Current Affairs 2023

[Ray B]

,

Let’s put 2p on income tax,then public sector can have their pay demands.!

Well the cash has to come from somewhere.

An increase in National Insurance Contributions, and and more from general taxation keeping up with inflation etc year on year should be a priority to give us a NHS more able to meet the demands of today. No moaning about an increase for the NHS available to all, unlike private insurance that come with expenses and conditions

[towny44]

I couldn't care less what has happened Keith between him and William.

That’s fair enough Stephen but the repercussions for William could be devastating in the eyes of his adoring Royal fans.

So you keep saying Keith, but as a Monarchist I would be quite prepared to let Harry have his FINAL say and then, if I am as appalled as you seem to suggest I would be only too happy to reconsider my position in the light of these revelations. Anything would be better than the constant drip drip from both H&M and you, and I realise that would normally be three, and both would be grammatically incorrect, but let's face it Harry only says what Meghan tells him to.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Let’s put 2p on income tax,then public sector can have their pay demands.!

Well the cash has to come from somewhere.

Agree. The Government have got to do something because this situation is getting worse. They are simply ignoring it hoping that it will go away. We never had these problems when Labour were in power.

Actually Bensham we did. I worked in the NHS then. And most of what we have now is because of the catastrophic GP contract Labour agreed, the reductions in bed numbers and increased costs in hospitals designed and built through PFI under Labour, the increase in levels of bureaucracy and bean counting under Labour, and cuts in training places under Labour. Apart from that it's all the Tories fault.

An increase in National Insurance Contributions, and and more from general taxation keeping up with inflation etc year on year should be a priority to give us a NHS more able to meet the demands of today. No moaning about an increase for the NHS available to all, unlike private insurance that come with expenses and conditions

Agreed

[oldbluefox]

Let’s put 2p on income tax,then public sector can have their pay demands.!

Well the cash has to come from somewhere.

I get a tad frustrated when I hear the outcry from some quarters at the mere suggestion that taxes may have to rise to fund the NHS.

And no, things weren't better under a Labour government. Blair caused all manner of mayhem through his PFI initiative which burdened the NHS with long term debt and led some trusts to sacrifice one hospital to save another. He also restructured doctors' surgeries and improved doctors' pay and working practices, maybe better for doctors but at the expense of patient care.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanc ... 6/fulltext

Successive governments have tried to avoid a political backlash from increased funding to the NHS by increasing taxation. Meanwhile the service has had to absorb more and mor initiatives as advances in medicine have been made.

I often hear our NHS being compared to that of some of our European and Scandinavian neighbours, and I agree their services for health care and social care are much better than ours. What is never mentioned is how much they spend on their services, and it is not just 2p on income tax. Unfortunately none of our politicians are willing to restructure and find the necessary finance to fund it. Add into the mix a general public who want sterling service on the cheap, and free if they can get it. If we want better services we need to pay for it AND the whole system needs a radical overhaul to cut out waste and overspending on admin.

[Onelife]

I couldn't care less what has happened Keith between him and William.

That’s fair enough Stephen but the repercussions for William could be devastating in the eyes of his adoring Royal fans.

So you keep saying Keith, but as a Monarchist I would be quite prepared to let Harry have his FINAL say and then, if I am as appalled as you seem to suggest I would be only too happy to reconsider my position in the light of these revelations. Anything would be better than the constant drip drip from both H&M and you, and I realise that would normally be three, and both would be grammatically incorrect, but let's face it Harry only says what Meghan tells him to.

I totally agree with you John, in that this circus needs to be brought to its conclusion one way or another.

One can only presume that any further revelations would have irrevocable consequences for the Monarchy especially so as Harry thinks his brother or father would never speak to him again. I can’t imagine he would do such a thing but the magnitude of such a statement can only be one where his brother wouldn’t be able to live it down? I’m trying to think of anything that could be so bad as to leave Monarchists feeling that he lacked the integrity that they once thought he had.

Just a shame that those who could resolve this choose to prolong it…as I’ve said before, all they need to do is make a simple statement, such as to say… “they recognise mistakes were made”, this could be done on the back of Charles’s wishes to modernise the Monarchy.

They all need a good slapping...and I know the man to do it

[Onelife]

Let’s put 2p on income tax,then public sector can have their pay demands.!

Well the cash has to come from somewhere.

I get a tad frustrated when I hear the outcry from some quarters at the mere suggestion that taxes may have to rise to fund the NHS.

And no, things weren't better under a Labour government. Blair caused all manner of mayhem through his PFI initiative which burdened the NHS with long term debt and led some trusts to sacrifice one hospital to save another. He also restructured doctors' surgeries and improved doctors' pay and working practices, maybe better for doctors but at the expense of patient care.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanc ... 6/fulltext

Successive governments have tried to avoid a political backlash from increased funding to the NHS by increasing taxation. Meanwhile the service has had to absorb more and mor initiatives as advances in medicine have been made.

I often hear our NHS being compared to that of some of our European and Scandinavian neighbours, and I agree their services for health care and social care are much better than ours. What is never mentioned is how much they spend on their services, and it is not just 2p on income tax. Unfortunately none of our politicians are willing to restructure and find the necessary finance to fund it. Add into the mix a general public who want sterling service on the cheap, and free if they can get it. If we want better services we need to pay for it AND the whole system needs a radical overhaul to cut out waste and overspending on admin.

In a nutshell Foxy

It is as I have said before…we need to decide what we value…have less money in our pockets for our health needs or carry on the way we are and die earlier.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Have you seen Starmer's brilliant idea to allow patients to refer themselves to hospital consultants rather than having to go via a GP? Can you imagine how that's going to work when most people can't even make a sensible decision about when they need to go to A&E? People with cancer won't be able to get an appointment for months and months because the specialists will be tied up seeing people with eczema and hay fever.

[Ray B]

I tire of hearing that A&E always having long queuing because most seeking treatment can't /won't wait for a doctors appointment. Trouble is that the hard working staff in A&E try to see them all where in my view they should say "on yer bike, this is A&E in case you hadn't noticed"

[oldbluefox]

I agree. Is it an accident? Is it an emergency? If not, go away.
And whilst on the subject we should be less tolerant of no-show appointments. When appointments are at a premium it's appalling that some people don't show up.
And now that I am in full flow there should be zero tolerance of those who spit at and abuse emergency workers even those on drugs or alcohol. It's not acceptable and should not be tolerated.
Over to you

[Stephen]

I agree Foxy.

Everyone who comes into A&E is triaged so why aren’t they doing it and saying ‘this isn’t an accident or emergency’ and referring them to their GP. I suspect It’s because they know full well how hard it is to get a GP appointment and feel they have a moral obligation to treat the patient. I’m not say ing it’s right or wrong, just my personal view.

It’s all a vicious circle.

[Mervyn and Trish]

I think you're right about feeling they have a moral obligation. The medical staff are wonderful and will always do their best for the patient in front of them even if they are a selfish plonker. Maybe we need bouncers on the door to stop them even getting into the department.

[towny44]

I think you're right about feeling they have a moral obligation. The medical staff are wonderful and will always do their best for the patient in front of them even if they are a selfish plonker. Maybe we need bouncers on the door to stop them even getting into the department.

Why not just have GP receptionists do the the initial, non medical triage, that should reduce A&Es workload by half
.

[Onelife]

Perhaps one of the solutions to over stretched A&E services is to expand GP service availability…the more they can see the less will turn up at A&E. less hospitals investment and more investment in new GP practises…. preferably NHS funded with pay scales not like what we are seeing in most of the privately run practises.

[Onelife]

I think you're right about feeling they have a moral obligation. The medical staff are wonderful and will always do their best for the patient in front of them even if they are a selfish plonker. Maybe we need bouncers on the door to stop them even getting into the department.

Why not just have GP receptionists do the the initial, non medical triage, that should reduce A&Es workload by half
.

Good idea John…with a little bit of training they could do palm readings as well

[Stephen]

Perhaps one of the solutions to over stretched A&E services is to expand GP service availability…the more they can see the less will turn up at A&E. less hospitals investment and more investment in new GP practises…. preferably NHS funded with pay scales not like what we are seeing in most of the privately run practises.

Good luck with that one Keith.

[Onelife]

Perhaps one of the solutions to over stretched A&E services is to expand GP service availability…the more they can see the less will turn up at A&E. less hospitals investment and more investment in new GP practises…. preferably NHS funded with pay scales not like what we are seeing in most of the privately run practises.

Good luck with that one Keith.

I’m only giving the solutions; I didn’t say I know how to implement them...that being said I'm sure I could have a pretty good stab at it if I put my mind to it…. unfurtunatly I’m a little too preoccupied at the moment defending lovely Meghan and Harry

[Mervyn and Trish]

I think you have a good idea. Perhaps you should devote your time to finding a way to implement it and abandon the other lost cause.

[Ray B]

Oh Merv, can we count that as just dipping your toe back into 'that' subject.

[barney]

Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital has a Consultant at A&E for triage.
He or she will be very experienced in assessing patients.
They quickly make a decision and if the problem is not an accident or emergency or considered serious, they inform the patient that they can wait if they wish, but others will take priority.
It seems to work quite well.
That’s probably too much responsibility for a nurse but senior consultants can handle it.

[david63]

Apparently one of the big bottlenecks in most A&E departments is the number of mental health patients that they have to deal with - especially when the mental health support services do not respond "out of hours".

Perhaps having dedicate mental health facilities (not necessarily going as far as mental health hospitals - many of which have been closed down) where they can be treated in a more appropriate setting would be an idea.

As for GPs the first thing that needs to be done is to have more "face to face" appointments.

[david63]

Have you seen Starmer's brilliant idea to allow patients to refer themselves to hospital consultants rather than having to go via a GP? Can you imagine how that's going to work when most people can't even make a sensible decision about when they need to go to A&E? People with cancer won't be able to get an appointment for months and months because the specialists will be tied up seeing people with eczema and hay fever.

In principle I don't disagree but as you say it is doomed if patients were to be allowed to just make an appointment with a consultant.

Take a look at the current system:
1. You phone your GP for an appointment (anything up to an hour on the phone) and are given a phone appointment in three weeks time.
2. GP says at the phone appointment needs to have a "face to face" appointment in another three weeks time.
3. GP says a face to face appointment that it has to be referred to the hospital.
4. Get hospital appointment in six weeks.
5. Hospital appointment is cancelled due to "unforeseen circumstances" so another appointment in three months (actually you were never going to get the first appointment but you had to be given that in order to "tick the box")
6. Have hospital appointment and told you need x-ray/scan/tests.
7. Get appointment for tests etc. in six weeks time.
8. Have tests but told you need to see consultant again.
9. Receive consultant appointment in six weeks and told you will be on the waiting list for treatment - but that will be some time in the future!

So you wait six moths to be told what you already know!!

My approach would be to have an online triage system (yes I know that the NHS IT is second only to P&O!) where you are asked a series of questions with options. At the end of the questions you are given the route that you should go down which would start at one end by visiting your pharmacy for some medication to going to A&E where you would already have been checked in and told to go in three hours. I am not saying that this system would be perfect but neither is the current system. Obviously you would use common sense and call an ambulance in an emergency.

So under this system you would go straight to point 7 above.

This might sound fanciful but some of it is already in use in some hospital trusts.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Oh Merv, can we count that as just dipping your toe back into 'that' subject.

Surely not?

Merely trying to help the NHS by getting one of the country's top brains fully engaged on solving the crisis. Much better use of his time.

[Ray B]

Good to see the south west and us in the east(Norfolk) getting a few crumbs from the leveling up table. £22m each to KL in the west and Grt Y in the east. We normally get overlooked to keep the North quiet.

[towny44]

Good to see the south west and us in the east(Norfolk) getting a few crumbs from the leveling up table. £22m each to KL in the west and Grt Y in the east. We normally get overlooked to keep the North quiet.

The South East has got the most, but of course since they include London in this area then the per capita level is quite low compared with the North. Still something is better than nothing, but the process does seem flawed.

[Onelife]

Oh Merv, can we count that as just dipping your toe back into 'that' subject.

Surely not?

Merely trying to help the NHS by getting one of the country's top brains fully engaged on solving the crisis. Much better use of his time.

Once again, I thank you for acknowledging my intellectual superiority…some would think you are taking the p*ss, but I know you better.

Anyway…not being one who doges a challenge I’ve spent a couple of minutes thinking about this…

I suppose if we had a bottomless amount of money to throw at this, we wouldn’t have a problem.

The problem is that we don’t therefore we need to look at ways to best utilise the resources we do have.

As I have said I would look towards increasing GP practises.

I would freeze surgical advancement both in facilities and surgical equipment and make do with what we’ve got until such time that other services are adequality funded.

I would assign an independent body of professional to administer all NHS workings and do away completely with the political football that has brought us to this state.

I would create a long-term strategy to give our country a nationalised pharmaceutical company.

I would reintroduce prescription charges for pensioners… at a much-reduced rate than what they are now…perhaps a fixed fee for all items.

I would charge drunks and malingers who abuse the A&E.

And last but not least introduce a ringfenced tax solely for social care requirements.

Oh’ and I would turn Buckingham palaces into a themed tourist attraction with an extortionate charge for standing on the Royal balcony… should Sir Merv fancy being King for the day.

Solved!