How the future NHS looks in your City/County:

[Parvati]

Interesting article - if you enter your city/county it will give you details for your area of any changes being put forward: bbc.co.uk/news/health-38838852

[sassy59]

Thank you Parvati, very interesting. Lots of activity in Sussex it seems so will keep ears and eyes open. Hope you are well at the moment. Xxxxx

[diesel12]

Just had a look for Lincolnshire. Basically A&E changes, closing duplicate services etc. Grantham A & E has been closed at night for a while and while at the hospital with mum I spoke to a lady from Grantham whose husband was screaming with pain at home so she rang for an ambulance only to be told to take him from Grantham to Lincoln in her car as there would be no spare ambulance for 5-6 hours. She was so shaken up as he was screaming all the way and she was worried she was hurting him more by him being in the car, this drive took her an hour! I wonder whatever happened to that golden hour to treat someone? I never saw her again after that so don't know the outcome.

I have seen a lot of the problems in Lincoln hospital this last year with mum but have also seen some great care but by closing the "cottage" hospitals it is way over crowded and also no where for folks to go as a step toward being back at home.

Bring back convalescence homes!

[Watfordgirl in reply to diesel12]

It's such an obvious way to reduce over-crowding in the acute hospitals. They're closing more 'cottage hospitals' in Devon, according to Parvati's link.

[Lyd12 in reply to diesel12]

I so agree, and have been saying this for ages. My husband had a hernia done at our now closed cottage hospital, also a vasectomy, Ihave had minor op there, Long time ago now, but then once appointment came round there was no waiting at all.

[Buzzytruk in reply to diesel12]

Hi....You should try Boston. 😞 ! We have said if we need any treatment in an emergency or long term care & investigations we would prefer Peterborough hospital.

Boston has had a lot of its facilities taken away to Lincoln. But Lincoln can't cope.

Large centres need large sites, and Lincoln is very tight.

I am told Boston no longer do anti coagulation tests , Boston had a good path lab .....so if the GP.won't take the blood , then it's at least a fifty mile trip each way from where we live.

Lincoln powers that be appear to forget Lincolnshire is a large county and that not every hospital can be a centre of excellence. .......Just a good district general.

Jo.

[diesel12 in reply to Buzzytruk]

and yet my sister was sent to Boston to have a line put in for chemo. It's a mad world!

[Watfordgirl]

Thank you, Parvati. I replied to diesel, but it should have come to you.

Is there no one in charge of health provision with a shred of common sense. There are so many patients in acute hospitals who don't need or want to be there but if you remove all options of care between the acute care and home the whole system will explode. Isn't it obvious that patients who've been seriously ill are going to need a reduced level of care somewhere before they can be self-caring at home. 😡 x

[onamission]

we are about to loose our A&E walking in gp clinic and mother and children service which cost 28m to build 2 years ago 😈

[Toci]

I have put in the town and two cities nearest to me and it does not know any of them.

[Magpuss]

The whole of the West Midlands isn't recognised? No wonder there are problems!!

[Magpuss]

The West Midlands is our county - bits of it used to be Staffs back in the sixties, some bits probably came under Warks at some point in time but the Black Country, Dudley, Wolverhampton and many surrounding towns are now all just 'West Midlands'. Many locals would like their old county boundaries and names back.

The East Midlands (where I came from) retained its original county names ie Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire etc but the West Midlands - in effect, seems to have sliced bits off adjoining counties to create a new county borough.........at least this is how it was explained to me by a thoroughly disgruntled acquaintance whose address in South Staffs changed overnight without him having moved an inch.

[katieoxo60 in reply to Magpuss]

Hi Magpuss, the West Midlands is a vast area now, called the West Midlands Combined Authority. We used to be Warwickshire in days gone by now like Staffordshire areas have changed. Some of which is to do with cetralising finances for better government budgeting in simple terms. But it is more confusing for the public as it involves two sets of bugeting. Things changing including addresses.

[Magpuss in reply to katieoxo60]

If what we have now is 'better budgeting' I dread to think what it was like before!🙄😄😄

[katieoxo60 in reply to Magpuss]

This is what we are told ,but from experience nothing has changed only our postal address, so I use the words "better budgeting" with reservations. I personally along with many others still struggle to keep our living standards and meet our care needs while being pushed out into the suburbs in isolation from our new purpose built student city. No thought has been given to the older population in my city center or urban facilities improved to meet a community need. Reason no finance , have to depend on the voluntary services and as I understand it this county merger will not particularly improve things, a lot of the money is targetted for intercity transport not basics for the residents of the said areas. Or have I got it all wrong???? Back to the waiting game

[Buzzytruk in reply to Magpuss]

Hi.....I can understand your acquaintance s feelings , being a Black country girl. South Staffs is South Staffs nothing to do with Dudley Worcestershire or ,Birmingham Warwickshire

Jo.

[Magpuss]

It all changed just before we moved here and being an outsider I never really knew which places had been in which county - tho' I do know that our bit used to be in South Staffs.

I just cannot imagine why the West Midlands isn't recognised, as you say - it's vast, and Wolverhampton is a city now, how can it be 'unrecognised'?

[Nanbn2]

I tried both the town where I live and the county, neither was recognised.

[katieoxo60]

thank you for your link, helps find details easy. For myself I am involved with a group locally and we get most of the local NHS news on a regular basis, plus other government issues. We can be found on line at Coventry Older Voices, we deal with lots of issues that effect over fifties including national issues like changes to NHS services, care in later life.