Happy Birthday to the NHS.

zagatoes30

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How many people forget that, at least at the moment they appreciate what they do but how long will it last
 
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I for one am already getting disillusioned. They moved me over to electronic prescription service against my wishes - it means having to nominate a single pharmacy where I go to several different ones to ensure consistency with the same consistency of brand being dispensed. Now I no longer have that control and the single pharmacy dispenses a load of cheap crappy generics.
Then #2 disillusionment. My annual diabetic review (a big one with a broad range of blood tests) was overdue in May. So now they text me to say it is being aligned to later in the year to my birthday. 2 days later I get a text message to ask me to call and make an appointment for diabetic foot review (normally done in the annual review consultation), take my blood pressure and submit and bring a urine sample (done at the annual review).

The buzz words in marketing and customer interface is "digital"., The NHS' attempt at digital is a farce. Cant get a face-to-face appointment. Cant request prescriptions and collect in person. Do your own blood pressure readings and submit by text - luckily I have a high quality Omron BP monitor that I take everywhere with me as I sold in Hypertension and know this and cardiac failure diseases and therapy treatments across the Hypertension, IHD, CHF and Metabolic Syndrome axis as good as most doctors in GP. along with the best practice trials and evidence.

The NHS is great for acute emergency - chest pain, trauma. But elective procedures such as joints replacements and cancer assessment, diagnosis, staging and treatments are gonna have a huge backlog and queues with the impact that can have on mortality and survival in any cancer. For these, those who took out private medical cover or are self-funded are gonna be at an advantage than everyone else in the herd of queues that are going to be massive with the virtual 4 months shutdown on elective procedures.

So yes, the hand clapping is over. The NHS is returning again to the burdened admin-driven bureaucracy it was pre-Covid 19.
It is a great system but requires overhaul and investment - but you cannot throw money into a bottomless pit all the time.
The alternatives that could arise from an overhaul is a subject in its own right.