A week on an NHS Ward

[ClaretPete001]

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.

Unfortunately that was my experience of Blackburn as well. Nurses being attacked. People trying to detach catheter bags to get at the nurses, which was quite one of the most surreal things I've ever seen. Food thrown at meal times. Swearing, shouting and aggressive behaviour all day and all night.

A lot of it related to dementia and mental illness.

[Jakubclaret]

Unfortunately that was my experience of Blackburn as well. Nurses being attacked. People trying to detach catheter bags to get at the nurses, which was quite one of the most surreal things I've ever seen. Food thrown at meal times. Swearing, shouting and aggressive behaviour all day and all night.

A lot of it related to dementia and mental illness.

Top & bottom there's a lot of people that shouldn't be in normal hospitals due to mental illnesses & suchlike. Before volunteering years ago i worked as a support worker & we frequently got attacked, spat at & bitten there's certain rules regarding restraining people even when getting attacked defending yourself. Some of the residents weren't suitable for supported living but nobody really knows what to do with them probably a lack of alternative resources.

[Taffy on the wing]

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 ?

Err.........you get what you vote for?

[Taffy on the wing]

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.

Hello, good evening & welcome to "spot the brain cell"!

[Taffy on the wing]

"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.

He's on the gravy train in Strasbourg & he's "alright Jack"

[ollieclarets8]

Err.........you get what you vote for?

Doesn't matter what you vote for. It's like having to decide which STD you want. None of them are particularly pleasant.

[Taffy on the wing]

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.

It has been defunded & sabotaged by successive Governments... to the point of dysfunction.

[Taffy on the wing]

Doesn't matter what you vote for. It's like having to decide which STD you want. None of them are particularly pleasant.

I disagree.....it hasn't always been this way.

[GetIntoEm]

Any money they do get is mismanaged anyway.

It's a basket case.

If everyone could afford private healthcare I'd say get rid of it, unfortunately some people rely on it so it has to stay

[Taffy on the wing]

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.

It is VERY expensive though......I had a 2 night stay after being admitted through the ER, i never got a proper bed & was stuck in a recovery ward (very noisy).........$78,000.
No surgery & no treatment bar some painkillers.

[ollieclarets8]

I've spent 2 weeks in a Florida hospital - if they know you have insurance all you have to do is sneeze twice and they'll give you a CT Scan.

[Jakubclaret]

I disagree.....it hasn't always been this way.

"I disagree" what a surprise! It's distorted now because of the population boom & other factors. You can't judge 2 outlooks years apart without considering changes detriment to the current situation it's heavily influenced.

[Taffy on the wing]

"I disagree" what a surprise! It's distorted now because of the population boom & other factors. You can't judge 2 outlooks years apart without considering changes detriment to the current situation it's heavily influenced.

The "factors" you speak of are the defunding & sabotage by successive Governments.

[Jakubclaret]

The "factors" you speak of are the defunding & sabotage by successive Governments.

You might be determined to take the political angle but at this point to keep the thread open I will politely refrain. Quite strange seen as some major thread wrecker.

[Taffy on the wing]

You might be determined to take the political angle but at this point to keep the thread open I will politely refrain. Quite strange seen as some major thread wrecker.

I'm not being political.......just stating facts.

[Jakubclaret]

I'm not being political.......just stating facts.

Questionable facts part of what you say is true. The NHS is a massive institution with a myriad of different challenges. For sure there's plenty of room for improvement but this thread should tell you that some people have had positive experiences it's not something to completely run down.

[Inchy]

Realistically if we expect good, modern healthcare, we probably need to pay a lot more in taxes.

The population has grown and massively aged. Alongside that expensive advancements in medicine.

Has the percentage we pay for healthcare increased much since 1990? No, so there’s always going to be short falls somewhere

[CaptJohn]

Realistically if we expect good, modern healthcare, we probably need to pay a lot more in taxes.

Disagree: We need to pay more fees for healthcare. If we introduce even token fees for appointments and treatment it will focus people to take more care of themselves. More taxes are not the answer. We need to make people more responsible for their own health and that means charges for healthcare.

[Inchy]

I work in the NHS and have done so for the past 11 year, 14 including training.

14 years ago every wards ran on at least 4 nurses on days, 3 on nights. Now you’re lucky to have 3 on days and 2 on nights, for a ward of 30 patients.

The austerity years and pay freezes, introducing tuition fees to nurses, physios, OTs, speech and language therapy’s etc etc certainly didn’t help. The NHS massively went down hill under the Tories. I’m not saying labour are blameless, and are certainly not doing much to help now, but I’m just stating what I saw and what happend.

The joke now is every ward needs more nurses and doctors, and there are thousands of nurses and doctors struggling to find work because the trusts don’t have the funds to employ them.

When I started at St James’s in Leeds I always thought “I would be happy for any of my family to be treated here’

When I left 2 years ago I was worried that any of my family end up at that hospital. I felt many areas were unsafe.

The comment about nurses being angels is nice, and the comments about nurses apathetic is fair if that’s your experience.
I’ve seen it. Overworked nurses give up and can become lazy and lack empathy.

I left hospital for community 2 years ago in part because I was becoming fed up and didn’t want to go that way.

The new 10 plan on paper looks promising. Keeping people, especially old people out of hospital is key not only to their health but it’s so much cheaper. The new 10 year plan is massively community care focussed. In my current job my role is to keep frail elderly people out of hospital by going to their home and providing care and procedures which used to be done in hospitals. The patients much prefer it.

[mdd2]

Spot on Inchy but in my time the amount of money wasted on healthcare has rocketed but you don’t necessarily see it
Protocols and guidelines condemn patients to unnecessary tests and treatment more so in the elderly
Too many want to rule out rather than rule in
MDT meetings deciding treatment pathways when no one at that MDT has seen the patient and as stated previously the wasted hours in an appraisal system which is more assessment than appraisal.

[Taffy on the wing]

Questionable facts part of what you say is true. The NHS is a massive institution with a myriad of different challenges. For sure there's plenty of room for improvement but this thread should tell you that some people have had positive experiences it's not something to completely run down.

I'm not running it down!........the Government is.

[Jakubclaret]

I'm not running it down!........the Government is.

As already stated some people have had positive experiences it's not all doom & gloom. I've already conceded there's room for improvement it's not perfect tell me what is?

[AlargeClaret]

If only people knew how much the NHS relies on the private sector they’d probably self combust . The NHS is simply hugely overburdened, it’s been overburdened since the 80’s steadily worsening as the population grows . Aside of the waste ,often poor management etc it’s in a state of perpetual over capacity . A & E being a prime example

[Inchy]

One of the big issues I’ve seen in the NHS is sickness.

I’ve never known anything like it. I’ve worked with people that when I’m rostered on with them, there’s a less than 50% chance they will trap.

It seems almost impossible to sack people for frequent sickness.

Don’t get me wrong I’m all for supporting people that are seriously ill, but often people go off with stress, mental health, or migraines every other week. I get improving the NHS would maybe help with that but honestly for many people I doubt it would. If you’re calling in sick with stress every couple of weeks then surely you would think “this job isn’t for me”.

There are plenty of none stressful none clinical jobs for clinical staff out there.


Some people wouldn’t last a week in the private sector

[Goalkeeper]

Any money they do get is mismanaged anyway.

It's a basket case.

If everyone could afford private healthcare I'd say get rid of it, unfortunately some people rely on it so it has to stay

"Some people rely on it". Post of the week.

[Colburn_Claret]

Obviously a lottery today, and the luck of the timing of your emergency.
I think a lot of the problems, not all, are just a reflection of the downward spiral in social standards. The entitlement of people today doesn't help the service for those suffering, or of the staff dealing with them. Drunks should spend the night in a drunk tank, and fined in the morning no court case, they shouldn't be anywhere near A&E.
Visitors who don't abide by the rules should be advised to leave, and if they won't advised that the patient will be discharged if they don't.
In protecting the minority of arseholes rights, we make the majority suffer the consequences. It's time society, and the laws started focusing on the rights and benefits of the majority. Nature's natural selection has allowed the survival of the fittest to strengthen throughout the animal kingdom, including mankind. Mollycoddling the unfit to draw breath just makes us all weaker, sadder and depressed. It isn't just the NHS, schools, the workplace, football grounds, the pub, we pander to people who need a wake up call, only instead of a kick up the backside we put an arm around their shoulders, poor dears.

[brexit]

Hello, good evening & welcome to "spot the brain cell"!

Again, a trivial attempt to attack the poster and not engage with the content of the post. You are a typical example of entrenched views that does not have the intellectual capacity to put forward an alternative argument, just a nasty comment.

[IanMcL]

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 ?

Seems to me that some folk with issues were wrongly with others.

Organisation requires attention, to stop that errors/waste of time and beds.

Visiting people have no 'rights'. They follow the rules or should be removed by security or the police.

It is the result of years if tory austerity, changes to nursing requirements, fatigue and people in places they should not be.

[NewClaret]

It has been defunded & sabotaged by successive Governments... to the point of dysfunction.

Its funding has been massively increased in £ terms even when adjusted for our ridiculous population explosion foisted on us by successive governments.

We now spend more on our NHS than the GDP, of Portugal or something unbelievably daft.

[AmbleClaret]

On a slightly different track,but related. I quit NHS dentistry after years of what felt like constant battling against the red tape,over zealous managers and mostly unnecessary constant interference that helped neither dentists nor patients.
There's such a disconnect now between the profession and the NHS,nothing any government could do will bring it back. There's a whole new generation growing up who will only ever be able to access emergency dental care,very sad really.

[IanMcL]

Its funding has been massively increased in £ terms even when adjusted for our ridiculous population explosion foisted on us by successive governments.

We now spend more on our NHS than the GDP, of Portugal or something unbelievably daft.

Maybe that's because only 10m people live in Portugal.

[ecc]

Maybe that's because only 10m people live in Portugal.

Don't try to bring relevant facts into this, Ian.

I would just like to thank the posters who actually work for the NHS for sharing their insights.

There are so many factors involved in this subject. The demographics are probably the major worry. Age expectancy is increasing which is, of course, good. But generally speaking, older people get ill more than younger folk. It's just a fact.

FWIW the French health system, at one time one of Europe's best, is on its knees and cannot find personnel. A large number of beds are closed due to lack of staff. France and the UK face the same problems of a growing population and an ageing one.

I seriously worry for my children and their children.

[GetIntoEm]

"Some people rely on it". Post of the week.

Well thought out response

[Boss Hogg]

Just been in a local hospital emergency unit. Only about 50% of the out patients were speaking English but this isn’t a tourist area. Again it’s the shear numbers using/ abusing the service.Some staff are amazing with one or two not so but they must have to deal with all sorts.

[IanMcL]

Just been in a local hospital emergency unit. Only about 50% of the out patients were speaking English but this isn’t a tourist area. Again it’s the shear numbers using/ abusing the service.Some staff are amazing with one or two not so but they must have to deal with all sorts.

There is a need to explain to most of the population, when to visit a hospital, when to visit a doctor and when to go to a Pharmacist, who can help with so many things that Drs/Hospitals are weighed down by.

"I have a cold/scraped my knee/sneezing a lot/ headache" etc