Just a little tip for NHS managers everywhere

If a single member of an on call team being off sick causes absolute chaos, and if everyone being present means people just about manage to get everything done, maybe that means the team needs another doctor!

What do you suggest scrapping to fund an additional doctor's wages? And of course say you add someone and max out an over stretched budget and someone is sick, how would you pay for a Locum then?

What do you suggest scrapping to fund an additional doctor's wages? And of course say you add someone and max out an over stretched budget and someone is sick, how would you pay for a Locum then?

It has become an inefficient colossus from the running/administration perspective. There are some areas where multiple people are being hired to do one job.

Yes, there are finite finances within the NHS. But don't believe that something needs to be scrapped, the funds are available we just have an incredible amount of waste in the system. It has become an inefficient colossus from the running/administration perspective. There are some areas where multiple people are being hired to do one job. However, it would appear that someone thinks it's quicker to make savings by employing less of the more expensive people for each shift. (I.e the doctors) Why do locums need to be paid £50-100 per hour? It would be far cheaper to hire full time members of staff rather than let the locum bill skyrocket. Posted from TSR Mobile

The billions spent on the Health and Social Care Act 2012 might have been better spent on actual patient care services. Just a thought. But that would require an actual desire to improve the national health service rather than an ideological drive to undermine it. Posted from TSR Mobile

With regard to the hospital floaters. They might be in training? I have been a lurker in scrubs whilst cataracts are removed because I was learning about the procedure from another spare pair of hands. Then when a registrar took over the surgery there were two consultants not doing anything because it went smoothly. Effectively there were 4 extra people in that room, 2 medical students came in to watch too. Training does tie up personnel that could be actively working but it's an essential part of development.

What do you suggest scrapping to fund an additional doctor's wages? And of course say you add someone and max out an over stretched budget and someone is sick, how would you pay for a Locum then?

Dyson fans on every ward in the hospital?.

lol - what's the deal with this? This is something I've noticed recently. There seems to have been a massive purchase of dyson airblade fans on the wards. I'm pretty sure the standing units are about £300 a pop.

I'm not sure whether you're referring to administrative or clinical staff but as a medical student on surgical placements I remember that whenever I was in theatre there were loads of people in scrubs floating about in the background (now I know they're called ODPs). This didn't happen just once or twice but pretty much every time I was in theatre I noticed that apart from the ODP/nurse who was scrubbed in and handing instruments to the surgeon, there were at least another 2 (usually 3 or 4) who were doing absolutely nothing about 95% of the time. Even when it was simple gynaecological or ophthalmological procedures this was the case. Now I'm only a medical student so have been in theatre a total of maybe 20-25 times and I don't know much about the ins and outs of how surgical theatres work, but it seemed to me that all these people weren't actually needed. Do we really need 2-3 ODPs in theatre helping out on a cataract phako or a diagnostic pelvic laparoscopy? (on top of the one who's scrubbed in that is)

Some are ODPs, some are scrub nurses. The difference between them is mostly irrelevant.

You have to have one in each theatre, to act as a "circulator" or runner - essentially someone to fetch and open any extra kit that is required onto the sterile tray of the scrub nurse. There's also usually another one who is the anaesthetist's assistant. They may not do anything most of the time but we need them there in case something goes wrong, and they also do a lot of setting up/dismantling kit in between cases. Then there are usually a couple extra for each theatre complex who will do relief for breaks for everyone (giving the staff in each theatre a tea break, a lunch break and an afternoon break takes up a fair bit of time!) and there may be some students.

Thanks for the explanation. Maybe I was a bit harsh.

I was under the impression those scrubbed up guys milling sround doing nothing were the anaesthetists...

*runs for cover*

lol - what's the deal with this? This is something I've noticed recently. There seems to have been a massive purchase of dyson airblade fans on the wards. I'm pretty sure the standing units are about £300 a pop.

If a single member of an on call team being off sick causes absolute chaos, and if everyone being present means people just about manage to get everything done, maybe that means the team needs another doctor!

easy to clean vs reg fan