Todays's example of NHS waste !

[macabethiel]

Today two letters arrived from Derby Royal Hospital telling me my appointment date for a Cardiology booking.

The envelopes contained identical two page letters, one with appointment details the other was a questionnaire to be completed to prove I am entitled to free NHS care.
They know my entitlement as it quotes on the letter my NHS record reference so they already know me from my 69 year old record.
So they used double the amount of A4 letter paper & envelope plus two lots of postage.

Okay its easier to enclose the entitlement questionnaire to every appointment rather than someone check if I have already been through that hoop.

So its only cost the NHS about 50p for the duplication but multiply this by the number of annual duplication's and that is a lot of cash.

Derby City Council are the same they send me two annual rate demands every year one using just my surname and first name and just to be sure a second one with my middle name included. This has been going on for about 5 years and I have e-mailed them and written to them and nothing has changed. God Bless the Ratepayer who pays for this thourughness.

[elty001]

The extortionate car parking charges need to be justified somehow.

[don simon]

That's computer muppetry and in the hands of incompetent management.
On the ground, health staff have always been faultless in my opinion, even when faced with unreasonable targets (targets in healthcare for the love of god) and in the face of some patients http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-43293581
If it were run and financed properly, there'd be no complaint.
Perhaps Sir Richard Branson could do a better job.
I'll give you a clue, he couldn't.

[kitchenman]

Originally Posted by elty001

The extortionate car parking charges need to be justified somehow.

If parking was at a lower cost the shortfall would clearly come from the NHS budget.

[macabethiel]

Originally Posted by don simon

That's computer muppetry and in the hands of incompetent management.
On the ground, health staff have always been faultless in my opinion, even when faced with unreasonable targets (targets in healthcare for the love of god) and in the face of some patients http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-43293581
If it were run and financed properly, there'd be no complaint.
Perhaps Sir Richard Branson could do a better job.
I'll give you a clue, he couldn't.

On the subject of Computer Muppets when a Patient has a blood test they send a copy of the full results to the printers for the patient record at the clinic of origin in triplicate on the day of the appointment or just before.

Each day my Missus would go through the print outs and attach a copy to the patient file for the days clinics. Two copies went straight into the shredding bin.

This was raised at various user group meetings as the clinician on the day just looked on the Computer Screen that held the same test result to save wading through the patient notes.

Looking at the link about Ambulance Calls for service it was the same in the Police Service. Something like 90% of calls for Police attendance came from just 10% of the local population.

Of those 90%who called they were mostly regulars who were calling for police assistance because they were lonely/drunk/mentally ill/ drugged up/in need of genuine help/complaining about matters that were not police related.

Then one day there would be a real call for service not someone crying wolf and the call would not be treated seriously resulting in a poor outcome and a justified complaint.

In the drive to save money with the centralisation of Police, Fire, Ambulance and NHS services we have lost a lot of local experience in sorting the Wheat from the Chaff.

Sadly we have ended up with a Behemoths that just absorb money and are almost impossible to manage effectively.

[solarman216]

So basically as I have said before the system is broken, Rick

[macabethiel]

Originally Posted by solarman216

So basically as I have said before the system is broken, Rick

It is broken but it is fixable.

The NHS has issues with Trade Unions sometimes opposing change but the core of the problem goes back to 1948 when the Government of the day did a deal with Consultants working hours and allowing them to treat Private Patients on the side.

It has been the case since 1948 that Consultants are able to more than double their income by moonlighting in the Private Sector mostly at weekends.

All our other emergency services provide 24 hour cover but the NHS has not been able to fully implement this as it should.

The issues with Junior Doctors over working conditions is just one of the things stopping much needed change within the NHS. The Junior Doctors want what the present day Consultants have so no one is going to give up that perk for Private Practice up without a fight.

I think we all agree that the Health Service is a 24/7/365 service but if like me you have a heart attack on a Friday afternoon (Mine was in 2010) then basically they stabalize you then do nothing until the Monday morning as many of the Consultants have had the weekend off to do the lucrative private work.

That might sound crazy but it's true, it is the reason that you are more likely to die if you have your attack on a Friday. Yes they have a duty Consultant on call at weekends but they deal with the most serious cases that have been admitted on the Saturday & Sunday.

At our local hospital the Catheter Suite is not running on a weekend like it does Monday to Friday so I ended up being discharged after 10 days without an Angiogram being done I had mine done about 3 weeks later as an out patient.

You are not ill on a Monday to Friday basis so why do we not have hospitals that provide the same service on a 7 day basis. It is not about not having the staff or the resources it is about accepting change.

Yes I am being simplistic but no Government has as yet been able to bring the Consultants into line so strong is their grip on the NHS.