The 2015 Popularity Contest (aka UK General Election )

[Bruce Wayne]

Cuts in frontline services by the Government.

Is that what they said or what you say?

dont know if they are the same ones Bruce, but a number of AE had flagged up as not being up to standard longest waits for over a decade , one that was on the radio, said they had shut but for emergency , lack of staff .

Yes, I heard a bit about it on the radio this morning but there wasn't really much in the way of explanation. Some suggested the 111 service was referring lots to A&E, some were saying usual winter demand, one bloke (from the acute doctors training people - I forget their name, sorry) was saying how hard it is to recruit students for training courses (and a lot of graduates emigrate apparently), another was suggesting (the usual story) of too many people going to A&E for non-accidents, another was suggesting that GPs were shut over Christmas so people were left with little choice....

A lot of possibilities. I think five trusts were mentioned in the radio report. What was it about those five that made them different to the other trusts that coped alright?

 

[EFCNIK]

Maybe just maybe, the waits at a+e are worse because of the population ridiculously growing at an unnessessary rate. I mean open mass immigration putting a strain on our system? Nooooooo.

 

[The Cowboy]

Maybe just maybe, the waits at a+e are worse because of the population ridiculously growing at an unnessessary rate. I mean open mass immigration putting a strain on our system? Nooooooo.

Open the drop-in centres 24 hours, make them for non-emergency stuff like a minor wound needing stitches etc, and actively turn people away from A&E if it can be dealt with at the drop-in centre.

A&E should focus more on the E, not the A.

 

[peteblue]

NHS figures out today the worst in 10 years, lets see how they try to wriggle out of this one today.

Within England, 92.6% being seen within 4 hours versus the target of 95%.

In Labour controlled NHS Wales the same figure is 83.8% versus a target of 95%

In SNP controlled NHS Scotland the figure is 93.5% versus a target of 98%

The BBC are wetting themselves with joy, ignoring the fact that more people than ever have gone to A&E to be dealt with............

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Within England, 92.6% being seen within 4 hours versus the target of 95%.

In Labour controlled NHS Wales the same figure is 83.8% versus a target of 95%

In SNP controlled NHS Scotland the figure is 93.5% versus a target of 98%

The BBC are wetting themselves with joy, ignoring the fact that more people than ever have gone to A&E to be dealt with............

The thing is Pete, all of this just encourages petty point scoring, which doesn't help anyone except the politicians. We deserve better than this, yet we've seen even in this thread that this issue has already been used to score points against whomever the 'enemy' are. It's really poor.

 

[peteblue]

The thing is Pete, all of this just encourages petty point scoring, which doesn't help anyone except the politicians. We deserve better than this, yet we've seen even in this thread that this issue has already been used to score points against whomever the 'enemy' are. It's really poor.

It will only get worse. The BBC are all over this to generate a suitable fume. All we hear is "this is terrible" etc etc, but no one, not one politician, is saying what should actually be done. I hate the fact that the NHS is always portrayed as "Safe with Labour, Unsafe with Tories" when the reality is that the NHS always appears to need major surgery. Remember the "24 hours to save the NHS" and all the other political claptrap. As a country, if we want 100% targets to be met it can be done, but at a cost. The question is can we afford it and everything else and every other 'service' that we must have. A bit of honesty by political parties would be most welcome.........

 

[The Cowboy]

The thing is Pete, all of this just encourages petty point scoring, which doesn't help anyone except the politicians. We deserve better than this, yet we've seen even in this thread that this issue has already been used to score points against whomever the 'enemy' are. It's really poor.

The Judean People's Front?!

 

[peteblue]

The Judean People's Front?!

The Peoples Front of Judea......

 

[toffee matt]

Unless the demographics in this country change significantly the NHS is always going to be on the brink of some form of crisis. Underfunding is certainly an issue in places but money is only going to be a sticking plaster in the current situation.

Oh and healthcare in this country is a darnsite better than people give it credit for

 

[Bruce Wayne]

It will only get worse. The BBC are all over this to generate a suitable fume. All we hear is "this is terrible" etc etc, but no one, not one politician, is saying what should actually be done. I hate the fact that the NHS is always portrayed as "Safe with Labour, Unsafe with Tories" when the reality is that the NHS always appears to need major surgery. Remember the "24 hours to save the NHS" and all the other political claptrap. As a country, if we want 100% targets to be met it can be done, but at a cost. The question is can we afford it and everything else and every other 'service' that we must have. A bit of honesty by political parties would be most welcome.........

The thing is, I'm not sure any of them really care either way. Earlier in this thread there was a report linked to saying the NHS was the best health system in the world (or thereabouts). The context that it was produced was very much along the lines of defending it against some mythical private beast, but you can bet your bottom dollar it wouldn't be used if it was providing any positive news for the Tories.

I'd be fine and dandy if people were making agnostic suggestions about how to make things better but it seldom is that way, and always "my tribe is better than your tribe". Ugh.

I mean the bloke on the radio this morning was from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (essentially the trade union for emergency room doctors). I appreciate he's not exactly impartial but he was saying it's the devils own job recruiting students for courses, which often means advertised positions in hospitals are not filled. It's a long standing issue getting kids into STEM subjects, and who knows, may even touch on migration laws for recruiting doctors from abroad.

Do you think any politician (or indeed major news channel) will touch on this when they discuss this issue? Or will it be "you're cutting this, that and the other" or "look how you're doing in Wales"? Pathetic.

 

[peteblue]

The thing is, I'm not sure any of them really care either way. Earlier in this thread there was a report linked to saying the NHS was the best health system in the world (or thereabouts). The context that it was produced was very much along the lines of defending it against some mythical private beast, but you can bet your bottom dollar it wouldn't be used if it was providing any positive news for the Tories.

I'd be fine and dandy if people were making agnostic suggestions about how to make things better but it seldom is that way, and always "my tribe is better than your tribe". Ugh.

I mean the bloke on the radio this morning was from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (essentially the trade union for emergency room doctors). I appreciate he's not exactly impartial but he was saying it's the devils own job recruiting students for courses, which often means advertised positions in hospitals are not filled. It's a long standing issue getting kids into STEM subjects, and who knows, may even touch on migration laws for recruiting doctors from abroad.

Do you think any politician (or indeed major news channel) will touch on this when they discuss this issue? Or will it be "you're cutting this, that and the other" or "look how you're doing in Wales"? Pathetic.

I've never understood the difficulty in getting people into medicine and healthcare. I assume it's the cost and not the willingness of students. Every government of whatever colour always goes for the short term fix of overseas recruitment. I'm sure we've touched on this point before about the damage that we are doing to other nations by effectively stealing their trained people........

 

[The Esk]

Maybe just maybe, the waits at a+e are worse because of the population ridiculously growing at an unnessessary rate. I mean open mass immigration putting a strain on our system? Nooooooo.

It can be said that migrants are less likely to be a burden on the health service on a per capita basis as the migrant population is considerably younger than the population as a whole.

Fiscally, migration has little impact on UK finances the impact being less than +/- 1% of GDP depending upon the data sources.

Where migration has an undoubted positive effect is when you look forward and realise that net migration reduces Government debt over the long term, all other things being equal. Source: Office for Budget Responsibility

 

[Ashtonian]

The problem is much more than simply target times. It is all the drunks on a saturday night, the alcoholics and smackheads first thing in the morning, the people who have nothing wrong with them other than the slightest thing. Take all them out of the equation and you will find waiting times would indeed drop.

 

[Joey66]

Why are they bad? Did they outline a reason for it?

They are bad because GPs,and Nurses are in short supply under this top down reorganisation!

 

[Bruce Wayne]

They are bad because GPs,and Nurses are in short supply under this top down reorganisation!

Again, is that an official explanation from the people at those hospitals or your own spin on the story? Why were these measures only present in 5 (or ~3%) of the 160 NHS Trusts?