Having previously posted some bad experiences our family has had with the NHS it is now time to post a balancing view.
Shortly before New Year my brother fell ill and we had to call an emergency ambulance that arrived within five minutes. Half way to the hospital the blue lights went on, we rushed the rest of the journey and my brother was taken straight into the Resuscitation room. During the whole time the ambulanceman and woman were magnificent. Efficient, calm, kind and very professional which slightly eased the tension for the rest of us because we knew we were in good hands.
My brother is primary carer for both our parents so at four in the morning I had to call on some friends to come and sit with them while I went with my brother in the ambulance. Our friends came straight out, no questions, no hesitation, they were there within minutes. The local care home took my parents in the next day on an emergency respite care basis.
Work have, once again, allowed me compassionate leave to make suitable care arrangements for the family so my brother and parents would be safe coming home. Everything is now in place...I think!...and my parents are due home tomorrow.
My sincerest thanks to the emergency staff who attended the call and the doctors and nurses in the Accident and Emergency Department. Sad to say the continuing hospital care dropped to the sorry standard we experienced last time but the emergency care was excellent. My thanks also to everyone else who has helped during this distressing time, friends, work and the home care services.
My family may not be believers but I am and I found great comfort with Him and thank Him for giving me the strength to cope.
And the outcome? Well, I saw in the New Year in the hospital car park but as I was there to bring my brother home we've taken this to be a good sign for the coming year. The only way is up!
Showing posts with label NHS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NHS. Show all posts
Sunday, 6 January 2013
Sunday, 14 October 2012
Health provision
The opening ceremony of the Olympics including a celebration of the National Health Service. Having experienced or heard about health provision in other countries I'm very grateful for the NHS in the UK but how long can it last? In fact, is it already on the way out? According to the media it is on the decline but then I'm trying not to be taken in by everything I hear in the media.
So how else can I judge? Well, by my own observations! I've had more contact with the NHS recently than I care to think about really.
The aim of the NHS and the Social Services is to safeguard the public health and get help to the people who most need it and support them through difficult times until they can stand on their own feet again. Temporary help working towards a long term solution. Or so I had always supposed.
My brother is primary carer for both of our parents. He's been brilliant but recently suffered some health problems. A scare in the middle of the night, a visit from the ambulance service, and news that although not life-threatening - thank God - he was too ill to look after them for a while and needed a well-earned break.
So, there we were, in need of help and support. I work full-time so took three days compassionate leave to arrange respite care. But what to do? What could be done? What help was there out there? Where to look? Where to START?
I started with the Social Services and to begin with they were very helpful, right up to the point where they investigated our finances. Unfortunately, as it turned out, Dad had been saving for some work to be done on the house. Because of this we're just over the border to be eligible for financial help.
So, there I was, part way down the process of finding two placements, pending a call regarding availability in the county, when I get a call to say we weren't eligible for funding. Ok, those are the rules, we don't have to like them but we accept them. I waited for the call back about availability of respite places in the county, fully prepared to pay, but it never came. I phoned for an update to be told 'you're self-funding, we can't help any more'. Oh, well that's all right then, if you're self-funding you obviousy know automatically what's available and where to go!
It was like a slap round the face. I was desperately trying to organise some help, while coping with my parents needs, look after my brother and do some semblance of work from home to cover the sudden absence. Luckily for me we have good friends who rallied round and between us we got it sorted and found places for my parents to stay while my brother was recovering.
So much for temporary support pending a long term solution!
Not a very good episode with the Social Services; how about the NHS? While in respite care my father was taken ill and taken to hospital. He nearly didn't get out of the ambulance, the electronic back door was broken. He was admitted, finally, and spent four days there. I went in one day to find he was still in bed, they hadn't got him into his chair that day for some reason, and was struggling to eat his dinner. He has trouble with his arms and although fine when in a chair he couldn't get the fork to his mouth while in bed. He'd given up after managing to feed some to his armpit and was trying to drink the juice from a small bowl of fruit when I got there, even though he couldn't get to the fruit itself.
I was fuming, I helped him eat while fending off an orderly who wanted to take his tray away. I'd phoned earlier to see how he was but they won't discuss patients details over the phone, quite understandably for confidentiality reasons, they tell you to speak to the nurse when you come in. I waited two and a half hours. First you have to identify a nurse, not obvious from the different unifirms around. Then it was...I'm on medication rounds, I'll come back in a minute; I can't find my notes from when I took over the shift, I'll come back to you; she's with a new admission, she'll be with you shortly; she's in hand-over (shift change), at which point I realised I was going to be back to square one with a new nurse who's...just taken over, I'll find the patient notes and come back to you!
Yes, they're busy and yes, I'm prepared to wait but crumbs, there are limits! Why were any notes so hard to find? How did they expect to look after patients if they don't know their condition? It's not very re-assuring. Eventually I was told to ring during the day and speak to someone then - I told them they wouldn't speak to me on the phone for confidentiality reasons, oh that's ok just set up a password and we'll talk to you!
I can't tell you how angry I was, as a family we've had too many admissions in the last few years and this is the first time anyone has mentioned a password, and then only because I told them I wasn't moving until I'd spoken to someone - politely I hasten to add, I was friendly and reasonable through it all, outwardly at least.
We were glad he came out after four days but a week or so later received a letter calling him to attend for a 24-hour ECG because they'd found some irregularities in his heart while he was there. WHY NOT DO THAT WHILE HE WAS WITH THEM? Why make him come back later?
There were other problems but hey, enough's enough in one post. What rubs salt in the wound is all the notices advising patients and visitors there is a zero tolerance policy towards agression towards NHS staff. Quite right, anyone who abuses someone verbally or physically who is trying to help them not only needs their head examined but should be shoved out the door without treatment. The only problem is that some of the staff take this as carte blanche to be as rude and unhelpful as possible in the sure knowledge that we can't retaliate.
Mostly the help is there but it is getting worse and ours are not the only bad experiences, I've learned about many others amongst friends and acquaintances.
The media have been reporting on similar problems around the country and one of the things they highlight is that some people view the NHS and Social Services not as a temporary support but a lifestyle choice and entitlement. Those of us who try and make our own way but call for help in emergencies find we are on our own. It doesn't help that our health service seems to be available to all-comers, it means the funds aren't there to help legitimate needs. Health tourists - those who come specifically for medical services with no intention of paying; immigrants - who have rights to health services and social services without having paid any money in. The stories are seemingly endless and I don't just hear about them in the media, I hear of personal experiences.
Sadly I believe the reports in the media on this subject and I foresee lots of trouble if the Government doesn't get to grips with it, we're mugs. I can fully understand the rage and frustration of people who are constantly giving but not receiving, seeing others benefit from services their own money is funding yet they are not able to access.
Please forgive the rant, it's not as though I've not submitted constructive ideas through the government website, I have, but there comes a time when all that's left is to complain!
So how else can I judge? Well, by my own observations! I've had more contact with the NHS recently than I care to think about really.
The aim of the NHS and the Social Services is to safeguard the public health and get help to the people who most need it and support them through difficult times until they can stand on their own feet again. Temporary help working towards a long term solution. Or so I had always supposed.
My brother is primary carer for both of our parents. He's been brilliant but recently suffered some health problems. A scare in the middle of the night, a visit from the ambulance service, and news that although not life-threatening - thank God - he was too ill to look after them for a while and needed a well-earned break.
So, there we were, in need of help and support. I work full-time so took three days compassionate leave to arrange respite care. But what to do? What could be done? What help was there out there? Where to look? Where to START?
I started with the Social Services and to begin with they were very helpful, right up to the point where they investigated our finances. Unfortunately, as it turned out, Dad had been saving for some work to be done on the house. Because of this we're just over the border to be eligible for financial help.
So, there I was, part way down the process of finding two placements, pending a call regarding availability in the county, when I get a call to say we weren't eligible for funding. Ok, those are the rules, we don't have to like them but we accept them. I waited for the call back about availability of respite places in the county, fully prepared to pay, but it never came. I phoned for an update to be told 'you're self-funding, we can't help any more'. Oh, well that's all right then, if you're self-funding you obviousy know automatically what's available and where to go!
It was like a slap round the face. I was desperately trying to organise some help, while coping with my parents needs, look after my brother and do some semblance of work from home to cover the sudden absence. Luckily for me we have good friends who rallied round and between us we got it sorted and found places for my parents to stay while my brother was recovering.
So much for temporary support pending a long term solution!
Not a very good episode with the Social Services; how about the NHS? While in respite care my father was taken ill and taken to hospital. He nearly didn't get out of the ambulance, the electronic back door was broken. He was admitted, finally, and spent four days there. I went in one day to find he was still in bed, they hadn't got him into his chair that day for some reason, and was struggling to eat his dinner. He has trouble with his arms and although fine when in a chair he couldn't get the fork to his mouth while in bed. He'd given up after managing to feed some to his armpit and was trying to drink the juice from a small bowl of fruit when I got there, even though he couldn't get to the fruit itself.
I was fuming, I helped him eat while fending off an orderly who wanted to take his tray away. I'd phoned earlier to see how he was but they won't discuss patients details over the phone, quite understandably for confidentiality reasons, they tell you to speak to the nurse when you come in. I waited two and a half hours. First you have to identify a nurse, not obvious from the different unifirms around. Then it was...I'm on medication rounds, I'll come back in a minute; I can't find my notes from when I took over the shift, I'll come back to you; she's with a new admission, she'll be with you shortly; she's in hand-over (shift change), at which point I realised I was going to be back to square one with a new nurse who's...just taken over, I'll find the patient notes and come back to you!
Yes, they're busy and yes, I'm prepared to wait but crumbs, there are limits! Why were any notes so hard to find? How did they expect to look after patients if they don't know their condition? It's not very re-assuring. Eventually I was told to ring during the day and speak to someone then - I told them they wouldn't speak to me on the phone for confidentiality reasons, oh that's ok just set up a password and we'll talk to you!
I can't tell you how angry I was, as a family we've had too many admissions in the last few years and this is the first time anyone has mentioned a password, and then only because I told them I wasn't moving until I'd spoken to someone - politely I hasten to add, I was friendly and reasonable through it all, outwardly at least.
We were glad he came out after four days but a week or so later received a letter calling him to attend for a 24-hour ECG because they'd found some irregularities in his heart while he was there. WHY NOT DO THAT WHILE HE WAS WITH THEM? Why make him come back later?
There were other problems but hey, enough's enough in one post. What rubs salt in the wound is all the notices advising patients and visitors there is a zero tolerance policy towards agression towards NHS staff. Quite right, anyone who abuses someone verbally or physically who is trying to help them not only needs their head examined but should be shoved out the door without treatment. The only problem is that some of the staff take this as carte blanche to be as rude and unhelpful as possible in the sure knowledge that we can't retaliate.
Mostly the help is there but it is getting worse and ours are not the only bad experiences, I've learned about many others amongst friends and acquaintances.
The media have been reporting on similar problems around the country and one of the things they highlight is that some people view the NHS and Social Services not as a temporary support but a lifestyle choice and entitlement. Those of us who try and make our own way but call for help in emergencies find we are on our own. It doesn't help that our health service seems to be available to all-comers, it means the funds aren't there to help legitimate needs. Health tourists - those who come specifically for medical services with no intention of paying; immigrants - who have rights to health services and social services without having paid any money in. The stories are seemingly endless and I don't just hear about them in the media, I hear of personal experiences.
Sadly I believe the reports in the media on this subject and I foresee lots of trouble if the Government doesn't get to grips with it, we're mugs. I can fully understand the rage and frustration of people who are constantly giving but not receiving, seeing others benefit from services their own money is funding yet they are not able to access.
Please forgive the rant, it's not as though I've not submitted constructive ideas through the government website, I have, but there comes a time when all that's left is to complain!
Sunday, 3 April 2011
National Health Service - the good and the bad
So...the NHS! We've just had some close encounters with the health service and while we've nothing but praise for the people we're less than impressed with the organisation.
My brother and father fell sick at the same time and initially it seemed to be the same cause but turned out to be completely different. Over the course of four days I consulted two pharmacists, the NHS Helpline, the Out-of-Hours GP service, our own GP, called an ambulance out to Dad four times and I drove my brother to hospital for a diagnosis. Every individual was brilliant.
The problems came not with the individuals but with the system. It all started on a Friday, early evening and this is not a good time to be ill. The surgeries are closed for the weekend so you can't access your own GP. The population are heading out on the town and hospitals become inundated with drunks and fight injuries. Add the fact that there are some nasty bugs doing the rounds causing hospitalisation for the elderly and the very young and you have a service that is pushed to breaking point.
In order to get to someone who can actually give you an informed opinion on both the NHS Helpline and the Out-of-Hours GP service you have to go through several layers of staff. An operator who logs the call with the level of urgency and arranges for a nurse to ring you back. The nurse rings back and 'triage's' the call and arranges for a doctor to call back.
There are so many ambulance call-outs that what would normally be considered an emergency is put on the back-burner in favour of life-threatening situations. I agree with the reasoning but reason sort of goes out of the window when you are watching someone in enormous pain and deep distress. The shortest response time was fifteen minutes and the longest was two and a half hours. Each wait felt like an eternity.
On the last call-out my father was taken into hospital, something the ambulancemen had been reluctant to do for several reasons. They were good reasons but eventually we all had to accept the inevitable as it was obviously safer for him to be in hospital than at home.
Once in hospital they moved relatively quickly with tests but once he was out of isolation and into a main ward the organisation broke down.
It was hard to get information. We were told only X, Y or Z person could discuss his case. X,Y or Z weren't around during visiting times so we were told to phone in. When we phoned in we were told they weren't allowed to discuss cases on the phone!
Notes got lost between the admissions ward and where he ended up so his homecoming was delayed, not only bad for him but they were desperate for beds. Some wards were closed due to illness, no-one allowed in or out, so patients were spread between other wards. Dad was the fifth bed in a four-bed ward, pushed up against the back wall. There is very little time for the staff to attend to a patient's personal needs.
The usual options of a convalescent place in a local care home or a team or carers on the NHS coming to the house instead simply wasn't possible. No beds available, not enough carers to go round. In order for him to come home we wanted to set up a 'lifeline' system whereby he could press a button on a wrist band if he couldn't get us to hear him for any reason. Also, we needed to arrange for personal care-workers to come in daily and we could have moved on all this a lot sooner had we been able to speak to someone properly.
We managed to get him home on Friday on the basis we were making arrangements for home care. We've arranged for a carer to come from a private firm each morning to help him get up - they are also pushed because the NHS is already using them for overflow work! A 'lifeline' is being installed tomorrow so in the meantime the family are working in shifts to ensure he is never alone and my brother is sleeping on a mattress in his room at night.
We're lucky, between us we're able to afford a private carer for an hour each day, at least in the short term. So many people can't and would have to wait until a place became available on the NHS. In fact, we received a letter today from a friend apologising for not sending a Christmas card. He'd had knee replacement surgery but had to wait in hospital for eight weeks because of a shortage of Support staff - he had no family to help. No wonder hospital beds are few and far between.
We'e a lot to be thankful for with the NHS, I'm not trying to say we don't, but it's a long way from perfect and going downhill all the time. The public don't help either, perhaps the drunks and fighters should have to pay for treatment - they might have to curtail their excesses to the benefit of all! We all pay into the NHS and few can afford private health insurance, those who get insurance as part of their job are very lucky.
I've posted some of my views on the NHS before in this blog and I shall no doubt do so again in the future, as well as posting my comments on the government website. I shall continue to do so but it's very frustrating. It seems that every time there's cause for hope, within a few months something happens to make it worse or show we've been taken for a ride again.
To finish on a positive note, Dad's GP called while I was typing this post. We hadn't asked for a visit, he just wanted to check on Dad himself having received the discharge notice from the hospital. As I said, the individuals in the health service are wonderful.
My brother and father fell sick at the same time and initially it seemed to be the same cause but turned out to be completely different. Over the course of four days I consulted two pharmacists, the NHS Helpline, the Out-of-Hours GP service, our own GP, called an ambulance out to Dad four times and I drove my brother to hospital for a diagnosis. Every individual was brilliant.
The problems came not with the individuals but with the system. It all started on a Friday, early evening and this is not a good time to be ill. The surgeries are closed for the weekend so you can't access your own GP. The population are heading out on the town and hospitals become inundated with drunks and fight injuries. Add the fact that there are some nasty bugs doing the rounds causing hospitalisation for the elderly and the very young and you have a service that is pushed to breaking point.
In order to get to someone who can actually give you an informed opinion on both the NHS Helpline and the Out-of-Hours GP service you have to go through several layers of staff. An operator who logs the call with the level of urgency and arranges for a nurse to ring you back. The nurse rings back and 'triage's' the call and arranges for a doctor to call back.
There are so many ambulance call-outs that what would normally be considered an emergency is put on the back-burner in favour of life-threatening situations. I agree with the reasoning but reason sort of goes out of the window when you are watching someone in enormous pain and deep distress. The shortest response time was fifteen minutes and the longest was two and a half hours. Each wait felt like an eternity.
On the last call-out my father was taken into hospital, something the ambulancemen had been reluctant to do for several reasons. They were good reasons but eventually we all had to accept the inevitable as it was obviously safer for him to be in hospital than at home.
Once in hospital they moved relatively quickly with tests but once he was out of isolation and into a main ward the organisation broke down.
It was hard to get information. We were told only X, Y or Z person could discuss his case. X,Y or Z weren't around during visiting times so we were told to phone in. When we phoned in we were told they weren't allowed to discuss cases on the phone!
Notes got lost between the admissions ward and where he ended up so his homecoming was delayed, not only bad for him but they were desperate for beds. Some wards were closed due to illness, no-one allowed in or out, so patients were spread between other wards. Dad was the fifth bed in a four-bed ward, pushed up against the back wall. There is very little time for the staff to attend to a patient's personal needs.
The usual options of a convalescent place in a local care home or a team or carers on the NHS coming to the house instead simply wasn't possible. No beds available, not enough carers to go round. In order for him to come home we wanted to set up a 'lifeline' system whereby he could press a button on a wrist band if he couldn't get us to hear him for any reason. Also, we needed to arrange for personal care-workers to come in daily and we could have moved on all this a lot sooner had we been able to speak to someone properly.
We managed to get him home on Friday on the basis we were making arrangements for home care. We've arranged for a carer to come from a private firm each morning to help him get up - they are also pushed because the NHS is already using them for overflow work! A 'lifeline' is being installed tomorrow so in the meantime the family are working in shifts to ensure he is never alone and my brother is sleeping on a mattress in his room at night.
We're lucky, between us we're able to afford a private carer for an hour each day, at least in the short term. So many people can't and would have to wait until a place became available on the NHS. In fact, we received a letter today from a friend apologising for not sending a Christmas card. He'd had knee replacement surgery but had to wait in hospital for eight weeks because of a shortage of Support staff - he had no family to help. No wonder hospital beds are few and far between.
We'e a lot to be thankful for with the NHS, I'm not trying to say we don't, but it's a long way from perfect and going downhill all the time. The public don't help either, perhaps the drunks and fighters should have to pay for treatment - they might have to curtail their excesses to the benefit of all! We all pay into the NHS and few can afford private health insurance, those who get insurance as part of their job are very lucky.
I've posted some of my views on the NHS before in this blog and I shall no doubt do so again in the future, as well as posting my comments on the government website. I shall continue to do so but it's very frustrating. It seems that every time there's cause for hope, within a few months something happens to make it worse or show we've been taken for a ride again.
To finish on a positive note, Dad's GP called while I was typing this post. We hadn't asked for a visit, he just wanted to check on Dad himself having received the discharge notice from the hospital. As I said, the individuals in the health service are wonderful.
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