Is Self Help the Way Forward?

Happy Tuesday!

As you may know by now, Tuesday is review day so today I've decided to review BBC's programme Doctor in the House and instead of being a straight forward review, I want to use this as an opportunity to question what we as individuals can do to not only help ourselves, but help the NHS out too.

source: BBC. Dr Chattejee is the Dr in the house

The second series started yesterday on BBC1 and follows Dr Chatterjee as he tries to help patients in a new way- from inside their own homes. He gets a behind the scene's glimpse into patient's lifestyles habits and hopes that by doing so, it will uncover what is really going on with their conditions and how, without quick fixes such as medication, they can help cure themselves of heir ailments. In Monday's first episode we see Dr Chatterjee visit a mum of two, Gemma who suffers with "suicide headaches"- the name given due to their excruciating nature and frequency. With Gemma already being on various medications and under neurological care, it was a real challenge for Dr Chatterjee to come in and offer productive help for her and her family who were obviously feeling the strain of Gemma's condition.


Also in the programme, Dr Chatterjee offers his help to Paralympic ice hockey player Gary who lost his leg in a car accident aged 5. From this young age, he was determined to not allow his disability to get the better of him and has conquered many feats from climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to competing in the Paralympics- all on his crutches. As you can imagine, a lifetime on crutches has taken it's toll on his shoulders resulting in daily aches and pains. With this and the prospect of becoming wheelchair bound should his shoulders deteriorate further, something had to change and he would need Dr Chatterjee's advice to change them.

I think this programme is a fantastic insight into how small changes can have huge benefits and in my opinion, this show should serve as an eye opener from everyone to Health Secretaries to GP's and patients alike; we can do so much ourselves through our own initiative to help this struggling health system and the people that work night and day to keep it running. All it takes is a little forward thinking, some simple self reflection. It could be having less caffeine for your persistent headaches to addressing your posture for that niggling backache. I understand that for some conditions you will need your GP's advice or medication for, but even if a few more people started to think more about their lifestyle and how that could be changed to prevent or better their conditions then I think that'd be a great place to start.

The NHS is under constant scrutiny and increasing financial threat and is very much at the forefront of everyone's minds as is even a pawn in the election fight. With each party proposing radical changes, some of which are more realistic than others, it's painfully clear among all this manifesto and campaigning camaraderie that the NHS needs some TLC and a change in the way it works.

source: BBC. Documentary 'Hospital' highlighted NHS struggle

We've seen many programmes on TV most recently highlighting the increasing need for change. One such documentary, 'Hospital' showed in no uncertain way, the increasing struggles and moral and ethic dilemmas medical professionals have to make (and live with) everyday. Filmed in St Mary's Hospital, it showed viewers a stark image of the state of the systems currently in place. They are in 'code red' every few days meaning there were NO beds in the WHOLE of the Trust, not just the hospital, and with this they have to manage a constant flow of patients as well as deal with the resulting fall out from staff. One episode in particular showed a surgeon who was drafted in specially, waiting hours for a bed to become available for his patient's post-surgery recovery. Hours of time in the NHS is an invaluable resource. That surgeon could have been operating and saving a number of other people's lives but he was instead forced to wait in a queue for a bed. A queue that is ever increasing and an ever frequent problem. This proved a frustrating watch, knowing that the resources were right there but nothing could be done.

We tend to think of the NHS in a very selfish way: why can't I get an appointment? Why can't I get that prescription now? Why has my appointment been cancelled again? But what we don't realise is that those NHS staff members, those thousands of medical professional's don't enjoy turning you away, they don't get a kick out of you feeling unwell. They want to help, they really do, but the humongous strain on the NHS system is starting to take it's toll, a point made so poignantly on 'Hospital'. After watching a documentary like this there is no longer excuse for denying that our health system needs our help and our full commitment right now more than ever before. Something fundamentally needs to change and I don't think the answer is pouring pound after pound in, I think us as individuals need to start helping ourselves and eachother and within doing so, we can start to reshape a system that is buckling under the pressure before we lose one of our biggest and greatest institutions- the NHS.