The waiting game for treatment

Since being established in 1948 the NHS has always incurred the problem of the length of time which patients have to wait for treatment, but in recent years there has been a tremendous increase. Delays are currently occurring for check-ups, consultations and even operations for patients. Figures from several sources suggest on average there are 4 million people waiting for surgery on the NHS and this is still growing.

There are many possible reasons to why the waiting times are so long. One being the over subscription of the NHS. The UK’s population is only growing and with it being an aging population, there is likely to be an increase in the number of people needing healthcare. However, with the growing number of people needing treatment there has not been a sufficient increase in funding to accommodate for this. Resulting in some treatment being postponed or even refused. The funding of the NHS is a fundamental problem, as overspending has risen over the years. Moreover, disagreements between the government and healthcare staff has been prominent, with there being many junior doctor strikes throughout this year. This has led to less people being willing to go into a healthcare job, one of the ways this is depicted this through the fall of applications to medical schools last year. Along with the numerous other factors, cancellation or even not showing up to appointments by patients contributes to the increased waiting times. As a result time and money is wasted.

The action taken to shorten waiting times in controversial. In order to increase the number of patients seen by GPs, appointments time have been shortened to under 10 minutes. Many believe this to be too short of time for a patient to raise concerns to their GPs and for a suitable treatment to be given. In order to combat the overspending, pay of NHS workers has been cut. Though this may of help prevent overspending, sources suggest that there have been more midwives and nurses leaving the NHS than joining, thus resulting in the shortage of staff.

Due to the uncertainty of treatment by the NHS some patients have turned to private healthcare. On the other hand, numerous people are unable to endure the high expenses of private healthcare, leading to many having to carry on waiting for treatment. Lately there was a case in which a couple could not find an NHS dentist for 4 years, and as they could not afford private dental healthcare, they pulled out their own teeth. Incidents like these highlight how the effects of waiting times effect the more financially vulnerable people of society.

As a result of the current long waiting times there have been several negative effects. Hopefully in the foreseeable future this will decrease as more measure are being put in place to combat this problem.

Hope you found this insightful. Thanks for reading.
Written by Aarti Chopra
Universal Medicine

Sources
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-40122075
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38859225
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-41113507
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/sep/11/nhs-waiting-times-driving-people-to-turn-to-private-treatment
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jul/03/more-nurses-and-midwives-leaving-uk-profession-than-joining-figures-reveal

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38881464

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PTSD - A Psychodynamic Explanation

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a type of anxiety disorder which you may develop after being involved in, or witnessing, traumatic events. The condition was first recognised in war veterans and has been known by a variety of names, such as 'shell shock'. PTSD can develop immediately after someone experiences a disturbing event, or it can occur weeks, months or even years later. Its estimated to affect about 1 in every 3 people who have a traumatic experience, but it's not clear exactly why some people develop the condition and others do not. There are many theories that could be used to explain this condition. Psychodynamic approaches to PTSD focus on a number of different factors that may influence or cause PTSD symptoms, such as early childhood experiences, current relationships and the things people do to protect themselves from upsetting thoughts and feelings that are the result of experiencing a traumatic event. The psychodynamic approach focuses mainly...
Read more

Disparities in Global Eye Care

Vision is one of our most precious possessions. Multiple polls globally show that most people are more fearful of becoming blind than losing any other sense. (1,2) With sight being such a valuable asset, one would assume that eyecare is at the forefront of medical services across the world. Living in the developed world, we perhaps take for granted the simple and yet crucial services available to us such as regular eye tests, glasses, contact lenses and high-quality ophthalmic care - most of which can be accessed for free or at a subsidised price. However, in many parts of the world this is not the case. 285 million people worldwide are visually impaired, with 90% being from developing countries. (3) In China, for example, levels of blindness are increasing each year, however critically, rates of blindness have been reported at up to 4 times higher in the developing world as compared to more economically developed countries (4, 5). This is particularly worrying given that around 80% of...
Read more

Do Contact Lenses Really “Support Your Vision”?

Image
Contact lenses have been frequently used as an alternative to glasses. Compared to the heavy-framed glasses in front of one’s eyes (optic glasses), thin plastic discs on the eye (contact lenses) help correct refractive errors in both myopic and hypermetropic users. The lens’ shape and power can be tailored to the user’s sight. A concave lens can be used to decrease myopia by reducing light refraction and increasing focal length so that the image is formed on the retina (1)  (Figure 1). Alternatively, a convex lens can be used to limit hypermetropia in an opposing mechanism to concave lenses (1) (Figure 1). Figure 1, An illustration of myopia and hyperopia and how adding lens of different shapes in front of the eye can be used to alter the refraction of light and correct each impairment in vision (10) Besides supporting sight, which both types of lenses can do, contact lenses confer some advantages that make them preferable to glasses. Unlike glasses, contact lenses are less li...
Read more