Our NHS

[Guest]

Re: Our NHS

HI

I spent he last 2 years of my working life managing a private nursing home in Chorlton Manchester.

I can tell you that half of our intake were NHS funded, its nolt as simple as that BB. It is true that there is no requiremtn for a qualified doctor to be on site all the time but there are strict standards that state the number and quilification of the health care proffessionals that must be. A doctor is always on calll they are available on a rota system and the home pays for them out of its profits.

Obviously severe or critiical problems have to be dealt with at the local hospital.

Peter

[bluebottle]

Re: Our NHS

HI

I spent he last 2 years of my working life managing a private nursing home in Chorlton Manchester.

I can tell you that half of our intake were NHS funded, its nolt as simple as that BB. It is true that there is no requiremtn for a qualified doctor to be on site all the time but there are strict standards that state the number and quilification of the health care proffessionals that must be. A doctor is always on calll they are available on a rota system and the home pays for them out of its profits.

Obviously severe or critiical problems have to be dealt with at the local hospital.

Peter

I think you may have misinterpreted what I said, Peter. What I said was a critique of private hospitals, not private nursing homes. It is the registration anomaly I was commenting about. My elderly mother is in a nursing home - her nursing care is NHS-funded - and I cannot criticise the care they give her.

When I was with the Met Police, my colleagues and I used to come up against this anomaly with the private hospitals in the City of Westminster - where I was stationed covered Pimlico and Victoria - at least once a week. The NHS hospitals used to get mightily p*ssed-off by it and we used to have issues with the way private ambulance service drivers used to drive. Thankfully, these days, all blue light drivers have to undertake a special driving course. However, the registration anomaly of private hospitals still exists and needs to be addressed, both for patient safety and the burden on the taxpayer.

[scoobygal]

Re: Our NHS

I teach nursing and agree with a lot of what you have all said - all views. Some of the problems stem from the sheer amount of paperwork and red tape that goes with every single care intervention.....all through fear of being sued (if it isn't recorded it hasn't been done). Some stem from nurses taking over junior doctors' roles leaving no time for the fundamental care that is so important to all of us (being clean, pain free going to the toilet in time etc) and this has slipped down the list of priorities or is delegated to others perhaps not as qualified and finally there are so many nurses that sadly - like every other occupation - there are some who should never have become nurses at all and when they come into a care environment, the whole culture of care deteriorates and it is very sad. There are a lot of bright, motivated, caring nurses......but they don't make headlines!!

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: Our NHS

my sisters nurse training tutor told her, we expect you to do at LEAST 12 hours study per night. if that means you cant eat, sleep, shop or pay the rent, that is your problem.
She was put on a ward where the staff nurse's attitude was your too old to learn to be a nurse (she was 38 at the time) and when she had to call a paitents family to advise them that the paitent had passed, she said are you on your own? is someone with you.. the phone was snatched out of her hand and the staff nurse barked Your mother is dead, we need you hear now, we need the bed.

I agree we should have free healthcare, and that nurses are underpaid.. but when you have experienced what i have you realise the reasons people say that they dont.

Barnsley Hospitals childrens ward saved my sons life, but its midwiferynearly killed him.
Leeds Hospital ruined my sisters health and shattered her dreams of being a nurse, but the specialist care saved Richard Hammond.. YORK hospital.. dont even get me started on the treatment they gave my grandmother.. it was all other relatives could do to drag my sister out of the ward. They lost her, they left her in a corridor dressed in a nightie, she was on a soaked trolley and hadnt eaten for 24 hours.. and thats on day 1! We need cleaners that will clean, nurses that care, Doctors who know how to be a doctor and less bleedin managers!

[Shadowcat]

Re: Our NHS

Just tried to ring the doctor but closed because of Bank Holiday. That's fine for me because it's not an emergency and they said stay on the line if you need a doctor in an emergency. It made me think that if we had to pay for a doctor on a bank holiday, I bet the price would probably rocket.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not glamourising the NHS or making it out to be something it's not, errors were made in my own childhood that left me 15 mins from dying but my dad dealt with it by demanding a second opinion quite loudly, nowadays security would probably escort him out while his daughter lay there dying but back then they listened to him and got another doctor who rushed me straight to theatre.

I know for a fact without it my quality of life would be miserable and I think that applies to a lot of people who take it for granted, especially families.