NHS Oxford

[Heym SR20]

I am sharing this with you all as way of venting frustration. What really is concerning is that this seems like situation normal.

My Pa, 85, mentally full faculties but with two metal knees, two metal hips and a pin that would act as a tire lever holding up his femur.

He picked up a nasty infection a few weeks ago. He does lumps inside, but he will die with them not because of them. The infection responded to antibiotics. He did have a fall about three weeks ago. Mum on her own with him. She called an ambulance and he got taken into the Hospital. Nowt wring with him, but as he was still on the antibiotics they wanted to keep him for a few days.

10 days ago he is ready to discharged home. Because he is unsteady on his feet and pretty week they will let him go in patient transport on a stretcher.

So this was booked.

And every day for the last ten days for some reason or other NHS Oxford has been unable to provide transport. He was being wheeled to one this evening and the crew rostered off, and nobody else to take over.

One of the nursing staff - all brilliant by the way - has found a private ambulance to bring him home.

I am told it is costing all of us £500 a day to keep my Pa in hospital. So 8 days is £4000 that should have spent on something else.

There is nothing that the hospital can do for him. He doesn’t have long before his next big adventure, and would like to spend his last days at home with his family and dogs.

And the really concerning thing is that this is seen as totally normal operating procedure.

 

[willie_gunn]

I am afraid that this is just another example of what I described here a few days ago.

Because it is not their money, the NHS is quite happy to see it needlessly pi55ed away, whereas you or I would see it as nonsensical.

I fully expect someone to come along soon and tell us that, because £4000 is a small amount of money compared to the total NHS budget, it’s simply not worth worrying about.

 

[Heym SR20]

I am afraid that this is just another example of what I described here a few days ago.

Because it is not their money, the NHS is quite happy to see it needlessly pi55ed away, whereas you or I would see it as nonsensical.

I think its worse than that. There are endless private contractors just milking it. Trying to arrange care as well. He needs feeding and nappy changing. I think we are now on the 10th risk or care or whatever assessment all done staff managers in NHS uniforms with a little private sector logo. All in nice new electric cars. They all want to help and write lovely reports but feck all happens. Other than they send an invoice in for doing an assessment.

We have been offered palliative care in February next year. It is just so cruel on families.

I live in Scotland where there is good care for the elderly. I was brought in Oxfordshire and what an utter cluster **** it all seems to be.

I did speak to BBC Oxford earlier. They are getting huge numbers of reports about this.

 

[willie_gunn]

Is he in the John Radcliffe?

 

[Rasputin]

I am afraid that this is just another example of what I described here a few days ago.

Because it is not their money, the NHS is quite happy to see it needlessly pi55ed away, whereas you or I would see it as nonsensical.

I fully expect someone to come along soon and tell us that, because £4000 is a small amount of money compared to the total NHS budget, it’s simply not worth worrying about.

Exactly this no regard for how money is spent and scant regard for patients half the time. Just a whole load of box tickers and paper pushers overriding the system to hit meaningless quota and targets.

 

[Tom_Ov]

I’m sat about 10 miles east of the John Radcliffe. We’ve been through this over the last 12 months with my father in law down in Kent, who is now in a care home with a brain injury after various spells in hospital. Sadly, I can assure you that the situation is no better further south - we seem to have a system with some brilliant, caring individuals and some god awful processes and oversight.

 

[Apthorpe]

It's a failed syatem. Sad to say, but it's worse in other areas without going into details. It's scant comfort, but at least he got treated before it was too late.
The only silver lining is that thank God there is some private provision.

 

[big ears]

I am sharing this with you all as way of venting frustration. What really is concerning is that this seems like situation normal.

My Pa, 85, mentally full faculties but with two metal knees, two metal hips and a pin that would act as a tire lever holding up his femur.

He picked up a nasty infection a few weeks ago. He does lumps inside, but he will die with them not because of them. The infection responded to antibiotics. He did have a fall about three weeks ago. Mum on her own with him. She called an ambulance and he got taken into the Hospital. Nowt wring with him, but as he was still on the antibiotics they wanted to keep him for a few days.

10 days ago he is ready to discharged home. Because he is unsteady on his feet and pretty week they will let him go in patient transport on a stretcher.

So this was booked.

And every day for the last ten days for some reason or other NHS Oxford has been unable to provide transport. He was being wheeled to one this evening and the crew rostered off, and nobody else to take over.

One of the nursing staff - all brilliant by the way - has found a private ambulance to bring him home.

I am told it is costing all of us £500 a day to keep my Pa in hospital. So 8 days is £4000 that should have spent on something else.

There is nothing that the hospital can do for him. He doesn’t have long before his next big adventure, and would like to spend his last days at home with his family and dogs.

And the really concerning thing is that this is seen as totally normal operating procedure.

As an ex NHS worker it saddens me to read this. Sadly this is what it has come too. The whole system is so broken it is difficult to fix.
There are not enough resources for the demands put on them which just makes them more inefficient.

Your Pa needs an ambulance crew to take him home but I bet many are stuck outside A&E as there is a back log in A&E because there are no beds because there is no crews to take the ones ready for discharge home and round and round we go.

The ambulance controllers are stuck between the rock and hard place of getting your Pa home to help relieve the pressure on beds or going out to someone in distress who needs to come into hospital.

I don’t know the answer. I’m sure if there was an easier one it would be already being suggested. The NHS is so under resourced and although I hate to say it, we might have to accept that sometimes paying directly might be the answer.

I do hope this gets resolved quickly and satisfactorily with your Pa.

 

[Heym SR20]

As an ex NHS worker it saddens me to read this. Sadly this is what it has come too. The whole system is so broken it is difficult to fix.
There are not enough resources for the demands put on them which just makes them more inefficient.

Your Pa needs an ambulance crew to take him home but I bet many are stuck outside A&E as there is a back log in A&E because there are no beds because there is no crews to take the ones ready for discharge home and round and round we go.

The ambulance controllers are stuck between the rock and hard place of getting your Pa home to help relieve the pressure on beds or going out to someone in distress who needs to come into hospital.

I don’t know the answer. I’m sure if there was an easier one it would be already being suggested. The NHS is so under resourced and although I hate to say it, we might have to accept that sometimes paying directly might be the answer.

I do hope this gets resolved quickly and satisfactorily with your Pa.

But its not am emergency ambulance that is required its patient transport. And its not the individual staff, its the system and the protocols.

As to resources. There is plenty of money. It’s just being wasted. My Pa should be in a ward in a renal unit because thats the only place where there was space. He should have been home many days ago.

The biggest chsllenge is that it is a broken organisation. I don’t blame the individual staff. But they are so bullied and terrified of speaking out or using initiative. There are few career prospects. And many of the staff are on short six month contracts with six month work visas. This doesn’t give any cohesion, team or institutional pride. You are constantly working with complete strangers and that is not a way to live or work.

Dealing with patients is stressful. Patients are having the worst days of their lives when they are in hospital. Often scared, feeling utterly shite, and the staff have to deal with this. And the only way is to have colleagues and be part of a team.

And that is certainly not what i have seen over the last week.

 

[Smellydog]

A friend's wife was rushed to AE with complications after an operation.
24 hours waiting to be seen, in agony, no fluids.
A family friend, a nurse spotted her and kicked off at the matron and had to be escorted away! Still nothing happened....
Don't get old and don't get ill in this **** hole of a country!

Sorry for you and your father @Heym SR20 .

 

[maximus otter]

The NHS is so under resourced…

“In 2022/23, the Department for Health and Social Care spent £182 billion. This money is used to fund a wide range of health and care services, including GP services, ambulance, mental health, community and hospital services that are commissioned by the NHS, as well as public health services that are commissioned by local authorities. It also funds some social care services, which are mainly commissioned by local authorities.

In 2022, the UK spent 11.3% of GDP on health, just above the average for comparable countries.

In 2024/25, the total budget is set to increase to £192 billion, an increase of £1.1 billion on 2023/24 when adjusted for inflation.”

https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/data-and-charts/key-facts-figures-nhs

maximus otter

 

[Klenchblaize]

How much longer do we have to wait to see Wes Streeting's introduction of KPI's for the NHS?

K

 

[GIMLET61]

My wife suffers from a breathing issue, an appointment has been made to see a specialist on x3 occasions since October 2023, these appointments get cancelled as close to actually being stood at reception, checking in.
New appointment now is February 2025.
No proper explanations only that its a technical issue, be honest with us at least.

 

[Heym SR20]

Well thanks to one junior nursing assistant aged about 19 on the ward, and us spending price of good English Boxlock ejector we got my Pa home and in his own bed late last night.

The young lad - Cameron - was so disgusted and distraught at the behaviour of the NHS, that he rang a friend of a friend in a private ambulance service.

The NHS told us they got another ambulance till Sunday evening or Monday morning. They were quite prepared to incur the costs of another two or three days of hospital, yet couldn’t work out how to get additional resource on board.

Yet we had an ambulance plus two paramedics from the private sector that got him home.

If a young Nursing Assistant, who now expects to be sacked can organise this, why the **** can’t the overpaid NHS management with all their NHS management degrees etc get off their backsides and get the system moving. Its not rocket science.

 

[willie_gunn]

Well thanks to one junior nursing assistant aged about 19 on the ward, and us spending price of good English Boxlock ejector we got my Pa home and in his own bed late last night.

The young lad - Cameron - was so disgusted and distraught at the behaviour of the NHS, that he rang a friend of a friend in a private ambulance service.

The NHS told us they got another ambulance till Sunday evening or Monday morning. They were quite prepared to incur the costs of another two or three days of hospital, yet couldn’t work out how to get additional resource on board.

Yet we had an ambulance plus two paramedics from the private sector that got him home.

If a young Nursing Assistant, who now expects to be sacked can organise this, why the **** can’t the overpaid NHS management with all their NHS management degrees etc get off their backsides and get the system moving. Its not rocket science.

Because the NHS is not patient-centric, it is NHS-centric.

 

[big ears]

But its not am emergency ambulance that is required its patient transport. And its not the individual staff, its the system and the protocols.

As to resources. There is plenty of money. It’s just being wasted. My Pa should be in a ward in a renal unit because thats the only place where there was space. He should have been home many days ago.

The biggest chsllenge is that it is a broken organisation. I don’t blame the individual staff. But they are so bullied and terrified of speaking out or using initiative. There are few career prospects. And many of the staff are on short six month contracts with six month work visas. This doesn’t give any cohesion, team or institutional pride. You are constantly working with complete strangers and that is not a way to live or work.

Dealing with patients is stressful. Patients are having the worst days of their lives when they are in hospital. Often scared, feeling utterly shite, and the staff have to deal with this. And the only way is to have colleagues and be part of a team.

And that is certainly not what i have seen over the last week.

Money isn’t resources. Manpower, doesn’t get sorted by capital money.

The ambulances that transport out of hospital are often the same crews.