The NHS: it’s the largest employer in Europe and an administrative nightmare. The new NHS system, we all know, is on the horizon, but until that comes there are easy ways of reducing costs.
I was recently told of the events in one person’s day which involved the following wasteful events in the NHS (written in the first person):
“1. I attended a drop-in clinic who told me I needed to go to A&E because my condition needs the attention of a doctor.
“2. At the A&E I was told I had to see a nurse first even though I’d already been told at the walk-in clinic that I needed to see a doctor.
“3. After seeing the nurse at the A&E I was told it would be a further three hours before I saw a doctor (so the wait for the nurse was time wasted for me and for the nurse).
“4. That three hours would mean I would miss my last transport home so I was given some vallium and I instead phoned my GP surgery upon reaching home. Without seeing me a doctor eventually diagnosed me over the telephone (even though I was, potentially, under the influence of the vallium!).
“5. A few days later I requested a medical certificate for the refund of transport costs unused in a season ticket and I was given one straight away by my doctor but then received another letter from the doctor I spoke to in point (4) above.”
This final letter exasperates me!
The doctor wrote a letter of four paragraphs detailing why she couldn’t have a medical certificate without paying. Not only had she already received one from her own doctor, but it must also have taken longer to say “No” than it would to have provided one. Finally, the doctor’s wage inevitably means that the time he wasted, no matter how brief, in chasing that £13 payment would be a cost/burden to the NHS, rather than a slight recoupment.
The NHS is a massive body, and it requires logistics probably beyond the English mentality (we’re not Swiss or German afterall), but even given that, such obvious wastes should be removed. Why, for example, wasn’t something added to a simple database attached to her NHS number that said she was coming to the A&E from the Walk-in clinic? Why was her doctor not able to view that same database?
Gav tells me that these features will be available in the new NHS system, but they’re not groundbreaking requirements, this capability is the least you’d expect from any private-sector company in any field, let alone in the provision of healthcare!
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