NHS - Not all bad.

Mr S has had osteo arthritis in a hip for some years now and recently had an x-ray to check on it's progression. The result wasn't good and he was referred by our GP to a hospital consultant a month ago. He received a phone call yesterday for an appointment this afternoon and the consultant confirmed he will need a hip replacement. Now, knowing the track record to date, Mr S has often said he'll be pushing up daisies before that happens, expecting to be on a waiting list for approximately five years. Surprisingly he was told six months for the replacement, yes, just six months!

 

I hope he'll be out of pain after the replacement, it's terrible struggling to get around. I'm glad he won't have to wait a long time.

 

They are trying very hard to get the back log down.
I recently had a Saturday appointment which wouldn't have happened before.

Really they just need to sort out the GP services which are still diabolical around here.

 

I certainly can't complain either , I had my first appointment with the Consultant at the end of January and 18 days later I had surgery on my knee!!
As good as going private!!!
I have my 2nd follow up appointment on Friday too.
Can't fault them at all.

 

I have my prescriptions mailed to me, got fed up chasing them myself.
Now I just order from Lloyds direct and they chase the doctors surgery for me.

 

So does hubs too....much easier.d

 

I think the NHS is pretty good. I think one of their problems though is the 111 service. Great idea, but it needs to be staffed by actual medics, or at least people with a basic education.

True story, I once pulled a muscle in the back of my shoulder. I felt it tear. The pain was intense. I thought, I need some expert advice on how to manage this, but it is not urgent enough for A&E, and I don't want to take a GP appointment off someone that needs it more than I do. All I want is some advice over the phone on managing a muscle injury. So I called 111. The girl on the line followed her script. One question was, 'does it feel like a weight pressing in your back'. I asked, what kind of weight? There is definitely pressure there because it's swollen, do you mean like a bit of pressure, or more like a truck parked on me? She replied, 'just does it feel like a weight, yes or no? So I answered yes.

At this point, I can imagine what her computer screen was saying. Middle aged man, intense pain in upper back area. About 3 minutes later there was an ambulance out the front, and paramedics all geared up for a heart attack case. I was so embarrassed. When I apologised to the ambulance crew one of the paramedics asked, did you call 999 or 111? I told them I'd called 111 on account of it not being even remotely an emergency. The paramedics weren't surprised, and as they were leaving mentioned that a lot of their unnecessary callouts come from 111.

 

Oh my gosh...really!! Never realised that. Definitely needs sorting out then. Wasted time for one could be a life saver for another.

 

Exactly. I have a flip side story about 111 too.

One time when my youngest was about 3 years old, wife went to check on him in bed. He'd puked in his sleep and was laid on his back. I went up to see, and he looked bad so I got wife to call 111. I checked that he was breathing, and he was but very slow and shallow. I could hear wife in the background explaining the situation on the phone, as I shouted down with my updates. I found my son was totally unresponsive. I couldn't rouse him. I was shouting at him and tapping his cheeks and flicked his toes and got no hint of a response. I shouted down to the wife that it's now an emergency, and to tell 111 to just send an ambulance. I heard wife relay this information, but then I was surprised to hear her answering more stupid questions. So I shouted down to my wife to just hang up and call 999 instead.

So 111 will send an emergency ambulance to a coherent person with a muscle injury, but they can't recognise the seriousness of an unresponsive kid.

 

That's odd, why not? I get mine delivered by Pharmacy2U and their website says their service costs the NHS less than the average high street pharmacy!

Did you know Pharmacy2U is paid less by the NHS? | Pharmacy2U

Nick

 

I didn't even ask my surgery, I just contacted Lloyds and they did the rest.
Maybe they are still using the socalled green prescriptions as opposed to the electronic ones.

 

I have no gripe at all with the NHS, if fact I think they have coped very well with Covid.

What really pees me off is the GP's are still using Covid as an excuse not to give you a face to face consultation.

You can see the Nurses at the practice.

I've given up trying to get an appointment and will self medicate where possible.