I am a "heart sink" patient. A "thick file" patient. I seem to have had health problems since I was a child. Some conditions are chronic & will never be cured. (Hence "heart sink"). Some have required surgery. (Hence "thick file"). The NHS has always been there & has done it's best. Sometimes very effectively. Sometimes not so well. Neither the organisation nor the medics are perfect. I accept that & am grateful for the unique service we have in the UK.
But now I think there is a real problem. It's easy to blame Covid, but it pre dates that. It was an accident waiting to happen. (Sorry, couldn't resist!). The organisational & political flaws have been there for a long time.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-50290033
We used to say that the system worked well if the problem was acute. A&E for example. No longer true.
https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/resource/a-e-waiting-times#background
Patients are waiting for treatment for many hours in many hospitals. Patients are waiting to be admitted to hospitals that have no room. Patients are waiting to see a GP or even just to have a phone triage.
https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/nhs-delivery-and-workforce/pressures/nhs-backlog-data-analysis
The NHS itself is a "critical patient." There aren't enough medics at any level. Those that we have are demoralised & under pressure. Unsurprisingly they are leaving. To go where? Retirement. A less stressful job. Or to the private sector where the pay & hours are better.
What is the political solution to this malaise?
https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/comprehensive-spending-review-health-and-care-spending
As far as I can see the government remains committed to privatisation as a solution to the NHS ills.
https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/articles/big-election-questions-nhs-privatised
We follow the USA, which is odd given that they probably have one of the worst public health services in the "developed" world. If you can't pay you are unlikely to get treatment. One fifth of Americans cannot afford healthcare.
Currently I can't see properly in one eye. I need laser treatment to clear the lens implanted years ago when I had cataracts. They implanted a "reading" lens in the left eye & a "distance" lens in the right. It's the right eye that is like looking through fog. I can actually see further with the left eye. I'm going to have to wait until it's worse to get treatment. This isn't life threatening or painful. I accept that. I'm not a priority, I accept that too.
People are in severe pain, disabled & even dying because they haven't had timely treatment in the UK. How have we reached the point that is acceptable? We have a government that pays lip service to a "free at point of need" health sevice, while consistantly underfunding & under resourcing.
https://nhsfunding.info/nhs-crisis-making/
The patient is sick. Call a doctor!
That’s interesting Val about your vision problem. My husband and I have had a similar issue with the artificial lenses implanted in cataract surgery. In both cases we went back to the laser surgery clinic and had a very minor (2 minute) procedure that corrected the fuzziness. No charge to us. I’ll have to check to see if this procedure has a name. I’m also interested in your idea of correction for distance in one eye and reading in the other. I just had the laser surgery on one eye (for distance) and since the left eye is long sighted now I can’t see anything close up except with glasses. This is annoying because before the surgery I could see close up without glasses (enough to read a menu or see the time). So I’m thinking to have my left eye done for close vision like you!
ReplyDeleteAnyway do follow up with the correction for distance as mentioned above. It should be simply done!
Thanks. I have had the laser correction once & it happened very quickly. Things have changed now there is a huge NHS backlog. Could go privately, but expensive & against my socialist principles. The different lenses worked really well for me. Don't really need glasses & the brain adjusts.
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