Often I pass, Aneurin ‘Nye’ Bevan’s statue, quietly thinking, ‘Nye, look what they have done.’ When I read recently of a G.P. who had to take 3 months off due to the daily gargantuan amount of work expected of him, tears welled in my eyes. I whispered, ‘What have they done to you ?’
He was so exhausted that he struggled with simple tasks such as unlocking his car door, doing up his shoelaces and responding to friends’ texts. His career history includes serving in the Army and 2 tours of Afghanistan. It was apparent that this man was capable of hard work in dreadful conditions.
Medical students must learn a vast amount of information to qualify to be a doctor. Pernicious Anaemia/B12 deficiency is not on the syllabus. When they become doctors, they are working relentlessly in a chaotic, disorganised system, still learning and having to pass further exams.
Just a personal story, many years ago, I bleeped one of our junior doctors and she came to the ward to review the case that I was nursing. I was busy checking and drawing up antibiotics with another midwife. Unfortunately, I had jumped the gun, not ALL the blood results were back. I was not happy with the clinical picture, so needed a doctor’s input. The junior doctor wiped the floor with me. The other midwives told me to put in a complaint. Nope, it was my mistake, I will take it on the chin.
I did the necessary, with ALL results back so I bleeped the doctor again. I apologised again. Then, I spotted her walking down the dark corridor. I went to her, turned to walk with her. I gently touched her on her right forearm, quietly asking if she was ok. Her voice broke, tears started to fall, so I ushered her into a free side room and she disclosed. The plan for the rest of the shift was to go above her.
A person can only cope with so much, 6 on-calls, a relationship breakdown, a sick family member and exam pressure. For me, I always like to sit down and talk. I believe in seeking respect not attention because it lasts longer. I also like to think SMART :-
S - Specific
M - Measurable
A - Achievable
R - Realistic
T - Timely.
It is impossible to change a whole system overnight. It is an incremental change where P.A./B12 deficiency is concerned.
*Aneurin Bevan was a Labour politician. He created the NHS, he contributed to the founding of the welfare state and he was aunionist.
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Narwhal10
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We have too few GPs in this country and we are losing the best of them to early retirement, expatriate life in countries with better balance & higher salaries and retraining.
Same goes for specialist doctors.
Burn out doesn’t just kill their NHS careers, it will kill off early some of the people who should be their patients but can’t get to see a GP / find an ambulance.
I don't want to sound un pc but I think doctors are overworked because the Bevan originally created the NHS to help people who are ill. The NHS has now been expanded to include a vast range of 'cosmetic' treatments. I understand that not being able to have children is very upsetting but you won't die of it. And having big breasts is a problem but breast reduction isn't life saving surgery.
All opinions are welcome. Charks there is also another side too. People do not understand what the NHS is for.
GP appointment for a cold.
Expecting paracetamol or ibuprofen on prescription,
I am sure 999 call handlers could write blogs on some of the calls received. One example was a man rang because he had just found out his wife was having an affair. Obviously that warranted a paramedic ambulance.
I would be leaving work, in my uniform and was asked where the Emergency Department was. I would do a quick assessment, just in case. I would think why did you not ring NHS 111 ?
There are huge differences between emergency, urgent, expedited and routine. I was matron-like because obstetrics can be very similar to the Emergency Department - emergency after emergency after emergency. After each one was dealt with and just before the next, I’d crack a quick joke or do a silly impression. My colleagues and I would laugh. Then, Let’s crack on.
Also the many new tiers of management that exist nowadays. During my last experience with the hospital, I was astounded by the number of staff posts I'd never heard of. Many of which unfortunately sounded rather superfluous ...
Since the inception of the NHS, medical science has expanded too much for any doctor to keep abreast of it. The other huge change is that all medical knowledge is now published on the Internet. In 1948 you would have to spend weeks in the British library understanding Pernicious Anaemia, now you can access the literature easily and talk to patients with the disease directly. Online diagnostics run by predictive AI is around the corner. Stanford university did a recent trial and ChatGPT performed much better than human doctors in medical exams.
We need more doctors that do treatment (surgeons etc) and many more better paid nurses and carers to care for the elderly. Having fewer doctors involved in diagnostics will release the money to pay for more surgeons, nurses and carers.
Empowering patients by giving them direct access to all cheap tests (blood tests, stool tests and ultrasound tests) without having to see a GP would save a fortune and free up the money to buy more MRI and CT scanners where ChatGPT rather than a human radiologist reviews the scans.
The lesson from this forum is that allowing patients to buy sub cutaneous B12 injections directly from pharmacies without seeing a doctor would save a huge amount of a grief. The discussions on this forum are far more useful than a 10 minute appointment with a GP.
NICE estimates that a B12 blood test costs the NHS £3.50; MMA and homocysteine tests probably don't cost much more. Requiring an appointment with a GP that costs £45 to access these tests makes no sense.
The Banking industry in 1948 had lots of highly paid Bank managers; by now they have largely disappeared and Banking is far more efficient than it was in 1948.
This brought tears to my eyes. I worked with so many wonderful doctors, but with all my struggles to obtain a B12 diagnosis and treatment, and with the hassles during covid, I had begun to forget that there were human beings under the white coat 😔
I'd feel so emotional if I was standing at Bevan's statue.
What have they done indeed! Decimated our NHS by savage cuts and mismanagement. I know where that blame lies - it's in the slippery hands of austerity politics, where profit comes before people. Long waiting lists force many of us to seek private healthcare, specialists, tests...while our health deteriorates needlessly. Yet this negligence is apparently legal.
Apparently, it takes 2 people in suits with clipboards to tell me that there’s a bit of blood on a machine. Always polite and smiling, I point at the ceiling, ‘Theatre light is on and I am waiting for a phone call.’
In other words, there was an emergency. Please do not tell me how to do my job. If you are that bothered here are the wipes. 😜
The last time I attended my local hospital I saw things with labels on them stating the last date it was cleaned. As if reminders were needed! The windows and frames everywhere were filthy and so were toys for children in the paediatric department. I have seen blood stains on a floor. But hand sanitiser everywhere. 😩
What has happened to us that we disregard the basic principle of cleanliness and its role in infection control? We seem to have the view that the ‘menial’ jobs we think are beneath us can be be done by anyone. But clean surroundings are the responsibility of everyone surely.
Exactly, infection control and cleanliness was first introduced by Florence Nightingale. The founder of modern nursing.
Even when all patients (mums, babes, partners, visitors) were dealt with. My colleagues and I would clean, scrub, stock check and I would re-order. There is not a concept of a ‘quiet’ shift. When in charge, staff knew I expected, ‘spick and span.’ Those were my standards and we worked as a team. Staff were very aware that I would do the menial jobs but when an incident occurred I would have to deal with that. So, they would take over.
They also knew when I was flagging and hey presto, a coffee would appear. 🥲
I would sit for 5 minutes, enjoying it and sweep my hair over my head to cover my horns. 😂🤣
Well done you for a people focussed approach. Attack is often a first line defence mechanism and you spotted it.
The fact is society is different now and as a population we were far healthier in Bevan’s day compared to now.
As a population we are fatter, less active and less resistant to germs, consume vast quantities of household “hygiene” and “health” products yet have a poor understanding of self-help hygiene or self-help nutrition.
Add to that a surge in environmental chemicals (vapes replace cigarettes) increased alcoholic consumption, increased processed food, increased intense farming (more bulk but lower nutrient value), increased use of pesticides and herbicides, plus vehicle fumes and warmer homes we have a very toxic mix.
Add to that a growing population with a lack of nutrition and basic healthcare knowledge and you have disaster… or where we are now as a society.
We live in a society Bevan never anticipated and no system could ever cope with what society is now or where it is going … bubblegum vapes (but not aimed at kids), fruit alcohol (but not aimed at kids) and addictive nutritionally poor fast food (targeted at kids) … IMVVHO!
We must row our own boats learn how to be healthy, stay healthy and know what treatment we need.
Environmental chemicals, alcohol, processed foods, over farming, pesticides and herbicides.
People think I am mad because I pick up pieces of litter as I am walking along. They take for granted the ability to sit, stand and walk. The bins are just meters away. Do they care that rubbish leaches into the ground and rivers ? I do and I talk to my local ducks. We get up to some right old quackery. 🤪🤪😘
I picked up some plastic if a vehicle after a car accident (not involved) but I didn’t like seeing it left on the verge. I took it to the recycling and they wanted to charge me as it was classed as commercial waste! I explained I had picked it up off the verge and they said ok we will take it free this time but don’t pick it up in future!
In the words of Victor Meldrew, I Don’t Believe It. Consumerism gone mad. Sense has gone out of the window. Leaf blowers working in gusty winds. There is no point. Cannot managers say do this instead.
One of my besties and I talk of living off-grid. Today, I had to make a phone call and of course, the service uses Artificial Intelligence. I told the robot, You are useless. Yes, you really are. What are you going to do about it ? I was promptly put through to a real person. If you can program a Computer, you know how to fool them.👾👾👾😻
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