......is that anyone can use it!!!!

I have just had to spend 3 days in hospital, as it turned out it wasn't life threatening, but it was an experience.

Before anyone jumps on my case I will state that I am NOT about to have a dig at the NHS, the hospitals or the staff, they were, without exception, fantastic.

No, I am having a dig at the rude, obnoxious, racist, bigots that are allowed in.
I was admitted on Wednesday night and had to witness patients, who are being cared for by the wonderful nurses, being spoken to as if they were the proverbial on the bottom of their shoes.

Poor manners abounded, not a please or thank you among many of them.
Three of them sat round a bed and played 'Big Brother' on an iPad so loud they could have heard in the neighbouring wards.
One woman was 'outraged' at being surrounded by Asian 'girls' and asked to be moved to a private room. Her husband called the hospital a "dreadful place".
Another asked a nurse to "get that old woman to shut the fuck up cos she's doin' my fuckin' 'ead in". The poor old dear obviously had some kind of senile dementia, she was confused and frightened and was also in a lot of pain and discomfort.

These are just examples of the behaviour I witnessed!

I haven't had to stay in hospital since my last child was born 27 years ago, hopefully I won't again, but I honestly could not believe what our NHS staff have to put up with these days!


Although I am sure many of you have similar stories to share......





Remember that happiness is as contagious as gloom

gotta agree....... and the mobile phones with conversations that we could all have joined in with was ughhhhh..

Staff amazing but understaffed so i fed and showered my mummy.....

Rude patients made me feel embarrassed and I so wanted to say something but sat quietly as feared for my mum when i left at night....

No nurse or doctor should put up with arrogant self centred muppetts!




UNDER 18 MODERATOR

How awful for you Marianne, you must have been worried.
For the most part I kept out of things but I did day something when the heartless bitch complained about the old lady.

The staff are so overworked and family, particularly of elder patients, really do have to take on a lot of the caring, even in hospital.

I would gladly have intervened many times but I wasn't well enough to run if they started on me

I think the thing that angered me the most was the way people treat those who are actually looking after them!

I did have a chat with one of the nurses when they had to free up 4 beds
They told the 4 chosen that the doc insisted they move to another ward for their benefit, when in fact they chose the worst 4 on the ward. It was a bit better after they went.




Remember that happiness is as contagious as gloom

Well firstly, I am glad you didn't have anything life threatening and I hope whatever it is gets sorted out quickly.
Regards the point of your post then I agree, I should imagine most of the people here will agree with you.
Unfortunately Britain is loaded with morons. We are known internationally as thicko's of Europe and you have only got to look out of my shop window to see multitudes of the Neanderthal thinking that we have managed to produce over a period of 50 or 60 years.

There is no sense of pride, decency or achievement. Many aspire to to just live off the state with absolutely no respect for anything or anyone, no consideration for any one at all but they are pandered to far more than a more deserving case.

These idiots are farting about in hospitals with their appalling and belligerent behaviour taking up valuable resources whilst the more mild manner and polite people are being left to literally die in some cases because they aren't making a fuss.

The world is upside down and full of f****ing wankers and they are beginning to take over.

I have said this many times before but things are going from bad to much worse and I think I'll be welcoming my last day, thinking "Thank f**k for that" because this place has fast become a real shithole. Of course there are worst places but not in Europe, Australia or America as far as dickheads are concerned. Infact in that we could be the champions of the world...Maybe they should have that in the Olympics at least we'd be guaranteed a medal then.

quoting post from Circles_of_Confusion:

---

<Snipped>

We are known internationally as thicko's of Europe and you have only got to look out of my shop window to see multitudes of the Neanderthal thinking that we have managed to produce over a period of 50 or 60 years.
</Snipped>

---

You are quite sure that is not the reflection in the window as you look out?

-Nick G

*Insert witty comment here*

quoting post from SarahJaneModel:

---

......is that anyone can use it!!!!

I have just had to spend 3 days in hospital, as it turned out it wasn't life threatening, but it was an experience.

Before anyone jumps on my case I will state that I am NOT about to have a dig at the NHS, the hospitals or the staff, they were, without exception, fantastic.

No, I am having a dig at the rude, obnoxious, racist, bigots that are allowed in.
I was admitted on Wednesday night and had to witness patients, who are being cared for by the wonderful nurses, being spoken to as if they were the proverbial on the bottom of their shoes.

Poor manners abounded, not a please or thank you among many of them.
Three of them sat round a bed and played 'Big Brother' on an iPad so loud they could have heard in the neighbouring wards.
One woman was 'outraged' at being surrounded by Asian 'girls' and asked to be moved to a private room. Her husband called the hospital a "dreadful place".
Another asked a nurse to "get that old woman to shut the fuck up cos she's doin' my fuckin' 'ead in". The poor old dear obviously had some kind of senile dementia, she was confused and frightened and was also in a lot of pain and discomfort.

These are just examples of the behaviour I witnessed!

I haven't had to stay in hospital since my last child was born 27 years ago, hopefully I won't again, but I honestly could not believe what our NHS staff have to put up with these days!


Although I am sure many of you have similar stories to share......





Remember that happiness is as contagious as gloom

---

I have to agree with every word of this, since my accident in 1975 to my last operation in 2003, I have watched the decline in respect for our low paid nurses and support staff, makes my blood boil...!

The illiteracy of the future will be ignorance not of reading or writing, but of photography.

Of course, like all other public sectors, the staff are wonderful, loyal and extremely hard working. They work with dedication and a love of the job, not for the money. The Unions will tell you how they suffer but remain loyal out of duty.

My frigging arse! They have conditioned each other into thinking they are better than anyone else and over time, they have put themselves above the duties they used to carry out. Every time I have been to hospital, and it has been a few times for one thing or another, I see nurses and other staff walking around doing so little, it beggars belief.

Casualty is a laugh at times, first you see a receptionist, then a quick assessment by a nurse (after two hours), then the triage nurse who then passes the buck as she or he can't "actually" assess you properly. You then wait another couple of hours to see a doctor who tells you "that needs an x-ray", or "that needs stitching". Why they don't have the first doctor as the first person you see after reception is beyond me. Every time I have been, for me, a friend or a relative, a nurse sees a patient, then disappears for fifteen minutes with a bit of paper, only to return having been in an empty room to see another patient. Then you wait for the doctor, sometimes a long wait, then get sent to whoever it is that is going to patch you up, after another long wait. Having said that, my last visit was very good, I timed it perfectly, got there at 7.30 am and went through the booking in process just in time to be first in the queue, so was out by 10.30.

On the wards, it is similar, two or more nurses at a desk, starting aimlessly at a screen or notes, chatting away for ages, while you hear the woman at the end has been lying in her own shit for an hour. That might be because the auxiliary nurse is too busy on her own and the other two are too highly paid and qualified to clean it up. When my own mother contracted C' Diff, I was visiting and they wheeled in a commode for her; it has shit on it from someone who had used it before. My mother was on a very low fat diet in hospital, yet they gave her a pot of clotted cream- ice-cream, assumingly as the nurse couldn't be bothered to check.

The management is dire, the use of (wo)manpower is shocking, but no one can do anything about it. Send the time and motion man in would cause absolute uproar, although that is exactly what is needed, just as it is at every council and other public service.

However, once one to one attention is finally achieved, they are charming, just like most people in life, they do a wonderful job too.

The stories I have heard over the years are enough to scare you to death, not good when they are there to try and prevent that.

As with anywhere, you get the dregs of society visiting as well.

How long did you wait for the examination you were told you needed, Sarah? From Wednesday evening until Friday morning, wasn't it? You starved all that time, not because it was necessary, that only had to be overnight.

In Holland ambulance workers need to be protected by the police sometimes. For example there's a party somewhere, people get drunk, one falls and breaks a leg and needs to be taken to hospital, then his relatives will get angry at the ambulance staff for whatever vague reason and physically attack them. Nobody has a clue of what's wrong with these people, seems they are just bored and agressive and use any excuse to assault random people. Staff in hospital often gets assaulted as well, last year an injured punk was thrown out of hospital because he and his relatives kept assaulting the doctors. He walked around with a broken arm for a day, after that he calmed down, went back to the hospital and he got treated. Stupid morons.

Here in France it's totally different, lot of respect for police and doctors etc and people behave themselves in hospitals as well. Especially kids are very well mannered here compared to the rest of Europe.

quoting post from mattharper:

---

Of course, like all other public sectors, the staff are wonderful, loyal and extremely hard working. They work with dedication and a love of the job, not for the money. The Unions will tell you how they suffer but remain loyal out of duty.

My frigging arse! They have conditioned each other into thinking they are better than anyone else and over time, they have put themselves above the duties they used to carry out. Every time I have been to hospital, and it has been a few times for one thing or another, I see nurses and other staff walking around doing so little, it beggars belief.

Casualty is a laugh at times, first you see a receptionist, then a quick assessment by a nurse (after two hours), then the triage nurse who then passes the buck as she or he can't "actually" assess you properly. You then wait another couple of hours to see a doctor who tells you "that needs an x-ray", or "that needs stitching". Why they don't have the first doctor as the first person you see after reception is beyond me. Every time I have been, for me, a friend or a relative, a nurse sees a patient, then disappears for fifteen minutes with a bit of paper, only to return having been in an empty room to see another patient. Then you wait for the doctor, sometimes a long wait, then get sent to whoever it is that is going to patch you up, after another long wait. Having said that, my last visit was very good, I timed it perfectly, got there at 7.30 am and went through the booking in process just in time to be first in the queue, so was out by 10.30.

On the wards, it is similar, two or more nurses at a desk, starting aimlessly at a screen or notes, chatting away for ages, while you hear the woman at the end has been lying in her own shit for an hour. That might be because the auxiliary nurse is too busy on her own and the other two are too highly paid and qualified to clean it up. When my own mother contracted C' Diff, I was visiting and they wheeled in a commode for her; it has shit on it from someone who had used it before. My mother was on a very low fat diet in hospital, yet they gave her a pot of clotted cream- ice-cream, assumingly as the nurse couldn't be bothered to check.

The management is dire, the use of (wo)manpower is shocking, but no one can do anything about it. Send the time and motion man in would cause absolute uproar, although that is exactly what is needed, just as it is at every council and other public service.

However, once one to one attention is finally achieved, they are charming, just like most people in life, they do a wonderful job too.

The stories I have heard over the years are enough to scare you to death, not good when they are there to try and prevent that.

As with anywhere, you get the dregs of society visiting as well.

How long did you wait for the examination you were told you needed, Sarah? From Wednesday evening until Friday morning, wasn't it? You starved all that time, not because it was necessary, that only had to be overnight.

---

Not all NHS workers are how you portray them, they are understaffed and are put under pressure to get everything done as quickly as posible with minimal staffing possible.

I suggest you work a few shifts on a busy ward / busy a&e and see how you cope with the constant pressures the staff face

vicky

edit:
Glad it was nothing serious sarah

quoting post from mattharper:

---

Of course, like all other public sectors, the staff are wonderful, loyal and extremely hard working. They work with dedication and a love of the job, not for the money. The Unions will tell you how they suffer but remain loyal out of duty.

My frigging arse! They have conditioned each other into thinking they are better than anyone else and over time, they have put themselves above the duties they used to carry out. Every time I have been to hospital, and it has been a few times for one thing or another, I see nurses and other staff walking around doing so little, it beggars belief.

Casualty is a laugh at times, first you see a receptionist, then a quick assessment by a nurse (after two hours), then the triage nurse who then passes the buck as she or he can't "actually" assess you properly. You then wait another couple of hours to see a doctor who tells you "that needs an x-ray", or "that needs stitching". Why they don't have the first doctor as the first person you see after reception is beyond me. Every time I have been, for me, a friend or a relative, a nurse sees a patient, then disappears for fifteen minutes with a bit of paper, only to return having been in an empty room to see another patient. Then you wait for the doctor, sometimes a long wait, then get sent to whoever it is that is going to patch you up, after another long wait. Having said that, my last visit was very good, I timed it perfectly, got there at 7.30 am and went through the booking in process just in time to be first in the queue, so was out by 10.30.

On the wards, it is similar, two or more nurses at a desk, starting aimlessly at a screen or notes, chatting away for ages, while you hear the woman at the end has been lying in her own shit for an hour. That might be because the auxiliary nurse is too busy on her own and the other two are too highly paid and qualified to clean it up. When my own mother contracted C' Diff, I was visiting and they wheeled in a commode for her; it has shit on it from someone who had used it before. My mother was on a very low fat diet in hospital, yet they gave her a pot of clotted cream- ice-cream, assumingly as the nurse couldn't be bothered to check.

The management is dire, the use of (wo)manpower is shocking, but no one can do anything about it. Send the time and motion man in would cause absolute uproar, although that is exactly what is needed, just as it is at every council and other public service.

However, once one to one attention is finally achieved, they are charming, just like most people in life, they do a wonderful job too.

The stories I have heard over the years are enough to scare you to death, not good when they are there to try and prevent that.

As with anywhere, you get the dregs of society visiting as well.

How long did you wait for the examination you were told you needed, Sarah? From Wednesday evening until Friday morning, wasn't it? You starved all that time, not because it was necessary, that only had to be overnight.

---

Finally got to read this properly

Ok Matt, some of this I agree with. I was seen almost immediately by a receptionist, details taken, notes written and sent to triage.
Seen by a nurse on triage and then waited for the Doctor.

Some of my memory is blurred as I was in a hell of a lot of pain and had a fever.

Once the Doctor arrived I was put on a bed, given morphine and antibiotics and then waited for x-ray.

After x-ray I was told I was being admitted and was transferred, by ambulance, to a surgical ward in a different hospital, Gaz followed in the car.

All this took approx 5 hours.

I have no issue with this, Leicester Royal Infirmary has a very busy A+E and there were far more needy patients than I.

I was then nil by mouth until the following day, can't remember at what point I was told I could have a drink, but no food that day as I needed a scan.
However, I then had to wait right through until 10.00pm when I was told no scan today and I could have something to eat. There was no food available, I had no money for the machine containing stale sandwiches and pies as Gaz had needed all my money for the car park. I admit I was rather short tempered by this point and did snap at one of the nurses. Fortunately they knew I was just somewhat hungry. I was given 2 slices of cold toast made with stale bread! Not a piece of fruit in sight....this was what really bugged me!


By the time I had my scan at 11.00 Friday morning all I had eaten since Tuesday night was the toast. So no, there was no need for me to wait that long to eat.

However, my biggest bugbear throughout my stay was not the staff, or the waiting, or even the fact I was starving (not literally), it was, as in my original posting, the morons the staff had to deal with.
The downright rudeness and ill manners of the people the staff were doing their best to help!

Our NHS may not be the best healthcare in the world, but it is damn good and they are massively overstretched and under staffed.
I didn't witness nurses standing around chatting, I saw people trying to do their job, rushed off their feet and being abused by way of thanks.

It actually really pisses me off that the NHS is so maligned by everyone, where else would/could I have gone when I desperately needed help?

It has it's faults, yes, I agree, but on the other hand every person in this country has access to healthcare, sometimes more's the pity, but it is there and it picks us up and treats us for all our ailments!
I dread the day this country decides there will no longer be an NHS and everyone has to have health insurance.


****************************
The funniest thing that happened though was when the Radiographer said: "Sarah, you have the most wonderful body for scanning. You're so slim and your rib cage is lovely and broad we can see everything nice and clearly"
Photograph well on the inside too then

*************************


Remember that happiness is as contagious as gloom

quoting post from RieniO:

---

In Holland ambulance workers need to be protected by the police sometimes. For example there's a party somewhere, people get drunk, one falls and breaks a leg and needs to be taken to hospital, then his relatives will get angry at the ambulance staff for whatever vague reason and physically attack them. Nobody has a clue of what's wrong with these people, seems they are just bored and agressive and use any excuse to assault random people. Staff in hospital often gets assaulted as well, last year an injured punk was thrown out of hospital because he and his relatives kept assaulting the doctors. He walked around with a broken arm for a day, after that he calmed down, went back to the hospital and he got treated. Stupid morons.

Here in France it's totally different, lot of respect for police and doctors etc and people behave themselves in hospitals as well. Especially kids are very well mannered here compared to the rest of Europe.

---

Just seen this Reino, made me chuckle!

I'm never surprised by the way the French kids behave themselves, the Gendarme scare me



Remember that happiness is as contagious as gloom

Well im glad you had decent staff. My experience is pretty much the opposite.
I've had to deal with taking my mother and father to hospital about 10 times in last 3 years. The level of care and compassion given by the staff at the hospital varies from excellent to so appalling you want to hit them. The staff in the intensive care units appear to be wonderful while general wards have muppets in them. Our local hospital, which is supposed to have been given some commendation for its treatment of elderly, is pretty crap. My wife and i had to wait 11hrs one day from her (my then 83yr old mother) being brought in on a 999 call to being admitted. During that time there was a wait of 5hrs to see a dr as they all thought someone had already spoken to us! She's in hospital again just now and yesterday we go in and ask the staff why my mother is in condition she is in (diahorea) she has a colostomy bag and it had been changed to a different type to deal with this problem. It's usually not a good sign. The answer came back that they do not know why they changed to that bag or that she had diahorea and that there is nothing in her notes but they'll monitor things......we've walked in and found her lying in urine soaked sheets and when we've complained they've put her beside bed, removed sheets then left her there for 6hrs until we come back for second visiting to ask where the bed sheets are as she's freezing. We've taken her in and explained she has extreme alzeihmers and can't answer any questions rationally only for the doctors and nurses to then ignore us completely, ask her questions, believe the answers(which are all wrong) and then tell us that her alzeihmers isn't that bad! During these three years in hospitals in glasgow and guildford i can't say i've seen any bad behaviour by the public, only by staff. So i guess it's pretty hit and miss what you see and hear in these places.

Could have been worse, Sarah, much worse, but could have been better.

I am not anti-NHS, far from it, what I am against, is the way it is run, from the top, right down to lower management. The management is the issue, too many administrators/so called managers, one pulling this way, another the other way.

As I said, when it has come to the treatment from individuals, I have always found it excellent,; well, one or two exceptions, one ongoing.

Anyway, the main thing is your ability to consume copious amounts of alcohol, which will be seriously tested in a couple of weeks

The LRI is amazing, they really have pulled their fingers out over the past couple of years. So it's no surprising you got seen to really quickly.

There is one problem with it though, the nurses in charge of the death certficates. As their office is split between Glenfield and LRI, If you die wednesday 4pm in the LRI, you wont get a certificate till the following monday.

Anyway, I know how stretched and under pressure staff are, my aunt used to be a Matron (ooo matron!) and the tales she told me beggars belief.
Though I have been in a few different hospitals and seen how different staff act, react etc.

Back in 1999, I fell off my bike, (went up a ramp and landed awkardly) I was taken to LRI A&E at about 3pm, it wasn't busy at all and I wasn't seen until 5pm. Which is odd when there was quite a sizable group of apprentice nurses/drs and fully trained staff leaning against a wall chatting away. All I needed were stitches under my nose.

My mum is disabled, got arthritis in her knee, has had to have the fat pad removed etc etc...she's only 45...but she's been in and out of the LRI so many times that I've got to watch the transformation of the hospital and with it being the main hospital in Leicester, it needed to pull it's fingers out. The staff are now much more friendly, the atmosphere is much better...but you do still get the drunken louts on a fri-sat night, but then you do with any hospital.

But then very recently I had to visit Bordesley Heartlands Hospital. So very very different in many aspects.
*It was for my bf's Nan, she had very stupidly ignored my offers of help to put her shoes on, went to get up and fell over on to our laminate floor. We called for an ambulance and even though the staff were friendly, they hadn't put the canular (??) in her hand properly so she wasn't recieving her pain relief properly.
*Problem 2 came about when we got to A&E, she was put into a room and stayed there for 5hrs, she was seen by 3 different nurses-1 was there just to get her comfy, 1 stunk to high heaven of alcohol, and number 3 was so patronizing and a stuck up cow that me, my BF and his mum had to really pull the reigns to stop us hitting her.
(There was a tourettes sufferer across the way from us, and when she visited him he said 'BITCH' quite loudly, to which her reply was 'DONT YOU SWEAR AT ME!' he suffered from tourettes, what else do you expect!?)

*Problem 3; All three nurses plus a Dr completely ignored us and what we were telling them about what had happened. They all kept saying she had suffered a stroke, that's why she fell. Even though I watched what happened and knew it wasn't a stroke-they were medical staff so clearly knew what the problem was
*Problem 4; Bf's nan even though on a ward was only ever seen by 1 friendly, caring nurse who was on the ball. Complications arose with her breathing so she was moved to another ward, where she was pretty much ignored until it was too late. She was very dehydrated and wasting away.....she eventually passed away.

My Bf, being a tree surgeon, has witnessed it be written down on his contract that anything bad happens, he is never going to that hospital.
Shortly after his nan passed away we found out that Heartlands has been named one of the worst hospitals to visit. Yeah, we can see why.

I know the NHS staff are stretched and some of the staff are outstanding, but 2 hospitals, in 2 Midland cities and they are very different from each other. One learnt quickly the other however seems to be going down the drain.

As much as it pains me to say this..... I read somewhere that many social commentators use your average A&E waiting room as an example of a countries and or the local area society at large.......worrying!

quoting post from rootofsilence:

---

They could take their time, doubt I'd be needing it?

---

ha! oh dear.
You know what I meant.

quoting post from SarahJaneModel:

---

Just seen this Reino, made me chuckle!

I'm never surprised by the way the French kids behave themselves, the Gendarme scare me

---

lol yeah especially in the small villages nobody wants to mess around with the gendarme but I don't think that's why French kids behave themselves. I think it's merely due to the villages being small and therefor providing with more social control.