N HS

[Jaybird19]

Read or listen to Jeremy Hunt talking about the NHS. He had many years experience of being minister in charge and has much better knowledge than current minister Javid.

[Snackjack]

I agree with you on that one.👍👍

[CDPO16]

He talks the talk now but he didn't do a particularly good job when he was health minister in my opinion. Hospital bed numbers dropped, waiting times went up and he caused a lot of upset for junior doctors with a new contract which many felt was unfair, while turning a deaf ear to those working in the NHS like all government ministers tend to do.

[Jaybird19 in reply to CDPO16]

As a life longvNHS worker myself completely agree with you about his record but who else knows as much as he does and I do agree with what he is saying now . Hope this is genuine and not just putting himself forward as challenger to current Pm.

[CDPO16 in reply to Jaybird19]

I had heard a rumour that he wanted to get back into government.

[Oshgosh in reply to CDPO16]

When I worked in the NHS,workers had another name for him.I can’t repea it n this forum.

I will get black balled

[CDPO16 in reply to Oshgosh]

Now you have raised my curiosity 😄

[Med75 in reply to Oshgosh]

I also worked in the NHS for more years than I think was good for my health, in my opinion there isn’t one health minister that has a real grasped or understanding of what the NHS really needs…I watch them on TV visiting hospitals with there sleeves rolled up ( really but thats good PR ) looking like rabbits in headlights.

They shout about employing more staff but who are these people who wants these jobs, long hours & years of training, once they do many get demoralised, leave or move abroad for better pay & conditions. Sadly we don’t have any medication to improve or cure the many years of cuts the services have suffered…so no miracle cure soon.

Just look at the pandemic, extremely poor forward planning stocks of emergency PPE, reduced bed capacity or specialised staff in ITU’s, beds blocked in all ward due to years of not getting to grips with planning & changing social heath care to reduce the bed blocking, which in turn lead to poor workforce moral.

The pandemic showed how unprepared the government was & still are in my opinion when it comes to emergencies or the snails pace of getting to grip with the changes needed.

Thank goodness there are brilliant NHS staff in all our hospitals who can plan for emergencies & who can pull everything together. There are still people trying to work miracles in your local hospitals under huge demand & pressure, plus many outside delivering millions of vaccines to communities…thousands who have returned from retirement.

You’ll hear the Heath minister saying “we are putting more money into the system” “we are employing more staff “ great sound bites but it takes forever to train these not to mention the extra years needed to specialise in certain fields of medicine, we can’t increase bed capacity or wards until there are many more trained staff to staff them.

The real question is, when is there a real plan for social care services change which should go hand in hand with NHS planning as they are all one & the same, if Health Ministers don’t grasp this we’ll just go round in circles again & again.

Sorry…please don’t worry or get depressed believe me most NHS staff are still very eager to help you & resolve your medical issues or mental health when you walk through the door …they’ll greet you with a smile as any issues they have will be left at the hospital door, we all know or knew ( in my case ) there will be people who are frightened & need your friendly face waiting for you.

As for Health Ministers ? well they come & go, hopefully one day one will stay really roll up their sleeves & get a real grip of the job before moving on to another position.

Smile today folks & enjoy your day, as Captain Tom would say “Tomorrow will be a better day “ that’s always been NHS staffs mantra when walking back out of that hospital door after a 12 hour shift🥰❤️

[Suzie42 in reply to Med75]

I worked for NHS for 25 years and coming from stockbroker background could not believe the waste i was seeing. We got bonuses in stockbrokers for saving money.

I tried over the years to do my bit, but was up against it. Ineffeciency was everywhere. I used an expression while working there "if you can waste money, please do"

Often i would argue with managers about waste.

I always liked Jeremy Hunt except what he did with Drs contracts, basically caused a shortage of doctors.

Just before i left the nhs in our hospital all senior nurses had to apply again for their jobs causing a lot to quit. Also their working hours contract changed to working 12 hour shifts which made lots of nurses with children leave. I think this was the biggest start to our nurse shortage. 8 hour shifts are more doable and if they going off sick easier to cover

[Hidden in reply to Suzie42]

They waste money in recruitment is well as I have gone for jobs there that have ended up reappearing on the boards a few weeks or months later.

I used to work for them as well and the management were horrible beyond belief and they sacked a girl they had bullied after she had been off sick for a year.

Myself and another colleague who I had seen recently at the local lido had both left off our own accord as we couldn't stand the attitudes of management there and she had taken time out to be a full time parent and I have taken time out as a career break since the end of 2019 after they had bullied me and I feel I made the right decision in leaving off my own accord.

[Suzie42 in reply to Hidden]

Yes management dreadful and so highly paid. Bulling was rife in my hospital too

[Med75 in reply to Suzie42]

I agree it was an up hill battle to reduce waste, there were always big pushes by some management & staff at our hospitals to cut down on waste, the message would get through for a while at the coal face but with the pressures of the work it was hard trying to manage it full time.

As part of a job ( on our ward ) we delegated 1 person to encompass managing our stock room & god help if you took stock without authority, it worked savings increased but that was only 1 area & a tiny drop in a massive ocean….much more could have been done by some management.

[Suzie42 in reply to Med75]

I managed the stock on our ward for 5 years but then after a manager came in and saw that we had 1 month in hand, gave me an unwarranted talking down, so I told her I wouldn't do it anymore as it was part of my job description. It had been working well up to that point with no shortages ever while I was doing it, to madness. We ran out of things constantly and I wasted hours going around the hospital borrowing. After 6 months of this craziness the manager left, I took the job back and normality set in.

[Med75 in reply to Suzie42]

I felt your frustration reading that..I’m not a violent person far from it but I often felt like giving someone a good thump throwing my uniform at them & saying you get on with it 😫if only 🤗

[Suzie42 in reply to Med75]

Yes I know 😊

[Zephir in reply to Med75]

Thank you for that. So accurate. I was in hospital for a few days recently and the staff were wonderful. The problems I noticed came from a shortage of staff and new members of staff who were ‘learning on the spot’ [not their fault] - symptomatic of the ‘quick fix’ solutions resulting from many short term measures imposed on the NHS. The NHS staff needs to be paid properly and their number increased whether they are European or not [many have gone back since Brexit and have been replaced with other foreign staff who do not have the equivalent qualifications]. More training has to be done here and this will take time as you mentioned. And the training time cannot be shortened just because of the current crisis. The way to fund this is to put in place long term reforms even if some of those are not the most popular with the electorate!

[Oshgosh]

Rhymes with Hunt.I take no responsibility for any one’s imagination.

[Jaybird19]

I will add that i did not approve his actions during that time.

[Hidden]

The government are all talk and no action and tell you what you want to hear to fob you off!

[Jaybird19]

I do wish I could publicise all these comments from the front line of the NHS . I knew it was bad but these details are horrific . I worked in PHLS who did all the local and hospital microbiology. We were independent of these managers as we were a separate building with no contact except our consultants and senior chief who had contact with doctors there at meetings and when necessary . I learnt more as a patient years later and I ended up on geriatric ward at 70 when my problem was just a broken leg in plaster and not being allowed home as it had stairs and I was also living alone . 2 weeks in respite home then 4 more in geriatric ward . It was a local health centre with 2 geriatric wards where one woman with dementia died in front of me .A screen was found but the family had no privacy There was a radio playing local station all day long . Hell. The nurses disappeared and didnt answer bell if needed after putting people to bed with incontinence pads at 6.00 they used to have a takeaway each evening and spent time deciding what they would be having ? Si I suppose they were all in the nurses room . I had no contact with outside at all until two days before I was sent home . Then I was allowed to go to a wedding and stay in hotel overnight ! In a wheel chair . No family local , and no visitors .I am a solitary person and I think I just switched off cannot remember most of those 4 weeks . Those wards closed soon after.Just one experience of care 14 years ago. I dread the thought of being "in care" again .

[Med75 in reply to Jaybird19]

OMG your comments made me feel so sorry that you had to experience such a dreadful time.

When I started working it was very regimented, the ward sisters word was law & never to be ignored even if you knew it was wrong, if there were Doctors rounds or the Matron appeared it was like royalty had arrived.

Thankfully things changed & became more relaxed especially for the patients, the teaching changed dramatically both medically & positively for patients & families, even though some family contacts have become more abusive at times.

Periodically it could be a little too relaxed, I remember hearing some students doing ward training moan about a few patients expectations, I calmly but very sarcastically said “ Oh I know it’s awful, this job would be so much better without patients & saying on turning pointed at the exit “you know where the doors are if you haven’t learned compassion “ I never heard a grizzle again.

I did explain my comment at a later date reminding them one of those ladies or gents could be your close relative one day & I’m sure you’d expect the best for them.

I so hope experiences that you suffered are a thing of the past but sadly we still hear horror stories that make my blood boil.