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Post by moonraker on Feb 21, 2023 16:20:28 GMT
Lol when I said consultant, I didnt mean a hospital consultant. I meant a business consultant. Anyone visiting a hospital can see (certainly in the local hospital to me)that there seems no joined up thinking, no seamless transfer from one department to the other, surely to have a pharmacy closed in a main hospital or to take 3 days to issue medication is ludicrous and unacceptable. Most businesses ate reviewed from time to time, I believe its NHS time. There's a new book out about business consultants, The Big Con. As you may guess, it's highly critical, citing the "[world-class] track and trace programmes that didn't work,
yet cost £1 million a week in consultancy fees". And it was consultants who dreamt up the Private Financial Initiative, getting paid £45m alone for new hospitals.
The pharmacy profession is one that suffers from shortages of available workers.
Not another NHS review? I'm just reading a book, The A303 - Highway to the Sun, which describes successive Governments' announcements to improve the route, not least the section past Stonehenge. The author wryly notes cases of Transport Ministers uncertain what to do with an expensive road plan calling for a review. By the time it's delivered the Minister will have long gone and there may be a Government of a different complexion.
It's obvious that an ageing population and more sophisticated treatments and equipment will need more funding, but no party seems willing to grasp that nettle. Perhaps there is scope for a review, after all ...
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Greenwood2
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Post by Greenwood2 on Feb 21, 2023 16:37:42 GMT
Sorry to hear about your mum. What do you think the consultant should have done about the medicines delay? It’s nothing to do with them. Lol when I said consultant, I didnt mean a hospital consultant. I meant a business consultant. Anyone visiting a hospital can see (certainly in the local hospital to me)that there seems no joined up thinking, no seamless transfer from one department to the other, surely to have a pharmacy closed in a main hospital or to take 3 days to issue medication is ludicrous and unacceptable. Most businesses ate reviewed from time to time, I believe its NHS time. Surely your mum had to have the same medication on the ward, couldn't the ward have given a few days supply and allowed her to go home?
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keitha
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2024, hopefully the year I get out of P2P
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Post by keitha on Feb 21, 2023 17:48:38 GMT
=Lol when I said consultant, I didn't mean a hospital consultant. I meant a business consultant. Anyone visiting a hospital can see (certainly in the local hospital to me)that there seems no joined up thinking, no seamless transfer from one department to the other, surely to have a pharmacy closed in a main hospital or to take 3 days to issue medication is ludicrous and unacceptable. Most businesses ate reviewed from time to time, I believe its NHS time. seriously I agree, for example when I moved here I needed to register with a GP, until I was registered I couldn't see a GP or get a repeat of my medication. It took 2 months for my existing practice to send my notes to the new one. When I attended A&E for the first time here it took a nurse the best part of 30 minutes to get me on the system as a person, I'd previously seen Audiology and they had put me on as 2 ears not a whole person. Honestly I don't believe the NHS is better or worse than Local or National Government, the waste is enormous and they are ripped off right left and centre. When I worked in Local Government IT we were being charged about £7,000 to install data lines, I was transferred to a private company and were were immediately quoted £5,000 for the same lines, we terminated all the contracts as a local Authority when they came up for renewal and saved over £100,000 a year on line rentals and calls/data. When we did joint jobs for the council and NHS we could always get a quote at least £1,500 cheaper as a private company than BT quoted our NHS colleagues. If we wanted a broadband link for someone to work from home it was cheaper for them to get it installed as a private line than us as a business line.
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mogish
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Post by mogish on Feb 21, 2023 20:24:02 GMT
Lol when I said consultant, I didnt mean a hospital consultant. I meant a business consultant. Anyone visiting a hospital can see (certainly in the local hospital to me)that there seems no joined up thinking, no seamless transfer from one department to the other, surely to have a pharmacy closed in a main hospital or to take 3 days to issue medication is ludicrous and unacceptable. Most businesses ate reviewed from time to time, I believe its NHS time. Surely your mum had to have the same medication on the ward, couldn't the ward have given a few days supply and allowed her to go home? Yes same meds. Because she has a Nomad box(lots of pills per day 7 days a week) apparently it had to be made up especially. I've since heard some hospitals use automated systems instead of humans to make up the scripts. Prob quicker anymore accurate but no doubt no very union friendly.
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Post by bernythedolt on Feb 21, 2023 20:26:03 GMT
The consultant that I saw a month or so ago was a personable young lady. We got on fine. The discussion touched on my lowish haematocrit level, with me saying I knew a bit about how cyclists and other athletes had boosted theirs. "I'm not prescribing you EPO [the drug once notoriously abused by riders]," she joked.
The more serious part of the conversation was about my physical activities, and I volunteered some information about my, ahem, private life. She looked a bit startled, and I thought "Heck, I hope she doesn't think that I was being suggestive".
You can't just leave it hanging there Funny, that's exactly what the attractive young consultant said, too...
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Post by bracknellboy on Feb 21, 2023 22:13:56 GMT
You can't just leave it hanging there Funny, that's exactly what the attractive young consultant said, too... yep, that was the innuendo I was alluding to
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hazellend
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Post by hazellend on Feb 21, 2023 22:22:41 GMT
It’s because the strikes are required to save the NHS. Difficult for doctors to do but they have to. But it comes across as another union leader gloating over the chaos they are going to cause. I don’t believe that is the intention at all. They are just proud of their members taking a stand against appalling working conditions.
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agent69
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Post by agent69 on Mar 13, 2023 7:53:15 GMT
So I'm in SE Asia on holiday and there have been a couple of minor glitches that required me to see a doctor (nothing to do with the cheese burger I had in MacDonalds in Ho Chi Minh city).
- In Vietnam I contacted the medical center down the road and saw a doctor the following morning
- In Thailand I emailed a nearby private hospital at 1:30pm and saw a doctor at 4pm same day.
I appreciate that I've had to pay for both of these (about £110 the pair), but wouldn't it be a good idea if something similar was available in UK. People who are happy to pay get seen with little delay, and that frees up NHS space for those that can't afford to pay to be seen quicker.
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Post by moonraker on Mar 13, 2023 8:47:01 GMT
There was an article in Friday's Daily Telegraph by a Ukrainian resident in the UK who last year returned home and, despite the war, was able to get better and more immediate treatment than in this country. (You may be able to glimpse the article before you're invited to start a free month's trial of the website.) Before the invasion a Ukrainian friend of mine had a holiday back home and had a whole series of tests for the equivalent of £100 or so, with the results available that same day.
Not that I complain about the service I've had from the NHS this year - it's been excellent - though I do wonder if it'll be a junior doctor who will (eventually?) review the results of my latest test to be taken tomorrow and when I'll be notified.
With medical equipment and treatment become more sophisticated and expensive, people living longer but experiencing various ailments relating to ageing, and a young population with unhealthy life-styles, it's obvious that health care can no longer be provided for free to everyone.
My sympathy is mostly with NHS workers on strike, but their actions must be causing more stress on many of them, as office staff inform patients their operations are being postponed to an unspecified date and as many patients express their despair and frustration.
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on Mar 13, 2023 8:50:43 GMT
So I'm in SE Asia on holiday and there have been a couple of minor glitches that required me to see a doctor (nothing to do with the cheese burger I had in MacDonalds in Ho Chi Minh city).
- In Vietnam I contacted the medical center down the road and saw a doctor the following morning
- In Thailand I emailed a nearby private hospital at 1:30pm and saw a doctor at 4pm same day.
I appreciate that I've had to pay for both of these (about £110 the pair), but wouldn't it be a good idea if something similar was available in UK. People who are happy to pay get seen with little delay, and that frees up NHS space for those that can't afford to pay to be seen quicker. It is, and has been for years. doctap.co.uk/samedaydoctor.org/walkin-clinic.co.uk/london-gp-serviceNot even restricted to high-gloss central London. www.bupa.co.uk/health/payg/gp-servicesQuite a lot of competing providers... £50-ish seems to be the starting price. www.google.com/search?q=private+gp+london
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on Mar 13, 2023 9:01:19 GMT
With medical equipment and treatment become more sophisticated and expensive, people living longer but experiencing various ailments relating to ageing, and a young population with unhealthy life-styles, it's obvious that health care can no longer be provided for free to everyone. ...or it can, but it'll need more investment. Currently, NHS England costs about £3,000/person/year. Healthcare in the US costs about $13,000/person/year. While most of that is personal expenditure (and is the number one cause of personal bankruptcies - about 2/3 of the total), about 40% is public funds - $5,000/person/year... Germany and Ireland spend about €5,000, Switzerland is the biggest spender in Europe at about €9,000.
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Post by bracknellboy on Mar 13, 2023 9:52:57 GMT
So I'm in SE Asia on holiday and there have been a couple of minor glitches that required me to see a doctor (nothing to do with the cheese burger I had in MacDonalds in Ho Chi Minh city).
- In Vietnam I contacted the medical center down the road and saw a doctor the following morning
- In Thailand I emailed a nearby private hospital at 1:30pm and saw a doctor at 4pm same day.
I appreciate that I've had to pay for both of these (about £110 the pair), but wouldn't it be a good idea if something similar was available in UK. People who are happy to pay get seen with little delay, and that frees up NHS space for those that can't afford to pay to be seen quicker.
there are, they are called private GP services. Not sure it would be just as quick as that, but pretty quick. Oh, and from my brother's experience in Be and NL, that speed to see a doctor is common. Again, maybe not quite as fast as you experienced but....Even getting an MRI scan was counted in days rather than months Remember that in both the countries you are talking about you are very much at the high end of wealth, so you get to the top of the Q paying the right money.
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agent69
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Post by agent69 on Mar 13, 2023 11:48:11 GMT
So I'm in SE Asia on holiday and there have been a couple of minor glitches that required me to see a doctor (nothing to do with the cheese burger I had in MacDonalds in Ho Chi Minh city).
- In Vietnam I contacted the medical center down the road and saw a doctor the following morning
- In Thailand I emailed a nearby private hospital at 1:30pm and saw a doctor at 4pm same day.
I appreciate that I've had to pay for both of these (about £110 the pair), but wouldn't it be a good idea if something similar was available in UK. People who are happy to pay get seen with little delay, and that frees up NHS space for those that can't afford to pay to be seen quicker.
there are, they are called private GP services. Not sure it would be just as quick as that, but pretty quick. Oh, and from my brother's experience in Be and NL, that speed to see a doctor is common. Again, maybe not quite as fast as you experienced but....Even getting an MRI scan was counted in days rather than months Remember that in both the countries you are talking about you are very much at the high end of wealth, so you get to the top of the Q paying the right money. And still ends up eating in MacDonalds spending 49,000 vdn on a cheeseburger meal.
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michaelc
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Post by michaelc on Mar 13, 2023 17:08:00 GMT
So I'm in SE Asia on holiday and there have been a couple of minor glitches that required me to see a doctor (nothing to do with the cheese burger I had in MacDonalds in Ho Chi Minh city).
- In Vietnam I contacted the medical center down the road and saw a doctor the following morning
- In Thailand I emailed a nearby private hospital at 1:30pm and saw a doctor at 4pm same day.
I appreciate that I've had to pay for both of these (about £110 the pair), but wouldn't it be a good idea if something similar was available in UK. People who are happy to pay get seen with little delay, and that frees up NHS space for those that can't afford to pay to be seen quicker. It is, and has been for years. doctap.co.uk/samedaydoctor.org/walkin-clinic.co.uk/london-gp-serviceNot even restricted to high-gloss central London. www.bupa.co.uk/health/payg/gp-servicesQuite a lot of competing providers... £50-ish seems to be the starting price. www.google.com/search?q=private+gp+londonIt is completely different. 99% of people use NHS GPs and so the vast majority of practices are NHS. If paying to see the GP was the norm (as it is to see a dentist) then most all of the surgeries would be private and likely offer same day. I followed your BUPA link above. The nearest appointment to me is 45 minutes drive away and is on Friday. Today is Monday. In Kyiv, I could likely see a doctor same day or next day within walking distance of my apartment. A short metro or taxi drive away if I wanted to see a particular specialist in a hospital. So for example, if I had a suspect lump I could either go to a general doctor likely within a few hours or wait a day or two and go directly to see an oncologist within a day or two. Tests the day after or if a "procedure" required perhaps the next week....(a bit tougher now though as a lot of soldiers in hospital) The prices are not crazy (either to me or locals who are in work) because there are far more doctors than here and they don't expect a ridiculous salary after their training and period in junior doctorship as they do here (consultants and GPs) And that is Ukraine - a 2nd world country at war.
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keitha
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Post by keitha on Mar 13, 2023 17:16:07 GMT
Maybe a charge would be the way to go although I do begrudge £45 every 3 months for a checkup at the dentists, perhaps it would stop some of the GP consultations by patients basically wanting Paracetamol etc that a) should not be prescribed anyway and b) are available via minor ailments at the pharmacy
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