Impressed with the NHS

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

NHS (Royal Alex) saved my daughter's life from meningitis aged nine months. NHS also saved me bruv's life as a nipper from some kind of heart thing. Not to mention THPP from a deep-shit-not-that-f***ing-far-from-death-due-to-an-asthma-related-cant-breathe-type-thang chest infection the week before that 4-4 draw with the Orient at the Goldstone (which I still made it to, actually). Total respect to the NHS people involved and they'll always get bought as many bloody pint of Harveys as I can force them into accepting on any given occasion. Total and utter respect.



Whoever's supposed to be in charge of NHS dentistry deserves his head delivered to the punters on a silver salver mind

 

[CAFC Matt]

Last time I used the NHS I had to spend 6 and half hours in A&E with a broken hand and no painkillers. I didn't think it was a particuarly good service

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Last time I used the NHS I had to spend 6 and half hours in A&E with a broken hand and no painkillers. I didn't think it was a particuarly good service

It's not a particularly good service, for stuff that hurts a bit and is non-priority, has to be said. Been there meself, like I guess most of us have at one time or another. But in a life-or-death situation, I'd say IMHO they are pretty damn impressive.

 

[CAFC Matt]

It's not a particularly good service, for stuff that hurts a bit and is non-priority, has to be said. Been there meself, like I guess most of us have at one time or another. But in a life-or-death situation, I'd say IMHO they are pretty damn impressive.

Can't argue with the service in a life or death situation but when one is in absolute agony you would think they would kinda make some effort and get you through quick, or at least give ya a bloody painkiller.

 

[knuckles]

I work in an acute inpatients mental health ward at East Surrey Hospital. It's good to hear some positive comments about the NHS for a change.

I love my job except my place of work is full of Palace fans!

 

[Unigeeza]

I recently was diagnosed as being diabetic. I found the NHS to have its good points but also have its bads points.

On the next day after I found out my blood suger was extremely high I went to the doctors. The doctor refered me to the hospital who then refused to see me. The Doctor wrote me a note to take up to the department in question. The note forcefully expressed that I needed to be hostipalised for the weekend.

So I had to get up to the hospital (feeling very ill with dangerously high blood sugar). Get to the right department and then hand a note to a nurse from the department that already refused me. I did not know what else i could do and I desperately needed help.

To cut a long story short, I eventually made it to another department that did help me to a certain extent. The inpatients department just did not want to know.

I know the NHS does get slagged off but when situation like the above arise I can understand why. On the positive side things have improved and I have found the NHS good since then. However funding and efficiency are a major problem with the whole system.

 

[Yorkie]

I had a painful lump in my abdomen. I went to my docs who prescribed antibiotics.
This was on a Friday; he asked me to return on Wednesday if it wasn't any better. I had made an appt for Wednesday afternoon.

It got bigger so I rang the doctors and asked if I could see the doctor in the meantime. I was given an appt within 45 mins (it was a locum as my doctor was full) and as soon as she examined me she rang the hospital.
I was at the hospital half an hour later, straight through reception and admitted to a ward (I got a shock because I was expecting to go to outpatients)
I was operated on that afternoon for an infected abscess.

The Sussex County saved my Mum's life when she had blood clots on her lungs.

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

I first reported sharp pains in my lower back and shooting pains down the back of my leg to my GP in February 2002. He immediately referred me to the physiotherapy department at our local hospital. I received an appointment card just over 2 months later.

After 5 months of intensive phsiotherapy, and with the back and leg pain increasing in both frequency and intensity, I was referred back to my GP.

He told me that I needed to see a back specialist fairly urgently, but that I would have to wait around 6 months for an appointment with the NHS. He recommended paying for an appointment and an MRI scan privately at BUPA in order to get the ball rolling. Once I was on the specialist's list of patients, he said I'd be able to refer back to NHS treatment.

The first appointment with the consultant cost me £220 for about 5 minutes. He informed me that I needed an MRI scan before any diagnosis could be made. That cost me £780 (the NHS waiting list was 4 months), and the follow-up appointment with the consultant cost me another £80.

He put me on the NHS waiting list for an epidural spinal injection, which I was given 4 months later. It made matters considerably worse, so I was put on another NHS waiting list (5 months long this time) for a nerve root block injection. That had no effect, so I was told that surgery was the only option, and that I would need 2 operations.

I was offered the chance to have those operations privately at an approximate cost of £12,000 per op, but I simply haven't got that sort of money lying around, so I'm now on the NHS waiting list.

I was put on the list in June 2003. The estimated wait for such operations in Wales is a minimum of 20 months. I have been told that I can expect to be admitted to hospital somewhere between January and April 2005.

By that time, it will have taken the National Health Service at least 3 years to sort my back problem out for me, and it would have been a lot longer had I not effectively jumped the NHS queue by paying to see the consultant in the first place.

During those 3 years I have gone from being somebody who used to go out cycling for 2 hours every day after work in the summer to someone who can now walk a maximum of 50 yards without needing to stop and rest. I'm 37.

I won't whinge on and on about the difficulties of my condition, as there are millions worse off than me, but the fact remains that I was perfectly healthy in January 2002 and I am now often unable to stand up for more than a couple of minutes at a time. Shit happens, but the really irritating thing is that the surgeons reckon that after the 2 operations the chances are that I will be just about back to normal.

My NHS phisiotherapist recently told me that, in his opinion, my problem could have been sorted out within the space of a few months if I had had medical insurance and could have paid for the treatment privately.

Almost every doctor, nurse, physiotherapist, etc, that I've come into contact with over the last few years as a result of this condition have been excellent. First class. But I cannot possibly say the same about the quality of the treatment I've received from the service they work for and that we pay for.

In my opinion, the NHS is a f***ing joke.