Hiatus
I've been neglecting my embryonic blog of late. Such is my dissatisfaction with NHS Direct and the NHS as a whole that I didn't dare write, for fear of the dripping venom dissolving my laptop. Current government strategies for improving the NHS seem to be:
New job titles are created so that no-one feels left out, in the last two years this has accelerated to the point where no three NHS workers have the same job title. If a patient calls we have no idea where to refer them. We can't say "We can't deal with this, it would be more appropriate to call your GP/District Nurse/Social Worker/CPN" No, that's too easy. Now they have a Community Mental Health Team, often a strictly 9-5 job, unreachable outside those hours. They have a Chronic Illness Management Nurse or liaise with an Expert Patient Panel.
This makes the whole system a joke. We have a new assessment system so that if a patient calls and it's blindingly obvious that they need to see their GP, then they'll be told to contact them (in hours) or we'll electronically refer them (out of hours) This makes the queue for nurse assessments much smaller, and saves people waiting hours to be told the blindingly obvious. However callers often tell me "Oh the secretary told me to call you, and that if I was ill I'd have to call at half eight tomorrow morning to see someone" My GP surgery works like this. You call at 8:30 am, receptionist takes your details, a nurse calls you back and telephone triages you, you go to the surgery and see the nurse practitioner, then you wait for two hours in the waiting room to see the next available doctor. So people don't bother, they use the OOH service instead, or call us, and both services end up like an old tart, stretched and abused.
Apologies. It just needed to be said. Back to ranting about the callers next, I promise!
PS - NHS Blog Doc is a must read for anyone else interested in the worrying state of the NHS, and interesting patient stories.
- getting rid of senior/supervisory posts - after all, it's not very democratic to have to answer to anyone is it?
- replacing qualified staff with whichever penniless student, desperado, or chancer happened to walk into the recruitment agency first
- 'solving' the above by giving them so much training, for so long, that they can't cope on their own and leave after two weeks
New job titles are created so that no-one feels left out, in the last two years this has accelerated to the point where no three NHS workers have the same job title. If a patient calls we have no idea where to refer them. We can't say "We can't deal with this, it would be more appropriate to call your GP/District Nurse/Social Worker/CPN" No, that's too easy. Now they have a Community Mental Health Team, often a strictly 9-5 job, unreachable outside those hours. They have a Chronic Illness Management Nurse or liaise with an Expert Patient Panel.
This makes the whole system a joke. We have a new assessment system so that if a patient calls and it's blindingly obvious that they need to see their GP, then they'll be told to contact them (in hours) or we'll electronically refer them (out of hours) This makes the queue for nurse assessments much smaller, and saves people waiting hours to be told the blindingly obvious. However callers often tell me "Oh the secretary told me to call you, and that if I was ill I'd have to call at half eight tomorrow morning to see someone" My GP surgery works like this. You call at 8:30 am, receptionist takes your details, a nurse calls you back and telephone triages you, you go to the surgery and see the nurse practitioner, then you wait for two hours in the waiting room to see the next available doctor. So people don't bother, they use the OOH service instead, or call us, and both services end up like an old tart, stretched and abused.
Apologies. It just needed to be said. Back to ranting about the callers next, I promise!
PS - NHS Blog Doc is a must read for anyone else interested in the worrying state of the NHS, and interesting patient stories.
Duh! finally realised OOH stands for Out Of Hours.
I am sinking in and smothered by acronyms - taken me months to remember PCT is Primary Care Trust, for ages I thought the P was for Patients, and couldn't figure what the rest of it could possibly be. Patient Carnivore Therapy? People Can't Talk? Proven Carp Therapy/Theory?
Really glad I found you (courtesy Dr Crippen), will keep reading.
Best wishes from Liverpool!
Posted by
Maggie |
12:39 am
It's even better if you say "OoooOOOoooOOH!" :D You do get lost in acronyms and abbreviations, PCT, CSPT, D&V, PU, EDS!
PCT actually stands for Prehistoric Care Theories, so you were virtually there. Have an e-cookie!
Posted by
Sick Sad Minion |
1:25 am
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