A week on an NHS Ward

[Dressinggown]

I spent a week in hospital undergoing numerous medical procedures. My thoughts being The good, the bad and the ugly:

The Good:

The staff from the Consultants to the Cleaners.. Clearly dedicated to the cause, working long shifts without complaint. Patience of Saints and always willing to engage with the 'customers'.

The Bad:

Lack of information about results of examinations or future plans. Accommodated on a temporary bed without electrical sockets or any storage. Prescribed emergency medication by the Consultant but failed to be recorded and had to wait for 24 hours. Told that I would be discharged within 5 hours. Still on ward 36 hours later. The 'food' was tepid, tasteless, mush. Breakfast consisted of cold porridge or a slice of bread with jam.

The Ugly:

The patients and visitors. My ward considered of the psychotic to the undead. One patient drank half a cup of tea then urinated in the rest and threw it in the face of a nurse. He screamed all night that he needed treatment but then threw his meds across the room. Another kept shouting for an engineer to close the gap in the roof cladding. There is a rule that you are only allowed 2 visitors per patient. I saw 3 mini buses arriving who then blocked the corridor and ward, preventing staff to treat the patients. Despite being politely asked they said that that they had the 'right to be there

Your thoughts ?

[Rowls]

Sounds about par for the course.

Thoughts? I don't think it's something we'd be allowed to discuss on here. Not for long at any rate.

Hope youre on the mend, being looked after and as well as can be. Take care.

[Jakubclaret]

I think generally not nice places to be at the best of times & it seems to be a complete lottery from 1 hospital to the other on any given day. Good luck with getting sorted with whatever was troubling you.

[Caballo]

I had a similar experience, the good had a slight caveat for me though. Whilst I concur with the dedication levels, I found it slightly unpalatable that the staff openly confered about withholding their acceptance of overtime shifts for the bank as it ran the returns up. The later everyone accepted as a collective the more it was worth, capitalism in action, or fleecing the system?

[Boss Hogg]

Too many users of the free healthcare system that it wasn’t designed for. I can only imagine it getting worse. There will be more and more users but not an increase in capacity. I was in an A&E recently and a family of about 12 were there for one person, mostly shouting across each other playing loud games whilst surrounded by some really ill patients struggling to find seats. This and funds being mis directed to the wrong areas. It’s obvious to me what is going on.

[GetIntoEm]

You're lucky if you got a ward with such good nurses and staff, most can't be arsed due to either years of feeling "overworked" or the newer younger ones being held back by the more militant older ones.

Glad you found it positive in that way, as it's not in large parts of the NHS care

You could put the medication mistake down to poor attention to detail too.

Our NHS is on its arse

[brexit]

The NHS is a socialist ponzi scheme. You are basically stuck in a system with no choice of service provider. But even worse the NHS have no choice but to treat you even if you are drunk or a drug addict.
It is an ideological scam, inefficient cult. The re-branding of it as my NHS is horrifying it is the state religion. It does little or no health prevention work and does not fund impact-able public health service.
This is summed by my mate who was told he needed to lose weight because he was pre-diabetic by a nurse whose BMI was in the 40's.
Really happy I have a private health scheme that costs a quarter of my NI if I was in the UK, prompt treatment but more importantly preventative health
care.
You are all being asked to fund a social contract you did not agree too enjoy.

[ClaretPete001]

The Ugly:

The patients and visitors. My ward considered of the psychotic to the undead. One patient drank half a cup of tea then urinated in the rest and threw it in the face of a nurse. He screamed all night that he needed treatment but then threw his meds across the room. Another kept shouting for an engineer to close the gap in the roof cladding. There is a rule that you are only allowed 2 visitors per patient. I saw 3 mini buses arriving who then blocked the corridor and ward, preventing staff to treat the patients. Despite being politely asked they said that that they had the 'right to be there

This kind of behaviour will be my lasting memory of it. I could weep for the nurses even thinking about it.

[ecc]

"Really happy I have a private health scheme that costs a quarter of my NI if I was in the UK"

Presume you don't live in Europe, brexit.

[Dressinggown]

Visitors commanding vacant beds and having races around the corridors. Taking anything that they could get their hands.on, tubes, blankets, towels, bedlin, patients food, clothes etc etc.

[Dressinggown]

[Dressinggown]

Mmm, Sunday lunch. Choice of Broccoli, Peas. Carrots and some form of potatoes to go with it.

Only allowed to choose one.

[Swizzlestick]

Visitors commanding vacant beds and having races around the corridors. Taking anything that they could get their hands.on, tubes, blankets, towels, bedlin, patients food, clothes etc etc.

As somebody who has spent a lot of time on hospital wards, mainly with my partner or daughter, I have never seen things like this. Where on earth were you? Whenever people took the mick when it came to visiting etc this was quickly and effectively clamped down on (RPH in Preston)

[Dressinggown]

BRTH.

I was taken as an emergency admission via ambulance to BRTH on the request of my GP. The paramedics said that I would have an emergency admission to a ward and receive essential fluids.

I spent 7.5

[Dressinggown]

Hours on a corridor only to have my blood pressure taken and then referred to the Urgent Care Centre. The Nurse said that there was a 13 hour wait and they would refer me back to my GP ?

[fanzone]

Anything free will always be abused by idiots

[NottsClaret]

Barnsley Hospital must operate in a parallel universe to others, my experience for my kids, ourselves and my elderly parents has been positive.

Yes you get some feral morons in there at times, but that’s not an NHS issue. The staff, the care, the organisation have always been excellent. Just to add some balance.

[MrTopTier]

Barnsley Hospital must operate in a parallel universe to others, my experience for my kids, ourselves and my elderly parents has been positive.

Yes you get some feral morons in there at times, but that’s not an NHS issue. The staff, the care, the organisation have always been excellent. Just to add some balance.

Well said Notts, I too have spent a lot of time visiting two of my friends in hospital over the last twelve months and have nothing but praise for the way they have been treated.

They and their families feel the same, it isn’t perfect, but it’s still something we should be bloody proud of in this country.

[GetIntoEm]

Just remember, the NHS and the government like to shift the blame to patients for their poor performance. All that don't use NHS services crap, go visit your invisible GP stuff.

It's designed to make people more grateful for the NHS

Seems people have fallen for it

[crundale]

Had to stay in hospital for a week a few years ago. Hated the idea of it. Looking back it went some way in reaffirming my faith in humankind. The staff were superb and worked like trojans. There was one in particular who always had a smile and a kind word for everyone. I got chatting to him and asked what he got up when not working. "I look after my father, he is not very well."

[MrTopTier]

Just remember, the NHS and the government like to shift the blame to patients for their poor performance. All that don't use NHS services crap, go visit your invisible GP stuff.

It's designed to make people more grateful for the NHS

Seems people have fallen for it

No they don’t.

That’s your view of it and there are plenty who may share that view. Others don’t, mine are based on personal experiences and like I said it’s not perfect but it’s still bloody good.

[alwaysaclaret]

Too many managers and executives on £100k plus, bleeding the system of what it actually needs, simple as that. I left the NHS in 1989, and it was bad then. Having had several hospital stays in the time since, it hasn't got any better looking in from the outside. Needs sacking off and starting again.

[ollieclarets8]

After spending time in more hospitals than I care to remember, my 2 pence worth is that it's often not a hospital overall that's good, bad, or indifferent, it's the ward/department.

I saw one doctor who didn't even know what a 'Flare up' meant and he had zero bedside manner. A truly awful human being. And another in the same department who said, "Well you weren't ill last time I saw you" - not realising people can have flare-ups. Both truly clueless and pointless individuals.

However, I also had an operation in Urology (different department completely) and they were absolutely fine. Same hospital, different department with different people with different levels of care and empathy.

[NewClaret]

The Ugly:

The patients and visitors. My ward considered of the psychotic to the undead. One patient drank half a cup of tea then urinated in the rest and threw it in the face of a nurse. He screamed all night that he needed treatment but then threw his meds across the room. Another kept shouting for an engineer to close the gap in the roof cladding. There is a rule that you are only allowed 2 visitors per patient. I saw 3 mini buses arriving who then blocked the corridor and ward, preventing staff to treat the patients. Despite being politely asked they said that that they had the 'right to be there

Your thoughts ?

That is all just an absolute disgrace. Every line of it made my blood boil.

I have a number of recent examples of just appalling service, but nothing as bad as that.

The NHS is completely broken. No longer fit for purpose, with as Boss Hogg said, too many users for its size.

[jrgbfc]

Tbh i`d do all i could to avoid Blackburn hospital. Always feels way too big and understaffed. Living in Colne i`d always try and use Airedale if i can. Don`t think thats as good as it used to be but still miles better than Blackburn.

[GetIntoEm]

I'd be interested to know which ward let 3 minibuses full of people enter a ward with vulnerable people. That needs reporting

[JohnMcGreal]

The NHS is a socialist ponzi scheme. You are basically stuck in a system with no choice of service provider. But even worse the NHS have no choice but to treat you even if you are drunk or a drug addict.
It is an ideological scam, inefficient cult. The re-branding of it as my NHS is horrifying it is the state religion. It does little or no health prevention work and does not fund impact-able public health service.
This is summed by my mate who was told he needed to lose weight because he was pre-diabetic by a nurse whose BMI was in the 40's.
Really happy I have a private health scheme that costs a quarter of my NI if I was in the UK, prompt treatment but more importantly preventative health
care.
You are all being asked to fund a social contract you did not agree too enjoy.

I presume the British Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force are all 'socialist ponzi schemes' as well?

I probably should have stopped reading after your first sentence. Your views appear to be quite extreme and irrational.

[ArmchairDetective]

Just remember, the NHS and the government like to shift the blame to patients for their poor performance. All that don't use NHS services crap, go visit your invisible GP stuff.

It's designed to make people more grateful for the NHS

Seems people have fallen for it

Do you really believe that?

[Clovius Boofus]

The patients and visitors. My ward considered of the psychotic to the undead. One patient drank half a cup of tea then urinated in the rest and threw it in the face of a nurse.

The ward manager should have called the police. Being in hospital doesn't give people a 'get out of jail free' card.

[Goalkeeper]

Just remember, the NHS and the government like to shift the blame to patients for their poor performance. All that don't use NHS services crap, go visit your invisible GP stuff.

It's designed to make people more grateful for the NHS

Seems people have fallen for it

A family member spent some time in Blackburn hospital with a serious illness. The care all round was terrible. It was everything you read and hear about a poor hospital.
Conversely, I spent 6 days in Wigan Royal Infirmary last year and the care, conditions and staff were second to none. The only gripe I could possibly have is that I was on a surgical ward and sleep was impossible due to the ward having to care long term for patients with mental health problems, and they slept all day and experienced terrors during the night.
The hospital was incredibly busy and seemed to face the same problems as Blackburn. I can only assume that Wigan managed the situation better.
Your post is laughable and a bit sad, in that I definitely couldn't live in your world.

[Goalkeeper]

Just remember, the NHS and the government like to shift the blame to patients for their poor performance. All that don't use NHS services crap, go visit your invisible GP stuff.

It's designed to make people more grateful for the NHS

Seems people have fallen for it

A family member spent some time in Blackburn hospital with a serious illness. The care all round was terrible. It was everything you read and hear about a poor hospital.
Conversely, I spent 6 days in Wigan Royal Infirmary last year and the care, conditions and staff were second to none. The only gripe I could possibly have is that I was on a surgical ward and sleep was impossible due to the ward having to care long term for patients with mental health problems, and they slept all day and experienced terrors during the night.
The hospital was incredibly busy and seemed to face the same problems as Blackburn. I can only assume that Wigan managed the situation better.
Your post is laughable and a bit sad, in that I definitely couldn't live in your world.

[Clovius Boofus]

I'd be interested to know which ward let 3 minibuses full of people enter a ward with vulnerable people. That needs reporting

They should have been asked to leave. If they ignored this, security should have been called.

[ChorltonCharlie]

Too many managers and executives on £100k plus, bleeding the system of what it actually needs, simple as that. I left the NHS in 1989, and it was bad then. Having had several hospital stays in the time since, it hasn't got any better looking in from the outside. Needs sacking off and starting again.

0.11% of NHS staff are on over £100k per year. It's by far the lowest when compared with other big UK employers. Even Tesco is believed to be at about 0.3%.

[Tribesmen]

All I can say is stay heathly everyone .

[GetIntoEm]

Do you really believe that?

That they blame people for trying to use their services rather than making the NHS fit for purpose? Absolutely.

People shouldn't be expected to self diagnose at home, if someone feels so poorly that they go to A&E that's not their fault, they are not medical professionals. They shouldn't be made to feel guilty for doing so

[GetIntoEm]

A family member spent some time in Blackburn hospital with a serious illness. The care all round was terrible. It was everything you read and hear about a poor hospital.
Conversely, I spent 6 days in Wigan Royal Infirmary last year and the care, conditions and staff were second to none. The only gripe I could possibly have is that I was on a surgical ward and sleep was impossible due to the ward having to care long term for patients with mental health problems, and they slept all day and experienced terrors during the night.
The hospital was incredibly busy and seemed to face the same problems as Blackburn. I can only assume that Wigan managed the situation better.
Your post is laughable and a bit sad, in that I definitely couldn't live in your world.

Have you quoted the wrong post? Not sure what point you're making

[Stevie2112]

Having spent the last five weeks in RBTH,I can honestly say I haven't experienced any of this.
Ok, the food at times wasn't the best, but the care I received was second to none.From the auxilliary staff to the Nurses and Doctors,all first class.

[ArmchairDetective]

That they blame people for trying to use their services rather than making the NHS fit for purpose? Absolutely.

People shouldn't be expected to self diagnose at home, if someone feels so poorly that they go to A&E that's not their fault, they are not medical professionals. They shouldn't be made to feel guilty for doing so

I see. A bit of research will show you that the endless amount of improvement plans (see long term plan for e.g.), service development projects and audits set up by the NHS aimed at improving the quality of care. Some changes are achievable, some need additional funding which isn't available.

The NHS is far from perfect, people experiences on this thread are reflective of that. But I really can't believe that NHS bosses sit there wondering how to make people more grateful, and finding ways to blame patients, rather than focusing on how to improve care and patient satisfaction.

[ArmchairDetective]

Think my posts are probably distracting from the most important thing here. My best wishes to my fellow Clarets on this thread and their family members that have been in hospital recently.

[brexit]

I presume the British Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force are all 'socialist ponzi schemes' as well?

I probably should have stopped reading after your first sentence. Your views appear to be quite extreme and irrational.

A strange reply, but typical of the unwarranted adoration the NHS receives.
As to irrational a state only obligations are that provide defence for the citizens (so yes we need the forces), enforce the laws that the citizen agree and ensure that any contracts between parties are honoured.
I find it strange that anyone can defend a system which is accessible by all yet paid for by a tax on the working.
All tax is theft.

[Jakubclaret]

The ward manager should have called the police. Being in hospital doesn't give people a 'get out of jail free' card.

I'm not sure what good that would have done. The person was obviously mentally unbalanced & needed to be in a specialized psychiatric hospital. The service is overwhelmed & regrettably some referrals are late & some patients are signposted incorrectly to main general hospital admissions.

[ecc]

"All tax is theft".

You been reading Proudhon?

[JohnMcGreal]

A strange reply, but typical of the unwarranted adoration the NHS receives.
As to irrational a state only obligations are that provide defence for the citizens (so yes we need the forces), enforce the laws that the citizen agree and ensure that any contracts between parties are honoured.
I find it strange that anyone can defend a system which is accessible by all yet paid for by a tax on the working.
All tax is theft.

If all tax is theft, how is the state supposed to fund the defence spending required to keep its citizens safe? Or is 'theft' OK in that instance, where you happen to agree with the reasoning behind it?

You might think that the state should just provide defence from foreign adversaries and nothing else, but I don't think many people would agree with you.

Like I said, that is a pretty extreme and irrational view.

[ollieclarets8]

What they need to do is significantly improve what they spend the tax on. If they did that properly, we'd all be able to pay less of it.

[mdd2]

I have worked in the NHS for years and still do part time. My Dad got a bill when my sister died in 1947, pre NHS.
The NHS was intended to make people healthier but many in our society make themselves sicker and expect the NHS to make them better. The raison d'etre of the NHS of making the Nation healthier and the cost cheaper has failed. Expenditure on health care is one of the highest in Western democracies with the second worst outcomes. We live in an extremely free country and yet politicians and many in our society have been brain washed into believing the NHS is the best and to change it would mean people dying on the streets (many are doing that already from drug abuse and homelessness) and people unable to afford health care. Remember that this Nation gave the World the first antibiotics-drugs now used the world over, CT scans (first CT scan developed by EMI in Hayes Middlesex) now used all over the World. The first MR scan was done in Aberdeen and Peter Mansfield was jointly awarded a Nobel Prize for his work in Nottingham. MR scans are now used all over the World. Yet the first comprehensive healthcare system free at the point of access has rarely if at all been copied in the free World. I think that tells us more about our NHS than I can say.
Given my personal history about my sister it is understandable that i would be a flag waiver for the NHS. My years working in it has convinced me it never has been really fit for purpose
The reality is that the better outcomes are in places like Australia where over a certain income you have to have Health Insurance and those below that line get "free" health care.
As it now exists we could free up more appointments and maybe more operations if we altered the post-Shipman regulations of yearly appraisals and 5 yearly revalidation-why not change to every 24 or 30 months and revalidation every 7/8 years. It would mean hundreds of thousand or maybe millions of hour less for staff sitting in front of a computer screen being educated about about our "woke" society and presently (not much time I know) every 3 years an on line presentation that teaches me of how I can be better placed to spot a terrorist.
The NHS will not last another 25 years, I may be dead and ashes when it happens, but it will come. All we need is a determined Government with a big majority that will last 5 years, then go into oblivion, but their lasting benefit to the Nation would be a population free from the NHS who have to pay more attention to their well being, have a proper system of health care that assists them during sickness episodes and provides a better preventive healthcare system with far far less bureaucracy.

[alwaysaclaret]

0.11% of NHS staff are on over £100k per year. It's by far the lowest when compared with other big UK employers. Even Tesco is believed to be at about 0.3%.

Is that figure including the current and advertised vacant positions ?

As a side note, my daughter has recently experienced an absolute shocking ordeal over a period of about 14 months. After initially being admitted with gallstones symptoms and misdiagnosed with a kidney infection she was given intravenous antibiotics, patched up and sent home, subsequently culminating in a further 6 admissions, 4 of which resulting in similar treatment until on the last occasion she was admitted and ended up in resus with a resting HR of 128 at which point we thought we were losing her, then after an almighty battle she eventually got her gallbladder removed in an emergency operation because it was close to bursting because it had been left for so long, we thought she was on the mend, only to discover there had been a pool of bile left during the surgery which caused further infection and further admission, all this while being vulnerable in the first place being a ckd patient and likely at some point in the future will need a renal transplant.
Whoever or whatever is responsible for such treatment, this imo represents a breakdown of service, but as I say in my original post, so many overpaid managers and executives in the system surely aren't helping matters.

[ClaretPete001]

I have worked in the NHS for years and still do part time. My Dad got a bill when my sister died in 1947, pre NHS.
The NHS was intended to make people healthier but many in our society make themselves sicker and expect the NHS to make them better. The raison d'etre of the NHS of making the Nation healthier and the cost cheaper has failed. Expenditure on health care is one of the highest in Western democracies with the second worst outcomes. We live in an extremely free country and yet politicians and many in our society have been brain washed into believing the NHS is the best and to change it would mean people dying on the streets (many are doing that already from drug abuse and homelessness) and people unable to afford health care. Remember that this Nation gave the World the first antibiotics-drugs now used the world over, CT scans (first CT scan developed by EMI in Hayes Middlesex) now used all over the World. The first MR scan was done in Aberdeen and Peter Mansfield was jointly awarded a Nobel Prize for his work in Nottingham. MR scans are now used all over the World. Yet the first comprehensive healthcare system free at the point of access has rarely if at all been copied in the free World. I think that tells us more about our NHS than I can say.
Given my personal history about my sister it is understandable that i would be a flag waiver for the NHS. My years working in it has convinced me it never has been really fit for purpose
The reality is that the better outcomes are in places like Australia where over a certain income you have to have Health Insurance and those below that line get "free" health care.
As it now exists we could free up more appointments and maybe more operations if we altered the post-Shipman regulations of yearly appraisals and 5 yearly revalidation-why not change to every 24 or 30 months and revalidation every 7/8 years. It would mean hundreds of thousand or maybe millions of hour less for staff sitting in front of a computer screen being educated about about our "woke" society and presently (not much time I know) every 3 years an on line presentation that teaches me of how I can be better placed to spot a terrorist.
The NHS will not last another 25 years, I may be dead and ashes when it happens, but it will come. All we need is a determined Government with a big majority that will last 5 years, then go into oblivion, but their lasting benefit to the Nation would be a population free from the NHS who have to pay more attention to their well being, have a proper system of health care that assists them during sickness episodes and provides a better preventive healthcare system with far far less bureaucracy.

All good points, but the issue is an ageing population and a shrinking economy (per capita).

Some time around 1997, the British people left planet reality and got onto a space ship and set off to the planet Wokey Dokey where only nice things happen and anyone who says anything different is a racist.

In the end, the NHS is a ship that will sink because the country no longer works well enough both literally and metaphorically to fund what was once a magnificent idea.

[dsr]

One thing I saw about the US system with all its many faults, is that the surgeons do far more surgery. They tend to operate for 7 or 8 days per fortnight, wheras UK surgeons perhaps 2 days. Obviously the motivation is money, but it has the same efect as a more altruistic operation - more people get treated.

[ClaretPete001]

One thing I saw about the US system with all its many faults, is that the surgeons do far more surgery. They tend to operate for 7 or 8 days per fortnight, wheras UK surgeons perhaps 2 days. Obviously the motivation is money, but it has the same efect as a more altruistic operation - more people get treated.

There is no way of making it efficient enough to cope with a half a million to a million immigrants, a dog of an economy and an ageing population. Politicians can say what they will and Joe Public can live on planet fairy dust but at some point it will all come tumbling down unless there is a serious increase in productivity and economic growth of 3 per cent or so, which is what they get in the States.

[forzagranata]

Spent a couple of nights in Blackburn a few years back and left determined to keep myself healthy for as long as possible.

The NHS may not provide much in the way of real preventative healthcare but it certainly provides ample motivation not to get sick.

My ward had a poor old bloke on his last legs with cancer struggling through the night while I had to restrain a guy who barely spoke English from attacking the nurse.

My experiences at Airedale were completely different however and entirely positive.