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NHS - General Opinions


Guest Tricia

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Many within the NHS can barely be bothered to feed or wash elderly patients in their care.....can't see them handing out hugs and empathy Speakman style somehow!!

How true...

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Guest LauraMac

Many within the NHS can barely be bothered to feed or wash elderly patients in their care.....can't see them handing out hugs and empathy Speakman style somehow!!

The NHS has many problems but it does save lives. It's care saved mine. My CBT that they provided, has been a life changer. I've went from existing just to living. I now love my life, which I never had before. I now don't see myself as being worthless anymore. Yes there are bad stories but we have to remember the good too. My therapist was highly caring and empathic. She's the reason I'm still here today. We need to remember there are great carers in the NHS too.

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The point is, there should be no bad experiences within the NHS. Mistakes, alas, might occur occasionally, we are all human (at present they happen all too frequently because of the lack of dedicated staff) but when it comes down to neglect, and bad treatment, it should never occur. Sadly, almost everyone I know has personal experience where they or a loved one has been treated badly.

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Guest LauraMac

Yeah I agree there shouldn't be cases of neglect etc, that's completely unacceptable but that's in the minority. We just hear about it a lot more than good stories. Should never happen though. And yeah there are always going to be mistakes due to human error. We must remember though people will have bad experiences due to many different reasons. Perhaps they have a bad experience because they don't get on with their therapist. Perhaps they have bad experience because they expect to get more from therapy etc. People have bad experiences in every organisation, because what might be a good service for some, might not be a good one another. Everyone is different. Don't get me wrong the NHS has many problems but they do a good job too. They saved my life and for that I'll always be grateful. Not all experiences are bad. It has to be noted the NHS can and do save lives

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The point is, there should be no bad experiences within the NHS. Mistakes, alas, might occur occasionally, we are all human (at present they happen all too frequently because of the lack of dedicated staff) but when it comes down to neglect, and bad treatment, it should never occur. Sadly, almost everyone I know has personal experience where they or a loved one has been treated badly.

i was treated badly by the nhs .

Thats neglect, thats bad treatment .

Edited by legend
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Yeah I agree there shouldn't be cases of neglect etc, that's completely unacceptable but that's in the minority. We just hear about it a lot more than good stories.

I truly don't think they are in the minority. Both my parents were badly treated by GPs and our local hospital. I was treated appallingly in a hospital and by a psychiatrist (as an out-patient). A friend of mine was refused help when she was suicidal and so she sensibly took herself to A & E, where the psychiatrist who had refused to help her happened to turn up and went on to give her another telling off for being 'weak'. I won't go on, but I could write pages about unacceptable treatment.

I am not saying this to distress people and put them off seeking treatment on the NHS, but please be aware that not all health professionals will necessarily treat you well, so make sure you complain and stand up for yourself. I didn't for myself or my poor father, but am glad to say I took a different stance with my mother who died recently. Health professionals are there to serve us and they are not the gods some seem to believe themselves to be!

Edited by Tricia
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i was treated badly by the nhs .

Thats neglect, thats bad treatment .

Legend, I don't know why I can't get your message to 'quote' in full, but it was appalling how you were treated and could easily have tipped you over the edge. Thank goodness you are strong.

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Legend, I don't know why I can't get your message to 'quote' in full, but it was appalling how you were treated and could easily have tipped you over the edge. Thank goodness you are strong.

i messaged you

thanks xx

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but that's in the minority. We just hear about it a lot more than good stories.

I'm not sure that's true. Certainly not in cases I've witnessed amongst my own family and friends.....and I'm not talking therapy-wise.

That said.....it was pointed out earlier in the thread that I shouldn't have raised a political issue. Perhaps this should be discussed in Central Perks as a separate debate if wanted

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Guest LauraMac

You have to remember though the thousands and thousands of people who are being treated well and who's lives have been changed. Even with small operations etc. I know of one bad story of care in hospital from a family member but I know of how many times we're been helped as a family too. In our case it outweighs the bad care a serious amount! One bad occasion, out probably 100s of visits to the dr, countless operations etc between us all. Not everything is right in the NHS I accept that. Bad treatment certainly has happened and it's wrong. They have let people down on occasions. But the NHS is a good option for care I believe. Obviously I don't know about treatment in England etc but I know in Northern Ireland lots and lots of people have had great experiences with therapy on the NHS. Many I know with OCD have good stories with CBT on the NHS. I certainly wouldn't want people to be put off care on the NHS. It's certainly worth a shot, it's the reason I'm still here today. :)

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I certainly wouldn't want people to be put off care on the NHS

I don't think anyone would....but that doesn't mean that poor care should be tolerated or a blind eye turned on it. In order for the NHS to provide excellent service across the board it does need to be scrutinised and failings exposed. To my mind it simply isn't good enough to say most get good care...and hard lines if a percentage don't.

Again, I stress I wasn't specifically or particularly referring to therapy available for OCD or other mental health problems but more the general neglect that occurs far too frequently. That should never happen, not even once.

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Guest LauraMac

that doesn't mean that poor care should be tolerated or a blind eye turned on it.

To my mind it simply isn't good enough to say most get good care...and hard lines if a percentage don't.

Just to remind, I said bad care should never happen. "I agree there shouldn't be cases of neglect etc, that's completely unacceptable". I also don't believe a blind eye should be turned on it! I've said that no where!

I'm not saying it's good enough that most get good care, I'm merely pointing out that good care is there too and needs to be noticed too. Just as the bad care does. I'm also not saying forget about those who don't get good care, that's the opposite of what I think. In fact I made a video a while ago where I said 'not all is well in the NHS and it's right people should tell of those experiences, but it's also right I should tell of my good experience". I'm merely telling of my good experiences. The NHS isn't all bad.

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Tricia I am so sorry to hear your mother died recently .

I haven't read most of this thread , I am not into the debate, I just glanced through and your words jumped out to me . I am so very sorry , and I will hold you in my thoughts and wish your strength .

I am ever so sorry xx God bless you and your mum xx

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I don't think anyone would....but that doesn't mean that poor care should be tolerated or a blind eye turned on it. In order for the NHS to provide excellent service across the board it does need to be scrutinised and failings exposed.

I do agree with this, the NHS is not perfect and does need to improve in all areas but I do think we are incredibly lucky to have a service for physical and mental health that we can turn to if we don't have funds to go down a different route. I see some of the emails from across the world, and whilst not perfect I am still convinced we are lucky to have it.

But I fear for the NHS with cutbacks, so we must fight to retain our national treasure. We can not improve something if it does not exist and whilst the NHS exists we must all continue to highlight its failures so that we can return it to a world leading healthcare provider.

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for many its a postcode lottery . it shouldnt be .

its also crumbling because it cannot cope with mass immigration and the sudden increase in population

Edited by legend
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Guest LauraMac

I don't think anyone said it was

I didn't say anyone did. I was just trying to give my opinion.

Enjoy the debate everyone, I'm done. Im clearly not communicating very well. I'm borderline dyslexic so I sometimes find it difficult to construct what I'm saying properly and by the looks of it things must be coming out wrong. The whole thing is starting to distress me now, so I'll leave u to it.

Enjoy anyway :)

Edited by LauraMac
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello All

I think I can see both sides of the debate here. Personally, the last time I was really ill in 2009, I had slow, but ultimately good treatment from the staff from the National Health Service. It took them a long time of fiddling with medications to get it correct. As I am sure the moderators will remember from my posts during those dark (for me!) days, I was up and down and all over the place. A period of depression was lifted by Risperidone, and I was hyper and high for a few months before crashing again. They eventually put me on olanzapine and that gradually stabilised my mood, took the edge off the horrific anxiety and allowed my thinking to become more rational again.

So I am grateful to the NHS. At the same time, I have been involved with OCD-UK and other health charities long enough to know that there are areas of neglect and abuse within the NHS structures, which is why we need independent lobby organisations such as this one to make an improvement. I feel safer knowing that I am a member of OCD-UK. Touch wood, I am going to be in a prolonged period of good health as I have been for nearly five years now. However, it is good to know that if I need services again, then OCD-UK will be there if I get a poor service, to lobby and advocate on my behalf until they correct procedures are followed.

Tez :original:

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Guest Orwell1984

The NHS has been eternally **** for me. I've been undermined, verbally abused and misdiagnosed on plenty of occasions. It really is like russian roulette trying to get a good NHS therapist. Private therapists are a mixed bag also. Delighted I finally have a good therapist (discovered by word of mouth) who I have a good working relationship with and who is local. I'm sticking with her. Good therapists are very hard to come by!

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  • 3 months later...

My experience of the NHS has actually been pretty good so far. I only waited 3 weeks to get into CBT and my therapist has been good so far. I am pretty sure I have been one of the lucky ones as I often hear that people have waited months to get seen. The only part of the NHS that I haven't found to be great so far is the doctors. They just don't seem overly bothered and don't seem to take any interest in mental illness.

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  • 1 month later...

The point is, there should be no bad experiences within the NHS. Mistakes, alas, might occur occasionally, we are all human (at present they happen all too frequently because of the lack of dedicated staff) but when it comes down to neglect, and bad treatment, it should never occur. Sadly, almost everyone I know has personal experience where they or a loved one has been treated badly.

Neglect isn't as simple as some people think. I worked in a came home in the kitchen and sometimes the staff are so busy accidental neglect does happen. Deliberate neglect is another thing but it isn't always as simple to cope with the numbers as some people think.

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My own experience of the NHS has been positive. i have had excellent care - partly due to the people themselves - my GP, psychologist and psychiatrist who all went the extra mile for me.

I totally agree that there are some cases - possibly more than we know where neglect happens. This should never happen - nurses and HCAs and other workers (I don't know much about the structure of care) should always care for their patients - in terms of their basic needs - acknowledgement of the patient as a person, an individual, pain relief, feeding, drinking, kept clean and comfortable, bandages changed and so on.

How much of the bad care we hear about is due to bad care through low personal and organisational standards and efforts and how much due to staff shortages - I don't know. i guess there are elements of both.

I do think that shortly there will be a huge crisis in the NHS (more than is current) - it cannot sustain the continuous cuts and the increasing demands on the service.

Edited by whitebeam
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  • 9 months later...

This thread hasn't been used in a while but I've noticed some of the posts in the support forums are starting to focus on the NHS, so thought I would maybe carry on this one.

I think the NHS is a complete god send, and when I am abroad and think about health care I am so thankful for the NHS. But when it comes to mental health it's just a bit ****.

It's not **** in the sense that we can gain therapy for free. But the process and the waiting times are out of this world. Maybe it's just where I'm located but my GP and referral process was painful.

My GP pretty much didn't know what to do with me, he didn't ask for any symptoms, he didn't tell me the different options, he didn't even really know which medication to give me.

After I finally got referred for therapy it took two months to receive a letter telling me I would have a phone call ( a week later) to assess whether therapy was suitable

Then if it was I would have to wait for my first assessment. I felt completely in the dark the whole time, I phoned several times to check if they had received my referral and to ask where I was in the process, each time I was put on hold and given another four numbers to call before I got through to someone who could help.

I definitely think GP surgeries need to have a Dr who has a broader knowledge on Mental health issues and what help is available. My GP is lovely, but he was of little help, he gave me a leaflet to look at, but only had the one so I couldn't take it home to read.

Sadly I don't think things will improve under the current Government. The NHS is so stretched as it is.

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