GOD HELP US, NO-ONE ELSE CAN.

I have been told that some people have not been able to leave comments on my post. I had my IT guru take a look but everything seems to be OK.  If anyone else is having problems can you email on ann@infotel.co.uk.  I suspect that the culprit might be this wretched word verification thing and if that's the case I might just have to drop it and verify each comment myself, but that would be tedious! And tediosity is not my thing!!  TA.

So, on to stuff.  Two things.  Benefit Street and the NHS. 

For those of you who do not have the dubious advantage of watching British TV, there is a programme showing at the moment called Benefit Street.  I have deliberately not watched it and from the feed back that I'm getting my instincts are spot on.  Even the thought of it makes me want to lay down in a darkened room with a hand full of tranquilisers.  As the title would suggest it's about low life, no good, criminal, idle idiots justifying and bragging about the "life-style" they enjoy at the cost of the British tax payer. The real problem is that they are allowed to breed future generations with the same delightful "life goals and choices".  I say castrate them and let the rot stop now.

And as for the National Health Service, don't get me started.  Listen to this story.  At an inquest yesterday it was reported that a boy of four died in a "chaotic" hospital ward where he was so neglected after heart surgery that he resorted to sucking the moisture out of wet wipes. 

But that's only half of the story. He was operated on for complicated cardiac problems after which his parents were told that he would spend five days in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). However, after 18 hours was moved into a general ward because "the bed was needed" where he soon deteriorated .  He was then  moved back into the PICU ward for 11 days and was recovering to the point where he could get out of bed and play with toys.

They then moved him back to the general ward again which was "busy and chaotic".  When he became poorly and dehydrated his parents begged the staff to help him and what did they do?  They silenced the potentially vital alarms which monitored his condition!  It beggars belief doesn't it?  No matter how busy they were there is no excuse for this, not even the usual mantra "lack of staff due to Government cuts".

Finally after struggling for another month he suffered a heart attack, then a brain haemorrhage and died.  

What is it with these people? Where is their compassion?  How can they be allowed to get away with it?  This is serious neglect which, if it happened anywhere but in a hospital, would be criminal act. We lock up petty criminals and leave callous animals in charge of our sick. I use the word animals simply because I can't think of anything else to call them, but actually animals don't act in this cowardly way.

SCREAMING IN THE DARK

I heard a brilliant interview on BBC Breakfast a couple of mornings ago. It was about the dangers of experiencing mental deterioration whilst living alone. My ears pricked up! This must apply to me. The interviewees were a psychologist and a delightful young lady who had lived alone for 16 years.

The gist of it was that if you live alone you have no-one to bounce your paranoia off of. Davy used to tell me that I was a mad cow to think the way that I did, so I would quickly adjust my attitude which is good discipline for a crazy like me.

The young lady agreed with the psychologist. She is an author who described herself as being "on the wrong side of bonkers". She also said that her home was both "paradise and a prison". I identified with both of those statements.

So for those of you that get fed up with me "popping into the office to see how things are doing" - get over it. You are, I'm afraid, stuck with me for life. You think I'm mad now, try me if I can't unload my paranoia somewhere. Welcome to my world.

But, to be serious, I'm still obsessing about the NHS. As my dear friend Ladythatlunches revealed there was another man on the same ward. He is in the early stages of Parkinson's and had been in the middle of moving to Lincolnshire when he was admitted to this wretched hospital. The poor man vegetated on the ward for several days, was given the wrong meds and sent home to Edinburgh by taxi where he had to be re-admitted to hospital again. . And he still has to deal with moving from Edinburgh to Lincolnshire. Can you imagine the stress this must be causing him? But do they care? Not a bit of it. Unbelievable!

DogLover suggests going the "complaints procedure" way. I know what would happen. Been there, done that! My husband had bladder cancer. He was a very fastidious man and abhorred the thought of having a stoma bag so he elected to have what they described as "bionic man technology", i.e. he had a bladder constructed in his bowel. We were told that the operation cost over £30,000 and, at that time, there were only 2 to 3 operations carried out every year.

Part of his post-op regime was to learn how to use his newly reconstructed bladder. He was told that a specialist "nurse practitioner" would train him. In the whole month that he recovered in hospital she never came near him once. He stressed out about it because, apparently, it was important that he did special exercises to stretch the new bladder in early post-operative days.

He was frequently told she would be up to see him and would get agitated when she didn’t turn up AGAIN! On the day of his discharge he was told that it was important he didn’t leave without seeing her, she would definitely come up to the ward. After being in hospital for weeks it was a big day for Davy. We had a 70 mile drive but waited for this woman until 6 pm and were finally told she had gone home for the day.

However, she made an outpatient appointment for him the following week and we were told it was imperative that he attend. On the day of the appointment he had dreadful diarrhea. I ‘phoned up the clinic and said he wasn’t able to make the journey and was told they would re-schedule the appointment. They did – for 6 months time! I suspect that this was punishment time for missing an appointment.

I complained about her, again. The result? Davy was transferred to another nurse but by that time it was too late. The new bladder needed to be expanded in the days immediately after the operation. Now it was “set”, had not expanded enough and nothing could be done. £30,000 down the drain and, more importantly, a patient neglected. But it was brushed off by the hospital and our GP. Nobody gave a shit (if you pardon the pun).

Nothing will change until these malcontents can be sacked. Unfortunately, despite the recent scandals of patients dying through lack of care, malnutrition and dehydration they still appear to be “bomb proof”.

NHS WOES

Despite all the bad publicity the NHS has been getting lately, like wrong diagnosis, patients being neglected, people dying of malnutrition and dehydration in hospitals etc, they are still up to their old tricks. 

An acquaintance of mine was recently taken into hospital.  For months he had been having trouble with his feet and had been attending a daily clinic to have them dressed but they weren't getting any better.  They were painful and bleeding but it was when they changed colour it was decided to take him into hospital.

It was thought to be a circulation problem and he was scheduled to have a procedure to widen the veins in his legs.  So there he sat in hospital for over a week, given so many different tablets that he became groggy waiting for this procedure to take place.  It was finally decided that he should go home and back to daily dressings at the clinic until such time as this procedure could be scheduled.

On the day of his "release" they decided he could be fitted in that day after all.  So there he sat all day long until they finally decided that they actually couldn't fit him in.  Probably because this happened to be a Friday, and,  as we all know, an NHS "weekend" starts Friday lunch time and they don't like working at the weekend!

By this time is was late and he had no way of getting home.  The nurse told him not to worry, they would arrange a car for him.  The "car" turned out to be a Taxi and the 16 mile journey cost the NHS £35. The driver admitted that he was earning a fortune from these hospital runs! Proving, yet again, that the procedures have been put in place by idiots.  Too much money to throw around and not enough humanity to care for the patients.

Back at the clinic they were shocked that he had been in hospital for over a week and nothing had been done. This is typical of the NHS, they are quick to criticise each other, but no-one will actually "blow the whistle".  We all know that this culture of neglect and secrecy has to stop but no-one seems  to be able to do anything about it.

BLOATED SACRED COWS

This new government is proposing to make interesting changes to long standing money pits. This morning it's the turn of University funding. When Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, was interviewed he explained, very rationally and succinctly , that we currently have a system in place where students pay an upfront fee of £3000, which poorer students stuggle with, and then fund themselves by way of a student loan to eventually be paid back through additional taxes on earnings in excess of £15,000.

The new thinking is that higher earning professionals such as surgeons should be expected to pay more than, say, teachers or social workers. The TV reporter immediately jumped on this saying that high achievers should not be penalised in this way. Is it me? Surely that is what the whole taxation system is about anyway. High earners pay 40% income and capital gains taxes, and are in higher Council Tax bands because they can afford better housing etc. so this would simply be an extension of this thinking.

Vince Cable quite rightly said that we have limited funds available and have to use them wisely to ensure that we provide world class universities. At the moment we have so many university doling out mickey mouse degrees, frittering away precious resources and dumping virtually unemployable students onto the job market at the end of it.

And another thing.......the public sector is being asked to make across the board cuts too. Not before time. I know of local government workers and civil servants who are actively encouraged to reduce their productivity and submit inflated overtime claims because if the budget isn't used they lose it.

Even when Davy was in the building trade in the 1970's and 80's it was common practice for builders to be asked to increase the headcount on public sector sites toward the end of the year because there was a budget excess to be used up. And that is just the tip of the misappropriation of funding disgrace, I could write a book about it. It has to be stopped. Let's hope this government has the balls to tackle this national sacred cow.

Unfortunately any sensible suggestion is jumped on by the TV and media with the BBC appearing to be hell bent on subtly trashing any much needed changes and the Unions and spin doctors pursuading poor maligned workers that they are being victimised. What I don't understand is that benefit cheating is a crime, so why isn't cheating in the workplace also recorgnised as being the crime that it is? It has the same result, it keeps the Country poor and stops the really needy from getting help.

.......and don't get me started on the NHS. Now there is an organisation that is bloated with useless tossers and insane work practices.

OK, rant over for today.

IS THIS COMMON SENSE, OR AM I MAD?

I read in the paper this week that the National Health Service loses 10.7 working days a year per employee due to sickness compared to 6.4 in the private sector. This equates to a total of 10.3 million working days a year. The union states that the findings were being "twisted" into an attack on NHS staff. Oh yeh?!

More alarming statistic are that public sector employee numbers have risen by over 100% since this government came to power and that taxpayers owe them an astonishing £1.12trillion in pension payments. This is equal to about 80 per cent of everything made, sold or traded in the UK every year.

This has to stop Mr Brown/Mandelson. I'm not very bright, but even I can work that one out.

And finally ... they called it PMS because Mad Cow Disease was already taken

FRENCH HEALTH CARE

Compare my “French family’s” health care schedule with OG’s. My SIL has arthritis and was feeling unwell and my daughter suspected that my grandson has a hernia. It was decided that a trip to the doctor was in order and this is how it went:

Thursday 07.45pm - Called doctor’s surgery for two appointments
Friday 10.45am - They both saw a doctor at the same time
Friday 11.30am – The doctor confirmed that my grandson probably does have a hernia and made an appointment for him to see the professor at a top children's hospital.
Friday 12.00pm - SIL had an X-ray taken which was handed to him
Friday 12.15pm - SIL’s bloods taken and results available on website at 4pm
Monday 09.00am – SIL has appointment to see doctor to discuss blood and X-Ray
results

My daughter than commented that although they had to pay, the experience was so different from the UK and she wonders how could we have got it so wrong? I know what she is talking about because it is the same in Switzerland. They don’t have any understanding of waiting lists. They simply don’t exist.

First let me say that although she had to pay she is saving a fortune by NOT having to pay a National Insurance contribution of 11% towards a “free” NHS. To this 11% a similar amount is payable by the employer. As a company the NI portion of our monthly PAYE cheque is higher than the IR contribution The amount that we pay is scandalous and the service that we get for it is 3rd world class.

In Switzerland it‘s compulsory for everyone to pay into a private health insurance scheme of their choice according to their means. People on low income don’t pay but have exactly the same health care as people who have paid into the scheme. There is a “one tier” system free at the point of delivery. You don’t have to “sign on” with a doctor. They work a free market system and you have choice in the practice you attend. For example you may prefer a GP that specialises in diabetes. This keeps the doctors on their toes and they have to give good service otherwise you vote with your feet.

Back to OG’s schedule. He was backward and forward to the GP from mid July to mid October when we had to cut short our visit to America because he was in so much pain. He was referred to a consultant who sodded around until 21st December when he confirmed OG had bladder cancer, referred him to a surgeon who also sodded around until 18th March and finally operated on him. By this time the cancer had travelled into his prostrate and two of the six lymph nodes examined.

Then there was the post-op farce. He was scheduled to see the Uri-Oncological Nurse Practitioner for 6 to 8 consecutive weeks. On week 3 OG was not well enough to travel the 150 mile round trip and we cancelled the appointment. This was on 14th April. The following week another appointment was set for 27th JULY! We tried to get an earlier date but were jerked around so much and finally gave up trying.

Throughout all this OG has been experiencing problems with his bowels and would like to know if this is usual following this operation or is it something that needs attention. The GP wrote to the surgeon to get him an appointment. He didn’t get a reply. The chemo nurse rang the surgeon’s secretary to get him an appointment and he still didn’t reply. The chemo nurse then told the oncologist and he finally got OG an appointment to see the surgeon next Monday. It’s all a total nightmare.

And do you know the scariest thing about this? OG has private health insurance and has probably been treated better than he would if he were a NHS patient!

POLITICALLY CORRECT MADNESS

A friend of mine who also follows the wifeinthenorth sagas wrote, referring to her blog on 11th June about an anti-bullying workshop, “what I dislike about these PC people is the patronising way they talk, as if they alone know The Truth and the rest of us are infants”. Now ain’t that the truth. I'm glad it's not just me. Odd that he didn’t reassure me that, in comparison to wifeinthenorth, my writing is NOT shallow and inadequate (see my last blog). Ummm!

Reading wifeinthenorth prompted me realise that I hadn’t ranted for a while, at least not publicly. I'm am, however, beginning to feel a rant building up about public funds being wasted on needless road signs and CCTV that, if there is a crime, the police are too busy to look at anyway!

The Highways Department have recently spent months putting up poxy useless signs between here and our nearest town, naming the villages, restricting speeds, tut-tuting that I am driving too fast etc. They have even erected a sign to make us aware that ducks are crossing the road, now that’s a step too far.

That’s another thing, is the Highways Department still called the Highways Department or has it wasted public funds on a name change like countless other ineffectual government departments? Oh! Silly me, it’s now called the Highways Agency. Well, well what do you know!

But need a life saving operation? Sorry, we don't have the funds and anyway most of our health workers are off sick - so there! And the ones that aren’t sick are too busy chasing down patient records that they lost in the first place to bother with mundane things like doctoring and nursing.

Has no one in this ridiculous government heard the story of how Nero fiddling whilst Rome burnt? This country is feeling uncannily like Rome at the moment.

On a more personal note we have spent the last few days packing and moving stuff out of or to different locations in the house so that we can isolate “the building site” from the “home”. In the process my computer has been re-located back to the office which is a bit of a bind because I now have to take a trip to blog, read and reply to emails and all that good stuff instead of just sauntering into the spare bedroom. Still, the exercise is good and I get to meet people.