“Ho fermato farmaci per il salvavita” dice l’uomo esausto dalla lotta per la cura del SSN

Just a man effectively commiting suicide because he cant get support that makes his life bearable, nothing to see here, everything working as intended. Move along please

I know this feeling all too well. My Wife has a serious heart condition that leaves her unable to walk or even stand for more then a min or 2 at the most. 5 years, YEARS, of the NHS passing us to one expert and the next who would then ask for more tests, more bloods, then refer us to the next person. My wife was distraught, those 5 years she slowly got worse and now her quality of life is miserable.

Thankfully we got a Lucky brake with me getting a job with a company that pays for Private health insurance for our whole family. it took one, ONE, trip to a new private doctor who diagnosed her in a single 1 hour appointment and now we are finally on the road to treatment and medication to help my wife live a semi normal life.

The NHS has become a joke and at points actively is harming people by taking so long and letting people get worse.

Take my advice, if you have any money spare invest in private healthcare for you and your loved ones. Don’t subject them to the NHS musical chairs game.

My heart broke for this man when I read the news article. It’s absolutely appalling that he’s been denied such basic care. Nobody should ever be made to suffer unnecessarily like this, that a slow process of taking their own life is preferable. The NHS and Social Care are failing people at a massive scale, and the lack of accountability is disgusting. Nobody will be held accountable for failures when this man dies, yet many had the opportunity to support him (and do their job properly), and chose not to.

There is a huge problem with ongoing care for chronically ill people. Acute medical incident? Mostly dealt with (though obviously some exceptions happen). But there is basically no provision for chronically ill people. No community or hospital teams who look at ongoing, holistic care plans, nobody to piece together the many ‘pathways’ that patient needs to be on to get the basic things they need to live, and to advocate / chase these things for them either. It’s appalling, and exactly why so many are relying on benefits to pay for private health services – physio, mh support, OT, mobility aids, carers, doctors, prescriptions…

> Tim, who lives on his own in Worcester, first went to his GP in 2022 because he started stumbling while walking.

> He was referred to a rheumatologist. He waited a year for the appointment only to be told it was the wrong specialism.

Normal island

Using a very niche case to present the entire NHS as uncaring and incompetent.

As a person who has experienced the US healthcare system, I will never complain about the NHS. You have no idea how lucky you are to have it.

As soon as I saw he lived in worcester, I thought “yep”. The stuff I could tell you about worcester hospital makes the blood run cold.

The NHS underwent a fundamental shift in 2006 with respect to data collection, monitoring and target performance. Focus was directed towards effective management of ongoing conditions, meaning patients who could be cured are merely aided to manage symptoms. The end result is what we’re seeing today.

this is exactly why i was against assisted dying (for now)

It’s terrible how people are treated. I’ve dealt with similar in my family. It’s not the staffs fault though, it’s a lack of resources. Even 20 years ago it wasn’t this bad! You’re pretty much left on your own to deal with things. My friend whose a nurse even tells people to get private health insurance. Dunno when it’s gonna ever get better.

Need medicine to keep me alive. Only a specialist can prescribe it. I’m never given enough to last between appointments so I have to “beg” for more and take an hour-long round trip on public transport to get it, which can be dangerous for me.

It’s a bloody prescription. It’s not more resources, just another couple of bottles at a time. There’s something wrong in a fundamental level.

There is a return on investment for everything, including medical care.

The NHS has been denying prohibitively expensive medication since it’s inception.

Value judgements on patients have existed for decades (yes we will do this for a 10 yr old not for a 70 yr old.)

While I understand concern when care seems restricted, the reality of any functioning medical service will be sometimes denying treatment so you can do more to help others.

Always has been the case and always will be.

I feel like this has become the standard NHS experience.

If its not *immediately* life-threatening and/or *immediately* obvious what the problem is, you’re then pushed into this situation where you plod along ***for years*** without the NHS really doing much about anything beyond the absolute bare minimum box-ticking to say you’ve technically been seen and technically had a test done.

I’m also not sure what’s worse, the situation itself, or the *attitudes* you often experience. You’re often in pain, suffering, disabled or limited, often not in a great mental space because of that. And you’re left to deal, with no support, with a system that seems totally unable to stop itself from just openly and nakedly treating you like meat. You aren’t relevant, your thoughts worries and concerns are not relevant, its all just a big show to say you’ve *technically* seen a doctor so hey what more could you *possibly* expect? Want to know whats wrong with you? Why? Want to know why a process is the way it is? Well none of the staff seem to know either. Want to talk to someone about how you’re being shunted around at great stress with huge time delays for apparently no fucking reason? Well tough luck the system is what it is and no one can change it, alter it, or even deviate from it slightly.

I understand why it is like this, and I do understand its not the staffs direct fault its like this, but holy fuck its like everything is purposefully designed to make you as aggrieved and pissed off and hopeless as possible.

I keep repeating in this sub but I had an issue with an ankle that dragged on for the better part of a decade, largely because a podiatrist didn’t want to “waste” an X-ray, and its just dragged on and on and on and on. The slightest acknowledgement I’ve gotten that this is all a bit wank was me escalating a formal complaint up to the regional trust level which resulted in a letter from them saying they’ll review their process to ensure patients are listened to in future. That was it. That took 2 years to get as well!