Cross-party review into the NHS?

[Chelepoo]

There should be a review as a matter of urgency and among the recommendations I would like to see the following.

NICE to stop recommending that Type 2 diabetics be encouraged to eat a similar diet to the general population,

Clear diet sheets not written by Nanny McPhee showing which foods increase blood sugar levels.

Well said

 

[donnellysdogs]

I think the whole NHS needs a shake...
I've conducted 100's of interviews with patients and the vast majority when talking about missed appointments wanted there to be a system to charge patients when they fail to attend appts.
Also, at what point should palliative care be really suggested for illnesses such as cancer. I know a hospital that offered a mastectomy to a 96 year old lady with dementia. I'll probably get shouted at for this but having been through it- no way would I personally (from my experience only) go thru it at 96.
I know my thoughts are probably contraversial but I just think also that the NHS has to be restructured in someway with money and also thoughts given to treatments etc...
Every other business has had to change...or like good old Woolworths they go out of business.
My only other thought is that this will just be another QUANGO group set up and cost millions and nothing will change.
They thought to computerise wtc and it ends up that the changes were stopped. GP and hospitals still can't connect electronically with medical notes. When moving GPs if one Practice uses EMIS and one Practice uses SystemOne then the data is lost and can't be transferred...and still relying upon the paperwork system from 50+ years ago to go between the GPs...can you imagine Amazon etc working like that??

 

[tim2000s]

@donnellysdogs, what you describe are the unrealistic expectations of the NHS and from within the NHS. That's the fundamental problem.

 

[donnellysdogs]

@donnellysdogs, what you describe are the unrealistic expectations of the NHS and from within the NHS. That's the fundamental problem.

I'm worried that this is just another tier of quangoism being put in.... People are not aware of how complicated and disconnected etc the whole NHS is. The GPs have had to pay for their own CQC inspections... Our GP used to have to pay £2.5k each year it is nigh on £8k each year now!! They were paid just over £2 per flu jab given and chemists £9- and the GPs weren't informed until
AFTER they had purchasedtbe vaccines going on historical data. So of course every chemist was offering vaccines and didn't get them from the GP's. Then GPs have had massive wastage from having to purchase the vaccines in advance..
Then theres Healthwatch, PPG's and LPEGs. Our LPEG group is funded by the CCG and honestly the LPEG is pathetic.... More money wasted.

Honestly with NHS they haven't put money in to proper GP Funding or more nurses, GPs n Consultants... They are just throwing money away hand over fist.

Gggggrrrrrrrr!!!!!

 

[vix107]

This was in the news yesterday: Former health secretaries and charities call for cross-party health and care review

From the article:

In August 2015, a Diabetes UK report claimed that both type 1 and type 2 diabetes could bankrupt the NHS. There has been a 60 per cent rise in diabetes cases in the last 10 years - the majority of cases are type 2 - while the risk of long-term complications make diabetes an expensive condition to treat.

The charity also identified that more people with diabetes should receive the necessary health checks recommended by the National Institute of Health Care and Excellence (NICE).

Only a third of people with diabetes in the UK currently receive all eight checks; including weight, blood pressure and foot care, and their report highlighted that the burdensome cost of diabetes can largely be attributed to standards of care.

Dr. Partha Kar, advisor to NHS Survival - a non-profit umbrella group that has called for an independent commission into NHS spending - told Diabetes.co.uk: "We are treating more and more complications rather than trying to prevent them.

"The response from the government should be: 'Can we use all the money left in the pot left for diabetes careand know what we need to do? We know how we can improve care.' But this isn't happening."
​

We have been asked whether Diabetes.co.uk support a cross-party review into the NHS. Our initial understand is yes - the NHS is literally heaven on earth (how lucky we are to not be in situations where you need medical insurance) and if this would help improve the NHS, we're all for it.

However, with inpatient costs at £8bn in 2012 for people with type 2 diabetes, it makes sense that some things need to be revisited. Diabetes bankrupting the NHS sounds like something you'd read in the DM, for sure. However, perhaps people with non-insulin dependent type 2 diabetes could be given better access to testing equipment? That could help prevent complications, surely? That's just one of many areas that could be discussed (for example).

Before committing, we'd like to put this to the community: Should there be a cross-party health and care review?

Please vote (and comment if appropriate) - it will directly affect the Diabetes.co.uk position. The NHS is an amazing service and we are very lucky to have it - anything we can do to help is definitely a good thing.

I think its pretty obvious things do need reviewing not just with diabetes care but everything....... the basis which the nhs runs on is very outdated in our current time. if I were to focus just on diabetes then I would implore that we as the patients self medicate all the time and we need to be kept up to date on everything yet after my 26 yrs half of the things I hear comes as word of mouth not from a practicioner this is wrong as it keeps us in the dark.... secondly I think the mental status of a diabetic is crucial to be kept an eye on, so many hit the burnout stage and with all the latest news etc often feel they shouldn't be wasting professional time because they feel down yet they still don't know how to cope with it and go without vital support which all affects their diabetes because they stop caring. its a real problem, and I think the last big point that really needs visiting is about not putting such a big wall up between type 1 and type 2, its a ridiculous thing to do. type 2's whether they use insulin or not need to test to keep it in check, its not being able to do that which is creating more problems than solutions. at the end of the day if you want to talk costs a few packs of test strips is going to be far less cost than treating the complications of them not being able to keep a check of a very real killer!!!!

 

[DGTaylor]

I am Type1 diabetic. I have lowered my HbA1c by taking less insulin (over 50% less) but doctors don't want to recognise this. Why? it would dramatically lower NHS costs but destroy the economics of diabetic care!
The NHS has not delivered what was promised and its primary purpose seems to be to exist for the benefit of its employees and consultants rather than its patients.

 

[tim2000s]

I am Type1 diabetic. I have lowered my HbA1c by taking less insulin (over 50% less) but doctors don't want to recognise this. Why? it would dramatically lower NHS costs but destroy the economics of diabetic care!
The NHS has not delivered what was promised and its primary purpose seems to be to exist for the benefit of its employees and consultants rather than its patients.

Most Consultants don't want to recognise this because it doesn't work for very many T1s. I have very clear evidence of what happens to me if I reduce basal, and it's not that my Hba1C comes down. Quite the opposite. I'd suggest that you have more than just the T1 diabetes going on, but it's such a rare endocrine or hormonal issue that it isn't properly recognised yet.

 

[Oldvatr]

I am Type1 diabetic. I have lowered my HbA1c by taking less insulin (over 50% less) but doctors don't want to recognise this. Why? it would dramatically lower NHS costs but destroy the economics of diabetic care!
The NHS has not delivered what was promised and its primary purpose seems to be to exist for the benefit of its employees and consultants rather than its patients.

You only have to see what the bosses pay themselves to know that! When the NHS re-structured recently, they pushed out the top men with a golden Goodbye, then immediately re-hired them with a golden Hello. Nice one, squirrel. Come the Revolution etc.

 

[Catlady19]

I think that people in general [not just diabetics] should be expected to take more responsibility for their own health. That is, they should stop smoking, drink less, lose weight, exercise more. Help to do those things should be given to a certain extent but I'm sure we all know people who don't make any effort at all to improve their lifestyles and I'm not sure why those who do make an effort should be funding those who can't be bothered. Better advice is needed too. I'm type 2 diet controlled. When I showed my typical diet upon being diagnosed, I was told that it was fine and to just carry on! Clearly it wasn't fine because it wasn't controlling it. It included having cakes and puddings regularly!! Of my own volition I cut out all of those and brought my glucose levels right down. I also have friends who are 'diet controlled' and don't understand why it works for me but not for them but they all have a couple biscuits 'just a couple won't hurt' or a slice of cake 'it's only a small slice', they just make excuses and pretend that they are not in fact eating these things, when often they are eating them several times a day. If I can cut them out, so can they and if they won't, well, in my opinion they shouldn't get free treatment for their deliberately self inflicted problems.

I think that is a little black and white - there are all sorts of things that raise your bg - stress, medication, illness. Removing medication is hardly going to help the long term prognosis!

 

[videoman]

As a T1 for the last 55 years, I am very grateful to the NHS as looking at the cost to the NHS it would kill me? The problem not only with Diabetes is the aging population is that medical problems did not show up in 1950's but the care given will enable people to live longer. What the NHS could do is get their supply's in order as seen on the BBC programmers on the way the NHS buys the supplys

 

[catherinecherub]

There needs to be some intervention to stop NHS fraud. This NHS Manager managed to syphon off £3.5m.

http://www.thecommissioningreview.com/article/nhs-manager-will-be-jailed-£35m-nhs-fraud

Then there are the billions of wasted cash that nobody wants to talk about.

https://www.opendemocracy.net/ournh...ons-of-wasted-nhs-cash-noone-wants-to-mention

 

[Catlady19]

I do think it would be a good idea to have a review, but like @donnellysdogs I do worry that it will be just another Quango that costs a fortune and nothing is really gained from it.