Casper on the Move

The Declining Global Health-Service

28^th May 2009

 

 

The decline in the number of registered nurses  is about to be made worse by the announcement of the Royal College of Nursing’s  latest findings that almost 200,000 nurses are due to retire in the next decade. This is a major issue for the National Health Service of which it has been criticised for failing to act appropriately in this staff shortage “time bomb.”

 

The numerous stories about below standard services being provided by the NHS to the public are indeed appalling and unacceptable. A major part in the problem is attributed to staff cuts primarily aimed at saving money in the highly inefficient financial management of the whole service.  Numerous evidences are easily obtainable to show the impact of staff shortages on patient safety and care quality; most especially when healthcare teams are become burnt-out and pushed to the limit.

 

Staff members directly involved in patient care feels that they do not have enough time or assistance (from other staff members) to properly care and provide patient a high standard of care. They likewise feel that the NHS is not actively reactive to the increasing demand for NHS services. While the whole area being served by the NHS is doubling at enormous rates, the service is still stuck with its original level of service and provisions. In fact, almost half of those surveyed said that there is just not enough staff to do the job properly.

 

The good side to these distressing revelations is the fact that, as a response, most trusts have made positive actions to improving their services.  But then again trust can only do so much within the constraints of the law.

 

Taking all factors into consideration, the easiest solution to the plummeting government service is to outsource. The UK has been and is currently being heavily disapproved of for its policy of “poaching” from other countries with which there is already an identified shortage. The UK is singled out as the major proponent in luring large numbers of health professionals into its mainstream. Not that the US, Canada and the Middle East are not doing it, but rather in a more less diplomatic and globally accepted manner.

 

The Global Health Workforce Alliance, a joint platform for action on the health workforce crisis, estimates a 4.2 million global shortage of health workers. It also identified that at least 57-major under-developed countries are in need of serious health workforce support and development.  

 

With the national and international aspects of the growing concerns for sustained health care service and provisions, substantial investments for health workers should be our main matter of interest within the next five-years when everything else will start to fall apart. (Michael Duque)

I am here on my spouse’s visa, hence a dependent visa. I am free to work without any restrictions except my own personal limitations and capabilities.

 

I presented myself to a nursing home about 30-minutes away from where we live. The nursing home is located in a quiet estate near the town centre. Cautiously getting off the local bus, I consulted my trusted GPS phone for directions. From the bus stop, I walked further forward-turning left at the round-about. A wide neatly manicured lawn opened on my right side beyond the low-lying fence made of vertical steel. Further beyond the greens, about five conservatories dotted the edge of the lawn. This must be it, I told myself.

 

Further up the road, I saw the familiar blue-white health service billboard. I quickly crossed the road and entered the home’s property. Numerous bungalows lined the main private street fronted by well kept gardens and flower-beds. I walked further to the main bungalow identified by a huge sign made of copper – RECEPTION.

 

I entered the double doors into the foyer and through another set of doors where a large office table sat on the right of the door. A small enclosed room on the left opposite the table, three settees, a bookshelf and other office furniture completed the office atmosphere. I introduced myself to the receptionist.

 

I was handed the application form and sat myself in one of the settees to complete the form. I flipped through my own personal documents while the receptionist conveniently ignored me.

 

A long hallway fronted me and a door on my left side occasionally distracted me from completing the form as people passed by regularly. A small chiwawa came running out from one of the rooms in the hallway and played madly with its little squeaky toy.

 

Three-quarters through the form, a female staff came out of the door on my left and greeted me.

 

“Hello. Pinoy?” she asked with a wide grin on her angelic face.

“Uhu.!” I said surprised.

 

The female introduced herself as Hazel and a staff of the home for just over a year.

She is a healthcare assistant and is on a training course today. We gingerly talked about how work is on this place, how many other Filipino staff are working here, and a few other stuff.  In a low and barely audible conversational tone, she reminded me not to forget to secure a work-placement letter from the college. Confused and puzzled, I asked her what her visa status is. She said that her right to stay in the country is through a student visa. She further added that as a student, they are not allowed to work more than 20-hours a week unless a letter from the college authorizes them to do so. With a work-placement letter from the college, she emphasized that they can work up to 40-hours a week. I asked her how it is possible for her to attend college and do 40-hours a week work. She said that at most, they only attend college (WSC) twice a month. Possibly noticing my surprised expression, she asked me what my visa status is. I then told her that I have a dependent spouse’s visa and therefore not limited to any restrictions. This revelation made her dumb-founded for a while. A few minutes later she then wished me luck in the application and excused herself to have lunch.

 

In hind-sight, I am surprised how people will expose themselves simply to further encourage others to join their cause without any caution and due regard to the existing law. Being a stranger and an immigrant in any place should put us all in a heightened state of care and doubt unless proven otherwise. Had I been an immigration officer, Hazel and her other colleagues will be on a plane home as of this writing. But as I am not, I simply learned from it, walked home with a new found perception and something to write in this blog.