My experience of NHS staff is that they work twice as hard as anyone in the private sector, Are you not aware of improvements in outcomes for cancer and heart conditions. It is true that the NHS has not always been helped by government targets but information is vital to evidence the effectiveness of treatments and make improvements where possible, much of this can be obtained by observation at a small distance.

No one says the NHS or its staff are perfect, they are human after all. (like you and me!) but survey after survey suggests that users of the services are more satisfied that those firtunatel enough not to be ill enough to need its services

Finally may I point out that contrary to publuc perception hospitals only represent 10% of NHS activity, most people who come into daily contact each day do so through GPs or community nurses so it is inappropriate to use isolated hospital experience to brand thousands of dedicated hard working staff.

Paul wrote:
My experience of NHS staff is that they work twice as hard as anyone in the private sector, Are you not aware of improvements in outcomes for cancer and heart conditions. It is true that the NHS has not always been helped by government targets but information is vital to evidence the effectiveness of treatments and make improvements where possible, much of this can be obtained by observation at a small distance. No one says the NHS or its staff are perfect, they are human after all. (like you and me!) but survey after survey suggests that users of the services are more satisfied that those firtunatel enough not to be ill enough to need its services Finally may I point out that contrary to publuc perception hospitals only represent 10% of NHS activity, most people who come into daily contact each day do so through GPs or community nurses so it is inappropriate to use isolated hospital experience to brand thousands of dedicated hard working staff.

well Paul.. sorry to disappoint again.

my neighbour has a husband with dementia and frankly the care they get and they way they are treated is entirely second rate. They are too old to create a fuss (like many people with no choice other than the nhs) so have to pretend to be satisfied (hence the results in user satisfaction surveys)in order to avoid concerns that they would be branded difficult.

Other instances I have seen are staff going on endless courses following which the skills learned are never put into practice as they use the qualifications gained to increase their pay rather than provide a return on investment to the taxpayer and patients.

On your final point, it is the "angels" image which is constantly trotted out and used by the nhs to leverage more money from the taxpayer- so you should not be surprised when that is used as the benchmark/public perception.

Users of the nhs, which include me, are quite frankly fed up with "awards" such as this for substandard service.

Take a look at the voluntary sector for some folk who merit awards.

i complained about your earlier posts, td, and i'm glad they've been removed, not least because my children look at this site and you were using bad language.
you may well have valid criticisms but you should make them within the terms of use below then they won't be deleted.
from what i can see the argus is only too willing to report criticisms of the nhs especially when things go wrong. but i am impressed they are also willing to recognise those staff who go the extra mile. i note their letters pages often have thank you letters from patients and their relatives.
my recent excperience of nhs was mixed, with an understaffed ward at the royal sussex causing me to think poorly of the trust that runs it and some of the staff who, in their defence, were working in difficult conditions.
at the brighton general, most of the staff were wonderful even though staffing levels there were hardly generous either.
it may not be the most efficient of institutions, but it's right to recognise those who try hard and perform well just as it's right to deal with the problems caused by those who let down patients, taxpayers and their employers.
i guess i'm lucky. if i make a mistake at work, it's unlikely to prove deadly to anyone.
td, by all means discuss your dissatisfaction, but please do so in a constructive and courteous manner. thank you.

graham wrote:
i complained about your earlier posts, td, and i'm glad they've been removed, not least because my children look at this site and you were using bad language. you may well have valid criticisms but you should make them within the terms of use below then they won't be deleted. from what i can see the argus is only too willing to report criticisms of the nhs especially when things go wrong. but i am impressed they are also willing to recognise those staff who go the extra mile. i note their letters pages often have thank you letters from patients and their relatives. my recent excperience of nhs was mixed, with an understaffed ward at the royal sussex causing me to think poorly of the trust that runs it and some of the staff who, in their defence, were working in difficult conditions. at the brighton general, most of the staff were wonderful even though staffing levels there were hardly generous either. it may not be the most efficient of institutions, but it's right to recognise those who try hard and perform well just as it's right to deal with the problems caused by those who let down patients, taxpayers and their employers. i guess i'm lucky. if i make a mistake at work, it's unlikely to prove deadly to anyone. td, by all means discuss your dissatisfaction, but please do so in a constructive and courteous manner. thank you.

actually- i have engaged in a courteous manner but you are clearly another sap on the nhs payroll.

i hope you will be glad with second rate and excuses when you are next in need!

I'm just glad sucker that I use private healthcare

i agree that your post yesterday afternoon is much more courteous than those that were deleted and which contained swearing, although you can't seem to help yourself with your petty insults - sap and sucker.
and by the way i don't work for the nhs and never have done.
i don't accept second-rate excuses and more gladly than you.
if you read my post properly you would see i am critical of the care i experienced at the royal sussex. but i think the problems there are much more complex than many people realise.
and i think it's important that the argus keeps reporting certain particular problems when they come to light to help put pressure on those responsible to put them right.
i'm pleased you have the benefit of private health care and hope you rarely have to use it.

graham wrote:
i agree that your post yesterday afternoon is much more courteous than those that were deleted and which contained swearing, although you can't seem to help yourself with your petty insults - sap and sucker. and by the way i don't work for the nhs and never have done. i don't accept second-rate excuses and more gladly than you. if you read my post properly you would see i am critical of the care i experienced at the royal sussex. but i think the problems there are much more complex than many people realise. and i think it's important that the argus keeps reporting certain particular problems when they come to light to help put pressure on those responsible to put them right. i'm pleased you have the benefit of private health care and hope you rarely have to use it.

courteousy is not a term and condition of using the comments section and I find both your attempt to limit my comments and the compliance of the argus as concerning unless of course you do not believe in free speech (unless of course on your terms).

By posting a comment, I confirm that I have read and agree to the terms of use. Comments are not moderated but we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention and we may delete inappropriate postings. Please treat other people with respect. You must not post anything that is abusive, indecent, unlawful or defamatory.

It's fairly clear. This is less an issue about freedom of speech and more one about sticking to a clear set of rules on a site that hosts comments which can be seen by children as well as adults. It's not difficult.

John wrote:

By posting a comment, I confirm that I have read and agree to the terms of use. Comments are not moderated but we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention and we may delete inappropriate postings. Please treat other people with respect. You must not post anything that is abusive, indecent, unlawful or defamatory.

It's fairly clear. This is less an issue about freedom of speech and more one about sticking to a clear set of rules on a site that hosts comments which can be seen by children as well as adults. It's not difficult.

what a rubbish response.

I look at many comments in this section and if your interpretation was applied as described by you then this entire section should be shut down.

You are being entirely selective here as you simply do not like my point of view WHICH IS as valid as any others.

I'm not alone in noting that the Argus kills comments that it simply does not like.

Why don't you guys try some journalism for a change.