My dad is in is 90s(city fan).He is now hard of hearing and easily confused.He rang me last week to tell me Mam had broken her spine.It was a bone in her foot. My point is that had me or my sister not been around his method of communicating with the NHS would be by an automated answering service where he had to presss buttons or say a particular word out loud.He is completely incapable of doing this.He lives many milees from the place my mother was taken to.They would have lost all contact with each other in a time of great stress. Some communication EXPERT has set this up and been paid and it does not work. Should he be sacked or sacked and sued or sacked and sued and publically whipped due to the distress he has caused elderly people in our country(who lived through the war)
It was not one person. It was forced upon the nhs by condem. The only person you could sack would be Nicholson but he has gone already.
These were internal numbers within the care programme.I think 999 is for emergency only and straight through to operator. I did not try NHS direct as we were given was supposed to be a fast track system. I think the whole concept of automated multiple choice phone answering services needs addressing.Like most people I find them frustrating but for the elderly or people with only mild learning difficulties they could be way out of their abilities to cope. I would also imagine people who are skint and on a mobile phone tariff could have run out of credit when put on "hold".
Yeah obviously no blame attached to the unions, Labour, the BMA, greedy consultants and management fat cats who have and still are milking the NHS to a level that beggars belief. It's the posh tories' fault....
So the fact that your 90 year father cannot use a telephone selection system, is a fault of the system....sorry but really, when your Dad was a lad, then only way to summon the doctor was to knock on his door. Then he would only come if the family had money to pay. 90 year olds living independent of family or local authority support are rare. So the expectations of the system provider is that non life threatening illness or accidents in elderly patients are different to the general population. The system providers would expect the elderly to be supported and not need a less complex system. Picking up the phone expecting to speak to the person who can help, is a thing of the past. Hospitals would need to employ more staff, surgeries would need to spend vast amounts on dedicated trained receptionists. In essence what you would like to happen, cannot work when the service is free. Some government departments get the systems right, the DVLA is a perfect example. NHS direct will always get it wrong, simply because of the demands. The solution to your complaint is to move either your parents to where they have the support they need or for the family to move closer to them. By the way I love the NHS and find it hard to fault when looking at the price I have to pay.
Should be publicly shat on. Every day. Until Doctors start doing house calls again. I would like to volunteer to have the first dump. I'm looking for sponsors. I thought Guinness might be interested, happy to endorse their product and I'm sure it would help in performing the task.
Im with Mel here. You need to see other countries medical systems, especially the USA's to really appreciate how awesome our NHS is. It's not without its problems but for the price we pay we've got the best one in the world. I've known more people benefit from the NHS than have suffered at its hands. I also agree with Mel that the family should play a greater role in looking after their own and not expecting their responsibilities to be looked after because its too hard.
And then there's this.... http://socialinvestigations.blogspot.co.uk/p/mps-with-or-had-financial-links-to.html ....and before you wade in, Asbo, yes - it started with New Labour.
How's your arse Stan? Have you ever had a colonoscopy? (Plenty of ****s on here need one through excessive talking) Bowel cancer is a killer. About ten years ago, the skills needed to effect a thorough colonoscopy were in very short supply in this area. In fact with long waiting lists the doctors/consultants with this knowledge were in no hurry to share or impart the knowledge to others. So they had to be persuaded to work saturday mornings to reduce the backlog (if you'll pardon the pun). For a mornings work they got something in the region of £700 , on top of their already generous salary. As I say, they were in no hurry for others to learn the skills/techniques needed for this . It's Maggie's fault. How dare anyone try to reform the NHS?!?
Without my ablity to take time off work at short notice the ambulance would not have arrived to take my mother to the arranged appointment.This would have warranted at least one extra night in a facility for Alzheimer sufferers at great expense to the public purse and great distress to two elderly law abiding citizens.I would be very interested to know where you get your statistics from about the home circumstances of the elderly.I have enough money to look after my parents but I know many people who are less fortunate. If you think the nhs is wonderful go to this home and take a sniff from the un emptied comodes,Un emptied because the lazy unprofessional angels who work there were having a *** inside in a conservatory whilst patient bells were ringing and people were calling out in distress. Many people struggle with these automated systems therefore they need remedying not simply saying **** the minority who cannot cope
My Father died last year, in fact he died about eight times, average of once every month. My Mother cannot work out the phone system. My Dad never could either. My wife has undergone surgery this year. My personal experience, my families experience, my best friend a lifetime diabetic who has major surgery this year, just like last year and the year before, and yes I love the NHS. So what my Dad once lay in his own **** for several hours, so what if the District nurses sometimes didn't keep appointments. My Dad accepted as did all of us that sometimes things don't go just right. Coming on here and expecting support from everyone isn't going to happen. If you don't like the system go private. If someone isn't doing what you feel is acceptable, tell them. Personally I stand by my views and it will take more than the smell of stale piss to change them.
I did tell them and will be trying to constructively change things.I am not expecting support.I want to raise an issue where there is a problem. I do not wish to enter a who can piss the highest competition with you Mel .I have read enough of your posts to know you are far more important and more astute than me
Sorry Melu, I'm with Lou Roll on this. You seem to arguing for low expectations. Are you really? Why should we have low expectations of public health provision. Low expectations in hospitals, as in schools, lead to declining quality of service. Less becomes normal. Our expectations of the NHS, and particularly services for the elderly should, in my opinion be high. Yes, it's all about cost, but it's not like public money is used wisely as a rule. The NHS spends large amounts shutting up whistleblowers and paying off failed executives. The MOD wastes unbelievable amounts every year on equipment that is either late, obsolete or not working, putting ordinary soldiers at unnecessary risk. Almost every large scale government IT project has failed miserably and in many cases, we still have to pay for them for years afterwards due to apparently incompetent contracting. In the end it's all about priorities, and we should be on the backs of governments of all political shades to prioritise what matters to ordinary people. In some societies older folk are actually given the respect that we'd probably all appreciate when we get there. And yet some of those societies are considered 'primitive'. It's supposed to be a democracy, and health matters to all of us. One day, if we're fortunate, most of us will be old and/or disabled.
I think both of the last posts miss my point. My experiences of the NHS have in the main been very good and that will be the case for many. When we had cause to complain the complaint was dealt with quickly and our issues resolved. The other day the complaints were about the call centre at Karoo, did I have an opinion no, that's because I don't live in Hull and so cannot comment. My wife needed emergency dental work whilst on a short break on the IOW. She used NHS Direct to find a dentist and found the service easy to use and she was given advice on pain relief and an appointment made. She was told, if the pain became too much to go to the local A&E. She saw the dentist and had treatment, the cost £18. It would have been free at A&E but they would have simply removed the tooth. The fact is the many businesses use the same types of systems to channel telephone calls. Try ringing any of the utilities hot lines. The OP was complaining that a 90 year old could not use the system and then complained about the home. Sorry but I do not get it. Lou Roll, think of me what you like but for heavens sake why the OP? By the way, I am important, to myself and those who love me or are my friends, as for the others I am simply a Hull City supporter on a football forum, who gets pissed off with agenda driven posts!
Me too, Patty! I'm just embarking on the treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis (in fact it's symptoms management) and can only say how impressed I've been. GP - referral to specialist - tests,etc. They've given me hope that, although it can't be cured, life can be made bearable.
