View Full Version : The NHS is Seriously Ill!
I have just returned from yet another appointment with my doctor with regards to my ongoing abdominal discomfort and to receive news of a chest xray.
Firstly, I was impressed!
He actually spoke to me for a good 15 minutes about my condition and how there is an ongoing mystery involving my illness being as neither the Gastroentologists and every form of investigation and test continues to prove to be negative.
He proceeded to inform me of how difficult it is nowadays to actually get anything done. "I refer you to the Gastroentologist who sees you and who in turn refers you back to me."
It would appear that in this age of red tape, health and safety and media advertising encouraging us to take out lawsuits on someone everytime we aren't happy with the way things are going, the NHS in particular is very cautious with regards to 'pushing the boat out' in order to treat patients unless it is done with a textbook, regimental and we must cover ourselves attitude!
I am saddened by the stories we read about people admitted to A and E and being sent home because they have overstayed their time limit, only to return again later in a much worse and somewhat serious life threatening state!
I personally have much praise for the doctors and nurses who constantly care for us in hospital. Their hours are long and sometimes not always pleasant. They are open to constant abuse and at times great danger.
I have not the slightest shred of sympathy for the person who goes out to get drunk then has to call an ambulance because they can't stand up or the individual who decides to start a fight after the pubs close, then demands to be treated immediately in the casualty ward.
We now read that there is to be further cuts to OUR NHS in order to save money yet again. As far as I am concerned, the amount of NI contributions I have paid since I started work at 16 entitles me to adequate healthcare.
If I pay my mortgage as I have done for the past 30 years (don't ask), I don't expect the building society to tell me they are going to take a couple of rooms away from my house because of cutbacks!
When is this or any government going to grow a pair and realise that we pay for most of the services in this country (and not by choice). There are people who are genuinely ill that need treatement and it is their right to recieve it! The money we spend on foreign aid runs into billions every year and as a result, the NHS is crumbling and saddly becoming very ill!
In future I will be getting all my Colonoscopies done at Halfords MOT bay!
Sincerely,
Old Misery Guts.
Horse.
itoldyouiwasill
24-02-11, 11:09
...and you think it is bad now!
I work in the public sector and am privy to various nuggets of info regarding both NHS spending (or lack of) and more regularly benefit reform. Seriously folks, you ain't seen nothing yet...over the next 3 years the UK is going to become a dark and unforgiving society. God forbid anybody who develops a chronic illness as they are really going to be hung out to dry I'm afraid.
Itoldyouiwasill.
Sadly I believe you.
Another point I would just like to add is that my doctor informed me of a patient in his 40s who has so far suffered three heart attacks and just been found fit to work by the ESA benefits interview, because he can lift a kettle.
May Dear God help us.
nomorepanic
24-02-11, 11:57
Another point I would just like to add is that my doctor informed me of a patient in his 40s who has so far suffered three heart attacks and just been found fit to work by the ESA benefits interview, because he can lift a kettle.
May Dear God help us.
As you may/may not know I had a heart attack and have Crohn's disease as well.
As a result of the heart being damaged and the medication I am on then I can only physically work part-time and my doctor completely agrees that full time would be too much for me.
I asked about sickness benefits because I can only work part-time (to help me out with living expenses) and they said No cos I can get up, get dressed and prepare a meal for myself. As I can work part time then I am considered well!
I am currently unemployed (got made redundant 4 weeks ago) and on Job seekers allowance which is £65 a week.
Yesterday I filled my car with petrol - £46, had to get a new headlight bulb - £16 and then my cardiac exercise class was a mere £4. That was my whole £65 gone in one day on essentials! (yes I have to have the car to be able to get a job so I can drive to work).
I appreciate they are cutting down on national spending but there are some cuts that are just unfair to those of us that have worked all our lives and then need a bit of help.
I too have paid NI contributions for the past 22 odd years so I am a bit resentful of it all as well at times.
Can i please join in, i have been in a very long battle with the benefit system regarding my son and it seems like those horrific decisions makers in the adult department are now making the decisions in the childrens cases too!
We have been refused any sort of disability claim for my little boy who has complex special needs because they say he can get on the toilet by himself, all be it he cant go alone but because he can get on a step an pee himself we are not entitled to a damn thing! very interesting i say when i cant leave him unsupervised anywhere and spend most of my days getting by on less than a couple of hours sleep!
Its extremely frustrating that i now although i am a full time carer get no benefits and have to some how find a part time job to enable us to make ends meet and pay privately for the phsyio and therapy he need as... yes you guessed it the nhs no longer supply it!
GRRR sorry i kind of post hijacked :D
Feel better now its all out tho :)
And to top it all off you get people claiming all the benefits under the sun for a minor ailment!!
Rant over :)
Lizziesaurus
24-02-11, 12:58
I too feel this pain. My doctor bless him, is brilliant, he insists he will get me to a psychiatrist but that we have to go through everything else trying all sorts of meds before that will probably happen, maybe not even then.
The NHS is apparently so understaffed that all the psychiatrists, psychologists and councillers get together once a week, go through the refferals and pick the most serious.
So because I don't have extreme bipolar and I'm not buying sports cars one day and attempting suicide the next, unless I go private, I won't be seeing anyone anytime soon.
It frustrates me, I feel for those in a worse state than me, and I'm glad I'm not at that stage (yet, my illness is definitely getting worse as time goes on) but my life is still affected terribly by this illness. It's just as dibilitating and scary and more than anything, I know I have a problem and want the help so badly.
I can't afford to go private, but I wish I could, maybe then I wouldn't be brushed under the carpet.
Slightly off topic - but some of the things my mum has told me about the NHS are down right terrifying - she said she received ECT (for anxiety caused by rape, childhood physical and sexual abuse) in the 80s that was wrongly carried out, misguided and given to her without consent - it was my dad who consented to it for her. They told her after that they'd damaged her brain which left her with epilepsy - tried 2 drugs, she was allergic to both and they sent her home and told her to grow up. My mum said a doctor once came out to the house while she was mid-seizure and poured a jug of ice-cold water over her... She was also once told to "f*** off" by a pyschiatrist - becuase she didn't like the group therapy she was getting (doctors organsising it were later investigated for sexual abuse of patients) and she was put on 13 meds a day leaving her dozy and unaware of what she was doing. She was forced to go to pysch sessions 5 days a week when she didn't need it .. Her therapist in 2008 quite often cancelled meetings without telling mum - despite mum travelling 20 miles to hospital... It's only now that they are investigating the seizures - that's 20 years...
My own experiences - while not so bad - aren't great, I remember being a child of 4 and rushed to hospital with dehydration - they couldn't get any blood from my arms (no-one ever can to be honest), they held me down (one person holding each limb) and took it from my heel. They banned my parents from the room. When I was 7 mI had a GA and my mum collapsed - they wouldn't let me see her for the next 8 hours - and no other relatives were with me - until they got fed up with me crying! When I was 7 I broke my leg and a 24 hr doctor refused to belive it was broken - made me walk across the hallway and told me not to cry wolf in future.. Next day - GP told my mum it was broken - and 5 weeks later they realised they'd misdiagnosed it and had given me the wrong plaster so it hadn't healed at all... When I was 15 and getting 3 teeth out I was put on an adult ward - told not to make a fuss and the urses barely spoke to me. Wouldn't get my mum after I came round either - the mother of the patient next to me had to go get her... I've also had girly problems since age 4 - in the last 2 years I think 3 Gps and one consultant told me there was nothing wrong, despite three GPs in the last fifteen yeasrs telling me and my mum that I'd one day need surgery.
BUT on the other - I can't speak more highly of my present GP - I phoned last Friday to speak to her, was told she might not be able to ring til Monday. Thought any phone call was better than none so didn't complain. Friend works at the surgery in admin and she runs me home from Uni on Friday nights so went up to surgery just as it was closing at 6... Both receptionist and my doctor were standing at reception and doctor said: " Well I was away to phone but J___ said you were coming up anyway - so do you want just to come through?" and she spent the next fifteen minutes - after her working hours - helping me with things, I was just about in tears that she was willing to do that. A&E, children's services and bits of mental health seem to have come on leaps and bounds too...
I know how frustrating it is though when they can't or don't seem bothered about helping, it's really awful.
Benefits and disability services on the other hand absolutely terrify me and I lie awake at night worrying about my mum and sister's future.
the NHS is going to get worse no doubt and I fear things for mental health will be going first under budgets ........CBT and Counselling for example .
As one on the front line in the NHS ..........I had to leave last year with panic attacks and constant anxiety .........no safe numbers of staff .........no back up .......I thought my head would explode as I ran from patient to patient .
And where are all these jobs going to spring from? take people off benefits and make them look for work even though they are sick ? ..........where is the work?
Is it fair on the employers even ? because I would be a quivering wreck at this moment in time and no good to anybody .
I dont claim benefits at the moment ..left work because i was waking up every night distraught and panicking . I am lucky in that we manage on my older husbands state pension .
I am going to write to my MP about this travesty in withholding benefit from psychological illness . It is appalling to measure it against physical activities of daily living . How can you measure someones despair and terror?
it is a tick box society now ..........and our illness cant ever be confined to that sort of measuring .
OHhhhhhhh that feels better
hugs to all :hugs:
Oh please do not get me started over benefits lol My husband has had 3 heart attacks and also has 3 stents in his heart did he get sickness B oh no he can work they say here is where my anxiety kicks in he is at work as i type with a chest infection he is self employed so no work no pay I worry each day about him working so much put it simply we could not live on unemployment benifets so he goes to work each day i work also but as we all know the cost of living is horrendous i wonder if we live beyond our means but we don't go out much we do not go on holiday and we just get by
I, too, fear our NHS. I feel sorry for the good doctors and nurses they are over worked, underpaid.
I am very lucky to have fab NHS staff both for myself and as you know for my elderly in laws - well apart from one GP who has driven me to distraction.
I had a long chat with my GP this morning and he said its heart breaking to see people such as us who are being deprived benefit. To get any we have to fight but that is detrimental to our situation.
When the lovely clare rayner passed away recently - her final words where " tell David Cameron I will come back to haunt him if he ruins my beloved NHS".
For those who don't know - Clare Rayner was a fabulous agony aunt and fought for lots of health issues, including mental health issues. She herself was sectioned because of undiagnosed thyroid problems.
Her final words stuck with me and put me on my guard.
YOU know my hassles fighting for my benefit - its a joke and the process completely abuses our GP's. I have written letters to David Cameron too. Which my GP is in kinks about lol.
If any of you feel strong enough to hassle MP's I have letters which you can read.
I fear for our future I have to say - but I am going to support my local GP's all I can.
If Mr Cameron has his way he is about to abandon the north of scotland too!!! Revenge will be sweet!!!!!
Wow.
Nice to see people think the way I do!
Glad some of you managed to have a rant and get things off your chest.
I think that any government thinks 'sod it' to the future because someone else will be in power by then. As long as they have their expense account then they are happy. Afterall, it must be very difficult to survive on a salary of over £60.000 especially when you have more than one house to keep, figures to fiddle and a posh car to run back and forth to the sex shop so hubby can rent the odd porn film!
I understand there was difficulty in despatching an aircraft to help bring home people in Libya today. Surprise surprise, another simple thing we're bloody useless at! Heaven help any who might need medical care when they arrive, unless they're an undercover terrorist of course!
Thanks to all who replied.
Feel free to hijack or have a moan if it helps your Anxiety.
Horse.
lindajane1971
24-02-11, 22:34
hi,
im in scotland and this was in our paper today:
53,000 staff to go, a quick look through the projections for Scottish Health trusts tell us all we need to know about priorities,
Lothian - 333 nurses and midwives, 59 other medical jobs and ONE from management
Fife - 29 nurses and midwives, 6 medical support workers, and ONE from management
Ayrshire - 74 nurses and midwives, 14 alied health professionals, TWO from management
Glasgow - 553 nurses, 13 medical staff, 61 alied health professionals, 59 healthcare workers, 180 in support services (that could be cbt etc) and 30 management
the government dont give a stuff about you if your ill in any way, shape or form all they care about are their numbers.
The most ridiculous thing ive ever heard just astonished me recently - my sis in law had her baby boy premature in january, and i was just completly gobsmacked to see that he was being given milk straight out of the fridge, stone cold!!!! Aparently this is for "health and saftey" reasons!!!!!! Ive never heard anything so absurd in my life!!!!!!
The government has gone mad!!
macc noodle
25-02-11, 01:06
Not wishing to cause a row, and purely out of interest, if you have recovered from a heart attack and have had some convalescence, exercise program and meds worked out - what actually stops you from resuming work unless you are a deep sea diver or something like? I can appreciate that you might not be able to work in your old job is you were, say a long distance lorry driver, because you might not be able to keep your licence (don't even know if that is true).
Also, it is an irrefutable fact of life that there are far too many people in this country claiming benefits to which they are not entitled and we simply cannot afford it anymore. This sadly will mean that some people may well fall through the net and be declined benefits which in previous times might have been more accessible and which they might well be in need of. Until they have sorted out the wheat from the chaff, I am afraid that it may well continue in this vein.
My husband and I are self employed which has meant that for the last 5 years, we have taken no holidays (of which we are in sore need), cannot afford to be ill and have to keep working, have not been able to increase our charges even though overheads have soared and would gladly pack it all in tomorrow if there was a choice (and yes, this is with both of us suffering ill health - mental and physical) but there is no choice for us (and, no doubt, many many others like us) but to soldier on.
:mad:
I don't know how useful these things are, but:
http://www.saveournhs.org
My husband is a builder its all he knows he had a heart attack convalesced went back to work had a another heart attack and same again 3rd time round during this time we claimed no benefits we used what savings we had now they are all gone My anxiety health and panic stems from this my worry daily is he will work till he drops for the last time and I am SCARED!! yes I would like for him to stay at home and claim what he could but even if that was possible he probably would not he is a worker he wants/needs to work I think its me who would rather he did not
nomorepanic
25-02-11, 21:50
Not wishing to cause a row, and purely out of interest, if you have recovered from a heart attack and have had some convalescence, exercise program and meds worked out - what actually stops you from resuming work unless you are a deep sea diver or something like? I can appreciate that you might not be able to work in your old job is you were, say a long distance lorry driver, because you might not be able to keep your licence (don't even know if that is true).
:mad:
i can answer this from my perspective.
You cannot fully recover from a heart attack - the left side of my heart is damaged, the heart is enlarged and there is a build up of fluid around it. Because of the medication I on to keep the heart stable and also because the heart is not working at full capacity then I get very tired.
I was working part-time (9.30am - 3pm) until I was made redundant 4 weeks ago and that was enough for me and the doctor agreed and supported these working hours.
Some days I had to come home and have a nap as I was so tired.
I also have Crohn's disease as well so stress can cause flare-ups.
I am happy to work part-time but for quality of life I cannot work anymore as I would be coming home from work and going to bed.
I also am not supposed to lift heavy weights as this puts a strain on the heart.
Hope that helps explain it anyway.
itoldyouiwasill
25-02-11, 22:01
I think the last post indicates one of the main problems inherent in the new medical testing procedure. People are going to be found fit for work based on the fact they can carry out certain tasks but it totally fails to take into account that people's conditions are variable and can wax and wane.
Let's be honest, if you were an employer and interviewed 50 people for a job and one of those was a person with an ongoing chronic illness that may need to phone in sick at short notice once a week would you employ them?
nomorepanic
25-02-11, 22:22
I have this problem with sickness as well. If the Crohn's played up then I could be off for a few days.
When I had a massive flare-up I was very ill and was off work 9.5 months in total.
I then had a couple of times I had chest pain and again was in hospital for a night and then off work for a week resting.
If an employer asked about my sickness record then they would not employ me.
it might sound naive .......but why cant the govt give benefits to those that cant do the jobs they used to do through ill health in exchange for hours worked in the voluntary sector ? obviously related to disablement .
David Camerons vision of the New Britain .
it will give us all incentive and focus and company ..........no guilt if we feel to ill to come to work ........but enough maybe to make that extra push ?
and for those of us with fear and panic ...........I know if I thought if I was working with similar sufferers ..........it would maybe just give me that confidence.
xx
countrygirl
25-02-11, 22:38
At the moment I am one of the "lucky" ones who qualifies for incapacity benefit and disability living allowance for past 9 years because I am partially sighted - have number of herniated discs in my spine so cannot stand for long or use my arms much or bend my head down etc etc. I also have other chronic problems like hiatus hernia m underactive thryoid although neither of these would stop me working. My damaged neck gives me sudden severe vertigo as well.
I loved my last job working at a Drs and would happily go back to work but I literally can't do it - I cannot type for more than a few minutes and need a huge screen to sort of see what I am typing. I cannot think of a job I could do - i had my driving licence taken off me when my sight deteriated 3 years ago so cannot get to any job anyway as I cannot walk far without pain.
I know that sometime they will abolish the incapacity benefit and disability living allowance and it changes to ESA or PIP whatever that is but sure I will get a big reduction in money.
I am unemployable but its not because I want to be I would love to be fit enough and to be able to see enough to work!
nomorepanic
25-02-11, 22:48
Countrygirl - well I think you are entitled to the DLA because of your problems to be honest.
As I said I am happy to work and can do - just part time - but I would not want to be partially sighted like you so I am sorry to hear this and believe that you should be entitled to some benefits.
itoldyouiwasill
25-02-11, 22:50
The measure of Society is how we treat people who are a similar situation as yourself countrygirl.
What we are going to witness over the next 3 years is the dismantling of the already limited safeguards that have been put in place to protect the vulnerable to be replaced with a survival of the fitess ethos.
Let's be honest here, the Conservative party have been aching to destroy the welfare system for years and too their eternal shame the Liberals have given them the means to carry out plans.
I really do fear for the UK as we are losing focus and direction and once Society flounders in this manner it becomes a fertile breeding ground for all manner of ills.
I think the last post indicates one of the main problems inherent in the new medical testing procedure. People are going to be found fit for work based on the fact they can carry out certain tasks but it totally fails to take into account that people's conditions are variable and can wax and wane.
Let's be honest, if you were an employer and interviewed 50 people for a job and one of those was a person with an ongoing chronic illness that may need to phone in sick at short notice once a week would you employ them?
Agreeing about the testing - due to my dyspraxia I'd fail the tests (I can't easily pick up 10p, do a button or a zip - I taught myself for years how to dress, type, tie my hair back, do up my bra strap, tie laces etc) which is mad as, given the right kind of support and understanding, I could work perfectly well!! The tests are so wrong :lac:.. my sister would pass as she can do all those things but her autism means she refuses to talk to someone she doesn't know, she undresses herself first chance she gets as she hates clothing and if something upsets her first response is to scream, kick and bite. So goodness only knows what'll happen in her future! :roflmao:
My mum always passes them though as she quite often takes fits in front of them due to panic and stress!!! So they can't object to that!
Well i for one have never had an issue with the NHS but fear what it will be like if the coalition gov. lasts the full term.
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