The NHS
punkdoc
Sheffield, Derbyshire border.Posts: 8,711
It is quite topical to diss the NHS, but I think my recent story provides a more realistic picture. [I know I worked for them, but no-one remembers me any more, so that had no bearing on the situation.
!3 November found lump on tongue.
15 November, saw GP, referred.
22 November lump removed in hospital.
29 November, saw team again, pathology result back, cancer ruled out.
!3 November found lump on tongue.
15 November, saw GP, referred.
22 November lump removed in hospital.
29 November, saw team again, pathology result back, cancer ruled out.
Walk out to winter, swear I'll be there.
Chill will wake you, high and dry
You'll wonder why.
Chill will wake you, high and dry
You'll wonder why.
3
Posts
From the various comments in the "news", it doesn't always seem to be the case but like anything else, negatives usually make better headlines than positives.
We are pretty lucky with our NHS system overall.
I have been attending a local MacMillan unit (part built with contributions made by NGS visitors 😊) about once a month for the last three and a half years. I am known as “an okkard bugger” (not by the staff I hasten to add) but I have always found them willing to listen to my arguments against their proposals and to treat me as intelligent life form, even though they disagree with me.
They are unfailingly courteous and friendly, even when time is a pressure on them.
As far as NHS service and the cost of treatment goes, all I can say is that we took our moggy to the vet for a check up, two shots of antibiotics and a bottle of eye drops and it cost over £100. Translate that into what we will being having to fork out if the horror stories about selling bits of the NHS off are true and it’s time to get the pencil sharpened at the ballot box .
@punkdoc , that is good treatment. My OH has been treated the same, his MRI scan for possible (though unlikely) prostrate cancer is this Wednesday, 2 weeks after he saw the consultant. Best of all, we can walk to the hospital and back, it's only a mile or so away.
But even if privatisation isn’t on the cards, politicians are terrified of saying the words “if you want to have a better service offering more up to date treatments with sometimes hugely expensive machinery and treating an increasing number of non working/tax paying people you are going to have to pay more” that they won’t address the problem of “how do we pay for it?”.
If politicians and people shy away from paying more through national insurance then the NHS service will have to be funded some other way because most people want the latest, fanciest form of treatment. Which is usually more expensive than the old fashioned, steam-age type of treatment.
Personally, I am opting for the old fashioned treatment as it’s worked for hundreds of years and suits me fine.
KT, I experienced something like your wife’s situation. All I can say is, doctors are only human. With all the things that can go wrong in a human body it’s a wonder that so many of us function at all. And as for pinpointing the exact cause of a malfunction in some part or other....
I experienced odd, seemingly unconnected symptoms for years. It was only after I was lucky enough to be seen by one doctor who had met my illness before that I was diagnosed as neither a nutcase nor a hypochondriac.
Your wife will find an answer, I am sure.
As for the pencil sharpening, I couldn't agree more - I don't know if AI is used these days when counting votes but I wonder whether one of those big black ( or red ) felt tip pens may be more appropriate in some cases
Saw the dentist and referred to GP. One week between the two.
Referred to consultant. Two weeks wait between GP and consultant.
While waiting for pathology results which took 10 days, sent to the various hospitals in Leicester for lung function tests etc. The registrar clearly expected the pathology results to be bad news and he was right.
From dentist to operation was therefore about six weeks - not bad, but not great.
In the hospital she was not enamoured by the NHS services. The night before the procedure the MacMillan cancer nurse-specialist introduced herself saying she would be there “every step of the way”. And that was the last conversation my wife had with the nurse for 5 days despite her being on the ward. After the procedure the operation wound on the neck (80 staples, I counted them!) became badly infected. Every day after the morning rounds the doctor asked the nurses to clean the infection. It never happened. With a tracheostomy tube she was unable to speak but pushing the button asking for help often produced no response for 30 minutes.
Against the consultant’s advice she discharged herself two days early. At home I was able diligently to clean the infected wound and give round the clock care.