In praise of the NHS

Oh! annie what a rotten start to 2017

My daughter was rushed by ambulance to A & E late evening on New Year Eve.

It was extremely busy, she was seen by a consultant , bloods etc taken and was in a single side ward same evening still in A & E . Sunday she was in a ward and the consultant brought her the results of the tests. She still in very ill but I was so grateful that even though it was like a circus that night she was less than an hour from ambulance to the reception area to a side ward , they saved her life by acting so quickly that night.

I hope your DH continued to improve vq I have mentioned on here before the excellent treatment my DH received from the NHS when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer a couple of years ago. We had no long waits for scans, biopsy etc. We had kind, courteous and friendly staff at all times. I can't remember an occasion when were weren't called in to the doctor's office within 10 minutes of our appointment time. He had to have 37 days of radiotherapy. As our nearest NHS hospital was overloaded with patients having radiotherapy we were sent to a private hospital (on the NHS), 20 minutes drive from our home, for his treatment. Apparently this is done sometimes as private hospitals are under-used. Thankfully he is OK now but we couldn't fault the care given by the NHS.

This demonstrates that Accident and Emergency departments are good in emergencies. Unfortunately people attend who don't have an emergency.
However as you were in the department for 13 hours this was a breach of the 4 hour target as your husband wasn't admitted to a ward or discharged within 4 hours.
So in a target driven culture this would be classed a failure not the success story you rightly see it as.
This shows that judging the NHS by targets makes headline stories but it isn't always appropriate.
Best wishes to you both and hope for a speedy recovery.

I really dont see why it would be a problem for GP surgeries to have a walk in surgery in the evenings ...many jobs involve shifts and years ago GP's were availabe 24/7 .And not as well paid either .It would certainly take the strain off A and E departments if there was a rota for after hours appointments ,though I honestly think the daytime appointment system is ridiculous anyway ,if you need to see a doctor for a reason thats not urgent you have to take time off work.I'm sure many people just struggle on until it becomes serious enough to go to A and E rather than lose wages

Best wishes to you both vq and I hope you soon get a diagnosis and treatment for your H.
You have obviously downplayed how terrifying it must have been for you both, I hope you soon recover.
Well done NHS.

I hope your husband recovers vampireqeen and that you too recover from the terrible shock. I agree we must do all we can to save our NHS. I watched the news this morning about Teresa May almost ordering G.P's to work longer and harder. That worries me too. What if my lovely G.P and other good G.P's think they've had enough of this and leave in droves. Anyway I don't want to turn this into a political thread. It's really reassuring to hear how good our hospitals do in a crisis and very reassuring after all the bad news we hear. Thanks for sharing. Once again hope your husband makes a speedy recovery. Best wishes.

I have good reason to think the NHS is wonderful too I can't imagine how difficult it is for the staff trying to juggle stuff. We will be sorry if we don't fight for it.

I and my family have always had brilliant care from the NHS ,when my son was born 11 and a half weeks early he was the only baby in the special care unit and his treatment was second to none,both my parents had ongoing health issues and had amazing care both at home( mum had nurses 3 times a day) and in hospital and when my husband had a heart attack 5 years ago not only was his emergency care amazing but the aftercare with nutritionist,physio and exercise classes ,check ups and even phone calls from the after care team to check on him.I had an ovarian problem that meant gynae care for over 2 years and agin it was excellent.So NHS Scotland certainly gets my praise ,I dont know how we would cope without it and as for the American insurance system its my idea of a nightmare

We had just the same excellent amazing service when DH had an unspecified viral infection and heart failure 3years ago and when he had his heart attack this time last year. The care, compassion, professionalism and expertise left me so full of admiration and realisation that to lose this would be the biggest folly in the world.

I'm really glad your husband has excellent treatment and that he is hopefully on the mend now. I think the NHS is wonderful and works miracles every day. I had a small op before Christmas and the care was excellent my only problem is its almost a month later and I haven't been told the results of the biopsies but this is an admin failure rather than a clinical one.