Is the NHS good at everything?

Personally I have no complaints, and both GP and cardiac unit were very good with my late husband, but my daughter has experienced long delays waiting for follow up appointments and xrays for a minor matter, whilst the various enquiries into maternity services have revealed appalling lack of care and avoidable deaths. Mental health services are generally inadequate, but much of this is down to staff shortages and underfunding.

I disagree - I had a hip replacement in January which went brilliantly (in a private hospital but on the NHS)

I had a pre-op last Wednesday (23/09) followed by a phone call on Thursday to book me in for consent form signing and chat with the surgeon on 08/10 followed by Thumb joint replacement on 12/10 (again at the same private hospital which is lovely but on the NHS) - I literally cannot fault the service I've had for elective surgery

Nearly everything I've received from th NHS in the last two years has been fine.
I've had excellent new hearing aids, a detached retina followed by a cataract operation, a stent in an artery followed by cardiac rehab.
But my 18-day stay on a,surgical ward after a botched operation was really horrible. Most of the nurses were callous, pain relief sparing.. The wound took six weeks to heal, necessitating almost daily visits to the GP nurse.

It all depends on the bit of the NHS you deal with. DH has complex heart conditions. We have dealt with two cardiac units and both have been superb, likewise the paramedics we have dealt with, but A&E just sent him home saying didn't seem much wrong, not sure what the problem was. A fortnight later paramedics raced him into cardiac and he had a pacemaker fitted the following day to treat heart failure.

I have told the tale of my misdiagnosed strokes many times and DD ending up on the critical list because a her GP first forgot a crucial test and then refused to see her again. ON the other hand, when she was seriously injured in a road accident everyone was superb

Also a night nurse who slept for 4 hours at the desk and then was on the phone to friends and family for the rest of her shift. I was in too much pain to sleep and was expecting to go down to theatre every minute, so watched her all that time from my bed.

The NHS is like the curates egg, good in parts

I have spent the last eight days under the care of our local hospital Emergency Service. Did not want to become an in-patient, I have been going to their special ward for Emergency Day care every other day, often for several hours. I cannot fault, in any way, whatsoever the wonderful care I have been given, both medically and socially. Mug of tea given almost as soon as I arrive there (proper earthenware mug), and bicccies, and when i am have been there most of the day given sandwiches,

All the staff from receptionist, through all nurses and doctors were gentle and kind.

Have now been discharged from them although will now need further meeting with my Endo team regarding the situation which caused this emergency.

The NHS used to be great but not now what was wrong with doctors seeing patients now you might get a doctor on the phone and then begrudgingly oh you might need to come in for an appointment

It's not been the same since co vid You could still get doctors appointments Now you walk in a surgery and the waiting room is empty or nearly empty where have all the doctors gone It was a five hour wait at the walk in centre in town a few days ago if you had to go there instead and as they said an even longer wait at A and E Is there a massive shortage of doctors or what The phone at 8 am idea is awful you can be on the phone for 8 am and not get an appointment What happened to booking an appointment ahead why has that gone

I think we have to accept that many age related chronic conditions can't realistically be cured. We know our own bodies best in later life and have to find our own ways of managing sometimes.
Having said that, I have recently had a tremendously helpful appointment with an NHS physiotherapist who has made me feel really hopeful that one of my conditions can be alleviated.

-Bluebelle we don’t have email, but we have an extremely efficient and effective app, which covers literally anything and everything.

Perhaps I’m lucky, can always get a GP appointment, am asked if it’s critical or routine and then either wait a day or so or maybe up to two weeks.

I have see 999 and 111 for ascent or calling an ambulance. It’s always fine, with 15 minutes for my husbands heart attack, 1 hour for my pancreatitis and up to 6 hours sadly for my mothers fall.

It’s understaffed and under funded

I ve got nothing but praise for it both emergency and routine have been good to me, and my doctor’s surgery is excellent. Since they changed to the emailing for appointments as opposed to sitting on the phone for half an hour. On the two occasions I ve felt I needed a GP I had my appointment and/ or medication within a few hours of emailing them

I agree that the NHS is good for emergency care (if you can get an ambulance to get you to a hospital), but for general GP services, there is still much to be desired.