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A&E crisis?


Egbert

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Think it follows, that any reductions in funding (as via "austerity"); will eventually be felt at the coal face.  Council Social Care Services are being reduced due to Gov cuts, thus elderly folk on Hospital wards, who are fit enough to leave, have nowhere suitable to go, hence bed blocking back to A&E. 

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Another interesting factor, according to the head of emergency medicine; is the number of Doctors leaving for other fields or emigrating; due to basically complete exhaustion or exasperation. So presumably, we're helping to fund the Ozzy health service, with trained Doctors.

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Well ,apparently the privately run Hinchingbrook NHS Hospital in East Anglia is also feeling the pressure of A&E & its operators are running for the hills, stating that the challenge is too much for their relatively small company. Maybe this reaction will deter governments from putting health in the private sector.Evidently the experiment was the initiative of the last Labour government.

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If only you were right Asp; there is huge growth in demand due to an elderly demographic that is living longer, but sadly not necessarily in good health. The social care services required tend to be labour intensive and ultimately expensive; so unless we move to euthanasia (I'm not advocating that btw!); we're going to have to get our wallets out, one way or the other.

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If only you were right Asp; there is huge growth in demand due to an elderly demographic that is living longer, but sadly not necessarily in good health. The social care services required tend to be labour intensive and ultimately expensive; so unless we move to euthanasia (I'm not advocating that btw!); we're going to have to get our wallets out, one way or the other.

Crickey you had me worried there for a minute  :?

 

I know I'm at the airport,

But I don't want to be in the departure lounge just yet  :huh:

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Arguably, the NHS is a victim of it's own success; folk are living longer, with spare parts, new parts, tablets etc; but most are at risk of all sorts of accidents or poor resistance to infection due to age related frailty.  Some diseases such as dementia, are more prevalent with age; and one can see that demand levels are high. Most situations can be managed through medically supervised care homes or home care; which would take pressure from the Hospitals and free up bed - BUT, inevitably that will cost money.

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I would agree, that mis-spends exist (depending on one's point of view); that's why I think there's a need for a public conversation as to just what the extent of the NHS should be. Should it for example; provide sex change operations, IVF, cosmetic surgery, joint replacements with a lifespan of 15 years to 90 year olds? Should proof of contributions be a requirement for treatment, and should all funding be based on NI contributions? And perhaps most importantly; should politicians be kept totally out of using it as a political football, by making it an arms length organisation, run by independent clinicians? Then of course, there's the question of complementary services such as elderly care, or preventative medicine,. and whether some degree of integration is required?

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NI contributions are a red herring as it is, and always has been, a Ponzi scheme with no relevamce to health whatsoever. And as I said a lot of the money that should be spent on healthcare is spent on irrelevancies like bean counters checking on how much a hospital is profiting from car parking etc.

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:lol:   Think most of us have discerned the nonsense nature of current funding, which allows the politicians to play games; a separate NI system would hopefully take the politicians out of the equation. Perhaps it's not the "bean counters" per se. but their salaries that need to be questioned?

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:lol:   Think most of us have discerned the nonsense nature of current funding, which allows the politicians to play games; a separate NI system would hopefully take the politicians out of the equation. Perhaps it's not the "bean counters" per se. but their salaries that need to be questioned?

 

So you're advocating an insurance backed system then? Sort of - if you haven't paid your insurance then no treatment? Now which major country has such a system?

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It seems that problems are being caused by bed blocking because there are insufficient NHS beds . Maybe an idea would be to upgrade the staff at care & retirement homes so elderly people who have been treated in hospital can continue their treatment & care in familiar surroundings so not taking up unnecessary bed space because there is nowhere for them to go. Let care homes become an important extension of the health service with qualified nursing staff capable of providing some of their own A&E to residents & aftercare from hospital visits.

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 Maybe an idea would be to upgrade the staff at care & retirement homes so elderly people who have been treated in hospital can continue their treatment & care in familiar surroundings so not taking up unnecessary bed space because there is nowhere for them to go. Let care homes become an important extension of the health service with qualified nursing staff capable of providing some of their own A&E to residents & aftercare from hospital visits.

Already happening, there are at least 3 such establishments in Halton. http://www.nhs.uk/CarersDirect/guide/practicalsupport/Pages/extra-care.aspx

 

 

Widnes http://www.housingcare.org/housing-care/facility-info-158740-naughton-fields-widnes-england.aspx

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  • 2 weeks later...

Think if you read it properly, Nigel is calling for a debate, the Party policy remains committed to an NHS free at the point of need; nowt wrong with Insurance based system anyway (as we've discussed on here); as long as it's "national" insurance.  The problem you've got, is that UKIP support is a rejection of the LibLabCons; who've had 40 odd years and led us into a mess;  it's a protest vote. 

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