I have spoken briefly about frontline staff in the NHS but I wanted to do another post on it – really just an appreciation post. Nurses, doctors, healthcare assistance, psychologists and so many others often take the brunt of any fall out when it comes to patients treatment and care. I really Just want to drive home that these people are the ones that are trying. They are as much victims of the system as the patients in their care.
I had some brilliant experiences with hospital frontline workers when I wasn’t very well and I just don’t think these people are given enough credit at all. They want to do better, they want to have more time to actually make a difference. They are overworked, underpaid and absolutely doing the best they can. When I speak about quality of care it isn’t these people I am talking about at all, it is the people sitting in their offices, making absolutely no changes to a system that is broken and has been for such a long time.
Often on the news we see that there are enquiries being made after people have been mistreated, neglected or even died due to failings in the NHS. These enquiries feel like a box ticking exercise, they are spoken of to shut people down and think changes will be made. However, in recent years I am yet to see an enquiry leading to actual changes on the ground. It just isn’t good enough.
The nurses on our ward done everything they could with what they had to offer. They heard us, they made us feel listened to, they made us understand that we deserved to be here. They sat with me on countless occasions when I was vulnerable and stayed with me until I fell asleep. They would sit with me when I didn’t want to be in my own head in my room, often falling asleep on the floor in communal areas – they stayed there with me. They dealt with verbal abuse from patients regularly but they never held a grudge – they remained up beat trying to encourage us to feel better.
The psychologists of which there were two were spread so thin. In total there were 40 patients they were expected to see, they done all they could but there was just not the hours to spend time with individuals making a real difference. I had 2 psychology sessions during my stay and I was getting so close to opening up and trusting someone but then that was it. That isn’t their fault at all – they just don’t have what they need to do their job properly at all.
The occupational therapists again had 40 patients to do activities with – there was no way they could please everyone. One of the occupational therapists during my stay was a trainee, he didn’t even get paid to be there it was his university placement. He lived in North London, he had a wife and a child – whilst in the placement he was working another job to support his family. His transport was expensive and not even that was covered. Despite having his own challenges he turned up everyday with a smile, he done as much as he could for as many people as he could and honestly he was a breath for fresh air.
These people honestly want to make a difference. But we are all victims of a failing system that doesn’t seem to ever change.
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