? the answer

[Sqad]

Many people ask as to why people come onto AB with their medical problems instead of phoning NHS direct.

Might this be ONE of the reasons?

http://www.dailymail....DVT-fobbed-nurse.html

[DTCwordfan]

Can we ABers all now take the title Doctor and the appropriate salary from the NHS?

[boxtops]

Indeed sqad, that's what it says! The pilot in the NE at the moment is being manned by NE Ambulance Service but the long term plan sounds very different. http://www.nhsdirect....ewsDirect/NHSDRole111

[237SJ]

The couple of occasions when I have phoned NHS Direct, they didn`t seem to know any more than I did. I think they`re a bit of a waste of time really. I`m not sure what their function is apart from telling someone to get an ambulance or go to hospital themselves.

[boxtops]

Not at the moment DT!, they're trying hand over fist to save money, the GPs are being asked not to refer non-urgent cases until April in an attempt to save money - in some instances, individual PCTs have to save (or not spend) £20m before the end of the financial year. The budget strictures are massive at the moment.

[Sqad]

boxy.....I have always thought that Primary Care is a very expensive and at times inefficient and poor value for money.

I have always been and remain convinced, that central polyclinics open and staffed by GP´s with minimum home visits, 24 hours a day would be better value. Unfortunately the British public have been used to home visits now for 60 years and would not take kindly to taking the sick to a central 24 hour surgery.

[PurpleParis]

Well Sqad.... I think you know I am not going to disagree with this.....I have been saying it for over two years.....I am not nurse bashing...if it wasn't for circumstance I would be in training now....

It's not really their fault....in a lot of cases.....it's become very much a ticking boxes exercise instead of actual thought and caring.....

In the last two years of my other halfs neuropathy/B12/DVT problems we have only come across two nurses who actually cared....in fact if it wasnt for one of them, he may not be here now as it was her who asked the Haematologist to look at him and that was when the pernicious anaemia was diagnosed.....

Come on people....lets get back to proper nursing.....

[Eve]

I think 24 hours clinics would be a great idea.

I really admire the setup at the MRI, my local hospital. They have a great streamlining process with a separate adults and children A&E, minor injuries unit, eye unit and walk in centre so they can keep accident and emergency for actual accidents and emergencies and concentrate on the serious cases who then get seen to quicker.

I have to say, NHS proved a godsent for me some years ago. I had felt increasingly unwell and had the most awful headache I've ever. A friend came to see me and called NHS Direct. I thought it was maybe caused by some medication I had been taking and had been to the local GP the day before who told me I was fine.

Am ambulance was screaming up the road not much more than 10 minutes after my friend put the phone down to a nurse and I was shortly in A&E then transferred to the local infectious diseases unit being told they were pretty certain I had meningitis and needed to do a lumbar puncture, at this point I was hearing voices.

Turned out it was a nasty virus and my brain had swollen. I had no idea I had a rash (my friend told me afterwards she had found it when NHS Direct asked her to check) and, although, thank goodness, it wasn't actual meningitis, it could have been a life saving call.

If it hadn't been for NHS Direct I would probably have just stayed in bed and tried to sleep it off.

[Jules001]

when my son recently had tonsillitis, we had already seen a GP and therefore had a diagnosis, but as there was no improvement, I rang NHS Direct for advice - this was my experience: When my call was answered, firstly I was unable to ascertain whether I was speaking to a male or female operator as I am fairly sure English was not their first language, the person obviously had a check list procedure with no flexibility to enable me to say that we had already seen a GP, the operator checked my 'phone number at least three times during the call and kept going over the information I had already supplied, finally they said as they weren't busy I could be put through to a nurse straight away. When I spoke to the nurse, she was great, I knew she understood what the situation was and she, after asking a few more pertinent questions, was able to offer me excellent advice, it was just a shame that the experience was somewhat marred by the useless operator beforehand.
Yes I had been on AB to ask about it before phoning NHS Direct mainly for other points of view and a little peace of mind that I wasn't overreacting unnecessarily.

[mike11111]

Always be very wary of anyone who has to advertise him/herself as "trained".

[dinkydoo]

Well i am very happy with the advise i have had from sqad many times in the past and i feel confident with his answers, so i for one will continue to direct my health questions to sqad for as long as he is on this site to answer them, thank you again sqad.

[boxtops]

LOL - perhaps we should offer ourselves as an on-call service to David Cameron, I could do with a few bob in my non-working hours..... "AB - International Rescue" !