The Roller Coaster Continues

[TikaTora]

Does the Welsh NHS care about patients, just had a phone call cancelling my ablation due to no anaesthetist being available, getting to the end of my tether

[Desanthony]

Flippin' 'eck! Sorry your ablation has been cancelled. At least you won't go to the end of the list but hopefully will get called forward quite soon.

All the best.

[TikaTora in reply to Desanthony]

I hope you are right but they maybe inventing a new way to justify the length of the waiting list

[Desanthony in reply to TikaTora]

Yes I know. It makes you think.

[Rainfern]

So sorry to hear that Tika.

It isn’t just Wales though, it’s all over UK. (Please don’t blame Wales!) My husband just had a vascular procedure cancelled due to staff sickness here in England. Our health service is creaking, underfunded, and there’s not enough staff and they’re going off sick more often because of the stress they work under. No wonder so many are leaving and so few want to train to work for our once proud NHS. The flak they get from the public is terrible. So you wouldn’t find things any better here in England! Excuse the rant.

Good luck and hope you soon have your appointment.

[TikaTora in reply to Rainfern]

I totally agree and I don't see any of the political parties help repairing yhe NHS as it is seen as a necessary evil. We can only keep laughing and get there in the end

[ozziebob in reply to TikaTora]

Surely the fact that the satisfaction rating in the NHS by patients was at a record high under the last Labour Govt must point to one party that might still be interested in making the needed "repairs". The Parties are not "all the same" re the NHS, and your vote matters.

[Buzby62]

I’m having cryo with sedation, apparently there is a shortage of anaesthetists and that’s why the first try is cryo with sedation, then revisit with RF under GA if required. I’ve had 2 dates cancelled this month, will be the new year now 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Just go with it, no good getting wound up about it but I agree it is a roller coaster, wish they’d said January in the first place.

[TikaTora in reply to Buzby62]

I was spoilt last year I was put on the list for cryo under general anaesthetic and was expecting a 6 month wait within a month I was in and out, I am told if the EC doesn't work he will fit a pacemaker now thinking of asking him to go ahead and fit it now

[waveylines]

Awwwww that's rubbish. Poor you. The NHS is falling apart despite valient efforts by staff who work in it. They are all getting burn out, staff leave are not replaced because either no one applies or it's savings.

This doesn't help you!! Did you know that under the NHS charter when a procedure is cancelled thry have to offer you another date within a month. In your shoes Id ring the EPs secretary and ask about when you are bring rebooked in.. Be kind sympathetic but explain the impact on you. You may fine it's all in hand but if not it's a kindly prompt. When I did this (different op) I was given the caseload operations managers number to ting. I rang her. She was lovely and it was sorted. In an ideal world you wouldnt need to do anything but we don't live in one of those.

There's no chance your GP will chase this up for you.... if it's anything like my surgery they are not managing the basics.

Good luck. 🤞🤞🤞

[TikaTora in reply to waveylines]

Thank you for your reply I didn't know about the charter, I have learnt you get more done with honey instead of vinegar, even when the waiting list called and cancelled my hip replacement I was kind it is not there fault. As you sell the NHS has fallen apart as all the previous governments see it as a lesser evil and give it a bare minimum grants

[TikaTora in reply to waveylines]

I have been trying to find more information regarding the charter and it appears this is regarding to last minute cancellation referencing day before or on the day been trying to contact PALS but no one seems to be managing the phones great service

[Dippy22 in reply to TikaTora]

I would advise that you find the email for PALS and put it all in writing. It’s better than a phone call as it’s a better record of the facts, rather than someone taking notes from a phone conversation. I found them extremely helpful when I’d been waiting far too long for my spine op earlier this year.

[TikaTora in reply to Dippy22]

Thank you I thought it could have been quicker telephoning than sending an email, I appreciate the better record reference which is the better option

[Singwell]

I think we're under served here in Wales. Different funding rules and there are fewer big hospitals with the level of skilled staffing you could expect in the big cities in England. I live in Powys - huge county, no 24 hour A and E that I'm aware of. It's over the border for me if A and E is required

[TikaTora]

Hi singwell I don't think it is just Wales that is suffering now the whole NHS is creaking under the weight of the growth in population. I am in pembrokeshire we do have an A&E within easy drive when I have been there mainly with my late mother there were only a few people waiting but still took on average 4 hours. We have to show our Britishness of grin and bear it

[waveylines in reply to TikaTora]

Actually I dont think we should grin and bare it. Given there's an election coming up now is the time to raise the plight of patients waiting for treatment, not just ops either.

My old GP has temporarily come out of retirement. Lovely chap. He said they no. Longer have a patient list so that s why you you get a string of different ones which doesn't work with chronic or complex histories. He could not make sense of my notes as they just do not match my blood test results. I'd read them on the NHS app and they weren't even accurate of the consultation. They have about 5minutes which is useless if they dont know your case.

He's promised to look after me whilst he's back for a few weeks.... After that it's back to trainees, locums and there is zero continuity of care or even appropriate care, let alone diagnosis or follow up.So we all need to protest and complain to our MPs. It will take years to turn this mess around if is ever turned round or we are faced with full privatisation.

[Taviterry]

Other posters have already summed up the situation. The NHS is in a mess and will continue to be in one because no political party will dare tackle it. My local A & E is already warning of being under more strain than ever before and Winter hasn't really started. A few years ago I recall "sniffiness" by GPs if I contemplated going private, now mine almost encourages it. My Patient Access website (which contains my GP's records of me) even has a list of private providers of "specialist consultations". I've just booked one with a gastroenterologist (who also works for the local hospital) and the first available date is four weeks away.

No doubt most of us welcomed this week's announcement of tax cuts, but these will have to paid for by real cuts in public-service spending

[waveylines in reply to Taviterry]

Even worse I was told by my GP that they could only deal with 'simple cases' and the rest has to be dealt with by the hospital.Maybe this is why they constantly refer on and once referral made they wash their hands of you. Im not sure what is meant by 'simple' but clearly this idea that you are passed back to GP care is no longer applicable. Am sure this will have further added to the clogging up of hospital appointments.

Also GPs no longer have a caseload.... It's mass treatment of all the patients in the practise. So once again if you have chronic long term conditions you will find it hard to get consistant care from a GP because it's left to whoever picks you up next time around and can be a trainee or locum for example.

[Taviterry in reply to waveylines]

I have just been ruminating about being seen by different people. Recently I was diagnosed as anaemic and earlier this month one GP increased the strength of my ferrous ferritin pills. Then the anaemia was defined as non-iron-deficient, so it seems they are not necessary and I'm suspecting that seven years of taking them may have damaged my stomach lining. The last GP I consulted said nothing about this. Looking through my records, including various blood test results, would take a GP many minutes, and I've become accustomed to briefly summarising my situation at the start of the appointment. Before I saw my heart surgeon on Wednesday, I emailed him a summary of key facts and key blood--test results which he appreciated.

[waveylines in reply to Taviterry]

It would not take many minutes Taviterry. Each case profile has a summary page. As for looking at blood test results unless the labs flag up a problem they just file them. I cannot email my GP or surgery. I can only contact via NHS app. That only allows for a brief outline of issue. No room for writing out again blood test results or summary of other conditions.

Having a different doctor every time is time wasting as they r not familiar with your case. This eats away the 5mins or so allowed. Even my old doctor who has returned briefly said he couldn't make sense of the notes made by his colleagues.

[Taviterry in reply to waveylines]

I'd long thought that being able to email my GP would be useful, but I suppose the facility, if made readily available, would encourage a mass of messages for someone to sort through every day. It was only earlier this month that I was given the surgery's email address so I could give consent to my records being sent to my surgeon. His PA acknowledged their receipt, but a brief email from the GP surgery saying they had been sent would have been appreciated.

[waveylines in reply to Taviterry]

Yes you are right. My old GP told me that every day when they come into work whoever does triage has at least 150 NHS messages waiting to be deal with. Likely don't know the patient Say 5 mins per message for doctor to deal with equates to 12.5hrs to get through 150 with no breaks. I can see how that IS overwhelming. The plus of NHS app message both yours and their replies are stored on your electronic file so leaves a record.Same with a phone consultation or face to face.... No one has time. My GP record is shocking, inaccurate to the degree another highly experienced doctor doesn't understand it!!

Am sure things get missed. They have with me.

[Taviterry in reply to waveylines]

And I bet some/many of those 150 messages are "enigmatic". In my short time with this forum I've become impressed with the literacy and good sense of its members. But I also belong to a neighbourhood forum and daily I despair/wonder/am amused about a significant minority of those in it.

Recently I left a short message in the appropriate box in my "repeat prescriptions" on Patient Access that was ignored. Now I wish to request a very simple switch for my iron supplement from pills to liquid. I'm wondering whether to use the surgery email address that I've just been given, or ring up, listen to the recorded homily several times, eventually being able to ask the receptionist if the surgery pharmacist can ring me back. Not that I mind buying the stuff myself, as I have been doing with the pills for many years - until a GP offered to prescribe a stronger version (see above),

[waveylines in reply to Taviterry]

Problem I find with that route is what gets passed onto dictor/pharmacist isn't necessarily what you said.Thing is GP surgeries are overwhelmed and there is no way they provide the joining up of needs from specialisms like they used to.

Enigmatic messages.... Maybe some are but then we are not medics and thats supposed to be the whole point of a GP Service to identify what what's from patients presentation, symptoms signs etc and refer on when needing more specislist input. These days I find I'm the one who has to direct doctors etc.... As am not trained obviously things will get missed.....

[Taviterry in reply to waveylines]

As I indicated in an earlier post in this thread, I too try to steer doctors. I'm due to see a gastroenterologist in December and already have prepared a summary of my medical circumstances. My problem is that I have a bee in my bonnet that can be seen as a red herring (please excuse the metaphors) about an insect bite I had almost ten years ago that gave me symptoms like those of Lyme Disease which several GPs insist wasn't. I still get mild reoccurrences. Back then my GPs were woefully ignorant of Lyme and I suspect that today many medical people are reluctant to consider "something like Lyme".

[pusillanimous]

I wonder how it would work if you were given the option to opt out of the NI portion of your tax and go for private medicine.?. Here in South Africa, the Health portion comes out of the general taxation and it covers free medical treatment at Government Clinics and hospitals for those who cannot afford to join what are known as Medical Aid societies. You pay a monthly installment to belong to a plan of your choice (it is not Insurance), but still pay the same tax with a slight relief for your subscriptions. The only doctors and associate disciplines employed by the State, are those who work in Clinics and hospitals, everything else is private . There are probably more private hospitals all with emergency department, path labs, radiology and suites for specialists, than there are public hospitals. That said, if you say , suffer a heart attack and do not have Medical Aid cover, you still have to have treatment at a government hospital - this was the circumstance of my hairdresser, and he received excellent treatment, but this is not the te norm as there are millions waiting for state hospital treatment.

[TikaTora in reply to pusillanimous]

Hi thanks for your reply I know totally how it all works I spent 10 years in Zim and SA while in SA I was diagnosed with spontaneous DVT and consider the health care to be FIRST class. The problem over here is you would not get the contribution towards medicare as you do over there, the last time I checked the cost of a hip replacement was around £18000, that was before the he last few years when costs started rocketing

[waveylines in reply to pusillanimous]

NI tax is not really used for Health are in the UK. It's actually used for multiple other purpose. Many people think they are lying for the National Health Service with NI contributions but they are not. Sad fact.Given my health record there's no way I could have afforded the treatments privately. And the exclusions on a private health insurance would be such it wouldn't be worth my while setting it up. In the UK this is why people end up stuck on one health insurance as if you move to a different provider your conditions that you've developed since joining won't be covered on a new plan. Meaning you are at the mercy of their charges.