h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My late husband was in hospital for six week a couple of years ago, and I was stunned at the deterioration in care over the years, even in a brand spanking new hospital.

We need caring people with an empathy for the sick, not a graduate with feet firmly on the career ladder. We need cleaners who clean, properly, food suited to the patient (I don't mean their fancies, but needs), and someone to help those who have trouble eating.

I agree with everything you say, and I don't think it is beyond possible when you think of all the billions of pounds wasted on other things, and I certainly do not think that privatisation is the way forward.

Kindness, comfort and good food goes a very long way to making a person well again and we seem to have forgotten that.

As for budgets, turn the heating down and provide warm bedding for a start.

Thanks for writing, glad I am not the only person to feel like that.

Incidentally, I would be interested to hear what those researchers living in America think about this subject.

Websailor

On, bother, I hope curiosity overcomes the lack of subject!!

Websailor

Indeed, the idea of a public health service went down like a lead balloon stateside in a way that frankly baffled me. What do you guys think of public funded hospitals and such?

I am way for this.

I was born in Methodist Hospital. (I think.) There was also a Baptist Hospital. I think that gives you an idea where hospitals came from.

It shouldn't be a charity. It should be part of what we do, is my way of thinking.

Amen and there are far too many people here ho have to decide between paying for their prescription medicines and food. Think about that sort of decision to have to make when we are supposed to live in an advanced country. Hyena capitalism DOES NOT WORK for health care. Also basic diagnostic tests run into hundreds of dollars, if not thousands. How can you be responsible for your health at that rate? Most of these tests are REQUIRED by the very same insurance companies who can turn you out if you don't get them and didn't until recently cover pre-existing conditions.

I am sorry that NHS has deteriorated, but universal health coverage should be a right of ctizens of all civilized countries.

Off my soap box now. Sorry for the rant.

Don' apologise Elektra, we feel the same over here. Privatisation is being pushed in spite of the fact that we know already that it doesn't work. Private treatment for those that can afford it is ok, but for the rest of us we need care 'free at the point of need' not just for our own sakes, but for the general health of the nation.

Too much is spent on 'management' and a great deal of mismanagement and nowhere near enough on practical staff. Every ordinary person with any experience of hospital or GP knows that so why is is not apparent to those in power?

Blinkers, deafness and financial temptation, allegedly, comes to mind, but of course I could not possibly comment!

Websailor

What websailor said.

One problem, IMO, with teh NHS, was the early 'types' of privitisation that went on; Not the more err 'open' type that seems to be ever increasingly pushed for now, but when individual hospitals, started 'outsourcing' aspects of the hopspital and as stated in this article, the inevitable happened; the hospital goes for the cheapest price,; excellent, they've saved howeever much money, that they can spend on more 'important' things....

Sadly soem of what was privitised out, was things like the clenaing, moving from staff employed directly by the hospital, to some outsourced firm, who's ultimate aim is to cut their opperational costs as low as possible, to maximise their profets; and who have, or had, no real clue that their cutting corners were ultimately putting lives at risk, due to dirty wards.

A little while after I came out of a coma, and was moving between hospitals, and between wards in hospitals, it became a regular occurance for my Father to bring his 'kit' with him, each time I moved; basically cleaning equi8pment, so he coul clean up the area I was in... which only went so far, as the rest of the ward, and surriouding areas was often so filthy.

I subsequently went from about 11 stone, to less than six, due to an infection on my brain, for which the antibiotics I had to have just meant I couldn't eat anything, facilitated by a lack of being able to see a hospital nutritionalist (ultimately my Father bought in food that I could* eat).

Finding half rotten food, left in the cupboard next to your bed, from the previous patient... Was giving one a little clue that there wasn't just any protocol in the place for cleaning the areas, between patients
(though this may have improved a bit in recent years, with all the increased attention through from things like MRSA etc)
I think a lot of the food provision in the hospitals went down a simular outsourcing route too...

As soon as I was well enough in hospital, or when I had visitors, I'd not eat any of the hospital food, as it was, in the main not fit for human consumption; seriously.... I got takeaway deliverys, or bought food from the 'public' canteen areas, which, strangely enough did do edible food I seemed to get better a ot quicker when I was able to eat

However, much it may seem, is being saved by the privitisation, or outsourcing of some essential parts of the hospitals opperations/functions, oughta be looked at more quantitively in terms of how much it ends up costing, beyond the savings; E.G., patients staying in longer, requiring more treatement, due to secondary infections, or malnutrition etc, or just how they're recovery is slowed down by poor food provision

These are two simple examples of the point you made in the other thread on this subject- simple cost cutting measures have made a massive difference. My wife never eats the food in hospital. On one occasion a number of years ago she was in a ward where she was the only person who didn't eat and everyone else -on the renal ward- got food poisoning. Simply asking the questions 'is the ward clean enough?' 'is the food good enough' way ahead of 'is the hospital cheap enough?' make a massive difference and it's sort of appalling that this is apparently not obvious.