National Health Service

[SteveH]

Just 21% said they were satisfied with the NHS in 2024, with waiting times and staff shortages the biggest concerns.

Satisfaction rates have dropped sharply since the pandemic – in 2019, 60% were satisfied.

Responding to the findings, Sir Jim Mackey, the new chief executive of NHS England, said he was worried about the "growing disconnect" between the service and the population.

The poll - the gold-standard measure of the public's view of the health service - has been running since 1983.

Nearly 3,000 people from England, Wales and Scotland were asked for their views last autumn.

cont plus stats....... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd9l8v1vy0ko

[DaveR]

Too many managers, too much money wasted…

[SteveH]

More of a Point to ponder ...........

Jayne Evans has completed four years at medical school in London - but says she is still being left in the dark about where her first permanent NHS position will be.

"I was told that I don't have a job set aside for me," she said.

"They've guaranteed we will only be offered jobs other people decline and there's just no sort of timeline that they can give us."

Ms Evans has been given a rough idea of where she will be working - the Trent area, which spans almost all of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire - but no further clues.

"They've even admitted it could be three weeks before I start work that I find out what city I'm living in," she told the BBC.

Previously, students were ranked and jobs were allocated based on merit, but this was changed for fear it was stressful for students and particularly unfair on those from deprived backgrounds and ethnic minorities.

They tended to perform less well, and therefore were more likely to be posted to regions they did not favour, according to the UK Foundation Programme.

Instead, jobs are assigned randomly, which means a higher proportion of students are not getting what they asked for.

There has also been an increase in the number of medical students applying for jobs after the government opened several new medical schools.
cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c045l5r467ko

[SteveH]

Ministers, health staff and the public gathered in London last week for a summit to discuss the 10-year NHS plan in England. It was the final roadshow in a nationwide tour to help set out the strategy the government says will rescue the "broken" NHS, which has a waiting list of nearly 7.5 million patients and public satisfaction of just 21% - a record low.

Not for the first time, moving healthcare away from hospitals and into the community is being touted as a way of treating people better and for less. Research suggests that every £100 spent on community care would otherwise cost £131 for hospital care.

This helps explain why Health Secretary Wes Streeting has promised to turn the NHS into a neighbourhood health service.

Washwood Heath, a community health clinic that was set up in a deprived part of east Birmingham two years ago when the Conservative government was in power, is a living, working example of what this could look like. Here, hospital doctors, GPs, nurses, occupational therapists, council social care teams, mental health professionals and charity staff work under one roof.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn4w2p79v9eo

[SteveH]

Over the last three months my prescription med's. have increased greatly , however the daily dosage has been altered many times in this period, and as I pay for a delivery service, and they are delivered promptly every 28 days, I now have an ridicules excessive amount.

I have to admit a lot of this is my fault, being complacent and accepting deliveries and allowing them to build up over the years since Covid
so yesterday I did a stock check and phoned the pharmacy to arrange my future delivery requirements, I am ashamed to say some were put on hold for the next six months, I apologised for this situation, but was told it was better than most turning up with a carrier bag full of unused med's, as once they leave the chemists they cannot be redistributed to others, and are destroyed, what a waste.

I got the impression this was a national problem, a quick search revealed some horrible figures ............

In Wales, an estimated £300 million is wasted annually on unused or partially used prescription medications.

Here's a breakdown of the problem:
Widespread issue:
Unused or partially used medicines are a significant and growing problem within the NHS, costing the health service a substantial amount each year.
Cost Breakdown:
Around £110 million worth of medicines are returned to pharmacies.
Approximately £90 million worth of unused prescriptions are stored in homes.
Around £50 million worth of medicines are disposed of by care homes.
How to help reduce waste:
Only order what you need: Check your medicine cupboards before ordering more.
Avoid stockpiling: Check your stock first and don't reorder medications until you have around two weeks left.

Dispose of unwanted medicines safely: Bring unused or expired prescription medicines to your pharmacy for safe disposal.


cont https://www.google.com/search?q=how+much+is+wasted+on+unused+prescription+meds+in+wales&rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB813GB813&oq=&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCQgAECMYJxjqAjIJCAAQIxgnGOoCMgkIARAjGCcY6gIyDwgCEC4YJxjHARjqAhjRAzIJCAMQIxgnGOoCMgkIBBAjGCcY6gIyCQgFECMYJxjqAjIJCAYQIxgnGOoCMgkIBxAjGCcY6gLSAQkxNDA5ajBqMTWoAgiwAgHxBT0IdK706A_n8QU9CHSu9OgP5w&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[SteveH]

A scheme to help GPs provide care and advice to patients without them joining long NHS hospital waiting lists is being expanded in England, the government has said.

GPs will work more closely with specialists to access expert advice quickly for patients with conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, menopause symptoms and ear infections.

Backed by £80m of funding, its ambition is to help two million people receive faster and more convenient care in their local community by the end of 2025/26.

Health Minister Karin Smyth said the scheme would "save time and stop masses of people having to head to hospital for unnecessary appointments".

The expanded scheme is part of the government's plan to cut long NHS waiting lists and create extra appointments for patients.

It has pledged that 92% of NHS patients will be waiting less than 18 weeks for treatment after referral to a consultant, by the end of this parliament.

cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgrgqqjdlg4o

[SteveH]

WALES’ First Minister has said Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) is “turning a corner” after being in special measures for the last two years.

Eluned Morgan spoke with the Leader where she discussed health care provision in North Wales.

In March, the Welsh Government published a progress report on BCUHB – which has been in special measures since February 2023.

The report detailed progress in a range of areas, including culture, leadership and governance and quality and safety.

It concluded: “Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has stabilised and started to put in place the building blocks to become a sustainable organisation over the course of the last 2 years under the current level 5 (special measures) arrangements.

“Progress has been made in relation to corporate governance, financial control and governance and over the last 12 months the quality management system has begun to demonstrate improved grip and control.

cont https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/25105460.betsi-cadwaladr-health-board-turning-corner---first-minister/?ref=rss&IYA-reg=49560bcd-5a9c-47f0-8fc5-ba2e71710589

[Hugo]

I'm afraid that I've been a victim of ping pong politis within the NHS.       Without going in to details  I've had excellent treatment at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd and the consultant gave me a prescription to give to my local  surgery.     
It was for the GP to give me tablets and a week later to give me an injection and was clearly marked urgent.   
On the day the tablets were due to be picked up our surgery said that there had been a problem and they had e-mailed the hospital
Two days later after more vsits to the GP and a number of phone calls it was only resolved when we received a phone call from the hospital asking me how had I got on after starting the course of tablets!
After an explanation my wife drove to Bodelwyddan and picked up the tablets

The problem was that although my surgery could give me the tablets they had refused to do so as it would come out of their budget and not the Hospitals
According to the Hospital they have had a number of similar problems from other medical centres in North Wales

[SteveH]

I was going to say unbelievable, but....