Wasting your Money and Time NHS

[The PIT]

Another example of shambolic NHS.

Brother Law needs an operation for a blocked artery to the heart. The operation was today but it was a different surgon. Guess what? The surgon can't find the blockage. In fact he doesn't know where too look for it as he doesn't have the orginal slide. He tries to contact the orginal surgon but cannot contact him.

So now my Brother in law has to go through all this again with the orginal Surgon.

Good example of our health Service.

[KvHagedorn]

You mean they actually cracked his chest open and all, then couldn't find it???

[Helevitia]

You mean they actually cracked his chest open and all, then couldn't find it???

Usually they cut open a hole in your leg and go up through your main artery to your heart, no chest cracking here

[The PIT]

Usually they cut open a hole in your leg and go up through your main artery to your heart, no chest cracking here

With the NHS I wouldn't be so sure.

Also since I have a fair bit of contact with Nurses. Hospital is the very last place I would want to be in.

[Umfriend]

Also since I have a fair bit of contact with Nurses.

Dude, are you sure we want to read about your brother in law? Tell us about them nurses!


Sry bout your bil.

[Brian Ellis]

Sorry to hijack your thread.

You remember my friend who was diagnosed with a tumour in the caecum? Well he had it removed on Thursday of the week before last and he came home on Friday with a packet of pain killers. He tells me that he has to wait three weeks for the result of a histological analysis of the tumour and biopsies of the liver and surrounding tissues. THREE WEEKS In the meanwhile, they cannot start chemotherapy or whatever, until they determine the nature of the cancer. However, I suppose one can say what's three weeks when it has taken 18 months for a diagnosis of the tumour?

I am SHOCKED at the quality of NHS service, which used to be so good. I suppose the bean counters have more weight than medical services.

[James_D]

3 weeks.. hmm that does seem like a long wait, but it all comes down to how much backlog the histopathology department have. Remember every little biopsy, they have to look at. And its not always so easy to make a correct diagnosis. First you have to embed the biopsy sample in a parafin block, so that you can make sections, then after sectioning, staining, then you have to look through many many slides from each biopsy sample to look for atypical cells. Sometimes the only thing that can diagnose an anaplastic tumor is monoclonal antibodies, and they can be VERY expensive, and hard to get.
And also biopsy taken during surgery, if they find something during surgery has first priority, so that they can diagnose before suturing up the patient. Then they use frosen sections.

The problem is that the medical service can treat more diseases and people a sufffering much more from chronic illnesses than before, and chronic diseases take more time and resouces than acute illnesses. And people often come late in the course off the disease, making it harder to treat, and the demand more of the hospital. They demand to be cured no matter what, and that's not how it works.

But i do agree on that bean counters have more weight than the medical staff.


Take care.
JD

[Brian Ellis]

I can't help comparing it with my adventure into the realm of cancer, which took place in Switzerland. I visited a urologist for a cystitis. He routinely took blood for a PSA test, which came out inordinately high (29.8, max normally 4). He said that this may be due to the bladder infection. I went through a whole gamut of tests the same week and was intraurethrally biopsied 4 days later. Got the result back the following day: positive . So I knew the worst within a week of the first clue. Then there was a slack of 10 days while the biopsy wounds healed. during which time I was clued up on the 5 treatment options open to me: radical prostatectomy, "saving" prostatectomy, radiotherapy, cryotherapy and brachytherapy. Having discussed the possibilities of my tumour size, position and shape, without apparent metastasis, with various specialists, I chose radiotherapy. Three days to have the jigs and masks made and to be tattooed and just three weeks after my visit to the urologist, my 8½ weeks of treatment was started. That was 9 years ago. I wonder whether I'd be here today if I had had to wait 18++ months before treatment could start, like my friend.