A 'healthy' couple of days.

The NHS has loomed large in my life this week.

On Wednesday we went to the Theatre Royal in Bury to see the latest offering from the Out of Joint Company, This May Hurt a Bit, by Stella Feehily.  The play is based on the real life experiences of Stella Feehily’s husband, the play’s Director, Max Stafford-Clark.  Stafford-Clark had a stroke in 2006 and spent 6 months in hospital.  Although inaccurate and unfair in places, and unashamedly politically biased, the key message transmitted effectively by the well-acted and finely produced play is that successive Governments have failed the NHS.

The play has two more performances today, a matinee and evening performance. It is well worth trying to get a ticket.

On Thursday morning I found myself once again in Bury St Edmunds with the ideas from the play at the front of my mind.    

This was interesting because my entire day was to be spent in one way or other thinking about health issues.   In the morning I attended the Health and Wellbeing Board as an observer, and watched the eminent Board Members grappling with the realities of bringing together the Health and Social Care Budget.  

Later I went to see my mother in law who has recently had a fall.  We went along to the Health Centre so that she could visit the Doctor and also pick up some pills and potions.

The last stop of the day was at the West Suffolk Hospital, where I attended a seminar for Directors and Trust Members, at which the current financial situation at the hospital was elucidated.

These were three very different health related experiences.  As far as the first is concerned, there is no doubt that if the government driven aim of merging Health and Adult Social Care services works, savings will be made both in hospitals and at councils, and outcomes for those needing care will be much improved.  There is a hugely complex exercise to undertake however, and realistically, despite signs of good progress, it is unrealistic to expect tangible outcomes for a year or so.

The trip to the Health Centre was more or less fine.  Pauline’s appointment was on time, and everyone was pleasant and cheerful.  However, the pharmacy was very slow and we waited around for quite a long time before our packages were ready…quite tough for an 82 year old with a broken arm.  Six out of ten however for the whole experience though.

Then came the hospital seminar, and it was here that the thesis of the play, that the service had been destroyed by Government activity,  began to work out in reality. I will not go into tedious detail, but suffice it to say that the latest government attempts to ‘incentivise’ hospitals to perform in the ways that 'the centre' and the Department of Health would like is creating a situation in which it is almost impossible for a hospital to create a meaningful balanced budget..   

The West Suffolk Hospital remains a fine place,  staffed by hard working and talented people, despite repeated Government intervention.  However, unrealistic expectations from Government, and a crazy funding structure,  mean that it is becoming an increasing struggle to protect quality patient care.