Let's hear it for the NHS

We hear all too often criticism of our NHS system and yet thus far I have only ever received an excellent level of care at the point of service....and believe me I am no stranger to hospitals.

Little ever seems to be mentioned about the doctors, nurses, auxiliary staff, technicians, caterers and administration workers who all, in my experience, carry out their duties in a highly professional and caring manner. Yes, there are shortfalls in the system certainly but for the main part they are not the fault or responsibility of those who staff our hospitals, or at least not those that we as the service user come into contact with and who are the guys on the front line suffering the day to day pressures and abuse.

It apalls me that each time I enter a hospital these days there appears to be a necessity for 'zero tolerance' notices regarding physical and verbal abuse against staff dotted around the walls of the various departments! Ok, if an individual has a problem or a complaint about the system fine, if it is valid take it up with those who hold the purse strings and make the decisions but why behave like a fuckwit and abuse the very people who are attempting to deliver the service with care and as much efficiency as they can muster....... Utterly amazing behaviour!

So why this outburst? Today, again, PG had an appointment at our local hospital. The term 'local' is subjective here, for it is 35 miles away but no matter, it is a pleasant journey and the sun was shining. This visit was to assess the knee he attempted to destroy the week we went on holiday to my parents. We arrived with half an hour to spare, bought a coffee from the ladies who work volountarily for the WRVS and made our way to orthopedic department. There is a new system in place here for more minor injuries, similar to triage and it worked wonderfully. We were ushered into a consulting room, on time I might add, for our appointment with a highly qualified physiotherapist who was to asses the knee for suitable further treatment. She did just that, politely, efficiently and with a high degree of professionalism. She took time to explain fully what she was doing and the procedure she was going to recommend. She even had at her disposal, 'working part' models of the relevant parts of the anatomy to assist those of us who are not anatomically trained, in understanding.

The whole idea and the manner in which it was carried out was excellent. Why use the resources to employ a consultant surgeon to assess a none life threatening condition, when there is another professional more than capable of doing the job?. In the 'old' system one saw the consultant for the diagnosis, then again to discuss the procedure and again on the day of surgery. The new system employed in this hospital weeds out those with injuries not requiring a surgeons skills and thereby free him or her up to reduce waiting times for those that do.

In PG's case unfortunately he does require surgery but he has been assessed within five weeks of his GP's referral and because of this 'triage' system his wait will be drastically reduced. The procedure will probably be carried out within months, at the outside a year....... not bad in my opinion, for something he can live with and is certainly not threatening his life.

So...let's hear it for the NHS eh? Less critisism for a service that in the main is excellent and whilst it is not free, I for one would not like to have had to pay the true cost of the treatments I have recieved over the years!