Just to add my 2p on the topic…
I’ve seen both the very best and the very worst of the NHS.
First up, early stage treatment has been very good and has continued to improve since 1998, end of life treatment is very… hit and miss. Consultant communications were poor then, that’s not changed - it’s all very well having a breast cancer nurse but when they can’t answer those all important questions waiting a month is not good enough.
Palliative care WITHIN a hospital enivornment from my experience is absolutely shocking, communications with patients very poor and generally the standards of care not great… I am not racist, nor do I have a problem with foreign nurses - I do have a problem with when my Mum was dying and a clear lack of understanding for what she needed.
Diagnosis and accountibility was poor, 98 with misdiagnosis and 2005 mis-reconstruction, then later in 2009 a poor decision to take Mum off of herceptin instead of treat any heart issues along-side it shows the lack of communications between departments, 6 months my Mum lost access to Herceptin, at the end of the 6 months she was diagnosed Stage IV lungs, liver and bone. For my Mum herceptin was her life line… telling her no your heart was bad, wait for meds to work was a terrible decision, it should have been something they prescribed along side the treatment. The MacMillan nurses are non-existant, abrupt and quite honestly doom mongerers, I hate to say this as I’m sure some of you have had some good experiences - ours was terrible - we found out the day she died that she was on her death bed, up until then we were fed back she’d be coming out.
We had an absolutely great experience with the Chaplain, I can’t sing her praises high enough, she did more than any doctor, nurse or support group - not in a goddy way either.
When my Mum was admitted the weekend before she died, she was placed in AMU, the nurses were abrupt, forceful and not understanding of my Mum and her situation. Nurses were rushed around while 4/5 managers/senior staff sat around desks.
Things have to change, if they aren’t going to put money into the new drugs they need to put emphasis on the care.
These are my opinions, feel free to edit what i’ve put down… this is quite a raw subject as we’re currently talking to ICAS regarding my Mums treatment as I’m upset that we had really 72 hours with her of ‘quality’ time.