hire a bloody wheelchair really what do we pay our taxes for sounds like you have had a right mare of a weekend hope the planned escape goes well
Argh. They gave katimine this morning. I wasn't paying attention at 5am. The pain team need to see me coping without it for 24hrs. For some reason it is scheduled all day. We have it cancelled. The pain team said if I can survive until after 4pm they will clear me for release / parole. Aĺl I need now is my Picc line installed, but no one can tell me when this is being installed.
This thread has triggered a thought: How is it that there is 7 day opening with shops closing late into the evening, but that the NHS seems to work to a timetable that started to get out of date in the 80s or 90s? You'd have thought that this would be a major national debate. Of course, the answer is that 7 day opening increases profits, whereas seemingly, a 7 day NHS doesn't. But then, that's only looking at the very surface of the question.
What is much worse is that you are significantly more likely to die in hospital if you are admitted on a Friday or over the weekend !
Hi Mate - I feel really bad as I've only just spotted this thread, at least I've been able to read to the end and see that things are looking up for you now. I hope you get home soon, I'm sure it's the best thing to help you recover more quickly. Hospitals are important, especially when they save your life, but they are grim places to stay for any length of time. Wishing you all the best for your continued recovery.
Despite the portrayal by the media & our wonderful all-knowing politicians, the much-overlooked NHS diagnostic services such as pathology & radiology have provided a 24-hour service 365 days a year for over 40 years. These people are never heard of by most of the public as they are 'the backroom boys & girls'. Pretty much the same applies to portering services & pharmacy. All of these areas have seen significant staff cuts over the last few years, but the public hears nothing of the 25% CIP targets imposed. CIP stands for Cost Improvement Programme, and relates to the 25% funding cuts driven through the Department Of Health that were experienced by most NHS diagnostic services. Despite this, the workload of most pathology departments increases from between 5-15% per annum depending on the size of hospital & the geographical/patient demographic area it covers. The pathology departments also support the myriad of private hospitals across the UK, only a relative few of which have their own pathology departments. Any patient requiring the transfusion of blood or a blood component at any hour of day will have their blood samples tested accordingly & a therapeutic product will be made available thanks to staff who work a full shift system in most haematology/blood transfusion departments. These people are also supported by the various volunteer blood runner bikers who ferry samples & tissue between hospitals & the National Health Service Blood Transfusion Service at all hours of day & night. The affinity between pathology staff & motorcyclists has always been strong. The point being that an NHS hospital is a huge & very complex organisation in its own right. The media & the politicians never reveal the truth behind this complexity, possibly because they don't understand it themselves. No hospital will ever be perfect, and some have been dreadfully mismanaged at board level. But delve behind the façade and it can be seen that the NHS does work a 7-day week, albeit not in every area in every hospital. More data is required to understand the details behind death rates in the NHS. There is known to be a significant number of admissions of elderly patients at weekends, this is often because they delay visiting their doctor or seeking help during the week. Many of these patients end up being referred when a relative or neighbour who work during the week discovers their predicament at the weekend. Some of these patients will fail to thrive, but the percentage of deaths they constitute within the NHS may not be fully understood. Again the media refers to weekend admissions, but doesn't seek to qualify this by categorising the patients. More work needs to be done to understand the complex issues. That work will need funding, but hopefully it may lead to the NHS improving further - this has to be the objective for any organisation. Sorry for the thread hijack. Back on thread: Hope things are improving & you are released soon AC.
yip mirrors my mates comments a Welshman, consultant and surgeon up here and teaches in london. he assures me the nhs up here on the whole is very good but is sick to death of what he reads in the papers, appears to have a problem with the contracts given to GP's tho. thinks their taking the piss.
Home. Nearly killed myself climbing the stairs backwards on my elbows. Note I've a badly broken wrist, hand and fingers (unsupported) on the left. I cannot walk due to a Busted left knee and external frame on the lower left leg. The 8 broken rear ribs just ain't funny. After 1 hour and 40 minutes I made it the few feet to sleep next my wife. Emma has been an angel giving my medicine including intravenously antibiotics Thanks to all. On a note about hospitals I can only comment on what I have received or seen. Consultants are not available on Saturday or Sunday. Monday is seen as a catch up day with most surgery booked for Tuesday to Friday. Many departments are not available at the weekend. E.g. Pain team and physioterrorists ( for which I'm thankfuĺl).
