I work for openreach , things are hard enough as it is , split it off totally , then there will be Chaos .
Well last time Ofcom growled about this BT gained even more £££ through a misplaced effort to provide funding for rural areas broadband. Surprise surprise when BT used most of the funds to compete with cable providers in areas where there was already reasonable access. We were living up in north Dorset where the arrival of 512k (ish) broadband in 2006 meant we could bid farewell to the 28k/bits dial up. We never got to 1mb speeds up there. Of course we paid BT the same as someone getting 10x our speed, 'cos that's fair
It will never be split off completely. But there badly needs to be competition. Some areas are being totally left by themselves by BT. We badly need our network sorted out.
Yep even in Southampton it's a joke. Me and my friend both have the same setup yet I get 30-40mb and he can only just get about 8mb.
Don't get me wrong , openreach needs to invest heavily , but I think letting uncle tom cobbly and all loose in the network will do more harm than good .
Don't disagree with you about that but the trouble is BT use this excuse every time a noise is made about the monopoly, then abuse their position. My brother in law also works for BT and has given up defending them. My sceptical position re them is reinforced by the spokesperson they shove up on Radio4. He always uses my least favorite phrase "I don't recognise those figures" in response to critical questions, like it's an answer. In fairness to BT TalkTalk make them look like saints (no, not the fantastic football team) who frankly just lie to you then claim the phone call never happened, oh yes and their chairwoman is a git, imho.
Couldnt agree more. I had a stroke end of Nov and was operated on within a week to clear a blocked artery. Care i rcvd at all levels at Southampton General was top class. Unfortunately when i suffered my stroke my 18 year old lad was also in SGH having a fairly major op on his heart, so unbelievably we were both in there at the same time ! My son also rcvd amazing treatment and care in the top class cardiac dept at SGH. We have both now recovered and my lad in particular is now fully fighting fit again and his heart is 100% for the first time in his life. All thanks to our fabulous NHS. When i was lying in SGH i was thinking how content i was regarding my lifetime of Class 1 NI contributions - suddenly felt like i had really got my monies worth. NHS may not be perfect but my colleagues in other countries, incl many European countries, are very envious.
Generally I am a miserable bastard (can't help its the way I'm wired) over the last year my missus has needed the Nhs including an ambulance and operations etc.etc. and everyone up here in Hereford from reception at surgery to consultant from Birmingham has been absolutely brilliant.And I would stand toe to toe with anyone arguing how great our Nhs is.when you're in their system mind you do wonder about the admin side.
Try working for them! The main problem the NHS has is that successive governments have, on being elected, always decided to reorganise it. This usually means the creation of an extra tier of management consisting of people who know nothing whatsoever about delivering healthcare where it is needed. Despite constant political interference from both sides of the Houses of Parliament, the standards of healthcare remain excellent, due to the dedication of the staff.
Sorry Alfie meant to add hope you're feeling better,I know they'll look after you as well as they can.
Yes I can relate to your points,I touched on it with my admin comment,it wasn't meant as a criticism of individuals in any way.
No I know, I was just hinting that if the general public actually knew how incompetent some of the administration side of things is they would be horrified!
One of my customers was an administrator and after a particular reorganisation intended to slim down management was given a title that identified her as part of the nursing staff so the ratio of "nursing staff:management" (N.B. Not "nurses:management") was correct. She still did exactly the same job, of course. Vin
I'm currently having my first ever experience of coming to the end of a financial year and having to spend all the remaining money. It's quite strange.
Oh, the madness. Utterly, utterly irrational. Oh no. Now I'm unhappy. Seriously, so, so disappointedly exasperated. Vin
Yes unfortunately you only have to sit and watch in the various departments to see this,and can only guess what it's like behind the scenes.Anyway this is the super positive Nhs thread and I think it is brilliant.
Ha ha thats ok, im pretty good now thanks Roy - gave me a hell of a fright at the time though as i thought i was fit as **** and bullet proof ! I 100% agree with you ref the admin side of the NHS as it happens. Got two sisters who work for the NHS and one of them gets really exasperated with middle management and their idiotic decision making, she often lays into these middle tier managers at meetings about patients post discharge care etc. She says they could easily fire several thousand middle managers and pay the junior doctors what they are asking for for 7 day working, and the organisation would be far better for it. But like i said me and my lad got superb medical care at SGH.
