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- GarfD
Prince Charles Hospital.
On Friday I took my grand-daughter to PCH, following the ambulance that was carrying her husband, who the ambulance personnel thought might be suffering from angina. On arrival at the hospital we discovered that A and E was closed! Friday night...presumably one of the busiest nights of the week! A sign on the reception desk instructed people to go to the Minor Injuries Unit (just around the corner). On arrival there were about 20 people already there ...not all people needing treatment but family members as well. After staying for 10-15 minutes I left my grand-daughter and her husband. I was told next day that after around 3 hours wait the patients were told that there was only one doctor on duty in the hospital and they should all leave and come back the next day, but could expect a minimum wait of 5 hours. My grand-daughter's husband whilst at the hospital felt very ill and lay on a bed..to be told by one of the Health Service's so-called angels to get of it. During this extended period of wasting time the reception staff mainly drank coffee....and left 'phones ringing until finally picking up the receiver and putting it down again immediately. When the staff were asked who complaints could be made to...guess what!They couldn't tell people, and no complaints forms were available. ISN'T OUR HEALTH SERVICE WONDERFUL!!! Needless to say this isn't the end of the matter.
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Sorry to hear of your
Sorry to hear of your problems but my dealings with PCH have been completely different.
A few months ago I was rushed in on a Saturday evening after collapsing at home. I was seen by a doctor within 10 minutes of arriving. I was put on a saline drip and had blood taken all within the first half hour. In all I saw three different doctors and also had x-rays, eventually getting a bed by about 1 am.
I've attended PCH several times lately as an outpatient for quite invasive procedures and will have another this week. I've been very well treated indeed and cannot praise the staff enough.
The NHS is under severe pressure and perhaps you have suffered as a direct result of current UK government funding even though the Welsh Assembly run the NHS in Wales it is still on the leash from Westminster. We all know how much the Tories love the NHS. A sign of things to come perhaps?
WAG is on about closing one
WAG is on about closing one major south wales hospital, either PCH or RGH. they think that the M4 hospitals have a better chance of sorting people out and heads of valleys is too far for most people.
Yeah right, so I will then have to travel to either UHOW or RGH , nah I'll phone for an ambulance or get my good mate Cockman to take me in his freeloader mobile.
Sorry to hear about your
Sorry to hear about your problems, Gibbsy, but how do you know that money is a factor? The last Government poured money into the NHS but to what effect? It has been obvious for a long time that the NHS...and education...are run for the benefit of the employees, not the service consumer. Things will only get better if there is a sea change in attitude. If that means sacking the dead wood the sooner it starts, the better.
Labour poured money into
Labour poured money into PFI, that money was like borrowing off a loan shark. I used to call on engineering dept in hereford hospital, new site was constructed on cheap and all plant items kept breaking down as it was cheap and nasty stuff. Job was botched by builder because he could see a way of coining in a quick buck and sod the long term suffering
My name is Madeleine
My name is Madeleine Brindley and I am head of communications at Cwm Taf Health Board. I am posting in response to Russell's comments that either Prince Charles Hospital or the Royal Glamorgan Hospital is about to be closed/is being closed.
There are NO plans to close either hospitals. They both play a crucial and valuable role in the NHS as a whole and in the care of people living in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda Cynon Taf.
my thanks to you "madeleine"
my thanks to you "madeleine" for putting the record straight,there is so much hot air and b/s on this form its not always easy to know what to believe, cheers
Madeleine..... you seem to
Madeleine..... you seem to be the person who can tell me to whom complaints can be addressed. However I am surprised that you took the time to reply about possible hospital closures and haven't commented on my original post, especially the apparent closure of A and E and the lack of doctors in Minor Injuries or people being told to go home or staff not answering 'phones etc, etc, etc.
You won't get a straight
You won't get a straight answer on your original question, because it's difficult to defend the indefensible. The NHS as a whole is rife with top heavy managers who earn top heavy salaries that are totally undeserved, and serve only to drain the system of much needed funding. These people actually believe that they are more important than the doctors and nurses!
They may be a cause of why your relative suffered the indignities of what happened that Friday night. The NHS is not run for our benefit, but for the benefit of the staff, the top honchos especially, who use it as a stepping stone to their own self aggrandisement.
Good administrators, mind you, are worth their weight in gold, but they are as rare as hen's teeth, and are probably weighed down by a system that is constantly at odds with their aspirations to create an efficient service with value for taxpayers' money.
Now I can't comment specifically on fool on the hill's case because I don't have all the facts to hand. Suffice it to say though that I can comment on the NHS in general because I know so many people working in it, some very close to home, and others not so, but all with a similar tale to tell.
I can tell you categorically that morale in the NHS is at an all time low, with managers not having a clue, nor even really caring a hoot, about the pressures they put on the nursing staff and all other staff who are there to assist them.
Then there is the attitude of the public themselves, who are quick to demand their rights to be seen to before anyone else, as their case is worse than anyone else and thus deserves special attention. This too has a detrimental effect upon the lower minions in the hierarchy, like the nurses, who, coupled with a self seeking management who are only too willing to find scapegoats for their own incompetences, are placed under intolerable pressures that can even endanger patient safety.
But, of course, when the proverbial hits the fan, and a patient's safety is compromised, the managers are nowhere to be seen. Or if they are, they close ranks and point the fingers at the lower minions, thus disclaiming all responsibility for a situation that they themselves helped to create.
Of course, the top honchos too find themselves under pressure from politicians who want to get their statistics right, and get all the right boxes ticked so they can deliver their spiel to the media. This same media that panders to a public that demands a flawless service, with no room for error.
I'm afraid that fool on the hill has opened a real can of worms here with regards to the NHS. It's not perfect; in fact, it struggles to do a very good job, and that in spite of incompetence at the top and political interference.
Personally, I think it's being softened up for privatisation, but that's another issue altogether upon which I'm sure we could write volumes.
Russell....your comment on
Russell....your comment on PFI is contradictory. By going this route the Labour Government was not spending money, they were putting the NHS into hock for years to come by borrowing. It's called "living beyond your means"( on which subject I am an expert).They overspent massively, increasing salaries to keep their union paymasters happy and to keep NHS employees voting for them. Labour are clueless when it comes to simple economics and I find it laughable that the current Shadow Chancellor is Ed Balls, and where was he when we were going down the pan?....at the Treasury. And before anyone accuses me of the unthinkable...I have never voted Conservative in my life.
If we speak the truth, most
If we speak the truth, most of us have to be grateful to Prince Charles. At one time or another in our lives and some of our family members can be grateful to be alive because of treatment at this and other units of the NHS. Yes we ca all have our groans but the workload of patients and the shortage of nursing staff can only be blamed on government cutbacks (this and past) Also blame many time wasters that visit A+E with ailments that could be dealt with at the GP surgery or the medicine cabinet in the house. If we had to pay for care we would be grateful for any care the NHS as to offer
Your, re-assurance,
Your, re-assurance, Madeleine, about PCH is very welcome, however, aren't you the 'spokesperson' who said that MIU Llwynypia would not close. Then it was promptly closed for months, due to 'recruitment problems' ?
Purely out of curiosity, of
Purely out of curiosity, of course, but what exactly is a "Head of Communications"?
I seem to recall some political party honchos bearing that euphemistic title some years ago, and all it meant was being in charge of diseminating party propaganda.
Head of communicantions
Head of communicantions another word for smoke and mirrors.
You can polish a turd but at the end of the day its still a turd.
gardengirl347....we do pay
gardengirl347....we do pay for our care- have you heard of National Insurance? I have paid it for almost 50 years and not needed the services of the NHS. Why do people think that its free?
If you need to complain
If you need to complain write to Allison Williams
Allison Williams Chief Executive of Cwm Taf Health Board.
Dr Chris Jones Chair of Cwm Taf Health Board
“When the staff were asked who complaints could be made to...guess what! They couldn't tell people, and no complaints forms were available. ISN'T OUR HEALTH SERVICE WONDERFUL!!!
Needless to say this isn't the end of the matter.”
Board members
http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/865/page/41191
Thanks Lewis...I will follow
Thanks Lewis...I will follow up.
Private Health Care is the
Private Health Care is the answer. Forget about the NHS I pay a private insurance and I am much better off for it. Don't tell me that there are people who can't afford private insurance, because every person in the UK can afford it. If they can buy beer, fags, and have sky+ and 55" TVs.
The NHS the Welfare State and the Judicial System cost me a lot of money, why should I pay for all this rubbish. Bring back hanging and the workhouse.
You should stay out of that
You should stay out of that midday sun, Coco. It's not doing you any good.
Well, I don't smoke, like a
Well, I don't smoke, like a pint or two of real ale. Hmm, 55'' Sony TV sounds good to me. Would you recommend the Sony KDL-55HX853 Cockman? Would certainly sit beautifully with my Denon high-end blu-ray player and Denon 9.1 receiver and Kef speakers. First good thing you've ever suggested, thumbs up.
Anyway, talking about arseholes, I had to attend PCH for some invasive investigation and give them a big thumbs up (pun intended). I just hope the outcome is as successful.
Ok fool on hill sorry about
Ok fool on hill sorry about Labour spending money, they spent money they didnt have. went to Just rentals and bought a couple of hospitals and schools and now the £1 slot wont allow them to pay enough to hike in interest rates.
MMMM I smell a sneaky banker has a finger in this PIE or was it PFI
Wales Online reports that
Wales Online reports that "Patients waited for three hours at a Welsh A&E department - before being told over a public address system at midnight that no further patients would be seen until 6am."
One lady had allegedly waited six hours already and ended up going home and having to go to see her doctor the following day to have a wound tended to.
Prince Charles hospital serves the Cynon Valley and Merthyr and is part of the Cwm Taf Health Board which also covers the Royal Glamorgan. There have been previous concerns at both hospitals regarding their A&E units and staffing.
Despite the continued efforts of Labour to blame everything n Westminster, health is of course a devolved issue and the responsibility of the Welsh Labour Government.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2012/08/15/anger-as-six-hou...
http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEYJL95lgENt5hjjgHjGs...
And still no comment from
And still no comment from Madeleine Brindley.....some people only want to hand out good news and ignore anything else. To update followers of this saga I have followed Lewis's suggestion and contacted CTHB-Concerns on 9th August. So far not a whisper or acknowledgement.
Regrettably I don’t think
Regrettably I don’t think you will get any more comments from Madeleine Brindley.
Had reason to go into PCH yesterday lots of money being spent, what I found odd was the small shop had gone to be replaced by a lady sitting in the entrance area with a small number of items for sale.
Main entrance waiting area seems to be new, new seating area empty I expect they want to keep it clean and tidy not cluttered up with patients as a small dilapidated room just off the main entrance had standing room only for lots of people waiting to be seen by a doctor.
The main car parks are at the rear of the building with the reception area in the front of the building a lack of disable parking space at the rear of the hospital designed by people who have no problem in walking long distances.