Another shout out to our fab NHS

[vkurup]

The Mrs has a long term back problem, so when I got a dreaded call at work that the Mrs had done her back again, I feared the worst. Her work colleagues had called the ambulance. Given that the Jr Doctors are on strike, I was working thru all the permutations in my head while on the train to meet her. The ambulance took a long time to get to her, but when the angels got there, they were fab. They spent nearly an hour to stablise her and pump her with NOX to ease the pain. They engaged in silly chat with her to ensure that she was still aware of things rather than focus on the pain. The Dr was good and his view was that she had a prolapsed disc. At the end they decided not to take her to A&E but let me drive her home for rest with a bucketful of painkillers. Total spend on the whole incident = Zero. The capability and peace of mind from the NHS = cant put a price on it.

As my friends across the pond say, we dont value the NHS because we have access to it, try living without it (US-style) for a few days and we will know the difference. Not sure why I created this post, I guess we dont thank the NHS enuf.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

The Mrs has a long term back problem, so when I got a dreaded call at work that the Mrs had done her back again, I feared the worst. Her work colleagues had called the ambulance. Given that the Jr Doctors are on strike, I was working thru all the permutations in my head while on the train to meet her. The ambulance took a long time to get to her, but when the angels got there, they were fab. They spent nearly an hour to stablise her and pump her with NOX to ease the pain. They engaged in silly chat with her to ensure that she was still aware of things rather than focus on the pain. The Dr was good and his view was that she had a prolapsed disc. At the end they decided not to take her to A&E but let me drive her home for rest with a bucketful of painkillers. Total spend on the whole incident = Zero. The capability and peace of mind from the NHS = cant put a price on it.

As my friends across the pond say, we dont value the NHS because we have access to it, try living without it (US-style) for a few days and we will know the difference. Not sure why I created this post, I guess we dont thank the NHS enuf.

Had a recent trip to the A&E at work and got wonderful treatment even with it being a mega busy day. Doctor and consultants didn't rush through the consultations with each and answered my questions and put my mind at ease. Very happy with my own experience and I agree totally with the last paragraph in the OP

 

[Ethan]

Appreciate it while you can. It is going to get worse as the consequences of Govt policy further damage services, staff morale and budgets. There is a staffing crisis in both hospital medicine and GP land and it is set to get worse. The 7 day NHS promise is a con trick and is gradually being exposed as such.

 

[hovis]

I think the nhs is a pile of crap. There tends to be isolated cases of good cases but on the whole extremely poor.

I recently had obstructive jaundice. This caused intense constant itching all over my body 24 hours a day and extreme fatigue. I had to wait 2 weeks for the ct scan and 13 days just for the doctor to look at my results. This was despite me having to constantly visit my doctor for sleeping tablets and skin cream as i was itching so bad i was scratching until i bled. No sense of urgency and i had to chase them all the way.
In the end it only took one course of drugs and i was sorted.

Also had a massive hernia that the doctor said was a pulled muscle and another doctor once sent me home with the flu, that night i collapsed with septicaemia and was rushed to hospital and my family was told i was going to die.

Imo they should hang a big sign outside saying "call bupa for a quote"

 

[Tashyboy]

Appreciate it while you can. It is going to get worse as the consequences of Govt policy further damage services, staff morale and budgets. There is a staffing crisis in both hospital medicine and GP land and it is set to get worse. The 7 day NHS promise is a con trick and is gradually being exposed as such.

Funny you should say that Missis T is one of the last of the nurses who is on the better NHS staff pension. She drags it next July. She was on a mandatory update day last week. She enjoys these days as she catches up with all the old girls she does not see from year to year. There were six in the same situation as her and all were busting a gut to get out within the next two years when there pensions kick in.
They reckon it will get worse without a shadow of doubt.
Back on topic, Missis T's back was giving her some serious concern. Spoke to a registrar who got her a CT scan. Her spine is knackered at the bottom ( lumbar) and they found two other probs which have to be investigated. She was chuffed to bits with her fellow professionals and plans to buy the Irish registrar some Guinness.

 

[Ethan]

Funny you should say that Missis T is one of the last of the nurses who is on the better NHS staff pension. She drags it next July. She was on a mandatory update day last week. She enjoys these days as she catches up with all the old girls she does not see from year to year. There were six in the same situation as her and all were busting a gut to get out within the next two years when there pensions kick in.
They reckon it will get worse without a shadow of doubt.
Back on topic, Missis T's back was giving her some serious concern. Spoke to a registrar who got her a CT scan. Her spine is knackered at the bottom ( lumbar) and they found two other probs which have to be investigated. She was chuffed to bits with her fellow professionals and plans to buy the Irish registrar some Guinness.

The NHS is hanging together only due to the goodwill of clinical staff. There is a theory popular in medical circles that the Tories are deliberately running it down so that the public will be receptive to privatisation. This is a tried and tested strategy. There is no doubt that much of the legislative structure for privatisation had been put in place over the past few years, including everything from Trust structures, the SOSH no longer carrying accountability for the NHS to the 'any willing provider' tendering processes to the TTIP trade agreement with the US.

There is a special group in the Department of Health charged with running privatisation experiments. These have been disastrous so far, such as Circle in Hinchingbrooke who got a fat deal but couldn't make it work and stepped away to be bailed out by the NHS. The public have been led to believe private companies have some kind of entrepreneurial magic missing in the public sector. They don't. The only way they make money is by cherry picking their patients, running on the low set staff numbers/skill levels possible or by avoiding some of the bureaucratic or wasteful rules and targets. It always end badly though and costs more in the long run.

 

[sandmagnet]

I think the nhs is a pile of crap. There tends to be isolated cases of good cases but on the whole extremely poor.

I recently had obstructive jaundice. This caused intense constant itching all over my body 24 hours a day and extreme fatigue. I had to wait 2 weeks for the ct scan and 13 days just for the doctor to look at my results. This was despite me having to constantly visit my doctor for sleeping tablets and skin cream as i was itching so bad i was scratching until i bled. No sense of urgency and i had to chase them all the way.
In the end it only took one course of drugs and i was sorted.

Also had a massive hernia that the doctor said was a pulled muscle and another doctor once sent me home with the flu, that night i collapsed with septicaemia and was rushed to hospital and my family was told i was going to die.

Imo they should hang a big sign outside saying "call bupa for a quote"

Have to agree with you hovis it's now 7 months with a knee I can just about walk on and still no date for it! Bloke I know is private and did his shoulder in and was done within 2 weeks. Rather pay no stamp and get private health care tbh! Nothing bad to say about the docs who do the job as imo they are worth their weight in gold and them and nurses should be a lot higher paid! But the way it's run is a joke!

 

[Kellfire]

If a doctor thinks she has a prolapsed disc but didn't take her to hospital for further investigations then she hasn't received good care at all; it's basically incompetent.

 

[vkurup]

If a doctor thinks she has a prolapsed disc but didn't take her to hospital for further investigations then she hasn't received good care at all; it's basically incompetent.

It did cross my mind, but did not ask him at that point when they mentioned they wont move her to hospital rather than let her go home. At that point in time, your brain does not process all these things and place our trust in those who we believe in.

But I checked with HID later on why they did not take her to A&E. In her view (and she is a medico herself), they wont take her to A&E because prolapsed discs are not considered life threatening. Any procedure they need to do will require her muscles around the spine to relax, so even if they want to do a surgery, it would be a few days before they touch her.

Last time she had a similar episode and it was a lot more serious. It took 2 ambulance crews and 2 paras to get her out of the house and into A&E. But once they got there, all she did was sleep for the best part of 48 hours and was sent home.

I know there are some not so great fellows out there, but consistently I have found that first responders are simply terrific. Some of the problems start once you get to the hospital and there is a lot of waiting around, no idea what is happening etc. If you go to our A&E on a Sunday afternoon, be prepared for a 4 hour wait...

 

[Kellfire]

But I checked with HID later on why they did not take her to A&E. In her view (and she is a medico herself), they wont take her to A&E because prolapsed discs are not considered life threatening. Any procedure they need to do will require her muscles around the spine to relax, so even if they want to do a surgery, it would be a few days before they touch her.

A prolapsed disc could already be impinging nerve roots or on the verge of it, which can cause cauda equina syndrome or even worse paralysis if the spinal cord is involved. These things should be investigated immediately and treated with immediate decompression surgery. They certainly don't wait for soft tissues to relax.

If they suspected a prolapse at the very least they should have you in for an xray and ideally an MRI if there is any suspicion of nerve/cord involvement.

 

[vkurup]

A prolapsed disc could already be impinging nerve roots or on the verge of it, which can cause cauda equina syndrome or even worse paralysis if the spinal cord is involved. These things should be investigated immediately and treated with immediate decompression surgery. They certainly don't wait for soft tissues to relax.

If they suspected a prolapse at the very least they should have you in for an xray and ideally an MRI if there is any suspicion of nerve/cord involvement.

I cant possibly comment... but no point getting an xray as it wont show anything. Discussing w/ our GP on MRI/CT options this morning. As her condition has improved considerably and able to walk a bit around the house, he has asked us to wait till Thurs to see how things go. Otherwise I will be on the blower with the insurers to get a scan done. She has had a private session with her physio who has ruled out disc issues, but now focussed on spasm. Unfortunately there is no cure, she can only focus on strengthening her core and protecting the spine.. It is a lifelong condition that we will have to deal with.

 

[Kellfire]

I cant possibly comment... but no point getting an xray as it wont show anything. Discussing w/ our GP on MRI/CT options this morning. As her condition has improved considerably and able to walk a bit around the house, he has asked us to wait till Thurs to see how things go. Otherwise I will be on the blower with the insurers to get a scan done. She has had a private session with her physio who has ruled out disc issues, but now focussed on spasm. Unfortunately there is no cure, she can only focus on strengthening her core and protecting the spine.. It is a lifelong condition that we will have to deal with.

Hopefully she'll find ways to strengthen her back and the discs are fine. Sorry to seem like I'm scare-mongering, years of analysing spinal injury case notes has made me very cautious about back problems and getting to the cause early.

 

[vkurup]

Hopefully she'll find ways to strengthen her back and the discs are fine. Sorry to seem like I'm scare-mongering, years of analysing spinal injury case notes has made me very cautious about back problems and getting to the cause early.

No worries.. cant be cautious enough about it at the moment. even now she is sleeping most of the day thanks to a cocktail of drugs..

 

[Backache]

If a doctor thinks she has a prolapsed disc but didn't take her to hospital for further investigations then she hasn't received good care at all; it's basically incompetent.

Prolapsed discs are very common, there are very well defined guidelines as to who needs urgent referral. The vast majority of people do not.it sounds like her doctor was with her for a long time and made a full assessment. Describing someone else decision as incompetent on someone you have not seen is absurd.

 

[Tashyboy]

I cant possibly comment... but no point getting an xray as it wont show anything. Discussing w/ our GP on MRI/CT options this morning. As her condition has improved considerably and able to walk a bit around the house, he has asked us to wait till Thurs to see how things go. Otherwise I will be on the blower with the insurers to get a scan done. She has had a private session with her physio who has ruled out disc issues, but now focussed on spasm. Unfortunately there is no cure, she can only focus on strengthening her core and protecting the spine.. It is a lifelong condition that we will have to deal with.

And that vkurup at the moment is Missis T, she had a scan last week which showed two other internal problems but showed that her lower back is a mess, a proper mess. She has been off work today and tomorrow and is getting by on a cocktail of drugs which she is not happy about. Your last sentance is Missis T all over and I suspect many other nurses due to excessive lifting many years ago.
Good days and bad days unfortunately. She is not a happy bunny at the mo 🙁

 

[vkurup]

And that vkurup at the moment is Missis T, she had a scan last week which showed two other internal problems but showed that her lower back is a mess, a proper mess. She has been off work today and tomorrow and is getting by on a cocktail of drugs which she is not happy about. Your last sentance is Missis T all over and I suspect many other nurses due to excessive lifting many years ago.
Good days and bad days unfortunately. She is not a happy bunny at the mo 🙁

I must admit, that I have been s**ting bricks all of last week. Years of helping her patients has taken a toll on her. She is itching to get back next week, but the GP wont let her drive yet. First day for me to leave the house and come into the office - but staying close to the phone if I need to get back. We were in the midst of clearing the house as we have builders booked in after Easter - now all that on hold. It just goes to say, that life changes in an instant.. fingers crossed and prayers around.

 

[massivebelterlad]

Have to agree that it is actually pretty crap on the whole unless you have a life threatening condition it is a complete waste of time and you are just better off going private. Have spent hundreds on physio just to improve injuries which affect my day.