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Child Item

Your experiences with the HSE ?

Muahahaha

Thought I'd share my experience of our health system. More or less two years ago I begun going down the gym to lose weight and get fit after too good a time in my twenties.

Anyway long story short I used to measure my heart rate through the sensors on the exercise bike. After 40 mins of cardio my ticker would be beating at around 80-85 beats per minute, which obviously isn't good, it should be beating a good bit faster than that during exercise. So something is wrong and I go to the doctor who refers me to a cardiologist in the Mater. Appointment took 4 months, not too bad I thought. So I have a chat with him and explain the gym thing and he says it sounds like one of my ventricles isn't pumping enough or at all. Not good. So I'm put on a waiting list for two tests, an MRI scan and a echo cardigram.

I wait five months and the echo comes go, attend that. Still nothing on the MRI scan. Another four months passes and I ring them up to be told by the secretary I'm being processed. Another three months and I ring again, but this time I get more info- basically my file got 'lost' but now it is 'found'. So months after their cock up only finally then am I beginning to join the Q for a MRI scan, the secretary said she couldn't speed it up even though it was their cock up. Anyway I finally had the MRI scan in April this year. The results of MRI scans are pretty instantaneous but now it is August and I still haven't heard from them, yet again.

So I ring up there this morning to Mater Outpatients number. It rings as busy, over and over again. I go to the website to get the number of the cardiology dept, it's not listed. Then I ring the main switch, she puts me through to cardiology who ask me who my consultant is and I tell her 'to be honest I haven't seen this guy in two years now and I can't remember his name'. She looks up my name and finds him as Dr.X which jogs my memory so she patches me through to his secretary where I'm met by an answering machine which sez:

"This is Dr.Xs secretary in the Cardiology Dept. I am away on holidays until August XX. Do not leave voicemails on this machine as they will not be listened to. In an emergency ring the cardiology department"

Unbelievable. Probably the most annoying thing to me about our health system is that when you actually get access to it the consultants, doctors and nurses you meet are absolutely world class. But in order to get access to them you've gotta takes your chances with the incompetent cesspit that is HSE administration. A place where the secretary of a cardiac consultant goes on holidays with no replacement and tells people not to be annoying her with voicemails because "they will not be listened to". Which pretty much sums up the entire attitude of HSE administrators to the general public.

I read somewhere before that in the HSE for every single doctor or nurse on the frontline of our health services there is 2 administrators working in a back office somewhere doing sweet f all. During the Celtic Tiger days FF created these 'jobs' to buy votes, during the same period FF allowed an extra 5,000 administrators be employed by the Dept of Social Welfare at a time of record levels of unemployment nationally. Imagine what was going on in the HSE during the boom.

These administrators in the HSE is what has our health service fooked. They are holding the country to ransom, from both an economic perspective and a health one too.

//rant over//

I'll go back to paying my taxes like a muppet now :mad:

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Samsgirl

My daughter was born with craniosynostosis and once she was under the cranio /nuro team in Temple St her care was fantastic. The problem was getting referred to Temple St from Waterford Regional. Once her diagnosis was established I was assured a referral letter would be faxed to Temple St that week.
It took me ringing the Doctors secretary every day for maybe a month for this to be done. I got every excuse in the book - one day I would be told the letter was awaiting Doctor signature, next day I would be told the dictaphone/printer/computer was out of order so letter couldn't be produced.

Eventually the fax was sent & 12 hours after Temple St received it we were meeting with their nuro team. Haven't looked back.

Two months after my daughter had surgery I got a letter from Waterford with an appointment (which I never made), asking to take her in to see Mr/Dr x as she was an 'interesting case'.
Told them to shag off..

IvaBigWun

Rasheed wrote: »

Then got seriously sick, like calling a priest sick. I found the health service at the time and since to be nothing short of phenomenal. I couldn't fault the care, professionalism or attention I received. I was in 5 hospitals and had many many outpatient appointments to do with every side if the multidisciplinary team- all couldn't do enough for myself or my family.

Daddy then had a stroke with major complications. Long story short, he also was minded and treated like a king.

Good to hear. Which hospitals?

IvaBigWun

Tail Docker wrote: »

I could go on about how my own father died of pneumonia in one of their fcuking dumps of hospitals after being dragged from good health to deaths door by a misdiagnosed kidney infection that they allowed fester for months, or how they fcuked up my own kids deliveries to the point where they brain damaged one and destroyed my wifes good health with their incompetence, or where the left me lying in a pool of my own blood for an hour while they searched for a Doctor in a packed A&E - I left and drove to another, I know I would have died in that one - and I'm well used to being badly injured.

Or how they fcuked up my mums hip replacement, it's so misaligned she's worse off than before and they brush it off as "grand"..or how when I got a chunk of steel through an artery, in comes some gowl and starts probing with a forceps, ripping it wider open - blood shooting to the ceiling - another Doctor came in and was horrified and took over..thank fcuk.

Fcuking Muppets. I can't even bang out some "redeeming" shyte whereby I praise them for "being lovely people, trying so hard, they were so kind, blah, blah" or some other clown-fodder platitudinal shyte. They're irredeemably muppets.

:eek:

Holy fúck!

Would you mind naming and shaming all the hospitals from above. I'll be doing my best to avoid all!

ErnieBert

My son was born 3 months premature. To say he got world class care would be an understatement. I was overwhelmed and humbled by the standard of professionalism, enthusiasm and kindness. The boy was hanging onto dear life and everywhere we turned, we got help and it was fast. He spent four months in hospital at a cost to the state. There were many other sick babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and each and every one were treated with equal priority. Staff worked beyond the call of duty.

Five years later he was admitted to A&E (in the same hospital) after a playground accident. He waited 11 hours to be x-rayed.

Dozen Wicked Words

REXER wrote: »

You did.

I hear this in conversation and see it here on Boards all the time, its one of the favorite defensive tactics used to deflect attention away from any form of criticism.

Its a case of don't look at me look at him, or don't look at us look at them. Surely we are not as bad as they are. etc

What a load of b*llocks. Me saying something is not unique to Ireland is not tantamount to saying its acceptable. And who the f*ck am I supposed to be deflecting from? Where have I said I think the HSE is doing a good job or are you going to make up my opinion on that as well?

IvaBigWun

Tail Docker wrote: »

A lad I work with went in for a unrelated scan and was informed that he had testicular cancer. Cue three months of him thinking he was a gonner, severe depression etc etc..then some muppet rings him and goes, "no, we had another look, it's just a cyst, you're grand, Bye now".... In the meantime he'd lost two stone in weight worrying and was like a dead-man walking in him self..

Thats a fúcking disgrace..

See if that happened in America, private or public, the people responsible for something like that would be sued into oblivion.

The problem with this country is that we continuously let people away with such shíte. I do feel however the mood is changing and we're not going to put up with nonsense like this anymore.

jam_mac_jam

Tail Docker wrote: »

That chap(nicest lad you could hope to meet, an absolute gent) is only 28 with two small kids, one of whom is seriously ill and needs a lot of care. The Muppets added a level of stress to that family's life that they could have done well without.

I could go on about how my own father died of pneumonia in one of their fcuking dumps of hospitals after being dragged from good health to deaths door by a misdiagnosed kidney infection that they allowed fester for months, or how they fcuked up my own kids deliveries to the point where they brain damaged one and destroyed my wifes good health with their incompetence, or where the left me lying in a pool of my own blood for an hour while they searched for a Doctor in a packed A&E - I left and drove to another, I know I would have died in that one - and I'm well used to being badly injured.

Or how they fcuked up my mums hip replacement, it's so misaligned she's worse off than before and they brush it off as "grand"..or how when I got a chunk of steel through an artery, in comes some gowl and starts probing with a forceps, ripping it wider open - blood shooting to the ceiling - another Doctor came in and was horrified and took over..thank fcuk.

Fcuking Muppets. I can't even bang out some "redeeming" shyte whereby I praise them for "being lovely people, trying so hard, they were so kind, blah, blah" or some other clown-fodder platitudinal shyte. They're irredeemably muppets.

Jesus..That's just awful.

REXER

Dozen Wicked Words wrote: »

Very true, but this is not unique to Ireland.

Dozen Wicked Words wrote: »

Who says it's acceptable anywhere?

You did.

I hear this in conversation and see it here on Boards all the time, its one of the favorite defensive tactics used to deflect attention away from any form of criticism.

Its a case of don't look at me look at him, or don't look at us look at them. Surely we are not as bad as they are. etc

Rasheed

Worked in the HSE on the front line for 4 years and saw many a creature suffering for an age until they were seen.
Saw laziness, staff shortages, pompous doctors, begging for equipment from management and more administration staff bopping round than actual patients.

Then got seriously sick, like calling a priest sick. I found the health service at the time and since to be nothing short of phenomenal. I couldn't fault the care, professionalism or attention I received. I was in 5 hospitals and had many many outpatient appointments to do with every side if the multidisciplinary team- all couldn't do enough for myself or my family.

Daddy then had a stroke with major complications. Long story short, he also was minded and treated like a king.

I know it's not perfect. I've seen every side of it from cleaning to nursing and managing in hospitals around the country. That said, when the chips were down for myself and daddy, they were faultless when it came to care, attention, speediness in scans and any equipment that may have been needed afterwards. That's my experience anyway.

Tail Docker

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

I think you're the third person just in this thread to say that happened to somebody they know or to them. Absolutely petrifying to hear that when are not.

That chap(nicest lad you could hope to meet, an absolute gent) is only 28 with two small kids, one of whom is seriously ill and needs a lot of care. The Muppets added a level of stress to that family's life that they could have done well without.

I could go on about how my own father died of pneumonia in one of their fcuking dumps of hospitals after being dragged from good health to deaths door by a misdiagnosed kidney infection that they allowed fester for months, or how they fcuked up my own kids deliveries to the point where they brain damaged one and destroyed my wifes good health with their incompetence, or where the left me lying in a pool of my own blood for an hour while they searched for a Doctor in a packed A&E - I left and drove to another, I know I would have died in that one - and I'm well used to being badly injured.

Or how they fcuked up my mums hip replacement, it's so misaligned she's worse off than before and they brush it off as "grand"..or how when I got a chunk of steel through an artery, in comes some gowl and starts probing with a forceps, ripping it wider open - blood shooting to the ceiling - another Doctor came in and was horrified and took over..thank fcuk.

Fcuking Muppets. I can't even bang out some "redeeming" shyte whereby I praise them for "being lovely people, trying so hard, they were so kind, blah, blah" or some other clown-fodder platitudinal shyte. They're irredeemably muppets.

retro:electro

REXER wrote: »

Out in the real world your GP would schedule a longer consultation and remove the moles under local anesthetic. Its no big deal really, I had it done in the 3rd world, it took about half an hour and involved 7 or 8 moles.

Ya I initially went to the gp thinking/hoping that she herself would remove them, no such luck. I know it's no big deal to have them removed, it's the 3+ years waiting that bugs me.

lazeedaisy

steddyeddy wrote: »

Biochemists hired from agencies for one. Management needs to be reduced drastically. The lab equipment purchased is far too expensive, the fact that the HSE bank books were (and probably still are) incomplete, the huge salaries (hiring consultants from agencies too). We also need lay offs.

It's not just biochemists, one way round recruitment embargo is to hire agency staff for nursing, and admin from agencies. More expensive too.

Lab equipment was always hired locally by the person who wanted to use it, not by procurement, they never cared about finance, no one did.

lazeedaisy

IvaBigWun wrote: »

Not in the HSE surely?

Not in any acute hospital, however, they do employ them to do extra work for private practice. The HSE used to have secretary pools, but most consultants would have the use of one, if not their own, usually they share 1:3 consultants.

Dozen Wicked Words

REXER wrote: »

Yes, but why oh why is it acceptable for Ireland to be competing to be the worst. Surely we should be able to hold the HSE to higher standards than pointing at others and saying look at them, we are no worse than them!

This is such an Irish trait, comparing our failure to the failures of others rather than striving to be the best. :mad:

Who says it's acceptable anywhere?

jam_mac_jam

Tail Docker wrote: »

A lad I work with went in for a unrelated scan and was informed that he had testicular cancer. Cue three months of him thinking he was a gonner, severe depression etc etc..then some muppet rings him and goes, "no, we had another look, it's just a cyst, you're grand, Bye now".... In the meantime he'd lost two stone in weight worrying and was like a dead-man walking in him self..

Bunch.of.muppets. There are so many other stories of my own family members met with utter incompetence, but who has time to type all them out. Muppets is my own view of the whole system.

I think you're the third person just in this thread to say that happened to somebody they know or to them. Absolutely petrifying to hear that when are not.

REXER

anna080 wrote: »

My gp raised concerns about two moles I have on my back that may need removing. She referred me on to the dermatologist in Galway hospital amid concerns, that was three years ago. I only just had my consultation last week and he told me they need to be removed, he also said I'd be lucky to get them removed in 2014. Great health care we have.

Out in the real world your GP would schedule a longer consultation and remove the moles under local anesthetic. Its no big deal really, I had it done in the 3rd world, it took about half an hour and involved 7 or 8 moles.

lazeedaisy

anna080 wrote: »

My gp raised concerns about two moles I have on my back that may need removing. She referred me on to the dermatologist in Galway hospital amid concerns, that was three years ago. I only just had my consultation last week and he told me they need to be removed, he also said I'd be lucky to get them removed in 2014. Great health care we have.

Our GP removes them himself, thank god

lazeedaisy

Dad had heart surgery in Beaumont, they accidentally left something in him, he ended up there for 6 weeks thanks to their incompetence, his friend was a senior litigator, died on table around the same time he was in. It was a big joke among staff at the time, they made jokes about it not caring who overheard.

Friend's husband ended up in Tallaght, they told him he was a Coeliac, died 3 weeks later, it was cancer, he was 36.

Worked in acute hospital or over 10 years, the charts library was a joke, they put the people there who could not work anywhere else, or people who had no sense of achievement. No one took ownership, charts missing all the time, they get taken home, to other hospitals if consultants worked elsewhere, you name it. It was against hospital policy to take them off the premises but everyone did. No one manager would take it on, it was a joke.

I have never been in hospital, but have to say I do have experience of a close relative beng hospitalised when there was nothing wrong with him. Seemingly, ths time of the year hospitals take in people. In admission, hold them over, tell them they are doing tests. This is to cut down on costs. If a consultant visits a ward, it costs to have them there, so they don't bother with them, they have the ward ticking over with no accrued costs being generated, holds the budget down too.

It's a joke of a system and needs an overhaul before the govt. plan on charging us.

We have a fantastic overworked GP though,

As for faxes, omg it's a joke, still in this day and age. I used to scan them in & email them, no fear of loosing them. Digital sigs are accepted in Some US states & in Australia, where a lot of our standards come from in hospitals. Most HSE faxes are digital signature not real ones.

HIQA were responsible for lots of people being hired in the early days of hygiene audits. Still trying to justify their jobs,

Tail Docker

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

My partner was told that he had a rare and serious form of cancer when he didn't. This was by a clueless junior doctor in a passing comment. Not sit down we have something to tell you. He was in for a month they never found what was wrong with him.

A lad I work with went in for a unrelated scan and was informed that he had testicular cancer. Cue three months of him thinking he was a gonner, severe depression etc etc..then some muppet rings him and goes, "no, we had another look, it's just a cyst, you're grand, Bye now".... In the meantime he'd lost two stone in weight worrying and was like a dead-man walking in him self..

Bunch.of.muppets. There are so many other stories of my own family members met with utter incompetence, but who has time to type all them out. Muppets is my own view of the whole system.

REXER

Dozen Wicked Words wrote: »

Very true, but this is not unique to Ireland.

Yes, but why oh why is it acceptable for Ireland to be competing to be the worst. Surely we should be able to hold the HSE to higher standards than pointing at others and saying look at them, we are no worse than them!

This is such an Irish trait, comparing our failure to the failures of others rather than striving to be the best. :mad:

not yet

I wonder if Thatcher's lovechild reads boards.ie, If so get the finger out Leo.

not yet

suicide_circus wrote: »

I had to have a biopsy. Waited 3 months, no update. Called them. "Hang on there we'll call you back". Called back an anxious hour later. "Yer grand, ye don't have cancer." Sound, thanks for letting me know.

Ya see it's this sh1t that annoys me so much. At a time in your life when you can't think straight and at your most vulnerable you need up front immediate care, not fobbed off and passed from one office to the next.

The one thing a state should provide above all else is excellent health care.

retro:electro

My gp raised concerns about two moles I have on my back that may need removing. She referred me on to the dermatologist in Galway hospital amid concerns, that was three years ago. I only just had my consultation last week and he told me they need to be removed, he also said I'd be lucky to get them removed in 2014. Great health care we have.

IvaBigWun

bleg wrote: »

Consultants usually employ their secretaries separately.

Not in the HSE surely?

bleg

Consultants usually employ their secretaries separately.

IvaBigWun

Deleted User wrote: »

Waiting 2 years for a referral, got a call about it 5 months ago.
"Hello is this Buttonftw?"
"It is yeah."
"I'm someone from the HSE, I have it down here that you're waiting to see an ENT specialist."
"That's right yeah."
"Well we're just calling around to make sure everyone on the list still wants to be on the list."
"Okay..."
"Do you want to stay on the list."
"Yes..."
"Alright that's fine."
"Any ideas how it's going to be?"
"No we're just updating the waiting list."

Haven't heard anything since.

That honestly sounds like an out-take from Father Ted.

westcoast66

steddyeddy wrote: »

Biochemists hired from agencies for one. Management needs to be reduced drastically. The lab equipment purchased is far too expensive, the fact that the HSE bank books were (and probably still are) incomplete, the huge salaries (hiring consultants from agencies too). We also need lay offs.

Compulsory redundancies would be a massive step for any Irish government. Can't see any situation where a government minister would propose it.

djerk

I'd like to add.. the nurses that took care of me in hospital were second to none, i still don't understand why they get paid so badly with everything they have to endure. I came back and left a big box of chocolates and flowers just to remind them that they were doing a great job. I was sharing a room with a few oul fellas.. obviously the place was under staffed because sometimes theyd be ringing the bell for ages just to get help to go to the bathroom. I used to get up and drag my IV over with me and help this one particular guy, a real gentleman.. go about his business.. he told me lots of funny stories. One in particular.. he mentioned how he lost the love of his life because he never had the courage to ask her out, made me think a lot about things.. he must have been in his late seventies and he was still thinking about this girl hed met in his youth. On the day I was packing my stuff and getting ready to leave he called me over and tried to stuff 50euro into my hand.. I was like, I'm having none of it! Shook his hand and told him to take care of himself.

Funny sh1t happens in hospitals.. for some reason I always ended up sharing rooms with the older lads.. there was one fella who used to dance jigs in his bed while he was asleep.. I was post surgery and literally nearly burst my stitches laughing.. another lad used to scream BURGERS randomly throughout the night.. another lad refused to talk to any doctors unless they spoke irish so they had to get him a translator.. anyway, sorry for the off-topic rambles

Dozen Wicked Words

suicide_circus wrote: »

If you're an old person with no one to help you or vouch for you in this situation you're fcuked. Scary.

Very true, but this is not unique to Ireland.

suicide_circus

Deleted User wrote: »

Similar for us, granny hasn't been well on-and-off for a few years. Constantly switching medication then finding out from another doctor she shouldn't because of something else she's on. Getting 3 separate appointments for one thing. It's not just the hospitals either, chemists are useless, rarely having everything needed and when they do the brands and dosages change month-to-month which is annoying for my mother to figure out every month, very unfair to someone in their 80s trying to figure it out alone.

If you're an old person with no one to help you or vouch for you in this situation you're fcuked. Scary.