The email that proves our NHS is riddled with a baffling level of incompetence | UK | News

Many people excuse the NHS’s inadequacies by saying that it is a large, complex organization and that it cannot do things quickly because it is such a huge giant. But with each passing day that I battle incurable cancer, I wonder if that could quickly change for a much simpler, deadlier cause. Is it doomed to fail because it is full of inadequacy?

The staff appears to be making decisions regarding patient care that are not based on common sense. This can best be summed up by some key sentences in an email I received this week from someone at my world-leading hospital. As background, I met with them to highlight the lack of support the hospital provides people to cope with the emotional and health challenges of battling cancer.

The meeting was positive because they seemed to care about gaps in patient care. After leading the Daily Express’ Cancer Care campaign to improve mental health support for patients, I hope to work with hospital staff to make improvements over the coming months.

But when I received an email summarizing the meeting, I was completely stunned.

I noted that it was very difficult to discuss anything related to my cancer treatment and side effects with my clinical nurse specialist if I had never been told who they were.

And when I emailed all the clinical nurse specialists on my medical team, I was told they were too busy to respond to messages.

So, during the three years I spent as a patient at my world-leading cancer hospital, I muddled through, not knowing who to contact when I had serious problems or even minor problems.

This has been the case until now. I can proudly say that I have a clinical nurse specialist who I can talk to about treatment issues and I think she will refer me to people if I have any mental health issues or other concerns.

I say I think because the email said that I was assigned CNS in 2023, around the time my treatment started. But I wasn’t given their names.

All I was told was that the CNS that was supposed to be assigned to me was not actually on my medical team.

Why would someone who has nothing to do with my care be tasked with effectively becoming my key worker for cancer care?

Why would anyone think this was a good decision?

It comes back to my suspicion that the NHS is failing because so many people are making decisions that smack of incompetence.

It’s as if, when I first came to the Daily Express in October 2022, I was told that my agent ran a ski resort in Wales. And obviously, to keep the NHS going, the person running the center will not be aware of my existence and therefore will not contact me at all.

Canoeing aside, I think the NHS needs to take a serious look at itself and ask why it isn’t making decisions in the best interests of patients.

Why are patients left to deal with the painful realities of long-term health conditions alone?

And what can staff do better to ensure patients don’t have to deal with confusing levels of impairment?

Answers on the postcard please.