The rabid right-wingers would have blamed the incentive-free state bureaucracy I suppose. But they would be wrong there; I really don’t think it had anything to do with the governance arrangements or lack of a direct profit motive. The people, from the consultants down to the porters and cleaners , did seem genuinely open, friendly and willing to help.
Most of my comrades on the left might have muttered about still catching up with years of underfunding, and there were certainly evident staff shortages , though mainly, as far as I could see, unpredictable ones as at least two nurses went off sick in that 31 hours. It’s hard for any organisation to deal with that.
My blogroll’s resident HR expert might have had something to say about the composition of the staff team though; to be frank I thought there were too many doctors and not enough nurses. This may seem an unusual complaint. It only makes sense when one realises that the doctors appear to operate in separate little kingdoms of medical specialism. About a third of our wait was simply down to the A&E team referring some x-rays to the orthopaedic surgeons for a second opinion on whether there had been a fracture. And whilst we waited for that second opinion nothing else happened, no temporary admission could be made because the separate specialist kingdoms hadn’t decided whose kingdom (i.e. what kind of ward) Mum was going to be admitted into. I believe this is called silo working in management speak. Meanwhile the nurses on A&E were doing their A&E thing which, when it comes down to it, is basically triage. So if someone is marked as awaiting a second opinion they just move onto the next case unless there is some urgent call from the bed which has been parked in this triage operation. No thought beyond basic feeding and toileting is given to the cases not identified as urgent. If there had been more nurses the various doctors’ instructions might have taken effect rather quicker – and more holistic care might have actually been provided. Also, I’m not certain why it would have been such a great disaster to get Mum somewhere comfortable, even if it did prove to be the wrong ward and meant her having to be moved the next day.
My blogroll’s representative Spiked-influenced commentator and general enemy of the risk adverse culture would also have passed a few harrumphs about the reason for the final section of our wait – the seeming impossibility of assembling two spare members of staff to push the bloody bed containing my Mum to the ward. First we got a single porter; then we got a cleaner but no porter, and finally, 4 hours after the consultant had instructed an early transfer to a ward, we got both. Of course I pleaded and pleaded to be allowed to help to push the bed myself – but, no it was ‘against the rules’, 'not procedure' there were Health and Safety concerns and so on. So Mum sat waiting, immobile and in semi-public view, in A&E till two people could be assembled, one to push the bed and one to simply open the doors and push the lift button.
But most of all I reckon Boffy will be slowly and sympathetically nodding his head and biting back the urge to say, "I told you so - the left has got to be about more than just knee jerk defence of the NHS" . & so he did. Several times.
