Welsh NHS shambles

 

The day before yesterday my mother became ill in her care home about tea time.  The home rang the NHS helpline to speak to a doctor.  Some time later a nurse rang back to say they didn't have a doctor, but one would phone back at some point .

 A few hours later a doctor rang back to say  he'd come and see her.  around midnght the doctor arrived had a look and said he thought she was just a bit off with a bug.  By two in the morning the home rang the helpline back and said she was a lot worse, the doctor rang back about an hour later and told the home to ring 999, they did at three in the morning.

 Fast forward to yesterday eleven in the morning, ambulance contol rang home to say they were sorry for the delay.  Oh well thats ok them an 89 year old woman whos a priority call has already waited eight hours, and remember she was ill long before the ambulance was called.  At three in the afternoon the ambulance arrived, they assesed my mother and decided to take her in.

 It was about quarter to four in the afternoon before they finsihed checking her and getting her in the ambulance, then they leave to a hospital over thrity miles away, it's around five tea time we arrive at casualty, now we sit in the ambulance for another thrity minutes waiting for a space to take her into.

 Being serious it's now been around twenty four hours since the care homes call to the NHS, despite her being classed as a priority it's taken her a full twenty four hours to get her to the hospital.  Any doctor will tell you about the "golden hour" that first hour that can make all the difference.  I'm guessing the Welsh NHS has missed that memo.

 At the hospital she was left laying in a room with the ambulance crew as there seemed to be no doctors or nurses.  The abulance took around four hours to pick up one patient, and finally hand them over,  No fault of the crew, they were stuck looking after the patient because the hospital had no where to put her.

 Indeed the crew joked with me at one point holding up a printed A4card with a letter B on it, in their logo it stands for Back to the ambulance to wait because the hospital has no beds.  They told me they often wait all day outside a hospital with a patient stuck in the ambulance.

In the real world this means the ambulance on a good day might do four or five calls in a twelve hour shift.  Often only one ot two.  No wonder people wait on the floor for up to ninteen hours, even worse is the fact that station only has five ambulances and crews, three of the sat outside the hospital the many hours we were there.

 Mark Drakeford, our laughingly called first minister.  So busy dreaming up stupid schemes to fuck up Wales, like making all the speed limit 20MPH (that'll boost business) should be asahmed of his health service, this is on HIS watch remember, it's gone downhill faster than the crap skydiver.  heres a suggestion Mark, go and see the families of recent NHS patients, the ones who waited fifteen hours on the floor for an ambulance in the rain maybe, get a few pointers as to what it needs to fix it

 And in case you cant be bothered to ask here what could be done, open up one of the tempory covid hospitals, move all the bed-blocking patients there, that'll free up hospital beds for the people arriving in ambulances, that mens the ambulances wont spent four hours sitting off the road with a sick person in them, that means faster response times.  Oh yesand do Wales a big favor, resign and let someone competent to the job.