SOS NHS

[inbetween]

I’m not sure it’s as straightforward as your last paragraph but it’s certainly one of the things that needs fixing. When I was a lad anyone of us could go tap on the GP’s front door of a weekend and he’d fix us up. Nowadays you can’t get an appointment and by the time you can you’re either dead or better.

Yep, years ago you could get the doctor to come to you, fat chance of that nowadays unless you employ your own doctor!

The second problem aside from the GP system is the massive backlog because of the diagnosis appointments and treatments cancelled due to COVID. I don't know how we can fix that beyond increasing staff levels and maybe using private healthcare to rapidly increase the number of appointments available elsewhere.

There needs to be a balanced approach really. The whole thing needs resources but it needs to be put in the right place to get more people seen. If a private MRI paid on the NHS can be offered sooner for example then why not? That's where I disagree with many on here, I think the private sector can really help and it should be used to help because why not? I'm not arsed if we bring waiting lists down and the consequence is some companies make some profit.

To echo others on here though the NHS needs staff, lot's more staff and they should be paid properly to enable them to do their job properly. I don't know really why their pay is treated like a political question because they are people facing economic hardship too and I got a cost of living pay rise so I don't see why they shouldn't.

 

[metalblue]

Yep, years ago you could get the doctor to come to you, fat chance of that nowadays unless you employ your own doctor!

The second problem aside from the GP system is the massive backlog because of the diagnosis appointments and treatments cancelled due to COVID. I don't know how we can fix that beyond increasing staff levels and maybe using private healthcare to rapidly increase the number of appointments available elsewhere.

There needs to be a balanced approach really. The whole thing needs resources but it needs to be put in the right place to get more people seen. If a private MRI paid on the NHS can be offered sooner for example then why not? That's where I disagree with many on here, I think the private sector can really help and it should be used to help because why not? I'm not arsed if we bring waiting lists down and the consequence is some companies make some profit.

To echo others on here though the NHS needs staff, lot's more staff and they should be paid properly to enable them to do their job properly. I don't know really why their pay is treated like a political question because they are people facing economic hardship too and I got a cost of living pay rise so I don't see why they shouldn't.

You’re not wrong - I’d caution against outsourcing the entire diagnostic and treatment to the private provider on the basis that the consultant you see at a private appointment is the same person you’d see on the NHS in the vast majority of cases so it doesn’t speed things up in that sense. If there is a backlog in scanning then absolutely we should (and do to some extent) use private facilities.


The main thing that matters is the NHS remains free at point of delivery - however that delivery arrives - and for specific needs such as reducing a backlog I would support it. However I do understand why people are hesitant of the state using private providers as they see a rubicon has been crossed and once in general acceptance with the public the next logical steps (as they see it) would be to hand it over piece by piece to private providers. It then becomes easier for a government to cap per patient costs with the providers which typically results in poorer service as these private companies chase profit. These fears are not without either strong foundation or precedence.

 

[Rascal]

This NHS that you want to save, it wouldn't be the one that asked my 88 yr old mum to attend an appointment at Salford Royal last wek for facial skin cancer treatment would it ? Because having got there they realised she hadn't had a pre-op so sent her home. A pensioner can ill afford £40 in taxi fares never mind be fucked about by people ..... (bites tongue)
Or perhaps its the one that 6 months ago recomended a certain procedure for my brother. When he rang up last week to find out what was happening, he learnt that they withdrew that procedure.... 5 months ago. No one thought it worth telling him or organising something different. He will now have to be referred back to the specialist to decide what to do.
It's fucked and it needs ripping apart.

Are you aware that your mum would have qualified for help with transport

Was she attending the Christie section or in house Derm service?

 

[Rascal]

The whole thing needs resources but it needs to be put in the right place to get more people seen.

Interestingly there is currently research being done into a model that predicts missed appointments. I am a patient representative on the study and whilst it is early days and there are obstacles, if this model works it will free up an estimated 20% of appointments through a mixture of shorter consultation times and more convenient double booking. Missed appointments are a burden on the NHS and if the predictive model works then more people will get seen with the same resources being used and at no extra cost.

One of the major issues is that if a patient misses an appointment they are often discharged from that particular clinic. There could be a myriad of reasons why they have missed the appointment but nonetheless they are discharged and if they require further treatment then they have to re-engage with their GP for a new referral, which obviously takes up GP time that could be better spent elsewhere.

 

[andyhinch]

Interestingly there is currently research being done into a model that predicts missed appointments. I am a patient representative on the study and whilst it is early days and there are obstacles, if this model works it will free up an estimated 20% of appointments through a mixture of shorter consultation times and more convenient double booking. Missed appointments are a burden on the NHS and if the predictive model works then more people will get seen with the same resources being used and at no extra cost.

One of the major issues is that if a patient misses an appointment they are often discharged from that particular clinic. There could be a myriad of reasons why they have missed the appointment but nonetheless they are discharged and if they require further treatment then they have to re-engage with their GP for a new referral, which obviously takes up GP time that could be better spent elsewhere.

Lack of communication/common sense is a big problem, I had an appointment last week to see a consultant about my broken leg, sorted an ambulance out it picked me up from the home, I waited around for a few hours, the consultant came in said he’d looked at my scans and looked like the leg was knitting back together so come back in 4 weeks, not sure why that couldn’t have been done over the phone, but after 8 weeks he’s the first person to talk to me about my leg.

 

[GornikDaze]

Lack of communication/common sense is a big problem, I had an appointment last week to see a consultant about my broken leg, sorted an ambulance out it picked me up from the home, I waited around for a few hours, the consultant came in said he’d looked at my scans and looked like the leg was knitting back together so come back in 4 weeks, not sure why that couldn’t have been done over the phone, but after 8 weeks he’s the first person to talk to me about my leg.

You are Dave Whelan and I claim my £5 prize!

 

[andyhinch]

You are Dave Whelan and I claim my £5 prize!

Fuck that I’ve got a broken shoulder as well :-)

 

[Blue Maverick]

In regard the backlog maybe it might be time to out source to private companies to get rid of it, the government come to an agreement on price with them, a reasonable one hopefully. It must be cost effective just to get people back to work n the long run. My example I spent the last 6 months of my fire service career on the sick with what turned out to be a slipped disc that needed an operation. In that time off, obviously I was on lots of painkillers, had a scan, an epidural and finally an operation, this took 7 months in total. Had I gone private from the start it the scan and operation would’ve been £8k.
Now I was paid full wage in all this time that’s £20k for lying around in agony, not good for me or my employer. So I’d have been done at the start, 3 months max I’d have been back in work, contributing. There will be thousands like that costing millions to employers and the economy, NHS etc. Considering the billions wasted on track and trace it has to be a better solution than what’s going on now, it’s not to be a permanent thing just to clear the backlog.

 

[Corky]

Are you aware that your mum would have qualified for help with transport

Was she attending the Christie section or in house Derm service?

Hospital transport is the last resort.

You can get picked up 2 hours early, and then wait 2 hours for a pickup. You can live an hour away in the North West, so it adds up to a massive day and isn't conducive to good health outcomes.

 

[Rascal]

Hospital transport is the last resort.

You can get picked up 2 hours early, and then wait 2 hours for a pickup. You can live an hour away in the North West, so it adds up to a massive day and isn't conducive to good health outcomes.

In certain circumstances, you can get a taxi and it will be paid, in others they will pay travelling expenses and car parking fees.

A lot of people are not aware of this.