Friday, 22 April 2016

Pain and fear in the NHS


22 April



 Game of Thrones; I have got totally bored with reading these books. I’m just over half way through the 5th one in the series and have #6 and 7 in my TBR pile, where they will remain for the foreseeable future. When I first started read them, I was well pleased with them. Now I have given up on them, although I may give them another go later.



Right now we are watching another recorded programme, this one is Medical Mysteries. It’s about conditions that baffle the medics for years and looks at three issue in each episode. The three in this one are a young woman who keeps vomiting day after day; an elderly lady who has suffered with giddy spells and light headedness for the last 60 years; and a young man who is suffering from a condition similar to fibromyalgia. All of these conditions have failed to find a diagnosis within the NHS and patients have had to go abroad to get it sorted, or are lucky enough to find someone who has come across it before, or has enough knowledge to be able to think across disciples. It makes me wonder just how many people suffer from these and other unknown conditions.  



Overall, the NHS does a great job considering all the problems that beset it these days. We hear a lot of complaints about what happens all over the country, mainly these days concerning lack of resources, and the issues that brings. Of course it’s not just that is it? Yesterday I had two texts come in from the Walsgrave hospital in Coventry for my appointment there on the 27th. The last one also reminded me that if it wasn’t convenient I could call and remake it for another date. OK, fine, as it is I’m planning it as made now. They then made a comment that I wonder about how they come to the amount of £185 for every missed appointment.



The same things happen in dentist’s, and GPs as well. I understand why they might get uppity when the system has that amount of money. Another issue here is that of wasted prescriptions. When we came to sort out mam’s house after Dave died, we found a heck of a lot of full pharmacy bags which had not been opened, let alone used. They were mam’s prescriptions too, we found none for Dave, not even his current ones he was supposed to be taking. Now multiply that by an unknown number other prescriptions that are repeated month on month without have them looked out for each patient’s use. And remember, some of the medications are very expensive and most of us don’t pay for them, even the fairly low level due right now.



All of this loss of funds will of course affect the whole service, and that doesn’t take into effect of inflation or the growing number of people using the service. Right now A&E isn’t hitting its target for treating people, and that has a knock on affect right through the hospital part of the system. At the other end the largest drain is that of bed-blocking, simply because of a lack of places for elderly care within the community, again down to a lack of resources. And so the merry-go-round continues on it’s up and down circle. A blames B who points C who points back to A and so … … …



And so Mr Yankiedoodledandyland wades on to back Daft Dave and his rush to keep us in the EU. One wonders just how much some of these muppets will benefit personally by us to be allowing ourselves to be ruled by faceless unelected morons in Brussels. The Yanks objected strongly to part of that idea in the 18th century and yet they say we should submit to it. Bolshi Boris reacted well to the intervention; good for him. I can’t believe I’m agreeing with a tory, such a strange feeling.


Today’s photo …

Market colours.



Today’s funny …



What is round and nasty?
A vicious circle.

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