Is the NHS still "Fit for purpose"

Yeah but that would cost billions and billions paid out to private contractors who still won't do the job properly.

Confession time. Snap, near as damn it, except mine was end of week before last. And I'm a fit late fifties. No significant prior indications, except in hindsight I allowed myself to mistake symptoms as being Covid recovery issues. 

I didn't collapse thankfully. I was fully aware. Once I finally made the decision that it was ambo time, the ambulance was with me in 4 minutes from the time they pressed the button on it. That shocked but also pleased me. The staff in cardiac care were great: extremely caring. The ward I was in had a good level of staffing - unlike times when I was with my elderly father and I had to do stuff for him that I shouldn't have had. Different hospital. 

Unfortunately I went in on a Friday, so no chance of getting into theatre until Monday, and then bumped and bumped. The final bump was actually when outside the theatre door. Got done on Tuesday. No complaints with that: I was stable and less of a priority. I was in total of 5 days.

The follow-up from the hospital has also been A1: I already have follow-up scan, rehab session, and cardiologist review in the diary.

Back to efficiencies though. Before I finally went in, I was chatting to the theatre administrator nurse (not sure of title). We got talking about that very subject 'cos she was complaining that it was bottlenecks in the system that constantly held things up, and reduced theatre utilisation. In my case, a small one, but the original consent form I had been given to sign was the wrong one (was only for angiogram). But they didn't have any of the paper versions of the correct form to hand 'cos they were phasing out for electronic (good). But off ward, they didn't have any access to the tablets to do it on. So another delay. 

Brits not fit for purpose: a lot of truth in that, but not always the case obviously. My contrast: on one side I had a lovely block, a bit overweight but not massively. But his fundamental problem like me was his heritage. He was on a wait to get transferred to London hospital for a triple bypass. He was there when I came in, and only left to go on the morning of day I came out. So minimum of 5 days.

On the other hand, there was a complete **** on the other side (we all agreed on that). Not overweight, but heavy smoker. And insisted on having 5 sugars in this tea. And entitled. And utterly rude and a complete b*****d to one of the nurses. He had multiple health issues. I digress. 

Hope your other 1/2 does well in his recovery.

What about the NhS app? does it show all the medicines, consultations and other record? Is it missing record?

Well, I admit some professionals working for the NHS don’t care “too much” about the patients. One of those who was also a family member told me there’s nothing to do about my cough unless blood appears or lasting 4 weeks or longer.

If I chose a health service not provided by NHS, they would at least give me same or next day face to face appointments even without getting any data from NHS, and give me something to relieve my symptoms. The medication only cost £10.

The truth is, it should be that hard to obtain prescriptions, but it’s very hard to get the “right” medication without authorisation of a doctor.

If our “doctors” can only diagnose accurately based on “data” stored in the cloud, but not paying attention actually to the patient, are they really that good?

bracknellboy this is precisely the problem my friend faced when a patient arrived, from a care home, for surgery, with no patient records and no record of what meds they were on.

From the PoV of your GP treating you, though - it isn't directly relevant.

If you had the genetic condition, then it's massively unlikely the symptoms would start now.
If you are a carrier for the condition, then you aren't going to be passing it on any more.
If your relatives of child-bearing age are worried if THEY are carriers, then THEY need to see THEIR GPs.

You're one of four grandparents for this kid. If the condition is solely matrilineal, then - you're right - that rules the father's two grandparents out... but it also rules the maternal grandfather out, doesn't it?

SWMBO used to work for a charity that supported families with kids with genetic conditions. There are a myriad of conditions, many of which affect one or two kids only, many of which are simply medically unidentified.

(Also - remember, your GP is almost certainly employed by a privately-owned business contracted to the NHS, not by the NHS directly.)


I think I'm on about 0.1-0.2 at most.