Archive for January, 2017

NHS

Tuesday, January 10th, 2017

Sir: Everything Mike Adamson, (Jan 9), says is true. The NHS is always nominally ‘in crisis’ but is currently heading for a major crash in real time. None of the shake ups of recent years, many costly and in the case of the Lansley reforms unproductive and wasteful, have led to improvements in the service. It is underfunded but the main problem is a poorly motivated workforce, punishing shift patterns, and appalling working conditions. Junior doctors firefight instead of treat. Departments cannot be properly built because of the churn in staff; it takes years to put together excellent departments, not days and months. Sometimes staff do not know members in their own departments, let alone those on other floors. Patients go missing. Paperwork is lost. There is chaos, duplication and confusion which de-motivates further.

Staff are ground down and exhausted; there is an unspoken “not my problem” hanging in the air. Bright eyed and bushy tailed junior doctors and young nurses opt for locum work to give themselves a break. The lethargy is manifest by workers of all grades arriving late with no hand over time and disappearing the minute their shift is over. Things have reached an all-time low.

Only when hospitals are made better for the staff will things improve for patients.

Jeremy Hunt should go. Imposing a new contract on junior doctors has made nobody safer at weekends and, as was feared, has merely spread a thinning staff ever thinner.  A new Health Minister is required who is capable of obtaining more money from the Treasury, improving conditions and getting management to sharpen up. He or she must not be afraid to roll up their sleeves and sink deep into this most challenging job. This is a task for an exceptional individual and Theresa May must find someone fearless and energetic who is truly up to the monumental task.

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