Egbert Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 We're told that hospitals - including Warrington - are not meeting A&E targets. This may be so - it is a difficult time of the year. But what the statistics being seized upon by the Government's critics don't tell us, is: How many of the patients visiting A&E should be there? How many should really be at their GP? How many in fact even have a GP? My experience of A&E at Warrington has been first rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latchford Locks Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 Arranging a GP appointment is getting to be a nightmare.That is the problem. Lots of people just give up and jump into a car and go to A&E. We need a good sized walk in GP centre as we used to have in Sankey St . To relieve the bottleneck at A&E. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P J Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 It is complex Egbert, and so many factors have led to this crisis. There is a huge problem of old people bed blocking as there is no social care places for them or their families can't or won't have them. A lot of the outreach facilities , especially in mental health, were amongst the first services cut when the cuts in services began so they now have nowhere but A & E to go to. Some of the younger generation see A & E as a 24 hour walk in surgery and are misusing an essentially emergency service. There aren't enough GP appointments so people bypass it and go to A & E. Many more factors contribute but thats a few. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P J Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 Egbert, I too have only praise for the staff and service I have seen or received at Warrington Hospital. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy51 Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 The family doctor service ,if it can still be called that ,is slower & much less accessible than it ever was ,appointments like gold dust & still you have to wait when you are there on time. In the days of 40 or 50 people turning up on spec the service was quicker & more thorough & the out of hours service meant there was a good chance you'd see your own doctor.The NHS is sick & should be in intensive care to safeguard the service for years to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P J Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 In my opinion, for what its worth, the NHS should be taken out of the control of politicians . These career snake oil salesmen are totally and utterly incapable of deciding what is best for such a huge, important and complicated service. It always strikes me as mad that one day you can be in charge of Defence and then, due to a political shuffle, the next day you are in charge of the NHS. Sheer madness. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfie Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 We need a good sized walk in GP centre as we used to have in Sankey St .To relieve the bottleneck at A&E. I went to the Walk in centre at Widnes on Sunday only to be told there was a 4 hour wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latchford Locks Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 I went to the Walk in centre at Widnes on Sunday only to be told there was a 4 hour wait. Maybe because people from Warrington as well as Widnes had to use the one facility, And so if we had our own centre.... Or is that just stating the obvious ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 I went to the Walk in centre at Widnes on Sunday only to be told there was a 4 hour wait. did you walk out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latchford Locks Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 did you walk out? Well you are still here to tell the story.. So................. was it that important anyway ?// Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latchford Locks Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 The birds have come home to roost http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30705689 and I am not crowing just feel a bit let down by our cost cutting debt reducing at any cost but" Ring Fencing Foreign Aid" obsessed... Present Government... Sort this out... or make way for somebody who can Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P J Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Whereas I think every one is agreed that something needs to be done about the NHS crisis and quickly, I do think you need to come up with something more constructive and sensible than the "Blame it all on Ringfenced Foreign Aid " approach. Compared to what is already spent on Health the foreign aid budget would just be a drop in the ocean and if memory serves Latchford Locks, you have already ring fenced the overseas aid budget to pay for meals on wheels. I think that a more pragmatic, joined up approach is called for not necessarily taking money from Peter to pay Paul. The blocking of beds by ageing patients is a priority as is the education of people as to what constitutes a genuine cause to visit A & E. The problem is that when A & E departments start to be swamped the effects reach out across the rest of the hospitals services including the cancellation of operations etc. If you look at a pie chart on welfare spending there is a huge piece of cake that is the Health spend and a tiny sliver that is the Overseas aid budget. Logic dictates that it therefore can't fix the NHS but it could well appease the more shortsighted or xenophobic amongst us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P J Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Well you are still here to tell the story.. So................. was it that important anyway ?// Are the walk in centres just for life or death situations then? I thought that was what A & E covered and that walk in centres were for none appointment GP visits? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy51 Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 I've just made an on line doctor's appointment for a family member for Monday & there were only four left. He wanted Friday really but there was only one appointment left with a locum who has no knowledge of his case.Some of the doctors are only at our surgery for a couple of hours during the day so they may be split between other group surgeries too.I don't think the NHS hospital treatment is helped these days though by doctors doing private work as well or by relying for the nursing roster on what has been created by a succession of cost cutting governments , bank staff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egbert Posted January 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 I rang my GP on Tuesday morning to ask for an appointment to see my own, named doctor. I was asked if it was "urgent for today". I said no. I was then given an appointment at 8.10am Wednesday. I think that was pretty good - and it is typical of the service I receive from the practice. When I arrived there was one person waiting to see my doctor and I had to wait perhaps 10 minutes. Again, I think that was pretty good. Anyone who doesn't get that sort of service from their GP should take the matter up with the Warrington CCG. If one GP practice can do, so can the others. Incidentally, I suspect many people with the complaint I had would have gone to A&E. I think A&E would be within their rights if they turned people away if they were not emergency cases. But they don't - and that's why they fail to meet their targets. There are other reasons, of course, including the number of elderly patients. Warrington A&E have met their targets for most of the year and it is only to be expected that there will be problems in the winter months. We, the public, could help a lot more by taking basic precautions to avoid cold and 'flu - like washing our hands more often. On visits to hospitals I have been appalled at the number of men who do not wash their hands after using the toilet - despite the signs pleading with them to do so. I f they don't do it in hospitals they probably don't do it anywhere else either - and so contribute to the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 The last news item I saw, said a survey at one A&E, showed 30% were there with trivial, non-urgent issues. For contagious problems, like flu; the last place to go is a crowded A&E, or even a GPs surgery for that matter; perhaps more advice over the phone could relieve some pressure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P J Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 I think a hard hitting educational campaign about the problems caused by misusing A & E would be money well spent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Do you really think it would make any difference to the type of folk currently abusing it? What you term "education" should be common sense to folk, unfortunately common sense isn't that common. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P J Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 not smoking is common sense but the campaigns are successful in getting folk to pack in. I really think that a lot of younger people just don't understand that they shouldn't be going to A & E with a bit of wind , they see it as a 24 hour drop in surgery. Like everything else is available at all times now they presume that health care is. So yes, I think a hard hitting, televised campaign would help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy51 Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Maybe the crux of the matter is that GPs are no longer a drop in service & this may steer people to a drop in service at the nearest walk in centre or A & E. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P J Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Then they need to be stopped from doing and thinking that is a reasonable course of action. I heard today of a mum who called for an ambulance at 2 am as her 3 year old had vomited once and another who rang one as they had been constipated for two days. They need to know it's not on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfie Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 They don't give a sh*t some people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Is anyone using the 111 helpline? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P J Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 They don't give a sh*t some people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asperity Posted January 8, 2015 Report Share Posted January 8, 2015 Well Caine Dingle was at A&E in Emmerdale last night and the place was deserted! He got seen in next to no time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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