Performance of the NHS

[Workingman]

It is being reported that some 4.4 million are on waiting lists for routine operations and that targets are being missed for this, that and the other. These figures are the worst since the new targets were set in 2004. So what is going wrong?

Labour and LibDems say that it is down to a lack of staff and lower funding whilst the Conservatives put it down to huge demand. Sadly they are both right.

Historically annual funding for the NHS has risen by 3.7%, but since 2009 it has only gone up by about 1.5% per year. When it comes to demand the population of the UK has risen from about 59 million in 2004 to about 67 million today - an increase of about 8 million. Now it does not take a genius to work out that those raw figures do not match up ... and they are down to politicians.

The figures are not good but what I find really upsetting is that the media is using them to have a go at the NHS and those working in it.

[victor]

nobody seems to include the great numbers of illegals that are in the country

[medsec222]

We have just had a very good experience of the NHS. My husband was listed and operated on for a total knee replacement in less than 18 weeks. He was an inpatient for four days and was very well looked after on the ward. Food not too bad either. When he got back to the ward from theatre, one of the nurses made him fresh toast and tea. Physiotherapy for the knee so far has been excellent. No complaints with the ambulance service either, picked up and returned home promptly. The district nurses have also been spot on, called to check on patient and then returned ten days later to remove the dressing. Clinic appointment in place for the end of the month. No complaints. Five star service.

[Kaz]

Vic illegals can't access benefits or be registered with a doctor!

There are huge staff shortages in the NHS - the huge amount of money it costs these days to train as a doctor or nurse is utterly ridiculous, and I'm sure it puts many off!

[cromwell]

No Kaz but they can and do use a and e. The NHS is expected to meet unlimited demand with limited resources. It's now an unchallengeable national institution but I do wonder how long it can keep going in its present form.
At one time the NHS was actually free at the point of delivery. Now we have prescription charges, the dentist charges and dementia, which is a genuine medical condition has been shuffled over to something called "social care". And it's far from unknown for dementia suffers to have to sell their houses for care. Not much free about that.
Gradually the NHS is becoming less and less free.

[TheOstrich]

Thinking about hospitals and A&E, I tend to agree with Kaz that the root cause of the problems is fundamentally staff shortages, both numbers and training. Certainly around Birmingham when we were up there, wards were being closed, beds laid up, and it was fundamentally lack of personnel behind it. Whoever wins the election will, I hope, bring back nursing bursaries (it is a Labour "pledge", I think), because we must get more recruitment. I appreciate however that might mean recruiting overseas, which wouldn't be my first choice.

With regard to GPs, I'm quite convinced that there's too great an accent on preventative medicine, health check-ups and the like, which take up too many resources at the surgery, and that's why you can never get an appointment with your doctor when you actually need one!

At one time the NHS was actually free at the point of delivery. Now we have prescription charges, the dentist charges and dementia, which is a genuine medical condition has been shuffled over to something called "social care". And it's far from unknown for dementia suffers to have to sell their houses for care. Not much free about that.

And don't forget the proliferation of private hospitals where you can beat the NHS queue for your knee replacement - at just under £9,000 ...
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