Does the NHS work?

Or the equivalent in whatever flavour of the world you come from.

Do you think that the 'health and care' has been replaced in the medical system by costs and targets?

Have any of you ever come across a time or envisaged a time when the NHS, or equivalent won't treat/can't you?

Have you had a bad or good experience of the NHS or equivalent?

How would you feel or what would you do if you were told, go away that is it now. Given no information about your condition and everywhere you turned the cluelessness followed?


I am biased and jaded terribly towards the NHS and medical fraternity at present. Too many times now I have had the words issued, I don't do other peoples mistakes or you are beyond medical care end of subject. today my GP mentioned the lovely cost and strike off register, so I know now my time is limited to their services. Then that is me done. Up creek without a raft or a paddle to call for help. A heavy price to pay for the treatment I got under the NHS.


In simple terms I have a twisted bowel by that at the last count their were 11 twists, top half affected, above belly button. Lower end flat and asleep. In real terms, I have a severely twisted bowel, wrapped up with adhesions, an abdominal wall cut to shreds and ovary stuck to the bowel l producing monster sized cysts. I'm hemorrhaging internally, via cysts, my pelvic area is full of liquid from the poison these cysts push out. I have back problems, nerve problems, fluid retention, hot flushes , vomiting, feeling stuffed, indigestion, and am in constant pain. Pain,incidentally that ranges from the pleasant tingling nettle type to the deep I've been stabbed and hung out on a sword. My left side is worst that is front and back. I could easily fill the whole forum with the entire list of what I go through on a daily basis. No surprise I'm stressed too. I never know why that is. I also posses a sarky sense of humour that is so black a black hole looks positively pink.

After my last, failed major operation, by that I mean what was said would be done was not again, they went for the drain it and it won;t come back approach again. By that I mean they drain the cysts and then go all defensive when I say 4 hours later they are back again; it was found I had a triple twisted bowel and told by Gynae I was going back to my bowel surgeon for him to explain and sort out. I never got seen again. The bowel surgeon dropped me and refused to see me ever again. So here I am in limbo with a condition, that I know is killing me with no clue how or what to deal with it. I ended up 9 days after this operation being rushed in when he bowel went on to twist up further. 3 weeks later I walked out after being dumped on every ward going with a mild tummy ache and getting no treatment whatsoever. Not totally true I was on a drip on occasion when I puked over anybodies shoes. Seemed to be the only way to gain the help needed. At one pint I called in my GP to sort it out after I hadn't seen any DR's on the ward for 3 days and was told I was faking and was going home by one nurse who rally had it in for me. I was on a drip at this point still. A tlest my GP kicked ass that day, did me no good, I got on ward closer to where I should have been, which in the end I walked out of, after having another argument with a DR who couldn't be bothered to read my notes.

I tell you hospital notes are not worth a jot. I went to see a gastoentrolgist and he sat there and told me it would take him a week to read my old notes, he didn't have the new ones showing my operations and x-rays. He also proceeded to tell me I had no operations until I pulled up my top revealing an 12 inch long scar, and staying was it this a parking meter. I tell you I get so angry when these things occur.

My poor dietitian is clueless but at least she is trying to find a solution so I can at least keep food down. My GP did refer but all we got was telling off form long/short letters and a lecture on losing weight which in my condition is not feasible.

For example and I'll use litres as it is simpler to see what I mean.
Starting weight = 10 litres. 1 litre of fluids goes in plus 1 litre of food goes in.
1 half litres of fluids come out. half a litre stays in
Day 2 same, day 3 4 5 6 7.

So in all 14 litres are consumed in one week
Extracted - 7 litres.
Left in 7 litres. Week 2 3 and 4 same
total consumption = 28 litres not extracted.
Week 4 = 2 litres of food comes out.
Total - 26 litres
Total weight now = 36 litres.

Cut down on eating, same problem persists. My weight goes up as no solids come out. Something it has struck me such imbecile called Dr's fail to comprehend. I'm lucky if a number 2 appear 1 every 4 weeks. When it does my weight drops. I wonder why that is. Hence jaded attitude to NHS system.

What I need is simple in words, a total bowel replacement, or a bypass leaving me with a short bowel and the ovary and cyst removed. Life would be more manageable and may have longevity to it. Neither of the surgeries are unheard of. They do occur, it is finding who or where that is the impossible target. Flip side is I need a very highly skilled surgeon both with the skills and the caring attitude to sort me out.. That is the crux of the issue, where are they.

Thanks for sharing that GG, it must have been difficult to write on an open forum?

A lot of what you have said rings alarm bells in myself but I am too stubborn or stupid (whichever the case maybe) to go to my doctors. I'll chat with you via PM the finer details......

It certainly sounds like you have had/are still having a really bad time of it, both in health and experiences? Can you not change GP? It sounds like yours is not pushing hard enough for you to be fixed. I'm sure if Aki was around he would have some better advice to give.


I don't have much experience so far with NHS matters apart from when Gaz was admitted for his double heart attacks at the age of 37.

It started off badly, he sat around in A&E for 2 hours waiting to be seen because the triage nurse diagnosed him with cracked ribs, when a doctor finally sussed he was having a heart attack, they couldn't have been any better!

The medical care was outstanding and the staff were lovely during the 5 days he was in hospital. He won't mind me saying that he had to have a stent fitted.

6 months later he had to go see his consultant. That is the only hospital aftercare he has had, he is supposed to see his own GP every 6 months but they never actually call for him, just dish out the medication over and over, every 18months or so maybe, the practice nurse will write to him asking him to come in for a cholesterol check. He thinks they are good, we agree to disagree.

I'm not sure where things are going so wrong in the NHS, is it cost cutting, is it poor staffing levels? I'm not old enough to remember what the NHS used to be like so I can't properly compare.

At the time of Gaz's heart attacks I was just so glad we have one of the best university hospitals in the country and that it was free.

I'm not sure how it would work to be like the USA and have to pay health insurance or worry about not getting treated if we didn't have it?

In your case GG, I can see why you are so frustrated when the services are there but you just aren't getting them.

Im so sorry to hear that you are in all this pain GG, I havent really been in hospitall that much but. when I was in with my finger slit open I was left sitting for 30 minutes untill the doctor comes out and sees me and rushes me in this was me getting rushed to hospitall as well with the ambulance they coverd it up and said I would be ok in the sitting room. but I was far from ok could have lost the finger but they manged to sort it out I dident need to get knocked out for them to fix it so they done all the cleaning etc and patched me up. so off I go then as I go to leave the hospitall bang it bursts wide open blood every were I run back in and go mmm its not fixed so the docs about 3 different ones. come and look and go lets try and patch it up one more time if not he needs to get operated on. but in the end it got fixed but every week I needed to go back up to the hospitall and get it cleaned and redressed that was very sore.

as it comes to phoning docs up for an appoitments for say a sore finger I get told on the phone u must have staved it but indeed I think I have fractured so I havent bothered phoning the doc about it will just let it heal its self.

the NHS can be fecking terribille at times I do feel it for u GG

To be honest I'm that peed off it was an anger outburst where my fingers and brain got the better of my common sense. I find it often takes people like me to open the can of worms, and let others come out.
No Gaz, not come out of the closet, I know your sense of humour.

I don't see why others should go through hell like me when I can at least alert to possible problems. sometimes, even I can learn things from those who have similiar experinces. So I share what I know to help others avoid the angst I am going through. University rating don't mean a jot really. Mine is also a university hospital and my last consultant doesn't even do laproscopic surgery. I had that over 10 years ago, 4 times. That says it all.I have university hospital but until you have been treated elsewhere that is when your eyes are truly opened. I was originally treated down souf, then came oop norf a bit. The difference in treatment is huge. Talk about north south divide I naively didn't realize it ran through to hospitals too.

Things I had as part of the course 10 years + ago down south were only just being rolled out where I am now. That is shocking. Worse when you tell a consultant or nursing staff they've got their Morphine rates worked out wrong and you are all Over dosing through the patient control unit.

I had the same over 10 years and it was the rates were wrong so I recognized it immediately. Talk about rudeness I experienced over that, when the anesthetist finally saw me about it. He checked and I found out I was right. One word of thanks would have been nice. Depste me having major surgery I was nursing the others on the ward. One dear old gal was diabetic and is was over 10 hours before they changed her empty bag over. That was despite us all reminding them at every opportune moment and included the visitors.

Last ward I was on, a woman was sick, the nurse all she cared about was getting our breakfasts out and not cleaning the mess up. It was everywhere and she wouldn't even give her a bowl to vomit in. Then kept making sniding comments at us all until I blew my top and got my GP involved to get me off the ward before I smacked her into next century. Everybody got moved off, when they all followed my example. Me trouble, yep when pushed like that I am.

I should have known when the pre-op talk started on about it and I said I know all about it, I had it before. The nurse got right indignant about it saying it was just being rolled out so was new. I merely smiled and said it is not new it is over 10 years old at least as I was on it that time ago down South and if she would like me to call that hospital concerned to verify this here and now I would.

Never pays to pee me off like that. Says so on my notes too. LOL

I love the NHS, saved me life....and saved me first daughters life too as she'd flatlined before birth...

Staff were all fantastic both times, and apart from a shite Triage nurse i have nothing but praise for them..

Also consider these nursey folk that are up at silly hours to save folk are paid roughly the same as folk who drive taxis and make cakes in Bakery's...

The surgeons get far far less than Sportsmen, Lawyers, Bankers or Board members of Companies etc etc....

Yet we expect far far more of them all........

Seems arse over tit to me............

Iv gota say i dont think its working as good as it was my wife has just had an ectopic pregnancy for the second time.she was rushed in by the paramedics witch were fantastic. but once in hospital she was given all the checks and scans then rushed in to surgery..dont want to go into it any more.. after that things went bad there was no after care what so ever i had to ask all the time what was goin on but there was never a doctor around to give us any info..then they sed she could go home. we were very confused as lisa was only in hospital for two days and no after care apart from a district nurse witch was useless

thats all iv gota say

Sorry to hear that Rick, hope you and Lisa are coping ok?

That sounds pretty shitty, the least they should do is give you some advice on aftercare or follow ups?

I suppose you have to be on the receiving end of bad care to notice it, we've been lucky.

can i ask what you lot do for work?

Before i give my two penneth....

Its irrelevant what folk do mate, just give your 2 penneth anyway, its a democracy.....to a point..

Go for it mate.......

pushmepullu wrote:

I love the NHS, saved me life....and saved me first daughters life too as she'd flatlined before birth...

Staff were all fantastic both times, and apart from a shite Triage nurse i have nothing but praise for them..

Also consider these nursey folk that are up at silly hours to save folk are paid roughly the same as folk who drive taxis and make cakes in Bakery's...

The surgeons get far far less than Sportsmen, Lawyers, Bankers or Board members of Companies etc etc....

Yet we expect far far more of them all........

Seems arse over tit to me............

Surgeons get paid pretty well. Shame they lose their humanity and just see golf course and targets.

As for nursey folks up all hours. Tell me about it, I had to wait until nursey had finished being upped by the Dr, to have my wound redressed when it burst open. I heard everything she was getting upto. She was only outside the window. I knew exactly who it was and did not hold back, saying I hoped she used a condom and washed down the area she just came, energetically all over.

Her face a picture, the laughter on the ward, priceless. I wasn't the only one who heard her rather amorous adventure. We did debate whether to give them both around of applause and a score for the antics.

Any medical person now telling me the nurse will be back as she has gone outside for a quick cig break, I tend not to believe it is a cig break going on.



Like you said, it can work, it does depend on your condition. Sadly your heart is one of those sexy areas the NHS love. Bowels are a major organ and must not be discussed, either in the open or behind very closed soundproof doors.

Strange, it didnt feel very sexy when they were telling me i didnt have time to sign a consent form because of the seriousness of the situation, or giving me the choices to take a new clotbuster that could either work, not work, or kill me by internal bleeding, or on the saddle shaped operating table having to be awake so i could tell them of any further pain whilst they were going up through my arteries with me watching it on a screen ( having never ever even been to hospital with a broken bone before, chose to let em heal naturally )

None of the above felt sexy whatsoever......

Rick78 wrote:

Iv gota say i dont think its working as good as it was my wife has just had an ectopic pregnancy for the second time.she was rushed in by the paramedics witch were fantastic. but once in hospital she was given all the checks and scans then rushed in to surgery..dont want to go into it any more.. after that things went bad there was no after care what so ever i had to ask all the time what was goin on but there was never a doctor around to give us any info..then they sed she could go home. we were very confused as lisa was only in hospital for two days and no after care apart from a district nurse witch was useless

thats all iv gota say

You do know you can put in a complaint aobut the lack of treatment and aftercare Lisa received? Your hosptial should have a complaints form or you can do it online. Most hosptials have it.

I am shocked that such a condition was treated so badly. Do you know about it all now? Your GP should be able to fill you in. If not google it. This condition is onthe net and should help you both understand.

I know a bit but not very much. I was in hosptial with somebody who had the same. She was in for at least 6 day having had one fallopian tube removed. She was told she had something called PID, pelvic inflammatory disease. Which explained the etopic pregnancy. She was also given councelling for the loss. Ok, it was on the ward and well the curtains aren't soundproof.

Ask you GP, if they haven't got the information from the hosptial, get the GP to ask for it.

harrythedog wrote:

can i ask what you lot do for work?

Before i give my two penneth....

I'm a witch, with own broom.

In answer I can't work. I am unemployable as I keep ending up back in hospital so they can rehydrate me again. I lost several jobs to my condition. Each time I have won a tribunal case but still I lose jobs as I don't know from one minute to the next if I'm going to be able to do any work or being rolling around on the floor screaming and vomiting. That and taking numerous pills which either KO or send the world into a death spin. Pretty much unemployable.

Now if I could just learn to levitate I might make some money from being a freak show. Yes, a sense of humour is a necessary to get through the day.

If you are asking about jobs, as a can you go private. My knee operation, via BUPA, cost over £100.000 alone. £275 was the charge to see the consultant each time alone. Paid for by the idiot, insurers, who decided to kill herself that day. My surgeries so far would have totaled over a million. I can't go private and include my current medical condition. I cost too much. Cheaper to make me bionic.

pushmepullu wrote:

Strange, it didnt feel very sexy when they were telling me i didnt have time to sign a consent form because of the seriousness of the situation, or giving me the choices to take a new clotbuster that could either work, not work, or kill me by internal bleeding, or on the saddle shaped operating table having to be awake so i could tell them of any further pain whilst they were going up through my arteries with me watching it on a screen ( having never ever even been to hospital with a broken bone before, chose to let em heal naturally )

None of the above felt sexy whatsoever......

I know it didn't feel sexy, I 've seen a heart op. Pretty cool to watch but not to suffer. At your age too, you just don't think that these things would happen.

I had a live abdominal aspiraiton unmedicated. That is with my bowel thrashing around while they stuck the needle in. It thrashed I understood why it di I wanted to thrash and tear the Surgeons head off while he did it. So I know that end of things very well and wish I didn't.

In medical terms, the sexy organs are heart, liver, hips plastic surgery etc. None of which are sexy but are what they term as glamourous. Bowels are not, even though it is a major organ and not many people understand it does a helluva lot. No wonder the damn thing is lazy given its wrongful status.

I fully understand your going through grief Gris but i totally disagree with you...

Your ailment aint worse than my ailment or anyone elses ailment just because you feel your treatment has been fucked up...

We're all in the same boat, just different cabins......

pushmepullu wrote:

I fully understand your going through grief Gris but i totally disagree with you...

Your ailment aint worse than my ailment or anyone elses ailment just because you feel your treatment has been fucked up...

We're all in the same boat, just different cabins......

I never said mine was worse than anybody elses ailment.

Only hi-lighted the negative side to the NHS and the conditions that are left to fend for themselves. Mine being one, a total bowel replacement and that is all of it, not the colon as some seem to think the bowel is. I'm talking about the entire bowel, from the bottom of stomach Right to the evacuation end.

I'm not alone, I know of others in my cabin, so to speak. I am seeing far more come out into the open and look for something to help them. Be it meds not working or hospitals that might be applicable. Somebody not to far away being one of them.

But why am I the villain here. I chose to be open about what happened to me. Then somebody comes along and throws it back in your face. How dare I. Well I do dare. I've got the experience I wish I didn't have.I've been struck off GP's because I cost too much. Refused by surgeons because I am so medically ruined. I've been resuscitated more times than I care to remember. Ive pissed pure blood, had my major organs go into failure, Suffered heart damage and memory damage. Had the great long scar burst open and had my guts literally fall out. Live constantly in so much pain that you end up in tears. Sleep what is that, I spend more times trying to get comfortable whichis preety hard when at best your entire leftside is agony. Worse the right decides to join in and twist you up. And that makes me the villain. Well seeing that, then I am the villain



You were lucky and I'm glad and hope it never happens again to you or anybody you know. You recovered. I haven't and I'm not alone in the dumped bin.


If this bothers you that much, then please remove the topic.

No, dont bother me at all........and neither will it be removed...

Lifes about experiences and opinions, you have yours, i have mine, just because mine are the polar opposite of yours doesn't make them right or wrong, ...

Its called the discussion thread, and as far as i'm aware, thats what we're doing.

When the hell did i make you or anyone else the villain..?

I sincerely hope its not a case of putting another opinion forward that opposes yours, because we live in a democracy and apparently we can all express opposing views without recrimination...

You had a shit time under the NHS, i didnt, surely thats just life..( and i for one am glad and forever will be, for the one they gave me )

I think that even having a NHS is fantastic, and can't think of a bad experience that I have had with it. In fact, I praise [well not God, but ...];
I'm just thankful that I'm lucky enough to have access to health care.

However, it is undeniable that there are faults and failings in our NHS that need to be dealt with.

For one, it makes me feel physically sick that so many people are
denied potential treatment because of the cost ... N.I.C.E ? Not very...

Agreed, the USA are currently trying to pass legislation to grant more people health care access, I wouldn't know what it would be like to not have it?

Having a system of any variety will obviously be praised and scrutinised, no system is fallible....I have been lucky in my experiences with the NHS, GG on the other hand as had the most terrible time, I had someone say to me the other day about racism "you are not racist because you haven't experienced it, you will be when you do" I suppose this could be conveyed to any topic.......

Thanks to everyone here for sharing their experiences be they good or bad and as Gaz says, it's a debating thread, subjects are meant to be debated, not all subjects are fluffy ones, some get gritty but ALL points of view are relative to the discussion.

Quote :

you are not racist because you haven't experienced it, you will be when you do

I'm sorry, that statement seems absolutely ridiculous to me, but maybe I'm just misunderstanding...?

The tendency to 'tar with the same brush', especially when it's so clearly contrary to fact, is as unhealthy as it is misguided.

Well it would be ridiculous, it was made by BNP supporting racists, so it was never going to make too much sense ...


Anyway, different subject, so lets try stick to the NHS problems or otherwise plz, its making for a very interesting discussion i think....

And Gris, apologies if i come across as harsh on this subject, i feel as strongly as you do about it and i'd never want you take it personally duck..

Although the overall message of MT's post is that experiences sculpt
our opinions (perfectly true), even in this context my reply to that statement is valid.

Simply put - to give such an absolute answer as yes or no would be dismissive of the whole; at best we could talk in terms of majorities.

We must acknowledge each others experiences, agree that there is good
and bad, highlight any shortcomings and (hypothetically of course) fix them.

So how can we acquire the funding for those deemed too expensive to treat?
Increase NIC's? cut-backs in employment? What?

Ah, I never said that I agreed with what I quoted but yes our experiences can shape our beliefs of course.

I would be very interested in hearing Wolfbain's views on this as he has valid experience too?

Quote :

So how can we acquire the funding for those deemed too expensive to treat?
Increase NIC's? cut-backs in employment? What?

Number one question matey!......one that's been asked for several years now, there doesn't appear to be a magic answer.

Yuk gerroff me you oaf. No offense taken or meant so no apologizes needed. I'd tell you then and there if anybody had peed me off.


Like some say, some have good and some have bad expenses. When my mum was in her final stage, I could not fault the ward she was on. The Doctor at the end burst into tears. Took the wind right out of me that did.

Before that ward, I could raise some issues on care and treatment she had. Particular some house doctors who thought they could use giant needles to take blood and from the arm that wasn't to be used for such things. Again the problem with not reading medical files.

On whole sometimes it does work and sometimes not. When it doesn't it is when you realize how much craps surrounds the NHS and no amount of shoveling does that pile get any smaller.

I've just been told I need a complete bowel system replacement. With good luck added on finding anybody within the UK to do it and.... finding a suitable donor.



As another said how do you fund those who are not cost effective. When I was on one ward, because complained about a house register trying to take blood and nicking my nerve, which still canes now, while trying to get blood out of an arm that was that black and blue even Hematology unit said do not use that are. They wrote it in big red letters on my bed file. I was seems by a managers, managers manager. Work that one out.

So how do you fund or find the extra costs, cut out many of the managers. You certainly don't need a managers, managers manager. The old system worked.

Matron, sister and nurses on wards, they ensured things ran smoothly. Matron was not to be messed with.

Try asking to see a sister and she is either up to her eyeballs in paperwork, not in the hospital or over another's, or worse has no clue who you are or why you are there. That goes for change over staff too. Many fail to sign over patients to the next shift correctly. Hence one occasion an elderly lady who was bleeding out due to burst vein in her leg was discharged when she wasn't supposed to be as was a girl scheduled for an operation later that afternoon.

One nurse put it clearly, there are those who care and those who should have the uniform removed and the desk pushers who have no idea that patients don't conform to neat lines and rules on a ledger.

I'm in total agreement, bring back the Matron on the ward and be done with all these bloody pens pushers!