Care and service in the NHS

I read the front page headline "Missing - and nobody knew" on Saturday, January 20, with dismay, but sadly not with any great surprise.

A terminally ill man walks out of the PRH because he has not received the care and attention due to him after a lifetime of contributing to the National Health Service. To add insult to injury the staff did not even notice he had gone.

This came as no surprise to me as a number of experiences with the staff of this, and a number of other NHS establishments, have led me to believe that the "caring profession" is anything but caring. Hanging around dri-nking tea, gossiping, waiting to go home, bemoaning their lot in life and demanding more money is what these people really care about.

Patients are an inconvenience who serve only to interrupt the aforementioned activities - and should a patient complain about the lack of service and caring this is explained using the stock excuses such as "we have to deal with emergencies you know" (this excuse was once used to explain the non-attendance of a chiropodist).

Other excuses include "we are short staffed" (the one worker amongst us is on a day off) and, of course, "we don't have to take this abuse, you can't threaten us, and if you carry on complaining we can refuse to treat you" (I heard this said to a patient who had asked how long they would have to wait - and that patient was not threatening in the least).

It is high time that every person who purports to be a member of the so-called caring profession takes a long hard look at themselves.

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