National politics

[Ian]

Couple of points: the A & E system is widely abused in all hospitals - not simply Wales'. No one's quite sure why this is, but some think it's because GPs have created systems which prevent patients seeing them quickly and easily, while others believe the media are culpable (no surprise there, then) in generating hysterical reactions through stories regarding 'flu, long waiting times and other intangible threats to health. There are also a regular number who overdose. Suicide and attempted suicide rates have rocketed from what used to be a pretty high level of 800 per week across the UK to 5000 per week. That adds a significant number to the load.  Finally, we're an ageing population and when the very old, who are often doubly incontinent, present any sort of problem to the care homes, they're shipped off to A & E. The Hospital, therefore, becomes the last stop, and the ageing are an increasing issue.

The second point is that the Welsh Ambulance system is broken. Expect to wait an hour for a 999 responder on a weekday if you have a heart attack, and their ability to ferry patients between hospitals is severely compromised through poor planning and decision making.

[Hugo]

David Cameron came to power vowing to balance the books, protect the NHS and look after working people.

Here are 50 promises he has broken in five years of failure in Downing Street:
1We will balance the books by 2015
THE TRUTH: Britain still has a budget deficit of £90billion
2We will pay down Britain’s debts
THE TRUTH: George Osborne has borrowed over £500billion in five years - more than Labour did in 13
3We will get net immigration down to the tens of thousands
THE TRUTH: Net immigration is almost 300,000 per year
4No more top-down reorganisations of the NHS
THE TRUTH: £3billion wasted on the biggest reorganisation in NHS history
5We will improve your living standards
THE TRUTH: Families £1,600-a-year worse off than in 2010
6We will deport more foreign criminals
THE TRUTH: The number of foreign crooks on our streets soars 20%
7We will keep our nation’s defences strong
THE TRUTH: Army hacked back by 20,000 troops to its lowest level since the Napoleonic wars
8We will not raise VAT
THE TRUTH: VAT hiked to 20%, costing the average family £450-a-year
9We will protect the vulnerable from the cuts
THE TRUTH: Cruel welfare sanctions force one million people to use food banks
10We’re all in it together
THE TRUTH: Millionaires get a £100,000-a-year tax cut - the poor get the £15-a-week Bedroom Tax

11GP access promised 12 hours a day, seven days a week
THE TRUTH: Patients face a 10-day wait to see their family doctor
12We will get tough on illegal immigrants
THE TRUTH: Home Office loses track of 174,000 illegal immigrants
13We will get tough on tax avoidance
THE TRUTH: The Treasury is still missing out on an estimated £34billion a year
14We will stop the closure of A&E and maternity wards
THE TRUTH: Dozens closed or downgraded since 2010
15We will cut the number of MPs by 10%
THE TRUTH: Not a single MP has been cut
16We will get Britain building again
THE TRUTH: Lowest level of house-building since the war
17We will have more small schools with smaller class sizes
THE TRUTH: Number of infants in oversized classes up 200%
18We will protect front-line policing
THE TRUTH: 17,000 cops get the boot

There are another 32 examples but that's enough depressing reading for one night,  but what is more depressing is that despite how bad the Conservatives are the UK does not have an electable opposition to win the next General Election.  It's a sobering thought going into a referendum on the EU.     

[DaveR]

The list you posted relates to England, Hugo, rather than Wales. Many of the issues listed (Health etc) are the responsibility of the Welsh Government here.

[Fester]

But that aside, it is a very damning list, and it re-enforces my lack of trust of ALL politicians.

[DaveR]

But that aside, it is a very damning list, and it re-enforces my lack of trust of ALL politicians.

Very true!

[Blongb]

What do you call 650 politicians chained together at the bottom of the River Thames?

A very good start!

[DaveR]

To add in my own experience of dealing with the emergency services...yesterday, we had walked around the Orme and were walking back into town along Abbey Road. As we passed the junction with Church Walks, we heard a skidding sound and saw that a cyclist had come off his bike, landing face down on the pavement. He was initially unconscious and bleeding heavily from his face. I dialled 999 whilst my partner administered first aid and several other people then came to help. Although the Operator immediately put me through to the Welsh Ambulance Service, the phone was not answered for at least 5 minutes. When they eventually answered, the call was professionally dealt with and an ambulance was despatched. It was a further 30 minutes before the ambulance arrived. I assume that as I had mentioned that the cyclist had regained conciousness, it was afforded a lower priority?

[Blongb]

I'm waiting for an essential operation at the moment and was told last March, there was a 12 week wait, no worries I can handle that.

In June my GP upgraded my surgical requirement to Urgent and I was told there was now a 22 week wait, that was hard to understand but needs must.

So I checked with Ysbyty Gwynedd in September to be told there was now a 40 week wait what the Hell is going on?

When it got to 44 weeks of waiting I ask Janet Finch-Saunders to find out what was happening as I could get no sense out of anyone within the Welsh NHS.

That resulted in me being called in for a Pre-Op check so things are at last on the move at last my operation will now be done within the next 6 weeks, otherwise there is no point in doing it as there only valid for 6 weeks. (Most likely done to shut me up.)

I've now found out it will not be done in the next six weeks because the team who are due to operate on me have lost their dedicated ward and already have a six week backlog which I haven't even joined yet.

After a whole years wait with no end in sight I managed by a monstrous piece of good luck to get to see an English Consultant over the Border in Shropshire, he quite casually stated "Oh yes that's quite normal for treatment in Wales, they have an automatic 12 month wait built in to their waiting lists at the moment but they don't publicise the fact".

End result, I've given up on a failed Welsh NHS, controlled and funded by incompetent Welsh Labour idiots in Cardiff and by the Grace of God, plus 10 years of Military Service, I'm now down for surgery in an English Hospital, funded by Tory Politicians in London.

[Fester]

BlongB, whatever the politics of it, good luck my friend!
My experiences of the NHS in the last 10 years mirrors yours and that's BOTH sides of the border.

My motto is now, don't get ill, it'll be the death of you!

[Ian]

they have an automatic 12 month wait built in to their waiting lists at the moment but they don't publicise the fact".

That's not true. Most of the issues with the NHS in Wales revolve around the Welsh Ambulance Service, but increasing demand from an older-than-average population also plays a major part. But if you look at the increasing population in North Wales, and then look at when the hospitals were built you begin to see why they're having trouble keeping up. And it's worth pointing out the NHS funding has been devolved only comparatively recently, and the UK government of the day still holds the purse strings. Finally, despite the Tories saying NHS spending was 'ringfenced' numerous independent analyses have demonstrated that the the Tories have repeatedly cut the budget in real terms.

[DaveR]

And it's worth pointing out the NHS funding has been devolved only comparatively recently

Control of the NHS in Wales was devolved 17 years ago. The Welsh Government has been responsible for how much is spent since then.

Here's a question for everyone...is it right that Welsh millionaires receive free prescriptions when money is apparently so tight? Same with the free bus passes. Surely it is not unfair to ask everyone to contribute  *something* towards these services?

Good luck with your Op, Blongb. 

[norman08]

Yesterday a collision between a bike and car/van maesdu Ave by the golf course ,the biker went to hospital to get checked out not to Llandudno two minutes away but to glan clwyd ,llan has just opened a new £2/3 mill minor inj unit . That is another reason for waste and how you wait so long for an ambulance .

[Blongb]

they have an automatic 12 month wait built in to their waiting lists at the moment but they don't publicise the fact".

That's not true. Most of the issues with the NHS in Wales revolve around the Welsh Ambulance Service, but increasing demand from an older-than-average population also plays a major part.

YES it is true, Hospital operating waiting lists have nothing to do with the Welsh Ambulance Service and the current state it's in, nor the fact we have an ageing population.

Increasing demand for Orthopedic Surguary  and it's cost which was devolved to Cardiff almost 20 years ago and is not nearly adequatly funded, that's the problem.

You need to look at the increasing number of non-Whalian Tourists who are hospitalised in North Wales, then look at the detremental effect that has on waiting lists and operations, to see why they're having trouble keeping up. The Welsh Government actively encourages people to come here to enjoy their outdoor pursuits but have failed in their duty to fund the concequences. 

[Ian]

YES it is true, Hospital operating waiting lists have nothing to do with the Welsh Ambulance Service and the current state it's in, nor the fact we have an ageing population.

So you're saying the ageing population here doesn't make any difference to the demand for the NHS?

[Blongb]

YES it is true, Hospital operating waiting lists have nothing to do with the Welsh Ambulance Service and the current state it's in, nor the fact we have an ageing population.

So you're saying the ageing population here doesn't make any difference to the demand for the NHS?

I'm saying that for patients waiting for orthopedic operations, every time the Helicopter lands at Ysbyty Gwynedd or Glan Clwyd their waiting time gets longer and with no adequite funding provision in place the current situation will only get exacerbated. I'm saying this from personal expirence not to start an argument or cause a fight about the NHS.