General Chat

Hi,
Please help a student.
Why do some people consider the NHS was better 20 years ago rather than today,
Car'

Because it was less an adminstrative monster run by well paid beurocrats and more a health care organisation the number of administrators is now nearly one a patient

I'm not sure that the NHS was 'better' per se. But new treatments, and methods of treatment, have brought improvements to many patients' prognosis and care. *not sure what the plural of prognosis is* So, from that point of view the NHS is actually better than it was 20 years ago

The Mental Health Services were pretty rubbish 20 years ago and they still are.

Bring back the proper old time ,Matron, I say. The demise of the NHS coincided, with their doing away with. You only have to watch The Royal on a Sunday night to realise what I mean.
I do not want to down cry the nurses of today, but not many of them seem to get the proper chance at 'hands-on' nursing these days, which is what I think they joined up for. There is so much paper work to deal with.
Julia in Derbyshire

Because the local authorities managed their budgets better. Focus was more on patient care than employing middle ranked administrative staff who could be axed but of course the unions won't allow that.

Example: 9 year old boy who had terminal cancer and needed a wheelchair. The first date the OT could arrange to see him was 18 months after the referral. By that time the lad would have been dead for 9 months. This is an actual case which my friend dealt with and not a newspaper report. The beast has become far too large and inter dependent departments should be managed more tightly.

I am well aware that the NHS budget will never be sufficient but a thorough overhaul of the system is long overdue.

Sue

I would say 40yrs ago it was better.....not of course the treatment side,
but when MATRON did her inspection of cleanliness it was CLEAN. and smelt clean.

The NHS has done me proud lately so I will never run down our NHS.

Also not knowing if the staff are trained well enough, as years ago somehow we knew the staff where well trained mainly due to Matron !!

A silly answer but true !!

I do not know if it was better 20 years ago I can only go on my experience
I find my GP always helps I find at my surgery they have Asthma clinics Diabetic clinics lots of different clinics, I can just phone the reception ask for nurse to phone me back if I am not sure what treatment I need
Just had awful experience with Knee replacement it took consultants 18 month to find out they put the wrong one in in the first place now awaiting for corrective surgery however my stay in Hosptial Nurses,Physios Pain management all brilliant

I think you probably need to differentiate between NHS treatment and NHS administration/organisation.

Of course treatment has progressed, there have been new ways of doing things, new treatments/drugs etc discovered and diagnosis and life expectancy of many illnesses/diseases has improved.

However, it is the administration and management of the organisation that was better 20 years ago, as Sue said budgets were better managed, probably because there was not so much red tape tying up doctors, hospitals etc. Hospitals managed their own cleaning with it being done 'in house' and overseen by matron so there were fewer infections due to germs/dirt. Outside contractors are now employed to do the cleaning with a low budget so they are unable to employ enough people or allow enough time for a proper cleaning job to be done. Over all hospitals and the medical profession are strangled by low budgets, too much paper work and too many unrealistic government targets.

Because there were Less Overpaid Chiefs and more proper nursing staff who were trained insitue ( Hands on) rather than Colledge trained with not a lot of actual hospital experience.Then it was more of a Vocation than as it is now,Just a Job/**M**

I cannot find fault with any of the treatment I have had in the last 10 months after being diagnosed with breast cancer which has meant two operations, chemo and radiotherapy, Also numerous blood tests and one transfusion involving three different Berkshire hospitals, caring friendly staff, spotlessly clean hospitals and good food. The last time I had hospital treament in the 1960's it wasn't anywhere near as good. The matron was only in evidence when walking round with the surgeon and she was more interested in tidiness, ie straight bedcovers, than the patients.

Hi Caramel.

A general complaint amongst doctors I know ( who have been qualified 20 + yrs) is that because the financial rewards of medical practice are so high, the reasons for entering the profession may not be the same as in the past. This is bound to reflect in the quality of 'patient care'.

The NHS is cursed by its own success......more treatments are now available and more people are able to access treatments which were not even considered 20 years ago.......

Computer technology has come on in leaps and bounds and putting medical date and making computer programmes for hospital technology all eats into the NHS budget.....although in the long run, the information will be faster and more efficient......

More people are entering the country from other countries who do not have a sophisticated system, and are needing treatment which would not have been available to them.....

That is all I can think of at the moment.....

p.s.

.......also to agree with others here, there are too many chiefs and not enough indians.....

Dear Caramel

Hello

Nearly 20 years ago, I started work in the NHS.

Hospital Trusts did not exisit.
All matters were managed by the local district authority.

Then Nurses had their qualifications changed and the grades were introduced.

Private contractors (always the cheapest) were bought in to do cleaning, cooking etc and the regular staff were sacked.

The NHS is saturated with managers and people with silly job titles.
There is not enough front line staff.

Procedures for referrals and communication between hospitals and
GP's is appalling.

No things have not improved.

Very best wishes to you.
xx

Hello Caramel

I will try to answer your question as a nurse who qualified in 1969.

1. I believe that we had excellent training certainly at the major leading Hospitals in the UK. I chose to train at The London Hospital in East London now known as The Royal London Hospital.

2. All nurses had to live in nurses accommodation during the training period, this enabled comradeship, support and a social life within the whole of the hospital not simply in the nursing side. It also meant that there was no excuse for not turning up for work or far to travel home.

3. My hours were 48 per week on the ward and all study and attending lectures etc were considered to be done outside those hours althogh very often the Sister in charge would enable time off.
4. We were monitored very carefully and if we were "slacking" an interview with the Ward Sister or the Tutor would take place.

5. We had a very thorough understanding of Anatomy and Physiology and pschology.
We were responsible for our own actions and had to explain what we were going to do, why we were going to do it and what the expected outcome was.
The ward sister was not there to be our Pal, but to guide and support us in a professional manner.

I do not recall being afarid of any member of the staff but I do remember having the greatest respect for them even though I did not like some of them.

Our self presentation was important, our knowledge base was checked every time were working, our confidence grew, we were respected by the local community, we were proud to be nurses and knew our role and how we could progress.

The financing of the NHS worked because we did not have so many administartors, and most ancilliary staff were employed directly by the hospital.

The financing was manageable because we did not have all the advanced techniques used now, I saw women die from cancers which now are treated as a day visit, we did not have heart transplants , heart and lung transplants, amazingly expensive medications which everyone believed it was their right to have, we did not serve such a large number of people, the UK was not overcrowded.

I did leave the NHS and worked in the private sector for many years and without doubt the progress made in Mental Health and Dementia i has improved beyond ones expectation BUT the fiance for all this is lacking in the NHS and I believe it is athe system that needs to be completely overhauled.

The contributions currently received from working people is simply insufficient to cope with the demand and level of service.

The training of the nurses and their role needs to have an independent review.

Am I glad I was a nurse? Yes. Would I train as a nurse today? No
What would I do, Campain for a better service that is realisticall financed even if that means changing not only how hospitals work but also how the finace is managed.

When did I decide this? Just before I left the NHS, when I met yet another new Administrator and asked what had she being doing before, to which she replied, " I studied Geography, and then did my Masters in How the Geography of the World affects the indiginous population'. When I asked how that would help her in her work in the hospital she replied," well I am not sure but at least I have a very well paid job". To which I replied "Yes, I suppose you will be able to find your way around:

Caramel, I take my hat off to you if you have started yor training and I really do wish you well, but please always remember that nurses are there to help and support the patient above anything else.


Bridget