NHS in Great Britain

[Poppy]

Well we had need for some urgent help yesterday and of course with it being Saturday the surgery was closed. I did not want to use 999 unnecessarily so I called 111.I had to wait about 2 minutes to get through and then we were dealt with very efficiently indeed.After numerous searching questions they decided in the first instance that I should take my husband to the local cottage hospital which is only just over a mile away and made a GP apt for us within the hour. When we got there he was seen immediately and had a thorough examination. He was given some medication and advised to attend the surgery next week but in the meantime if any worse to call an ambulance without hesitation as the emergency hospital ,just over 20 miles away, has all the necessary scanning etc facilities. I really cannot fault them!!

[trevnhil]

That is good to know Poppy, as there are many time when people are not dealt with quite so speedily.
One of the problems seems to be, it depends where you live as to the time scale of getting to see someone.
I am glad that your experience was good

[PhotoLady]

I had to call 111 last Saturday morning at 06:15 as something weird happened to me. I was told to get to the A+E dept at Blackpool Victoria Hospital within the hour. We were there by 07:30 and they already had me down as attending in their system.
I was triaged in just under 30 minutes and was the only one in the waiting room but ambulances were arriving all the time and there were 5 police vehicles on the forecourt when we arrived.
I ended up there another 5hrs before we left and content that the 3 dodgy vertebrae in my neck had not trapped a nerve causing the strange effect on my vision and the nausea.
When we followed the doctor down to the treatment room we saw at least 6 trolleys with people on them who had arrived by ambulance.
There's a leaflet in the waiting room which indicates patients are dealt with by priority based on the triage and just because you arrive by ambulance doesn't mean you will receive priority over another person.
So the system worked for us but we caught the tail end of a Friday Night Out in Blackpool

[Poppy]

Thanks Trev and hope you are feeling better now Jules. One other thing was that I looked up how to find the emergency Hospital should I need to get there and the car parking there is only 1 pound for all day with concessions for people who need to visit on a daily basis and for parents visiting sick children( the list was not exhaustive) so that seems good too. ( This is the Northumbrian emergency Hospital at Cramlington)

[PhotoLady]

It's free for an hour at the A+E dept at Blackpool Victoria but there's only about 10 spaces there and apparently, the guy who keeps an eye on it is an absolute "jobsworth" as the ladies on the Reception desk were quick to point out when we asked about it. My hubby went and moved the car over to the main car park just inside the hour

I've got to the end of my medication this morning so will now have to see how I get on as I'm still very "wobbly". The hospital pharmacy gave me a copy of my prescription and told me to drop it off at our local clinic so the drugs will be on my record, should I need to have the prescription repeated quickly.

Hope all is okay now with you and yours too!

The hardest thing, if truth be told, was pressing all the right buttons in answer to the initial reply from the 111 Service.... I've no idea how anyone who isn't quite on top of their stick manages to do it. It was difficult enough for me at that time in a morning when I couldn't see straight!

Blackpool Vic is our nearest A+E (at around 11 miles away) and although there's a small unit at Fleetwood, it apparently wasn't the place for me to go - it's what they call an Urgent Care Unit and as there was no way to tell immediately what was wrong with me I was advised to go to A+E instead.

Next Monday should be fun!
I have to go to our local medical centre to get all my Cypriot issued prescriptions put on my medical file as I'm in need of my HRT to be renewed. Of course, none of my meds have my name on the boxes so I have to take my prescription book with me.
LOL, good luck with that one to the doctor who has to see me - hope his Greek is good!

[Jimgward]

I have nothing but praise for the only time I’ve used 111.

My better half came home from her Sunday evening fitness class, around 18 months ago. She said she felt terrible, really blinding headache, sickness and unable to see properly. (She drove home)

111 sent a paramedic straight away and diagnosed, correctly, a brain bleed (sub-arachnoid haemorrhage) They were great, called an ambulance immediately and injected her with blood thinning etc.

She had a double aneurism and had to have coils fitted. The treatment was superb. She recovered most of her capabilities and only now is feeling some symptoms that are affecting her work. She was very lucky, Can’t praise 111 and the eventual Southern General hospital enough.

[jeba]

111 sent a paramedic straight away and diagnosed, correctly, a brain bleed (sub-arachnoid haemorrhage) They were great, called an ambulance immediately and injected her with blood thinning etc.

Would paramedics (I guess they aren´t doctors) be allowed to inject blood thinners without a doctor instructing them to do so in the UK?

[Poppy]

I can't answer your question Jeba but I can say that paramedics are very highly trained professionals who are able to carry out some procedures but of course they are not Doctors. Do you not have something similar in Germany?

[Jimgward]

Paramedics can perform more first aid than doctors are they are better qualified for that. They are also classified as bein able to prescribed within bounderies.

[jeba]

I can't answer your question Jeba but I can say that paramedics are very highly trained professionals who are able to carry out some procedures but of course they are not Doctors. Do you not have something similar in Germany?

As I'm not sure what exactly a paramedic is I can't say whether we have an exact equivalent in Germany. In Germany we have "Rettungssanitäter" who are probably the closest equivalent to paramedics and "Notärzte" who are specially trained physicians for emergencies. Decisions like whether or not to administer anticoagulants would be taken by physicians only. Btw in the example Jimward gave I doubt that the paramedics had diagnosed a subarachnoidal bleeding and treated it with anticoagulants as this would have been contraindicated. You want to stop the bleeding, after all. Anticoagulants may be indicated e. g. for strokes but not for bleedings.

[Jimgward]

Sorry Jean, I may have misquoted the drug....

[exodus]

Here they go! Brexit again.
Bickering Brits.
Amos.

[Jimgward]

Here we go, Amos with more to say about brexit that doesn't affect him, than the thread on Israel which does.... It's called trolling to many....

[Firefly]

'No shows' should be removed from patients lists, and only re-instated after a 'fine' is paid, this should apply to G.P.s surgeries also. (What this has to do with Brexit I can't imagine). The NHS is second to non, overworked and underpaid staff, but it is still the best.

Jackie

[ApusApus]

'No shows' should be removed from patients lists, and only re-instated after a 'fine' is paid, this should apply to G.P.s surgeries also.

I agree, people who ring up to make an appointment but can't be bothered to phone again to cancel it are disgraceful! Maybe the UK NHS should adopt the Cyprus model and charge for seeing a GP or hospital Consultant in the first place, obviously certain groups would be exempt from the charge like pensioners & low income families, etc ............ before somebody jumps on the idea!


Shane

[Poppy]

In an effort to combat the failed apts our GP's ,Hospitals,Dentists send text reminders which should help as surely nearly everyone now has a mobile.

[trevnhil]

Our dentist and Chiropodist in Paphos let you know the day before your appointment..

[Firefly]

In the UK they always text a day ahead, but people just 'can't be bothered' to cancel. There is no comeback, but there should be.

Jackie

[Poppy]

Well it looks as though the NHS are trying to make efficiencies. They gave my husband a new blood testing machine today because the testing strips and lancets are so much cheaper than the old ones. She told us that the previous machines were slightly cheaper but the cost of the strips was shockingly high so despite giving out new machines they are still making savings. She told us that this is going on throughout the Northunbria Trust and they anticipate efficiencies to be excellent whilst not losing out on quality.
Exactly what I was saying - look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves!!

[Jimgward]

The average cost of strips for blood glucose testing is about £40 per month..... no wonder the meter manufacturers can give them away!