Too many cooks? Updated (The NHS vs Private Health Care)

Member Name: jeanjeannie

Product:	The NHS vs Private Health Care
Date:	26/05/01 (24 review reads)
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I have attended our local A&E twice this week with my grandson. The unit has been modernised at great expense recently and certainly looks more welcoming and comfortable. However, the waiting time never seems to shorten - why is that I wonder? You see a triage nurse to assess the urgency of your condition and then sit & wait & wait & wait even though nothing exceptional appears to be going on at the end of the 'blue line'. No cardiac arrests. no multiple RTA's - just the normal collection of broken limbs, infectious children, the odd drunk - just a normal day at the office so why the delay?

Well, I think it could be a big con! When you finally get to the end of the 'blue line' you are ushered into a cubicle and left to wait yet again. You can see the desk in the middle of the unit where the doctors and nurses are based; you can see them, one with his head bowed writing earnestly, another leaning back drinking tea, another couple sharing a joke and you sit there & you wait. No one is in any hurry to help you - we have always had to wait - it's tradition ; so you continue to wait in time honoured fashion until it is YOUR time. It is obviously obligatory that a patient waits - that why he's called a patient I suppose but I really don't think that these delays are always necessary. The problem is that there is no one in charge - no one on the front line who is responsible.What is needed is a good old fashioned supervisor to ensure everyone is doing his job properly. Someone with clout and authority gained from experience not from a degree course.
The days we attended there were ample staff on duty but only a fraction of them seemed to be working.

But what sort of service would you get if you went private? You wouldn't! There is no private alternative to A&E or to Intensive care. The NHS is it - like it or lump it and I think that this could be another reason for the attitude of - "let them wait" - aft
er all you can't go anywhere else can you?

I have also had first hand experience of A&E in America and I have to say that the treatment was incredible. Yes, I know you pay for it and a lot of people can't but that does not alter the fact that the actual treatment was FAR superior to what we are used to .My grandson had a severe asthma attack, he was weighed as soon as we arrived, a history taken immediately, examined by a doctor, given a nebuliser and a steroid injection and was on his way home in an hour with a prescription for his medication.

In conclusion - there must be a middle way - surely we can expect effective treatment on the NHS without being made to feel like 2nd. class citizens. Perhaps we should have some form of direct payment in A & E similar to that charged in clinics in Portugal and Cyprus. If that would improve the waiting times I am sure many would be willing to pay but I have my doubts whether it is just a case of money. It is, in my humble opinion ,the staffing structure which is at the root of the problem and, until there are people who are really accountable and have the experience and authority to manage staff the problem will continue to escalate.
Bring back the Matron!!
Update - 24/7/01
Thought you might appreciate the irony of this - hubby is in great pain from his knees, has been x-rayed but has to wait months on the NHS for an appointment to see the Consultant. Fortunately we have part private insurance - (read my Op on Benenden ) which will pay for a private consultation if the delay is going to be more than six weeks. Well, it is so his GP wrote for an appointment - guess when it is? - 30th August - over 6 weeks from when he requested it!
So, Private may be quicker but not necessarily quick.

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