Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
is the NHS ageist?
I'd ignored the expressed opinions that the NHS is ageist (I was a volunteer in Mental Health for nearly 20 years) but perhaps they were right! like most old folk, I have various ailments for which I have to attend clinics at the Whittington and lately the appointments are almost always postponed, sometimes several times I would be interested to hear if other age groups have similar experiences 
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alison P on
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Yep, has happened to me a few times, at UCLH and the Whittington. Im in my 40s.
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Permalink Reply by Seema Chandwani on
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Hi Sally
Young people in Haringey undertook a consultation with young people on the NHS and they experienced different issues http://positiveyouthnewsharingey.co.uk/pyn-haringey-conduct-youth-s...
Still love the NHS though!! x
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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I think that some, but by no means all, heath care professionals see diseases that are more prevalent amongst older people as something you you just "put up with". There are also assumptions about what the actual illness might be from the symptoms that present themselves. My mum saw her GP several times about severe back pain and was told it was her arthritis. It wasn't until she was in hospital for another reason that she was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer.
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Permalink Reply by sally mustoe on
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Michael: how appalling for your family I'm so sorry
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Not sure it is specifically to do with age, as we olders are going to be using health services quite a bit more than others. I persisted with my GP practise over two years. I was feeling tired so much of the time and knew it to be more than getting older(only 59 at the time) After a walking holiday in Andalucia I was so tired and breathless I was even more persistent. One of my GPs agreed to send me for a 'full' blood test. Apparently blood tests only test for certain things which the gp does not tell you! I was diagnosed with Hepatitis C which can lead to fatal liver failure. After a punishing drug regime of 6 months I am now almost back to fitness level and starting to lose the weight of 6 months stuck on the sofa due to side effects. I dread to think of the outcomes for the many people who would be less assertive.
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I think it's a real lottery Philip. My GP is very thorough and doesn't seem to take anything at face value, he really digs deeper which is why he discovered I was suffering from epilepsy rather than being what a previous GP said were "fainting spells" and probably caused by low blood pressure (which he never even measured!)
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