Reading any UK papers or TV will give the impression that the NHS is near collapse, my little experience does not support this but does give thought to how patients are very clearly the second class citizens of the system.
The originators of the NHS had high ideals that all people would have free at point of use health care, so what happened ............well I guess my readers do not want a multi page academic analysis, which is just as well, but lets review a small incident that happened to me recently.
I had been diagnosed after various other treatments had failed, as having .......Droopy Eye. I like that it actually describes the problem ..........and not a touch of Latin anywhere.
The treatment involved having my eyelid cut and lifted, sounds less than pleasant .......... I am still in recovery and waiting for bruise die back but the procedure was efficient and skilled and lasted about 40 minutes under a local anasetic, no gowns, no beds, walk in and out of the theatre.
What my complaint is about is the organisation ..... I use the term loosely and with a touch of irony ......
of the administrative aspects. Appointment letter comes, saying report at 12:00 noon, seems fair, (we will not get diverted into the parking issues at the hospital) I arrive just before then, announce myself and told to take a seat, waiting area has around 12 people some patients, others relatives, friends. I wait, occasionally some one is called by a Nurse, goes somewhere else and comes back 10 minutes later and sits done again. My turn is at 1 pm and it achieves me having to remember my name and date of birth and be tagged and asked a list of questions that seem to have limited relevance to my procedure.
I must admit I see the need as patients come in all varieties and will have issues thst need recording, but I definetly sense a "cover our backs" mentality.
I sit back on the appallingly uncomfortable chairs, clearly the procurement person never tried out this when ordering, I suspect they were the lowest quote, and then get another call where another nurse, looking more senior, asks many of the questions again and countersigns numerous boxes on the forms. It as this point that I find out that surgery will start at 2 o'clock. A foreboding grips me, we had all been told to come at 12, yet nothing is to happen until after they have had their lunch. So two hours for a simple admin procedure.
Being on my own and having not been informed about the need to bring food and drink, I quietly starve and dehydrate. Of course I should of realised that two o'clock is a generic time .......... lets shorten the tale, its 3:45 pm when my turn arrives to be called, I was the last.
Anyway as I opened, the procedure was well managed, though another two people wanted reassurance that I knew who I was and what operation I was happening, before I got onto the table.
At 4: 30 I got to sit down in an empty room but with much better chairs, mine had eletric recline etc, and shortly after I got some documentation and was released, just in time for my transport to get stuck in the rush hour traffic.
So what's the issue I hear you say ...............there was clearly a list of people needing less than an hour in theatre, so why were we all told to report at one time when we could easily have been staggered at hoursly intervals ? ie I would come in at say 3, for paperwork, been done and went home, the staff would have a phased workload. It seems to me to be so obvious that I cannot see how anyone with basis planning experience would have devised the " get them all here for 12" strategy. Its like telling the builder, electrician, plumber and decorator all to come on the same time on same day, so they are there when needed ............. that of course would not happen, as these are people charging you £40 + a hour. Patients apparently do not count, ...... wait I pay taxes for the NHS.........
