There’s a bit more of a personal feel to the blog this time around and my apologies if it’s a bit lengthier than usual. I actually meant to post this a couple of weeks back but you know what these unionists are like – they just won’t give you any peace. They’re at it again this morning with Alex Ferguson sticking his oar in. Must resist, must resist…
Anyway, the NHS have been very much in my mind recently owing to events that have transpired at Cybernat Towers this year and I read with interest a report on the BBC website about how the service has delivered its “best ever performance in key areas over the last 12 months” according to the NHS Scotland chief executive. Achievements include reductions in waiting times and superbug infections, and the chairman of BMA Scotland also waded in with praise for the hard-working NHS staff. Scanning the report it niggled me that something was missing before it finally dawned on me: no petty, point-scoring comments from any of the “we cannaes”. You know the sort of thing – “Whit aboot the time when auld Agnes slipped on the ice an’ had tae wait 2 minutes fir an ambulance cos Nicola Sturgeon wis on a tea-break?” Why no comments from them when the story is all about positivity? Strange.
However, fast-forward to a story in the Scotsman about there being fewer nurses employed in the NHS and the “we cannaes” are swarming all over it like <insert own metaphor here>. There’s something just a wee bit sick (see what I did there?) about folk desperately clamouring for bad news. “More cuts are inevitable,” says Jackie Baillie. Well if your lot hadn’t presided over one of the biggest economic calamities in history while your Tory brethren slash the cash wherever they can, what do you expect? They’re not actually inevitable in any case. We could maybe try something like independence where we fully control all our own resources.
I’m digressing a bit though and would like to detail my own experiences where to say that this household has had its money’s worth in the last few months is a bit of an understatement. After mucho nagging from my other half I agreed to go for a general health check-up at the start of the year - blood tests, ECG, that sort of thing – and was stunned when “we’ll have the ECG results back in about 7 days” became “can you come back in as soon as possible”! It turned out I have a birth defect in my ticker with a big wacky name that returns “causes of sudden death” as the first result when you Google it! So there’s been a few trips back and forth to Edinburgh’s Royal Infirmary and Western General as they put me through more tests to find out how serious the condition is and what (if anything) they should do about it. The care and attention I’ve had lavished on me has been exemplary with various doctors taking as much time as I needed to patiently explain things and answer all my questions. The good news is I’m unlikely to be heading through the Pearly Gates this side of the referendum but will require some minor procedure.
This took up quite a bit of my attention meaning I just ignored the pain/stiffness in my wrist, thinking it was just a sprain from my gardening activities that was taking time to get better. What I didn’t know was that a form of osteoarthritis had chomped its way right through the joint. Eventually the pain got so bad that I had to head back to the doctor again. (Not the worst pain I’ve ever felt. That was when my good lady asked me to chop up some chillis for dinner. Right evil little sods they were too. I responded to her advice to go wash my hands after with, “It’s ok. I’m just going to the bathroom, I’ll be washing my hands anyway…” Big mistake, take it from me and don’t try it yourself. The slight tingling sensation preceded my horrified shriek of realisation of what was about to happen. Whatever you’ve gone through in your life – if you’ve simultaneously given birth while passing a kidney stone and suffering from unrequited love – believe me it doesn’t come anywhere close to nearly burning your own willie off.)
So back to hospital again for more tests, advice and a plan of what to do about my wrist joint which will happen within a more than acceptable timeframe. Much worse was to come though…
“I don’t like to worry you, but I can’t breathe and have pains in my chest,” said my better half early one morning.
“Okay, go back to sleep…”
Another visit to the doctor followed by a rapid trip to the Western resulted in an urgent admission where she spent a week being treated for blood clots on each lung, a condition that meant she was some 2 days away from her expiry date. Seemingly it was building up since an 8-hour bus trip to/from Cardiff for the fitba in October. Typical. Get beat 2-1, she gets a blood clot and I had to spend 90 minutes standing next to a manky tink with BO.
So what did we both think of her treatment? Nothing short of exceptional. Waited on hand and foot by staff who couldn’t do enough for her and the other 3 ladies in the room. One night she was cold and – believe it or not, Ms Baillie – she was given an extra blanket when she asked for one. Back in her native Ohio the cost of her week’s stay would likely have bankrupted us, but – I’m proud to say – cost was never an issue here. She needed it, she got it: care provided as it should be – paying due heed to the principles of the NHS. I can’t thank these wonderful people enough.
I was actually thinking of writing to comedy duo Lamont and Baillie to detail my experiences as I know they like to refer to individual cases at First Minister’s Questions. It’s not like I would’ve been asking them to falsify something that happened at a rape trial or produce some imaginary hospital infection figures for me. Maybe they would’ve invited me along and pointed me out in the public gallery? I’d have been happy to meet the FM and his Health Secretary afterwards to tell them exactly what I think of the NHS in Scotland.
By a bizarre coincidence I was on another site this morning when one of these adverts popped up – “Jump the NHS Queue – apply for your insurance quotation today”. Should receiving treatment ever be based on the ability to pay? Should a profit motive ever be behind caring for human beings no matter where in the social structure they’re perceived to be? I say – NEVER!
A Cybernat
If you’ve enjoyed this post then please share it with your friends using the buttons to the right.
Sorry to hear about your health problems this year, still in my view you and your wife are in the BEST country in the UK to have ANY medical condition dealt with fast and efficiently. I should know. Been there, starred in the movie, rread the book AND have the T Shirt.
I went to the docs in 2009 with a tickly cough, despite antibiotics and blood tests nothing could be found. I went into hospital and had an X ray ALL clear so had a CT Scan and BINGO a nice little Biomass. A few biopsies later and the Biomassd proven to be Hodgkins Lymphoma. YEE HA!
6 months of Chemo rerally took it out of me and I’m still far from healthy with a few other health issues thrown in to boot. Me and my local hospital are ther best of friends I never seem to away from there for any length of time before returning for another set of tests or chckup. None the less I am happy as a pig in whatsit to be in Scotland and being dealt with by the SCOTTISH NHS I know I am getting the BEST attention.
You got that right! All that sounds awful but make it your goal to get to at least the referendum!
In my case my problems started just as I’ve never felt better. Weird. No moaning from me about my luck – a quick look around any time I’ve had to go near a hospital and I’m not long in counting my blessings.
Dave
Hell no fear I WILL be at the referendum. NOTHING is going to stop me voting YES in 2014.
Despite all the ups and downs I’ve had in recent years there is ONE thing that has kept me, and my partner, going…… my sense of humour.
Don’t you dare go dying on us before the referendum
NHS Scotland is the jewel in the crown and woe betide us if we stand back and watch it be privatised like NHS England. I dare you to write to Jackie Baillie, I wonder if you would get an answer?
No chance of getting an answer as they’re only interested in bad news stories. I’m tempted though!
Dave
Right okay how do you get the emoticons in the message without making a dug’s breakfast of it then?
You’ll need to ask Arbroath1320 who is the blog’s resident emoticon expert! From the admin panel I’m stuck with the boring ones –
It should just be a case of expanding the list with the + sign and clicking on one.
Dave
Panda underneath the comment box you will see:
[+] Zaanu Emoticons
Left click on the “plus” sign and that brings up all the emoticons.
Once you have decided where you want to place an emoticon place your cursor in that spot. Then scroll down to the emoticon you want and left click it. You will then see for example coloc wink colon for the wink and hey presto. Simples!
Glad to hear you and the good lady are fighting fit again, and also that both your experiences with the NHS in Scotland was great. I have also required the treatment of the NHS on a few occasions and the whole experience was positive, professional, and heart-lifting, I cannot thank the staff of the NHS in Scotland enough for their professionalism and dedication.
When I hear about some of the practices being inflicted on the English NHS I despair, though I realise that it is not because the Tories hate the NHS, it is that they see it as a great marketing opportunity – get the private finance companies involved, no doubt lucrative jobs on the boards for all, shave off the unprofitable illnesses as self-inflicted, create a climate of ‘you deserve to be ill, you have to pay, you stood next to someone at a bus stop that smoked, you drank, and you scoffed big macs, ‘cough up’ for treatment or die!’, and meanwhile, the ads as you made mention of will become as common as the PPI ads of the moment, though if you cannot afford the insurance, then don’t expect an ambulance when required, and then when they discover a great great family aunt sneezed once in public, they will refuse to ‘cough up’ the insurance money for the treatment as you failed to inform them of a pre-existing hereditary condition.
Don’t look to the ‘Tory Clone party formerly known as Labour’ for any opposition to the undergoing break up and decimation of the NHS by the Tories, the likes of Jim Murphy are too busy adjusting the columns on their expense claim forms so they can get up to six-figure sums back from us plebs, rather than worry about issues that may concern the electorate. And as for Baillie and her that hides away, er, Lament, Lamont (her that looks up to Thatcher in the snatch back stakes), well, take the ‘et’ from the end of Baillie’s fav word and you have the contents of both their heads.
Anyway, it has to be saved, and here in Scotland, the only way that will happen is with a yes vote in 2014.
Just reading youir comment Styevie and I suddenly remembered something I saw the other night. I believe it was a “debate” in the House of Commons. From what I recall one Labour MP made mention of the Ambulance service in Manchester (I Think) being part privatised and ARRIVA were scheduled to run it. ARRIVE for gawds sake. They run busses and trians whast the hell do they know about running an ambulance service?
Hell the next thing we hear about the ambulance service down south is that you must have an Oyster card before they take you to hospital. JEEZ this is just disgusting on TWO fronts.
Firstly we are all aware of the selling of of the NHS down South to Private Enterprise. WEell this is not just a case of cutting the English and Welsh NHS bill but also cutting Scotland’s NHS bill. As a result of the Privatisation of the E&W NHS then this means that Westminster is in effect spending less directly on the NHS and as a result of Barnett and his lovely formula Scotland get progressively LESS as a result. The nett effect of this is Westminster effecvtively trying to force Scotland to make cut backs to OUR NHS or even worse PRIVATISE our NHS.
Secondly as a result of the first example of privatising the ambulance service then no doubt we will in very short order see further ambulance services privatised asnd eventually calls for the SCOTTISH ambulance service to be privatised.
This is yet another fine example of Wedtminster TAKING everything it can FROM Scotland yet returning LESS and LESS each year. We need to put a stop to all this garbage from Westminster and go our seperate ways. Scotland can no longer carry on as the useless defenceless idiot on the street corner Westminster insist on treating us like.
Interesting comments from you both. My better half was telling me what she’d expect were she back in Ohio while we were waiting for her to go in for an MRI scan. Basically the scan itself would cost a few grand and the hospital would phone up the insurance company prior to performing it. Someone at the insurer’s end would then run through a checklist to see if it was necessary. Over here it is rightly a clinical decision that the patient is to get one. That’s assuming the patient gets admitted in the first place of course. Another financial decision that has me shaking my head in disbelief as I type.
I’ve no doubt that efficiency savings could be made in the NHS and that business expertise at various levels could bring such benefits. However, the service must NEVER be run to benefit the pockets of any shareholders. The thought of anyone earning out of people’s misery is utterly, utterly obscene and must never happen within our borders from now until the end of time.
Dave
Here is a few links that you may find interesting so you can compare and contrast with what Scotland is doing and what is unfortunately happening in England.
http://www.greenbenchesuk.com/2012/11/tory-mp-says-diabetic-sufferers-should.html
http://www.greenbenchesuk.com/2012/09/tory-mp-health-select-committee.html
http://www.greenbenchesuk.com/2012/11/22-treatments-are-no-longer-free-on-nhs.html
http://www.greenbenchesuk.com/2012/11/the-largest-ever-privatisation-in.html
http://www.greenbenchesuk.com/2012/11/nhs-is-now-denying-free-of-charge.html
That’s truly scary.
Divorce really now is inevitable on the grounds of irreconcilable differences.
Dave
Free healthcare for all at the point of use . What a joke. Anyone that pedtrnes that the NHS gives anything like the care suitable for a modern western state is an idiot.I’ve had the same experience: you have to ring between 8:30 and 8:40 am. This of course means if you are stupid enough to work in a real company (Who does nowadays in Brown’s Britain), you can’t get time off, so you can’t get in to see the doctor. Of course . if you are on IB / a single mother / on jobseekers that’s great for you.
To me, free health care when needed is an essential element in a civilised society. Running services efficiently is one thing, but having people left to suffer pain because their particular ailment is deemed to be too negative on the balance sheet, or in some regard brought on by themselves, is beyond cruel. The cost should never be a factor in health care, especially not when billions always seems to be found for idiotic schemes like Trident. And of course, how many nurses or hospital operations could be funded instead of one year of Jim Murphy’s expenses, never mind totalling up the full amount claimed for all MPs from the long suffering tax-payer (Yes, they’re all still at it, snouts in the trough, even deeper than before, and they’re all in it together!).
ps – Arbroath, the Tories will privatise anything they can, regardless of the public good or not, they do not want any public services, what they have begun with the police is just a starter to what will happen to any service they think they can decimate.
ps – thanks for the links, Donald, very interesting, but appalling!
Aye your so right there Stevie. Unfortunately it is not only the Tories who are up for privatising everything in sight I reckon Milliband and his jolly band of thieves are also in mind to do the very same.
As for the Lib Dems well the LESS said about them the better I think, after all I read yesterday somewhere that the LibDems are now officiaslly the FOURTH party in UK politics, UKIP is now officially THIRD.
I agree Donald’s links are very interesting and think they should be spread as far and wide as we can to highlight the consequences of remaining in the UK.
Compare male blogger’s route to the NHS….
“After mucho nagging from my other half I agreed to go for a general health check-up at the start of the year”
with the support his wife received to get NHS treatment….
““I don’t like to worry you, but I can’t breathe and have pains in my chest,” said my better half early one morning.
“Okay, go back to sleep…”
This is why married men live longer than single ones, and single women live longer than married ones.
Hope you both get your respective health complaints sorted, and glad that you got good care. Long may it continue, which it only can if we keep it save and our own.
Well in my defence I did tell her just to leave the hoovering before I took her to hospital.
Dave
I fortunately haven’t required medical treatment for almost a quarter of a century but am so pleased that all those who needed it have had such positive experiences. Best wishes to you all.
Well I say I haven’t needed medical treatment. Tonight I was in stitches, your description of the chilli episode was wonderful. Brought sympathetic tears to my eyes and strange looks from the dog!
Cheers, Bill. I have to say it’s funny NOW. Didn’t laugh much at the time though unlike my better half who was giggling helplessly as she passed in the milk-soaked pads of cotton wool!
Lesson learned. It’d make a good limerick though:
Poor Dave was really quite silly…
Dave
Poor Dave was really quite silly
one day he was chopping the chilli
stop doing that
you silly old bat
his wife shouted whilst making the con carne
:Star-Struck:
Needs a ruder last line…
sorry!
I’ll try better next time!
If that happenned here in Australia there would be an upaorr. But our GPs aren’t servants of the State. If you go to a GP you pay the equivalent of about 15-20 pounds, and then the Government medical insurer gives you back about 10. In smoe cases doctors who treat poorer patients will just bill the government 10 pounds.There are plenty of medical centres here too, so you can always get to see a doctor in a hurry if you need to.People in Oz whinge about our healthcare system. They don’t know how lucky they are not to have something like the NHS.
Following on from my earlier post about NHS services under attack from Westminster here’s another list, well really it’s four maps showing the coverage of NHS services under threat of privatisation. Hearing, wheelchairs, MRI and non obstetric ultrasound!
http://www.greenbenchesuk.com/2012/12/4-maps-that-show-extent-of-forced.html
They need to design a blood pressure monitor into that site.
Dave