doctors' surgeries, chiropodist, children's dentist, plus a lot of other services available.

In addition - one post-retirement, part-time, elderly lady for a couple of hours each morning for easy collection of hearing aid batteries (I say now before anybody jumps on me, that I am elderly). Each Friday morning there are two audiologists in attendance for small repairs and adjustments to hearing aids. They are always very busy on a Friday morning and probably between them could see 30-odd people.

This service was withdrawn on 31st March, a letter was received on 8th April from the NHS Foundation Trust - a letter emblazoned with all the awards the Trust has received.

Now some over-paid pen pusher in an office somewhere (or more likely a committee of over-paid pen-pushers) has decided to do away with this valuable service and pay another pen-pusher in another office somewhere to answer telephone requests for batteries and eventually post them - takes about a week to receive them.

Hearing aid repairs? Ring up and make an appointment. If you can't get to a Specsavers or to a Scrivens when they have an appointment available, never mind, you can make an appointment for a home visit for a small adjustment/repair to a hearing aid. How many patients can those two audiologists see in a morning between them? Oh, and in the meantime of course anybody who has very severe hearing loss is completely without their aids.

One can only shake one's head in disbelief that anybody could think this is the most effective use of NHS resources.

sheramber

The pen pusher answering the telephone was probably already on the payroll so no extra expense there.

The part time wages are no longer paid so there is a saving there.

Customer service is too costly.

LadyDee

sheramber wrote: »

The pen pusher answering the telephone was probably already on the payroll so no extra expense there.

The part time wages are no longer paid so there is a saving there.

Customer service is too costly.

And the cost of all the postage? the cost of probably one qualified audiologist driving round the city and surrounding areas seeing maybe two patients an hour instead of four or five at the clinic, using NHS transport or being paid mileage?

I really think you've missed the point of my post.

I'm talking patient care, not customer service.

sheramber

Haven't you noticed the lack of patient care in the NHS ?