The NHS and emergency care is really under the spotlight. Some hospitals are under such pressure that they are having to declare major incidents.
Anyone who has ever worked in the NHS will tell you that the decision to declare a major incident is one that you don’t take lightly.
As well as a lot of press about the pressure on waiting times, there are also stories about the cost of doctors to help cope with the demand for services.
A recent experience of dealing with Apple Support trying to deal with a problem with a new ipod shuffle reminded me of the amazing job that A&E and indeed the NHS as a whole does.
The target is for 95% of patients to be waiting no more than 4 hours. For routine cases this can usually be addressed. More complex cases, especially elderly patients are often much more of a challenge.
Once in hospital elderly patient discharge often depends on there being appropriate support in place.
Apple as we know are a technology company with a track record for product innovation. While this may well be true, the same could not be said when it came to quickly and efficiently dealing with a routine problem with a low cost product.
After over 2 hours on the telephone I still had to invest another hour going to a store, meeting a technician in order to get to the point where I was issued with a replacement.
While I’m sure Apple deal with a lot of routine issues well just like the NHS, they still can take a significant period of time to determine next steps.
So next time it feels easy to find fault with A&E or other parts of the NHS, take a moment to stop and put into context the fantastic job that is being done in diagnosing and deciding the best course of action for high volumes of patients who sometimes have a number of complex conditions.
Goals and Achievements help NHS organisations deliver great performance. Learn more here