NHS - not fit for purpose?

steve0

steve0

Well-known member
Not a football thread. No apologies.
It’s tragic for me that after 40 years in the NHS I will soon leave it with waiting lists as bad as when I joined. The rumblings about the NHS not being fit for purpose are beginning. Watch out for backbenchers and media trumpeting the arrival of the private sector on its shiny new white charger to save it. None of the facts below will be seen or heard in newspapers or on tv - achieved in spite of COVID and in spite of this government:

1. Last year 242,307 Covid patients were treated in hospital.
2. In January this year 101,956 were treated.
3. In addition more than 6m elective treatments were completed in 2020, despite Covid.
4. More than two cancer procedures were carried out for every one patient treated for Covid.
5. There were >18.7 million A&E attendances.
6. 25,199 cancer patients started treatment in December, 555 more than in the same month the previous year.
7. 200,940 people were referred for cancer checks, 13,129 more than December 2019.
8. Waiting times for elective surgery fell by more than 40% between July and the end of the year.
9. Hospitals are treating over a thousand more patients with COVID than they did at the peak of the first wave.
10. The NHS is currently treating more people with COVID in critical care than hospitals did for all conditions this time last year in addition to the other critical care activity.

And yet despite the criticisms …here we are…still standing…still there for you largely free at the point of care. Not perfect but available to everyone and better than what they have planned for us

There will come a time soon when we turn around (when we need it) and say ‘where the hell did that go?’

Rant over. Back to the football. UTB
 
Steve the frustrating thing is it could be fit for purpose with the right funding and there is easily enough money for that if you look at the billions squandered during covid on test and trace and unusable or overpriced ppe.

We could sort it in 12 months and have a service we could all be proud of.

I am not alone in thinking it has been an example to us all in the last 18 months with staff going way beyond what could reasonably be expected.
 
Agreed but this government will take the other road stealthily but in plain sight and it will be too late. Bevan predicted that the NHS would last as long as people had the faith to fight for it. First steps for this government is to convince us plebs that it is broken and not worth the fighting for, whilst asset stripping the cash cow and leading us to the promised land of private health card that many will not be able to afford
 
steve0 said:
Agreed but this government will take the other road stealthily but in plain sight and it will be too late. Bevan predicted that the NHS would last as long as people had the faith to fight for it. First steps for this government is to convince us plebs that it is broken and not worth the fighting for, whilst asset stripping the cash cow and leading us to the promised land of private health card that many will not be able to afford
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Hopefully we won't let that happen, not sure enough people take enough notice to stop it though. Let's hope.
 
Johnny Vincents Motorbike said:
for those requiring further background detail and information around waiting times and how its a political decision.

Kings Fund War on NHS waiting


well done on hitting the magic 40 years - you came in under the tories and you are going out under the tories.

did you get to work at the same hospital or health region, or did you have to transfer/move about ?
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Started in Leeds as a fresh faced youth. Stayed in the North throughout. Now settled in the NW. Various jobs. Now semi retired after serious health problems but still working
 
Fat_Dragon said:
Too many chiefs and not enough Indians. If it was funded and managed properly then it would be fit for purpose.

It doesn't help when they spend six-figure sums axing NHS managers then days/weeks later re-hiring them.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/nhs-rehires-6-senior-managers-8283062

Congratulations on your 40 years
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Like I said. Not perfect but for every one of those headlines ( that distort and deflect btw) there are scores of efficient valuable services managed effectively by excellent leaders and managers- doesn’t make for good headlines though
 
I think his message is that it is fit for purpose. All I can say is that when we have needed it I would always give it a 10/10.

Whether this disgusting government will keep it that way I have grave doubts.
 
Same_as_before said:
I think his message is that it is fit for purpose. All I can say is that when we have needed it I would always give it a 10/10.

Whether this disgusting government will keep it that way I have grave doubts.
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Hi SAB
As I said not perfect. Whether it is fit for purpose is debatable imho but the solution is not the one the government will be adopting. In the short term it will look attractive I have no doubt but in the longer term many people who have for example experienced what I have will simply find that private health insurance will not be available. I did come in under the tories and will go out the same way. In between there was a Labour government that brought reform and investment to match. Not a perfect solution (see PPI) but waiting lists brought down (on the whole) to an 18 week wait. We are unlikely to see that again in my lifetime sadly. To quote Bevan again: illness is neither an indulgence for which people should have to pay for nor an offence for which they should be penalised.
 
I was and am a Blairite, but a few things he did were simply wrong. GP contracts being one, he gave them double fresh cream, and now it's going sour.

The way he funded the new hospitals I have no argument with, you either take depreciation as a cost or the future contract provision.
 
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Same_as_before said:
I was and am a Blairite, but a few things he did were simply wrong. GP contracts being one, he gave them double fresh cream, and now it's going sour.

The way he funded the new hospitals I have no argument with, you either take depreciation as a cost or the future contract provision.
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Agree SAB. Unfortunately GPs have had to be bribed and cajoled from day 1 of the NHS and have always protected their right to be treated as a separate business as providing a service. Any improvement/change involving GOs has always come at a price. They might have lost their tuppeny fee but they have recouped in many other ways.
 
steve0 said:
Agree SAB. Unfortunately GPs have had to be bribed and cajoled from day 1 of the NHS and have always protected their right to be treated as a separate business as providing a service. Any improvement/change involving GOs has always come at a price. They might have lost their tuppeny fee but they have recouped in many other ways.
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I was watching the 'new' Dr Findlay series on catch up. It was interesting to see how anti the NHS was with GPs.
 
Same_as_before said:
I was watching the 'new' Dr Findlay series on catch up. It was interesting to see how anti the NHS was with GPs.
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The majority were dragged kicking and screaming to the party. Along with the tories (who voted against proposed bills 21 times) the BMA and it’s members were dead against the idea as they disliked the idea of being employees of the state. Hence the compromise of semi autonomy. In reality they have always had contracts. Blair just handed them more power
 
steve0 said:
The majority were dragged kicking and screaming to the party. Along with the tories (who voted against proposed bills 21 times) the BMA and it’s members were dead against the idea as they disliked the idea of being employees of the state. Hence the compromise of semi autonomy. In reality they have always had contracts. Blair just handed them more power
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Dylan was wrong 'things are not a changing.'
 
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