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Monday 4 November 2019

As the NHS creeps and crawls along...

Better by luck than by judgement, our NHS struggles day-to-day.
Riddled with problems bureaucratic, problems political (shambolic), along with a multitude of personnel and human problems.

August 3rd 2018 as a result of a fall, my shoulder was damaged (badly).

Have spent the time since then at the beck and call of various 'agencies'; all parts of the NHS.

Several appts with various MCAS staff. Doing the appts 'dance' making sure (eventually) of a necessary referral.

Even contacted at least two other organisations belonging to the NHS in the hope of obtaining the necessary referrals.

Culminated in day surgery Broadgreen Hospital orthopaedics consultant 29/09/2019.

Life-changing fall leading eventually to life-changing surgery.

This week has brought various postal communications from the hospital.
Appointment to 'see' surgeon or part of his team. 19th inst.
Appointment at the Alexandra Wing 'critical' care physio 11th inst.

Copy of treatment document from Ward nurse...Marion.
Buried in that document - referral to treatment clinic 13th inst. BUT had to phone treatment appointments to 'confirm' appt. Most pleasant person at the other end explained the conundrum. Although I have the letter, no-one has notified the Treatment Centre with the info. Appts choc-a-bloc but none available because of missing communication!

Luckily, I've been told of a work-around as in my 'local drop-in / walk-in centre'.


High Peak

Although some tend to lump Derbyshire in with the Midlands; the High Peak has more affinity with counties further north and in particular Greater Manchester. Derbyshire's High Peak also known as the Dark Peak is part of the Manchester Commuter Belt.

Being in the Pennines and an area of high precipitation, it has provided water supplies for nearby urban areas.

Reservoir construction 



Nottinghamshire Guardian - Friday 09 February 1877 - it is understood that the Manchester Corporation's Waterworks Committee are looking into providing supplies from Cumberland in addition to the supply from Longdendale.

End note...hadn't realised how long ago I began this...

Studied hydrology off and on for decades. Glad the much anticipated Whaley Bridge disaster did not materialse.

Time to keep my own council...fwiw

Saturday 31 August 2019

Oh what a week

Definitely one of 'those' weeks...


By far the biggest event was my Goddaughter's Wedding...must have been quite a performance. The wedding cake was certainly a bespoke one-of designed and made by one of her friends who makes cakes and suchlike professionally.






As I said a most unusual cake!
Perfect for this modern couple. 

After happiness came sadness...
2002-2019


GSD puppy 2002


Handsome guy...


Now, I have lost my shadow...he personified the phrase 'dogging my footsteps'.

Saturday 27 July 2019

Formerly the envy of the World or not

Apparently, the good old NHS has been the 'envy of the World'.

But, our dear old NHS is rapidly becoming not fit for purpose. More often than not the GPs at the heart of the service are part-timers. Actually obtaining a GP appt is not quite as rare a hen's teeth, but it appears that way.

I had the same GP for several years. Then he began phoning in ill, and it occurred when I was supposed to see him. This led to being fobbed-off with a-n-others including the latest Practice Nurse and a student doing his practical in the community.

With one problem I ended up contacting the local CQC (Care Quality Commission). After 10 months I finally got a hospital appt. Better still I was referred for pre-op assessment.

Over the last month, I've become aware of back pain, more precisely in the area of my right kidney. Cue - Worry... Then I tried to get a GP appt. only to be told there were none available until next month. Also, on a Wednesday only one GP is in attendance and surgery closes at mid-day. Even more startling was being informed that they do not provide emergency appts!

Hence, I made my way to the local Drop-in centre. As its name suggests, no appts, you just turn up. How long you are there is like answering the question, 'How long is a piece of string'?

Reassuringly you are guaranteed to be triaged and seen by nurses. As I learnt to my cost from one nurse 'am a complex' person i.e. having a long case history due to getting older.

Then I found out that the prescribing nurse was off ill. However, I did receive a thorough examination.  Two litres of water imbibed later, I went home.

The next couple of days were too hot and humid to venture out. I went back to the Drop-in centre yesterday complete with urine sample. Back thro' triage with a different nurse since it was a different team. Back to another interview and obs etc. The hot, humid weather and stress accounting for raised pulse / heart rate. What had been commented on as 'low' at the pre-op assessment had morphed into 'worrying' high reading. Then the nurse too the water sample for testing. Good news! Everything she tested came back as Negative. Suddenly it was worth all the waiting to know that.

Negative results are Good! No signs of any infection. Hence the back pain is not a result of infection! Hooray!

Continuing conversation with nurse led to her recommending that I make a formal complaint to the Practice Manager. Too many people are being fobbed off by Health Centres / GP Surgeries and attending Walk-in Centres.

Monday 22 July 2019

Pre-op assessment

Arrived well in time for appt. a good half-hour early. 
Apart from it being 4th corridor on the right instead of 3rd, no probs.

Pre-op receptionist C***g proved to be the original jobsworth. Usually, reception is happy to take details from your appt. letter. No way, instead of using the appt. notice, this guy wanted to check all details 

Fortunately, nurse J****e was pleasant and cheerful. Poor girl was in charge of swabs.

Then it was Can***e who took me thro' reams of questions. She had a 2nd-year student nurse with her. Part-Jokingly I said I'd been taking deep, calming breaths. 
Student took my blood pressure which was surprisingly low 90/63 so she did an old-fashioned pulse check. A.O.K. Heart rate 70! 

Next, it was off to another wing of the hospital. If only someone had said, 'Ground floor'. Took a while to get our bearings; then it was E.C.G. followed by bloods.

Ch**s who did the E.C.G. was pleasant...so, later was the guy who did the bloods. 
Quote, 'don't let anyone tell you there's any problems; you have fine veins, but they flow well'.

Monday 24 June 2019

Has been a while but...

Latest shenanigans political and supposedly environmental have become irksome.

Also the vagaries of trial by social media have caused me to wonder whether and why folks with high academic achievements are really so gullible. 

I can put a lot of it down to upbringing Northern Grit embedded deep within ones bones. The culture of times long gone when being truthful was exemplary and to be aimed at on all occasions.

As a friend of mine has said so many times and she believes it - the mills of God grind exceeding slow, yet they grind exceeding fine. I.e. when popular anthropomorphic justice fails, there's a higher power to rely on.

Seeking to be truthful and to eschew all forms of lawlessness, another saying my friend uses - it means I can look myself in the face in the morning without any qualms i.e. my conscience is clear.

The media bleats on and on about Climate Change, 'scuse me whilst I yawn. All this fuss and bluster over something for which there is no 'sticking-plaster' fix. 

I've been studying Anthropogenic Climate Change for decades...Decades...
Hence, present-day click-bait scaremongering irks me. Social media fed by the chattering classes droning on and on...

People sounding off for the sake of opining on-line in order for similar opinionated folk to join in usually venting spleen and posting vitriolic diatribes.