Thursday, 7 February 2013

Curry Club, Speeking properly and the NHS



7 February 2013

Today is curry club at Whetherspoons and I'm very tempted indeed.  I have to go off into town anyway so why not have a curry at the same time?  We'll see ...

A stuck up head teacher in Teesside isn't happy with the way her pupils are speaking.  What this lady is trying to do is to change the way kids speak to each other.  The result will be all the character of the north-eastern dialect is removed from their speech.  No more 'divin know'; it has to be 'I don't know' or even 'I do not know'.  This lady obviously doesn't have enough normal work to do to think up such a crazy idea as this.  Good job she's not teaching in Glasgow then! 

The report on the Mid-Staffs hospital has been released and it's causing some unpleasant reading for a lot of people.  The Cure the NHS group is looking for heads to roll over it and I'm not surprised at that.  If there is clear evidence that any one or even a group of people have behaved in an unprofessional manor then they should be held to account - not matter how many there are.  It seems that there another 22 hospitals where there have been similar problems, including the Hussy here in Dorktown.  Last year it had the worst mortality rate in the country.  Front page story in today's News though says that the death rate there is drastically falling.  The question is, "Why were they so high in the first place."

Part of the problem lies with the media to some extent.  They see a high death rate and that's what they report.  They ignore the reasons behind the high figure.  Dorktown was once a mining town and therefore there a lot of ex-miners living here.  The health problems connected with coal mines seem to be a large issue.  There are pockets within the town where smoking is rife; pockets where there is a lot of deprivation.  The hospital also covers a very large area here in North Warwickshire as well as part of Leicestershire.  How does the death rate compare to the population being served compared with other hospital areas? 

So what happens now I wonder?  The Hussy is trying to find a partner who will help it achieve Foundation status.  Will that be helped or hindered by the high death rate?  We can only wait and see.

Jan is adamant that we are going out tomorrow now that all the work is finished.  A day out birding does indeed sound inviting seeing as we haven't done any so far this year.  The main question now is where we will go.  I fancy Slimbridge or North Norfolk.  We'll see what the weather has in store for us tomorrow and then decided - not that we can be totally reliant on the BEEB's weather forecast!

A birdie photo today ... 

This beastie I got at Chester Zoo a few years ago.  Nasty looking thing eh?  It's a vulture of some sort I think.

And for today's funny I offer ...

A young lad moved to London looking for a job. The manager asked, "Do you have any sales experience?"
"Yes" the lad answered.
The manager liked him so he gave him the job.  His first day on the job was challenging and busy, but he got through it. At closing time the manager came down and asked, "OK, how many sales did you make today?"
"One said the lad."
"Just ONE?!? Our sales people average 20 - 30 sales a day! How much was the sale for?"
"£124,237.00"
The manager choked and exclaimed. "What the hell did you sell?"
"Well... a fellow came and first I sold him a small fish hook, then a medium fish hook and then sold him a brand new fishing rod.  Then I asked him where he was going fishing and he said down at the coast, so I told him he would need a boat. So we went to the boat department and I sold him that twin-engine Power-Cat."
Then I asked him what car is he driving so it'll be possible to pull the boat."
"But his car was too small, so I took him down to the car department and he bought brand new Jeep Cherokee 4WD."
The manager said. "So you mean to tell me... that the guy came in here to buy a small fish hook and you sold him a fishing rod, a boat and a SUV?"
"No, no, no...  He came in here to buy a box of tampons for his girlfriend and I said: "Well, since your weekend is buggered, you may as well go fishing..."           

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