In the old days your GP referred you to a consultant - you got seen by a consultant
In the brave new world of Zanu-Labour if your GP refers you to a consultant you get put on a waiting list to see a NURSE
If you get to see the NURSE and she thinks it's a particularly extreme case she can call in the consultant to come and have a look (presumably she also sends cases back to the GP as not serious enough)
If the (dragged in by the nurse as very much an exception) consultant there and then at the first appointment agrees it's a very serious example what do you think happens? Yep you go on the same next waiting list to see a consultant that you would have done if the NURSE had not been concerned enough to interrupt the consultant for his second opinion
You then wait some more (is this the official "wait" that is published in the stats?) the nhs will usually send out appointment cards to a few wrong addresses to delay you a bit more "human error at re-keying we are very sorry" WELL WHY THE FUCK DO YOU KEEP DOING IT YOU USELESS FUCKERS?
Eventually you get to see the most junior consultant in this field in the county (you know cos you've asked around)
He says "yep you need the operation, but you also need to have the associated condition XYZ operated on by me at the same time, and its not really worth the risk of two separate operations for these two conditions as you would then be getting two sets of anaesthetic etc when really you only need one".... "But you have only been referred for the original condition, you need to go back to your GP and get referred for the associated condition also"
So then you go back to your GP and end up on a list to see.... the NURSE again (having at this point already had the consultant say you needed the op)
So yep the nurse appointment delays it a lot, the sending back to the GP for a common ancillary condition which the surgeon should dam well be able to sort out routinely, all adds to the delays
The nhs knows the longer it can delay people (while keeping the official wait bit within the generous parameters tolerated by the nhs central commissars) that more and more will i) die ii) move to another nhs areas forcing them to start waiting again iii) give up and go private and/or abroad
While the "offical" wait figures look almost reasonable
So bigger waits lead to less work needing to be done
Or more work for the poor patient who ends up with an even more extreme case needing an operation by the time they get to the day of the operation
And lots of misery
Life on hold waiting for an operation
Reduced ability to be part of the working population and pay the taxes to fund the NHS
How the NHS gets away with this shambles is beyond me
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5 comments:
Have you resorted to re-hashing posts by Dr Crippen and Dr Rant?
This has been covered on both (esp Dr C who has done it more than once).
no its a rehash of what i said to dr C at the time youre thinking
Actually you are pretty close to the truth on this one. Don't blame the medical staff too much - it's the managers chasing silly government targets that cause the problem. My only concern is that if it goes on for too long then new medical staff will start to think that this way of treating people is the norm rather than a hopefully transient phase in the last days of a discredited government!
Just think of all the targets in hospital. They are almost exclusively about speed and throughput. No more than 4 hrs in A&E, no more than 18 weeks to be seen, the shorter the say in hsopital the better the hospital appears on the stats. No measure of quality or whether the correct thing was done/diagnosis made! Imagine judging a car mechanic in the same way. He gets a high rating by the govt. because he sees cars very quickly and has them out of the garage quickly - no check whether the work was needed, done properly etc. That's what we have in the NHS at present.
"How the NHS gets away with this shambles is beyond me"
How the NHS gets away with it, you dopey prick, is that idiots like you and NIKU spend your time moaning about how Doctors are ruining everything and don't engage with "reform" and are obstructive to managers.
This is a managerial reform and "new way of working" - you asked for it - why does it taste so bitter now you've got it?
Hawkeye Pierce, have you never heard of "Doctors for Reform"? Or perhaps you would rather see NHSwaiting lists expand so that the two-tier system can continue to thrive?
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