My dad was a GP for 40 years. The NHS let him down when he needed it most

As a doctor myself, I have rarely seen healthcare from the side of the patient. My trust in the system has disappeared

When my dad went into hospital I promised I would get him home. I wasn’t being honest. As a senior doctor in the NHS looking after seriously unwell patients, I know many octogenarians with his problems who are admitted to hospital don’t survive. As a GP for more than 40 years, he knew this too.

Dad fought through operations, infections, depression, pain and distress over months in hospital. Much of his struggle wasn’t against his underlying illness, but against the consequences of what I considered mistakes, oversights and failings in his care.

Related: I didn't train as a doctor to prop up a struggling NHS – so I quit

Can the NHS be excellent rather than mediocre? Or have we accepted that this is the way things are?

Continue reading... January 18, 2018 at 07:43PM