anyone got faith in the NHS?

Alastair Campbell was on Steve Wrights show the other day. Steve asked him why his figures for opinions on the NHS said positive public perception was rising, but polls said otherwise. Alastair's response was priceless. "if you stop people in the street and do a poll about their opinion on the NHS and it's negative; then I think their opinion is worthless'

Only real gripe I've had with them is that they failed to spot a head injury that was fairly severe and the usual bueracratic red tape. Oh and how dirty a lot of the wards are. I also don't like the attitude nurses give you if you have an accident on a friday/saturday night that is completely unrelated to alcohol, yet they just assume you're some stupid drunk. And the centralisation of all the hospitals/GP's clinics and then the audacity to charge for parking when the only way to get there is by car. Okay, so a few gripes, but that's balanced out by the by and large good quality of care and the fact that most of the staff do seem to give a damn, which counts for a lot.

[Biker Biggles]

Having listened to this mornings news about the former defence chiefs slating of the government over its attitude to the military,it struck me that the same applies to the NHS,and probably all the public services.
What we have is a real increase in spending(a considerable one in the NHS)over a sustained period,but a collapse in workforce morale.Oddly there has been a general increase in remuneration to go alongside this,but still the morale has plumeted.The problem both the military and the NHS face is that staff morale is absolutely crucial to the organisations survival,and the employers seem unable to deal with this simple truth.

i havent got a bad word to say about them just the people who are incharge taking the p!ss out of there employees, ive never seen a dirty hospital, i think we just take too much for granted these days

I must admit, I'm employed by the NHS as a theatres practitoner in my local Day Surgery Unit. But... I personally have had good and bad experiences. It's not perfection but it's certainly better than most other countries government funded healthcare.

However, I do take advantage of the corporate healthcare provided to Grinch by IBM. Coz although I generally have no complaints about the EVENTUAL treatment I receive from the NHS, the bureaucracy of the 'waiting... and waiting... and waiting... list' is more than enough to drive you to drink.

Doctors and nurses are also human and as such prone to making mistakes. How often have you taken your bike in for a service only to find that the mechanic has made a mistake, or when you've bought something and a mistake has been made? The NHS runs 365 days a year, never closes and employs humans who also get tired.

I have worked for the NHS on developing "Business Intelligence" reporting that informs the management about "waiting lists" ... and although I can't divulge details, it surprised me to see what was actually considered to be "waiting list" and what wasn't

Management Information?!

There was so much "massaging" of the figures that I should have been called a "Data Masseuse"!!