Hey Everyone and welcome to the latest in this series where we talk about anything we want lol!
Over the past 3 weeks or so the Hocks have had their fair usage of the NHS and we thought we would tell you our views on the current state of the NHS.
We firmly believe this government is letting down the staff that work in our hospitals. The staff are thin on the ground in wards and completely overworked. In some cases this causes them to understandably get stressed and maybe a little snappy and seem uncaring. We think its important that the government realise that the nurses on the wards are the face of the NHS and if there were more then this general consensus that is around about The NHS would disappear.
In the last weeks the Hocks have used two different Accident and Emergency units, Southport and Formby District General Hospital and Wrexham Maelor Hospital
On all occasions using these accident and emergency wards was efficient, fast and caring. We have all heard a lot recently about A&E Departments and their negatives but we never hear about the positives, and in the 3 times we have used them in the last few weeks both hospitals departments were excellent.
Also in both hospitals the wards provide a good service but as mentioned above they all need more staff, especially at weekends. We do not think it is right that a ward with over 30 beds should have just 2 staff and a healthcare assistant on it all day on a Sunday. This is not the staffs fault, its the management and the government and they say that they have ring fenced the NHS from all the cuts but all these signs indicate that is not entirely true.
I have been visiting and the patient next to my relative has pressed his button for assistance and an hour later the buzzer is still sounding and the light is still lit. They ended up struggling to get themselves in bed because they had had enough of waiting, then 10 minutes later a nurse came and asked what they wanted and understandably they were quite sharp with her saying i got fed up of waiting so ie done it my self now. This was an old patient not good on their feet who could have fallen and ended up costing the NHS even more! There should be enough funding in place that allows at least a healthcare assistant to be in each 6 bed ward at all times.
If this carries on we can imagine people will not want to train to work in hospitals. We know of people who do work in the NHS who have openly said they would discourage anyone they know from doing it as it is so stressful and so much is expected of you for so little reward.
As a country we should be proud of our healthcare system but so many people are not because they are not getting the basics right in hospitals due, and again we stress, due to management and Government failings.
I have to say that i agree with the Governments thinking of a new 7 Day NHS but this is no good if hospitals will simply spread out their current staff over the 7 days, hence the good staffing levels in the week being reduced to help the weekend levels go up - it needs good investment in good training for thousands more nursing positions and better pay too. So what would we do if we were in charge of the NHS?
1) Ensure every Accident and Emergency department was able to accept both Adults and Children - it is wrong that this is not the case at the moment and these decisions need reversing as soon as possible.
2) Ensure funding was in place that meant every 6 Patients on a ward had a health care assistant 24 hours a day available.
3) Stop the Ridiculous charges for people to park on the hospital grounds.
4) Have more nurses and Doctors on the wards at all times - and ensure that on weekend days a ward is properly staffed.
Yes, we know all these mean more money but this is our NHS, there should never be a price put on what it means to have access to staff whenever you want it.
What are your experiences and thoughts? Let us know! We love hearing from you all
