No wonder the NHS is on its knees

My mum came home from hospital yesterday. The ambulance was booked to bring her the 2 miles home.

Talking to the crew it transpired the service was provided by a private company and had come to Stockport from HUDDERSFIELD.

70 mile round trip for a 2 mile journey.

There's something not quite right about this.

Re: No wonder the NHS is on its knees

They have closed a load of A&E departments round my county and concentrated them at a new purpose built hospital. This means some folks who live 50 miles away in rural areas will now need to be flown by helicopter to get treatment.

This is a Tory flagship project they intend to roll out throughout the UK, the old A&E became walk in centers.

Last year i visited one when i had problems with my foot, and the staff nurse just had a wobbly and said i cant change that, so an ambulance was brought from 20 miles away to drive me 5 miles to the hospital, i could have went on the bus if i had known.

Re: No wonder the NHS is on its knees

That's dreadful! You should both bring those things to the attention of someone like the shadow health secretary, if no one knows these things are happening they'll just get worse.

Hope your Mum is settling in well Terry.

Re: No wonder the NHS is on its knees

Terry the good side of this is that she is home and safe, I hope all goes well.

Re: No wonder the NHS is on its knees

Perhaps it works out cheaper to employ a private company.

I'm glad your mum is safely home Tpin.

Re: No wonder the NHS is on its knees

Silly, isn't it?

I can understand why they have regional specialist centres, where they can concentrate expensive equipment and specialist staff, but Casualty departments are not especially expensive and require no really specialised equipment or staff.
In addition, as you have pointed out, it must be very expensive to have to transport people long distances, especially by air and, of course, when people have an accident or there is an emergency it is essential to be seen quickly.

I'm not sure how the government thinks they are saving money by closing these local Casualty hospitals. Perhaps they're trying to discourage some of those people who drop in with a scratched finger.