Cradle To The Grave
Quote from DavidFullard on May 19, 2024, 11:27 pmOn 5th July 1948 Bevan’s NHS, a cradle to grave, free at the point of delivery, state run healthcare system was born. The birth of many if not most members of this site will predate that momentous happening!
The demands on today’s NHS could never have been envisaged when its original architects laid the foundations of the then fledgling service. Who could have dreamt then that life expectancies would rise exponentially so high, as medical science progressed to the level which we know today. People are living considerably longer than they did almost 80 years ago. Living longer with more chronic diseases….co- morbidities as they are known.
Today’s [ probably underestimated] 7.9 million NHS waiting list is blamed on Covid. It takes but a quick google to unearth that isn’t entirely true, Pre Covid NHS waiting lists were around 5 million. Covid certainly exacerbated the waiting list figures but the decline of the NHS began some years before that.
I have written about the NHS before. I take absolutely no pleasure in criticising a service that has provided my family and me with lifesaving and life taking care/treatment in equal measure.In writing about the NHS I always strive to be objective. Millions of outstanding treatments are delivered every day by thousands of dedicated staff who often work under trying conditions. But the NHS is a behemoth, a sacred cow, a national treasure. It is a service that political parties are terrified of moving away from its founding principles. People trust the NHS, most don’t want private healthcare to pervade its hallowed halls. Yet most folk don’t know or understand the depth of private healthcare provision already embedded in the NHS OR the potentially catastrophic effect the withdrawal of those private healthcare services would have on waiting lists.
There are some sobering facts to digest though. People ARE dying unnecessarily because of long waits for treatment. 100+ day waits for cancer treatment are not uncommon. Many cancers will progress beyond life saving surgery options in such timeframes. A death sentence for the patients. Probably 20% of the almost 8 million on the waiting list will die before they receive their awaited treatment. The compensation bill for the NHS blood scandal will top £10 billion as people continue to die from receiving infected blood. How a supposed developed country such as ours could give over 30,000 already vulnerable patients blood sourced inter alia from US prisoners beggars belief. Our maternity services nationally often fail to meet expected minimum safety and well-being standards of care for mothers and babies. The well publicised national scandals that emanated from several large hospitals are all too soon forgotten. We have too few doctors in training. There are too few ICU beds, too few diagnostic facilities, no intermediate care facilities which causes bed blocking, crumbling hospitals, a NHS dental service in the throes of death, the list is long!
Last week my GP sent me to A&E, query SAH..sub arachnoid haematoma, brain bleed. It was 08:45 when I left her office to make the 8 mile trip. ‘You should be fine there at this time of day’ she told me. I wasn’t fine. There were circa 50-60 folk already sat in the waiting room as I entered it at just after 9:10. Our A&E is brand new. Across the hall is SDEC, Same Day Emergency Care Dept. It is also purpose built and brand new. It is aimed at taking some of the strain off of A&E and treats emergency cases that will go home within 24 hours of arriving. A&E assesses and transfers appropriate patients to SDEC.
My 10 hour stay in A&E/ SDEC encompassed; talking to a reception nurse, booking in, triage, bloods, A&E Registrar consultation ( 3 mins) CT, transfer to SDEC , triage, bloods [ requested but refused by me] the nurse said SDEC didn’t trust A&E bloods! I pointed out the single path lab served the whole hospital. Then I was passed to a Patient Buddy! No me neither but a charming young woman who was very kind. Then I was seen by another Registrar, told my CT was clear and advised to undergo a lumber puncture. After ascertaining the Registrar’s prowess and experience in such procedures I agreed to it.I left SDEC to go home at 1910. SAH was ruled out. The cause of my crashing headaches was diagnosed as cervicogenic ….Spondylitis. My care and treatment took 10:hours, lots of waiting BUT tested, treated and diagnosed in a day…excellent care. On my way out I observed circa 25-30 in SDEC and …..70-80 in A&E plus a queue of 23 ( I counted) waiting to book in. During my consultation with the SDEC Registrar he told me he was shortly leaving to retrain as an oncologist in Sheffield. He said the pressures on staff in A&E/SDEC were simply not sustainable. The waiting rooms of both depts bore testimony to his statement.
I wondered how many folk in A&E/ SDEC that day really were accident victims or emergencies? I suspect a fair number did not fit either qualifying criterion. And thereby lies a huge part of the NHS’s problem….demand outstripping supply fuelled in part by hugely increased expectations.
The NHS needs help. It is sick. It is not yet terminally ill but it is in need of urgent care. It needs a sustainable care pathway and a probable radical change of direction. In turn, as a nation we need to understand the NHS’s limitations. We need to recognise that without extensive use of the private healthcare system the NHS will not cope. Labour says it will cure the NHS’s ills. I KNOW they won’t have the political strength of character to do what is needed….major changes to the sacred cow.
On 5th July 1948 Bevan’s NHS, a cradle to grave, free at the point of delivery, state run healthcare system was born. The birth of many if not most members of this site will predate that momentous happening!
The demands on today’s NHS could never have been envisaged when its original architects laid the foundations of the then fledgling service. Who could have dreamt then that life expectancies would rise exponentially so high, as medical science progressed to the level which we know today. People are living considerably longer than they did almost 80 years ago. Living longer with more chronic diseases….co- morbidities as they are known.
Today’s [ probably underestimated] 7.9 million NHS waiting list is blamed on Covid. It takes but a quick google to unearth that isn’t entirely true, Pre Covid NHS waiting lists were around 5 million. Covid certainly exacerbated the waiting list figures but the decline of the NHS began some years before that.
I have written about the NHS before. I take absolutely no pleasure in criticising a service that has provided my family and me with lifesaving and life taking care/treatment in equal measure.
In writing about the NHS I always strive to be objective. Millions of outstanding treatments are delivered every day by thousands of dedicated staff who often work under trying conditions. But the NHS is a behemoth, a sacred cow, a national treasure. It is a service that political parties are terrified of moving away from its founding principles. People trust the NHS, most don’t want private healthcare to pervade its hallowed halls. Yet most folk don’t know or understand the depth of private healthcare provision already embedded in the NHS OR the potentially catastrophic effect the withdrawal of those private healthcare services would have on waiting lists.
There are some sobering facts to digest though. People ARE dying unnecessarily because of long waits for treatment. 100+ day waits for cancer treatment are not uncommon. Many cancers will progress beyond life saving surgery options in such timeframes. A death sentence for the patients. Probably 20% of the almost 8 million on the waiting list will die before they receive their awaited treatment. The compensation bill for the NHS blood scandal will top £10 billion as people continue to die from receiving infected blood. How a supposed developed country such as ours could give over 30,000 already vulnerable patients blood sourced inter alia from US prisoners beggars belief. Our maternity services nationally often fail to meet expected minimum safety and well-being standards of care for mothers and babies. The well publicised national scandals that emanated from several large hospitals are all too soon forgotten. We have too few doctors in training. There are too few ICU beds, too few diagnostic facilities, no intermediate care facilities which causes bed blocking, crumbling hospitals, a NHS dental service in the throes of death, the list is long!
Last week my GP sent me to A&E, query SAH..sub arachnoid haematoma, brain bleed. It was 08:45 when I left her office to make the 8 mile trip. ‘You should be fine there at this time of day’ she told me. I wasn’t fine. There were circa 50-60 folk already sat in the waiting room as I entered it at just after 9:10. Our A&E is brand new. Across the hall is SDEC, Same Day Emergency Care Dept. It is also purpose built and brand new. It is aimed at taking some of the strain off of A&E and treats emergency cases that will go home within 24 hours of arriving. A&E assesses and transfers appropriate patients to SDEC.
My 10 hour stay in A&E/ SDEC encompassed; talking to a reception nurse, booking in, triage, bloods, A&E Registrar consultation ( 3 mins) CT, transfer to SDEC , triage, bloods [ requested but refused by me] the nurse said SDEC didn’t trust A&E bloods! I pointed out the single path lab served the whole hospital. Then I was passed to a Patient Buddy! No me neither but a charming young woman who was very kind. Then I was seen by another Registrar, told my CT was clear and advised to undergo a lumber puncture. After ascertaining the Registrar’s prowess and experience in such procedures I agreed to it.
I left SDEC to go home at 1910. SAH was ruled out. The cause of my crashing headaches was diagnosed as cervicogenic ….Spondylitis. My care and treatment took 10:hours, lots of waiting BUT tested, treated and diagnosed in a day…excellent care. On my way out I observed circa 25-30 in SDEC and …..70-80 in A&E plus a queue of 23 ( I counted) waiting to book in. During my consultation with the SDEC Registrar he told me he was shortly leaving to retrain as an oncologist in Sheffield. He said the pressures on staff in A&E/SDEC were simply not sustainable. The waiting rooms of both depts bore testimony to his statement.
I wondered how many folk in A&E/ SDEC that day really were accident victims or emergencies? I suspect a fair number did not fit either qualifying criterion. And thereby lies a huge part of the NHS’s problem….demand outstripping supply fuelled in part by hugely increased expectations.
The NHS needs help. It is sick. It is not yet terminally ill but it is in need of urgent care. It needs a sustainable care pathway and a probable radical change of direction. In turn, as a nation we need to understand the NHS’s limitations. We need to recognise that without extensive use of the private healthcare system the NHS will not cope. Labour says it will cure the NHS’s ills. I KNOW they won’t have the political strength of character to do what is needed….major changes to the sacred cow.
Quote from Cliff_C on May 21, 2024, 6:43 pmThank you David
As always, a very informative, honest, unbiased post by an author an expert in the field.
Just the reason why you should not give up on this site.
It certainly gives food for thought this post (and many others you have been responsible for) should be made more public so that all those blinkered anti private health care supporters were made a bit more educated to the plight of the NHS. Like a lot of folks, I have always been scared of privatizing the NHS probably because of scare stories we get fed about the negative sides, usually American based! The fear of not being able to pay for care, not getting treated until I can produce my insurance etc. But you are right, some must be done.
Thank you for an interesting and enjoyable read.
Keep posting David, don’t dishearten at the readers who never post. There are lots of reasons why people will find it difficult to put “pen to paper”
Best wishes
Cliff
Thank you David
As always, a very informative, honest, unbiased post by an author an expert in the field.
Just the reason why you should not give up on this site.
It certainly gives food for thought this post (and many others you have been responsible for) should be made more public so that all those blinkered anti private health care supporters were made a bit more educated to the plight of the NHS. Like a lot of folks, I have always been scared of privatizing the NHS probably because of scare stories we get fed about the negative sides, usually American based! The fear of not being able to pay for care, not getting treated until I can produce my insurance etc. But you are right, some must be done.
Thank you for an interesting and enjoyable read.
Keep posting David, don’t dishearten at the readers who never post. There are lots of reasons why people will find it difficult to put “pen to paper”
Best wishes
Cliff