Waste in the NHS

[tflnemesis]

ok ime gonna ask it...i am way way WAYY over due to have my big nail off but to be blunt ime a wuss at the thought of someone digging about at it with "tools" makes my teeth itch!

so...dose it hurt?

I had both my big toenails removed about 5 years ago due to them ingrowing, took about 20 mins, the most painful part was the needle for the local anaesthetic.
Recovery time is quite long though, sandals and leaving em open to the air as much as poss, still took 2 months to completely heal. This is due to the acid they use to kill the nail bed so they don't grow back.

 

[Ton-up]

In that case, I won't go into to much detail but a friend had a fall and shattered his hip, the new one made his leg around 25mm shorter, ended up having to have packers made to go into his shoes.

Dont worry. My wife has had both hips replaced one three years ago & one 18 months ago & it went perfectly, I had my op 2 weeks ago this friday, for the first time in years it doesnt hurt any more. Its the nature of people to focus on the unlucky sods where it goes wrong, just think for how many people it goes right! Dont know who your surgeon is but Mr Bhinda did my wifes hips & did a superb Job. Do the exercises they ask you to beforehand, do as you are told with the disinfectant body wash & if given a choice of a spinal block over a general think about the first one, my wife had a spinal block on the second occasion & recovery time was drastically quicker. Break a leg!

I keep putting it off but it's getting unbearable now, affecting my work and life in general. The consultant warned about the leg being shorter than the other, but it must only be as bad as I limp now! Been thinking about going private.

 

[Brad93]

ok ime gonna ask it...i am way way WAYY over due to have my big nail off but to be blunt ime a wuss at the thought of someone digging about at it with "tools" makes my teeth itch!

so...dose it hurt?

Depends on how tough your skin is and how dense you are.

Honestly, the first time it was agony and I almost fainted. The doctor just couldn’t get enough aneasthetic into my toe.

The second time (1 month later for the other foot) was loads better. But I’d been on holiday for a week swimming in the sea every day and hadn’t worn boots, which softened my feet up.
Two vial, 4ml if I remember correctly, went in no problem this time.

The injection at the base of the toe each side is pretty painful as they go DEEP!

You can feel the scalpel cutting and there’s the odd bit of pain about the same as the needles.

The bit that hurts me most is the forceps lifting the nail out of the side of the toe and up off the nail bed.

The first time I kept the foot up for the rest of the day and hobbled about the next day.

Yesterday, I was walking fine straight away. But the pain kicked in massively about 6 hours after the procedure.

Two ibuprofen didn’t touch it, so I took another two and two co-codamol which took it down to a throb.

Today, no pain unless wearing shoes. Been in flip flops most of day walking around.

The pain relief is worth the pain during the procedure. My other toe is a bit unsightly but I’ve had no pain after wearing boots for 12 hours for the last month. Bliss.

I sat up and watched the first time but this time I tried to look away. Didn’t feel faint this time but obviously there was a lot less pain.

 

[Stueeee]

Are they being disposed of due to MRSA?

The "tools" get disposed of due to the risk of the transmission of CJD -Mad Cow Disease-

Quote from a NHS website here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/creutzfeldt-jakob-disease-cjd/prevention/

Sterilisation methods used to help prevent bacteria and viruses spreading also aren't completely effective against the infectious protein (prion) that causes CJD.

But tightened guidelines on the reuse of surgical equipment mean that cases of CJD spread through medical treatment (iatrogenic CJD) are now very rare.

When I had some work done at a hospital the kindly nurse did let me take the toolkit she used to remove some stitches, but did say that it was against all the rules for her not to bin them.

 

[Bobtail4x4]

Prices to none-NHS staff start at about 25p for disposable dressing packs; an organisation as big as the NHS will probably place massive orders at once, and get them for next to nothing.

or more likely 30p

 

[Parm]

how much would it cost tocollect, sort, grind, check and package discards, compared to ordering a million packs in a container straight from china?

Most hospital metal ware such as forceps etc are made in Pakistan or India. Ive been to one such factory in Jallandhur City, Punjab. I just hope the stuff gets sterilised properly !

 

[WorkshopChris]

I keep putting it off but it's getting unbearable now, affecting my work and life in general. The consultant warned about the leg being shorter than the other, but it must only be as bad as I limp now! Been thinking about going private.

They do 100's every year without problems, I was just unlucky enough to be in the few % when it goes wrong if you go private the only real difference will be your own room and a better choice of sandwiches!.

 

[Climber]

They do 100's every year without problems, I was just unlucky enough to be in the few % when it goes wrong if you go private the only real difference will be your own room and a better choice of sandwiches!.

Actually, having it done privately gives so many advantages. They use the best of everything; even the implant can be of much better quality.

 

[WorkshopChris]

Actually, having it done privately gives so many advantages. They use the best of everything; even the implant can be of much better quality.

Its the old half a dozen of one and six of the other. You will have the same surgeon as performes the operation. But while they are kitted up for the planned surgery in the event of a problem emergency assistance is an ambulance ride away back at the local hospital.

 

[ronan]

Anything run by the government is massively wasteful usually. I would bet the military and police is the same, stuff gets ordered, stored, not used and then sold off or scrapped for pennies in the pound.

 

[ronan]

Prices to none-NHS staff start at about 25p for disposable dressing packs; an organisation as big as the NHS will probably place massive orders at once, and get them for next to nothing.

Its actually the opposite. When we were sent to tech while serving our apprenticeships, we were all buying tools off various engineering suppliers around the city. Except one company that was so expensive as to be crazy. We asked our instructor why they were so expensive and he told us it was because they only supplied government agencies. If a company can get contracts, they are on the pigs back, they can and do charge what they like, because the process of getting the contracts are so arduous, no one is going to complain.

 

[Keith 66]

Actually, having it done privately gives so many advantages. They use the best of everything; even the implant can be of much better quality.

Not necessarily, Many hip & knee replacements are carried out in private hospitals but farmed out & paid for by the nhs, Both my wifes were done this way at the Wellesley hospital in Southend. Same surgeon, high quality implants, no difference in service.
Only difference's are that you have your own room & the food is a bit better & there is a good wine list!

However if something goes wrong the private hospital wont have the facilities to fix it & in a worse case scenario this means a blue light ambulance to the nearest nhs hospital.

 

[highseas]

Depends on how tough your skin is and how dense you are.

Honestly, the first time it was agony and I almost fainted. The doctor just couldn’t get enough aneasthetic into my toe.

The second time (1 month later for the other foot) was loads better. But I’d been on holiday for a week swimming in the sea every day and hadn’t worn boots, which softened my feet up.
Two vial, 4ml if I remember correctly, went in no problem this time.

The injection at the base of the toe each side is pretty painful as they go DEEP!

You can feel the scalpel cutting and there’s the odd bit of pain about the same as the needles.

The bit that hurts me most is the forceps lifting the nail out of the side of the toe and up off the nail bed.

The first time I kept the foot up for the rest of the day and hobbled about the next day.

Yesterday, I was walking fine straight away. But the pain kicked in massively about 6 hours after the procedure.

Two ibuprofen didn’t touch it, so I took another two and two co-codamol which took it down to a throb.

Today, no pain unless wearing shoes. Been in flip flops most of day walking around.

The pain relief is worth the pain during the procedure. My other toe is a bit unsightly but I’ve had no pain after wearing boots for 12 hours for the last month. Bliss.

I sat up and watched the first time but this time I tried to look away. Didn’t feel faint this time but obviously there was a lot less pain.

Yeh mine is massivly ingrown and angry and now has large granular growths too... I would be happier if they knocked me out and took the toe off!

 

[Parm]

Not necessarily, Many hip & knee replacements are carried out in private hospitals but farmed out & paid for by the nhs, Both my wifes were done this way at the Wellesley hospital in Southend. Same surgeon, high quality implants, no difference in service.
Only difference's are that you have your own room & the food is a bit better & there is a good wine list!

However if something goes wrong the private hospital wont have the facilities to fix it & in a worse case scenario this means a blue light ambulance to the nearest nhs hospital.

Yep, totally agree. My cousin is a surgeon urologist at the Royal Free Hospital in London. He does NHS and private practice. The only kit they can use has to be approved by MHRA, NICE and other bodies. Operations happen in the same theatres, with the same staff and same everything.

There is no difference at all

It’s just some folk feel better in themselves having shelled out for the same treatment that they have payed their taxes for all their life

And in those private hospitals it’s the NHS surgeons that carry out the operations, one of the main reasons they are used is because often there isn’t enough bed space in nhs hospitals. Lack of NHS bed space is the biggest reason why ops are cancelled

 

[angellonewolf]

Yeh mine is massivly ingrown and angry and now has large granular growths too... I would be happier if they knocked me out and took the toe off!

you might be supprised as how much your big toe is to your balance i believe

 

[Brad93]

Yeh mine is massivly ingrown and angry and now has large granular growths too... I would be happier if they knocked me out and took the toe off!

PM me if you want to see some pictures it really isn’t as bad as putting up with the pain for years as I have been.

 

[Beeezer]

Are they being disposed of due to MRSA?

No they were having the office redecorated, so most of the office stuff was going in a skip.

My wife came home with a pic on her phone and she said “do you know anyone that would like these” the cabinets that was!!
I’ve been looking for some for ages they were either to far away or to expensive.
Waist full b.....s.

 

[Climber]

Its the old half a dozen of one and six of the other. You will have the same surgeon as performes the operation. But while they are kitted up for the planned surgery in the event of a problem emergency assistance is an ambulance ride away back at the local hospital.

Not necessarily, Many hip & knee replacements are carried out in private hospitals but farmed out & paid for by the nhs, Both my wifes were done this way at the Wellesley hospital in Southend. Same surgeon, high quality implants, no difference in service.
Only difference's are that you have your own room & the food is a bit better & there is a good wine list!

However if something goes wrong the private hospital wont have the facilities to fix it & in a worse case scenario this means a blue light ambulance to the nearest nhs hospital.

I think as with most things you have to know how to play the game.

The points about specialist help being at hand in case of emergency is a major issue. When our girls were born we always planned to go private. All the scans were done privately, and all the pre natal checks were private too. However, we decided after much deliberation that what's best for the girls is to not be an ambulance ride away from specialists if something goes wrong. It turned out to be the right choice as our first's heart rate dropped during labour and literally within 1 minute the room was full of specialist consultants (and I mean full, there were at least a dozen people in the room). If we had gone private we would have been shoved in an ambulance hoping for the best.

On the other hand, last year my brother had a hip replacement which wouldn't have been available on the NHS, and apparently it's going to last a lifetime (which the NHS ones wouldn't).

I think each use of the NHS or private care needs to be decided on it's own merits.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

NHS...universal free health care for all.

Fantastic idea...but it encourages the situation where people take more risks because they know they can rely on free healthcare to bail them out. Sadly this massively increases the overall cost of the system.

NHS spending on diabetes (type 1 and type 2) is something crazy like £200m per week (shout if I've gotten this wrong!)....and its set to massively increase due to the pending obesity crisis!

Eventually I fear the system will simply become unaffordable... in the not too distant future too!

 

[mrsbruce]

Actually, having it done privately gives so many advantages. They use the best of everything; even the implant can be of much better quality.

Had to have a bit mini surgery done last year, and the staff were furiously complaining about the empty stock cupboard in the surgery area. Nothing to do with shortages, everything to do with the ‘private surgery’ staff raiding the cupboards of gloves, etc, instead of ordering their own.