General Chat

Sue Yes it was St Helier LOL still it be all change soon??? all this talk of merging the two hosps, still no descion has been mad eyet has it, they even said they they may build a new one on Rosehill Heaven help us We have the choice of St Helier or Croydon mayday at a pinch we could go to St georges, don't know which is the best choice!!!!! Shelli

A friend of mine picked up MRSA in a pressure sore. He was sent home from hospital, became quite ill and ended up back in hospital for three months. The sore eventually healed but it took months. I think staff do a good job in difficult circumstances and the NHS is underfunded. I also think we take this service for granted a bit. In some countries they can't afford to get ill and often die because they can't afford treatment. We are lucky despite the odd hiccup. Mel

Shelli Was it St Helier by any chance? An ex neighbour of ours was a casualty officer there and always said that if he had an accident outside the door he would demand to be taken to Epsom General! I think it does really depend on the staff on the day. My husband has been in and out of hospital since his bike accident in May 1995 - his longest stay was 3 months in Epsom. When you are a patient for that length of time you tend to see all types of nursing staff and doctors. He agrees that the majority of nurses do an excellent job, but are bogged down by so many other tasks they are not always able to nurse. Sue xx

What’s wrong with the NHS? It’s too big, too expensive and badly run. I worked as a junior manager in a Health District and as an outsider I could see both sides. My wife was a Nursery Nurse in an SCBU for 25 years so I heard all her troubles too. The first thing I discovered when I started work was that most of the managers have never worked for any other organisation. Their attitudes and management style was antediluvian. As far as money and costs were concerned they felt that it would always be a bottomless pit and any overspend would be covered from somewhere. The way staff was treated was a shock. On one hand they have contracts and pensions that most in the private sector only dream about. On the other sickness and absence rates among groups like maintenance workers were as high as 30% and no one did anything about it. The unions insisted on national pay scales which meant that where I live they were paid very well and in London they could hardly get by. A Staff Nurse (Grade D) after 4 years service will get around £20,000 for a 35 hour week with 25 days holiday and a full indexed pension (they do have to make a contribution) at 60 which could be as high as 2/3rds final salary. The gulf between management and workers was like something from a 60s comedy film – even when the managers were promoted from the “ranks” they soon adopted the usual dictatorial style. Everyone says that there are far too many non medical staff. The government could alter the ratio at a stroke by dropping all the “initiatives” and the excessive paper load. If they let the managers to do the job they are employed for most hospitals would improve out of all recognition. I could go on at length but I am sure that you get my drift. One last point: I knew quite a number of nurses and in general they were no more dedicated than anyone else. There were some shining examples but there were some out and out skivers as well just like any workplace.

I can't say I'm very impressed with Sussex County. When my Mum was terminally ill and unable to move she was left in a corridor for 4 hours while they sorted out a bed. Only when I arrived and shouted did they slowly make their way over to the empty bed to make it up. When I was in there I had to ask for clean bedding for my new baby and the doctors who helped save my life were so tired Im amazed they managed it. The Doctors and Nurses are very caring and very overworked. The food and the mess are something else. We pay for our National Health Service and it never used to be this bad in the days of the old Matrons.

Have not had much experience - have never been in hospital, and admit to having a mild phobia about them! Have had mostly good care from various GPs, and my Mum was full of praise for hospital staff during her stay (HER first time in hospital, at the age of 70!).

Bev It is not the nursing staff/doctors that are at fault if the NHS isn't working. It's all those higher ups on the boards making decisions that are wrong for the staff/patients. Are nursing staff/doctors are good in the 3 hospitals we have in LEEDS. It is the dirty wards that are the most annoying putting it mildly)2 1/2yrs ago my late husband was rushed in to one of the hospitals with a stroke.He was moved to 3 different wards in 24hrs and the last ward where he was put was absolutely disgraceful. On the floor right next to his bed was a pool of dried blood(this was on Easter Sunday) and it wasn't cleaned even though I asked the cleaner to mop it up(asked her politely) until the following Thursday afternoon when one of the housekeeping staff was checking the ward and I asked her for a mop bucket of hot soapy water to clean the blood up myself. If we had the Matron's back in hospitals there would be a better service from the NHS. Just my opinion,will get off my soap box now. Sue

not really sure... my son 9 had falen from the slide in the local park, as earlier in the yr i had ignored his brother complaints about his arm when he'd fallen off the roundabout in the same park.His younger brother had fractured his arm, i decided to take no chances this time. Despite a empty waiting room we had to wait for almost two hours, which wasn't the best of starts, then we had to ahev an x-ray. They wouldn't let me in with him as they said he was big enough to do it himself!!! He was very upset as he'd neve rhad an x ray before so simply didn't know what to expect. When we got back to A&E was told it was fine, go home it just bruised. And was almost pushed out of door. I accepted their answer after all they are the doctors. He didn't use that arm for over a week. 12 days later i got a call from the hospital asking me to bring him back again as they'd discovered a problem on his x ray. Was told it would be a 10 min appointment, which was fine as i had an appointment 20 mins later for CT scan. The appointment took 1 hour and 40 mins!!!!!! The doctor even asked me why i'd brought him back??????? Had row with the doctor, because he told me Luke had to have a another x ray, i said i was just going up stairs to let CT know i had a problem and would be late, just being poilte. Was told MOTHER THIS X RAY NEED TO BE DONE TODAY!!!!! Told him i would but was being POLITE and lettign others know first. We've now had several appointment at the fracture clinic and Luke is also under physio, he doesn't have the full range of movement in his arm, adn his elbow is more knobbly than it was. BUT bear this in contrast to the way his twin was treated back in August when he hurt his arm at the park ( different one to the others!!!) He filled his arm with gravel, they treated him so kindly and we was in the A&E dept for several hours. We had several foolow up appointment s and had no porbs at all. But the incident with Luke has really soured my opinion.

I know you are not moaning Bev the stop moaning bit was for the moaning lot LOL. I think the hospital staff are worth there weight in gold just a shame that they are going abroad to earn good money the goverment should have a good look at what is going on and keep the good old English Nurse in England. I take my hat off to you all. Love Debs.

our nurses,are the best trained in the world,thats why america is always trying to poach them,with offers of more money,and a better lifestyle. theyare over worked,underpaid,and are expected to constantly learn new skills,to take pressure off junior doctors. and they are frequently attacked by bullies,drunks,and drug addicts,in the casualty dept. we should say...thank god...for our nurses/doctors. bryan.

Hi, Seen too much of hospitals over the last 20 months. Emergency care is great (my broken leg and following operation). The ward I was on afterwards was very understaffed and some of the nurses were total b****** to some of the elderly patients. Not so nice to me either but at least I could stick up for myself. Other nurses were lovely. Docs were lovely too. The ward was filthy, though, especially the loos. I've had 2 carpal tunnel ops as a day patient and they went like a dream, lovely nurses and docs. An elderly family member was a long term patient, first on a medical ward then in rehab. When he was admitted to hospital he could walk and look after himself. Over the next few weeks he lost the ability to walk - staff "too busy" to help him walk to the loo or around the ward. He also could not wash or dress himself after a few weeks - staff said it was "easier" if they did it for him. He also caught MRSA. His ward was also filthy. They wanted to discharge him like that as his "medical" problem was sorted. Naturally I wasn't letting that happen and said he would stay there until he could walk and look after himself again - he lives alone. And until the MRSA was under control. After a war of words they conceded and he was admitted to a rehab unit just to shut me up. They were wonderful. When he was discharged he could walk using sticks and look after himself with just a little help. He has carers night and morning now to help him out and is happily living at home. So the NHS is like most workplaces - only as good as the people working in it. Some are really good, others awful. Gwynne

Debs i am not moaning about the NHS, i work for them?? i agree with you , it is a free service which would cost thousends in another country, but you would not believe the complaints i get!!!! Bev

I work for the nhs,,,in the past as a nurse and now in administration,,and i have to say that the management is crap.

As an ex-employee of the NHS I have always thought that there were too many chiefs and not enough indians! The boffins have yet to find an "elastic nurse", so those we do have are stretched to the limit, with probably 2 administrators to each nurse per hospital. It's a great shame that the wonder that was the NHS has been allowed to disintegrate to such an extend - for crying out loud why oh why dont we (the general public) do something about it?? Jacqui

Bev my mum just had a bypass done in Hammersmith Hospital and she said she could not have got better if she had gone private and when I was in Englad I had no trouble, you are luckey you do not have to pay my cousin in the USA has just had a bypass done and he had no cover he has had to work out a plan with the hospital it is going to cost him thousands so don't moan about NHS please. Debs.

shelli sorry to hear that do you think it was the system at fault or an individual???

Sorry recent bad experiance meana thumbs down from me at the moment, but in past have had no problems. Shelli

susie thankyou i wish they were all like you Bev

bev i cant fault our local hospital(nhs) they were pure angels when my father in law was ill. i think they do a terrific job and are severly underpaid. they are so dedicated keep up the good work and have a wonderful christmas susie

As a nurse i would be interested in hearing your views on the NHS, good or bad,