We all know that hospital beds are at premium, especially during life-draining winter months when flu epidemic, resulting in chest infection and pneumonia makes bed shortages worse. NHS has been cutting bed capacity for years, some due to closure, merger and down-grading hospitals, from General to Community hospitals.
No wonder now we have one of the lowest bed ratios per capita in Europe, even lower than many other countries well below us in economic league. It is indeed a shame on supposedly fifth biggest economy in the world, although on the verge of being overtaken by India and France.
So often, late at night when most patients are asleep, “Nursing Station”may receive an urgent call from extremely busy A & E department that an emergency admission needs bed without delay; the onus falls on Ward sister to find the bed.
The Sister in charge rushes to her Ward and wakes up bleary-eyed, so often an elderly patient who may be deemed to be able to go home, helps patient to dress and within half an hour patient is bundled and sent home, either by ambulance or taxi, so often on bitterly cold and damp night, inadequately dressed and without setting-up home help. This is indeed extremely undesirable practice, as so often these patients live on their own, unable to look after themselves without home help.
In some cases, they may not have keys or no family members at home. So the patient has to be brought back if fortunate, otherwise dumped outside to shiver. No one blames NHS staffs, as they are put in an unenviable situation, caught between “Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.”The blame lays fairly and squarely with cross-party placebo, bleeding heart politicians, who are out of touch with reality, habituated living in their “Ivory Tower”with moat-bridge raised! They talk so much but act so little! Politicians have also brain-washed public in believing that NHS treatment should be free at point of delivery, for everyone, including “Health Tourists!”But in reality nothing is free; we pay a fortune for dental treatment!
Manipulative, fiddle-faddle fiduciary Politicians have repeatedly ignored pleas from GPs to charge token fee of £10 for GP appointment, £20 for missing appointment and £50 for A & E visit, issuing “Entitle NHS Treatment Card” to eligible people, thus weeding out time wasters and hypochondriac, as well as muster plausible courage to transfer funds from “Overseas Aid to Home Front!”Could we ever get luminary, patriot, intelligentsia politicians of calibre of Sir Winston Churchill, Lady Thatcher, Clement Atlee and Aneurin Bevan who gave us NHS!
Kumudini Valambia
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