My day in the NHS

Just a whimsy of atmospheric movement, nary a spot of skywater, and much lack of cold and dawns crack has gone away at the castle this morn.

I spent yesterday in the warm embrace of the NHS, I was woken at 4am by excruciating pain in the right plum, had to wait till 8am to phone the GP surgery, spent another ten minutes waiting to speak to the receptionist, explained (between screams) about said plum and was given an appointment at 10.40 am.

Then discovered that the road to the Aldershot Elf Centre (hospital Hill) was closed so set orf on a three mile diversion along the Farnborough road and dahn Queens Avenue which didn’t do the painful plum much good.

Arrived at 10.30 and used the Tablet thingy to book in which informed me that the doctor was running 19 minutes late. By 11.10 realised that the Tablet thingy tells lies and the right plum was now throbbing decided to stand up and walk around a bit, my seat was immediately taken by a “teenager” who seemed to be surgically attached to her phone, by 11.20 with painful legs and throbbing plum my name came up on the screen.

Waited outside the doctor’s room for five minutes before being called in by to my surprise a very attractive young female doctor, explained to said attractive young female doctor about plum which by now had run away and hidden itself.

Young attractive female doctor asked if she could examine said plum (and as it would be discourteous to say no) I dropped ‘em and laid dahn on the slab table.

Examination over (shame) young attractive female doctor started looking up Torsion and Testicle on the interweb and seemed quite concerned, and then mentioned the dreaded words-Grimly Dark ‘Orspital.

I was sent back out to wait while the young attractive female doctor finished her surgery and then went back in to be given a letter to take to A and E, it was now 12.20pm.

Set orf and arrived at Grimly Dark at 12.45pm, got my parking ticket from the robot with the barrier and spent ten minutes driving round and round, and round in the pitch black till I finally found a space (right at the back) as far away from the ‘Orspital as possible, staggered to A and E, waited for another ten minutes in the queue and handed my letter to the non smiling receptionist.

Waited another ten minutes while she read said letter then handed it to a non smiling nurse  who made a phone call to the Surgical Assessment Unit and told me to take a seat (still non smiling).

A while later (the pain had deprived me of sense of time) said non smiling nurse called me over and told me to report to SAU which I did.

Arrived at SAU and was greeted by yet another non smiling receptionist who scrutinised my plum letter and told me to take a seat.

Twenty minutes later (there was a clock opposite where I was sitting) a young not so attractive but smiling male doctor came in and took me to a room, where he proceeded to examine now disappeared plum, asked many many questions about urination and sex and then proceeded to shove his finger up my rear exit in a vain search for my prostate.

He decided it was not testicle torsion but an infection (pleased about that) but there would have to be blood tests done, it was now about 2.30 pm.

He told me to go and have something to eat and come back in an hour for the blood test results.

Staggered to the main entrance and purchase a turkey salad roll and a diet (no sugar no calories) coke £4.50 and retreated to the motor, the pain was now so bad that I had to stand to eat it.

Went back to SAU an hour and ten minutes later told non smiling receptionist I was there and took a seat.

Half an hour later not so attractive but smiling young male doctor appeared, checked the blood test results and said that it was an infection and that I could go home after I went to the pharmacy to get my antibiotics.

Limped about half a bloody mile to the pharmacy handed in the prescription to the non smiling receptionist who then asked me, did I pay for my prescriptions? My date of birth my name and what other drugs do I take.

I don’t know if anyone out there has had a raging plum infection but it is not conducive to a clear mind mine by the way was blank.

Given a number (71) and was told to sit, thirty minutes later my number appeared on the screen saying “collect at counter” under a sign which said “when your prescription is ready at the counter remain seated until called”?

Ten minutes later I was “called” to the counter and spent another ten minutes listening to a smiling young man explain many things about my antibiotics which went straight in one ear and out the other.

Finally left the pharmacy and limped another couple of hundred yards to the exit, another hundred to the Pay Machine thingy and queued for another ten minutes to pay for the parking.

Limped another hundred yards to the motor, spent ten minutes queuing to leave the car park and finally escaped from Grimly Dark  £5.50 lighter.

Got home at about 5.pm took an antibiotic, a couple of painkillers and went to bed which is where I still am and will remain until the festering plum has stopped throbbing.

The butler can earn his keep...for once.

Conclusion:

Pleased with the very attractive young female GP, pleased with the not so attractive young male doctor, not so pleased with the non smiling receptionists and nurses, bloody disgusted with the car parking charges.

The SAU could do with a lick of paint but the Grimly Dark non medical staff could do with a jump start to their demeanour, a bit of humanity, a smidgen of humour and I know that they have a stressful job and are overwhelmed but how would they like to treated when they are in pain and not feeling their best?

Surprisingly satisfied with my day in the NHS.

Angus

So: Knob head 'Dave' gets it over Europe: Wait a week to see your general medic: Cover your manhole: Serial crapper: Weird Eurovision winner: and the Eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher.

Much skywater, even more atmospheric movement, quite a lot of lack of cold and Dawn's crack seems to have healed over.

It seems like it's been three weeks since the last post, mainly because I went dahn to Tesco on the gruel, stale bread substitute and his Maj's food run a while ago and picked up an infection of the nasal passages, I think they had a catch one get one free deal on at the time because the old bowels have been less than satisfactory since.

But I waited a week to see my general medic who diagnosed a sinus infection and a stay close to the toilet thingy.

After a few days of industrial antibiotics poor old Angus is on the mend.

 

And talking of stuff that comes out of the rear exit

Dave Cam our delightful Prime Monster is telling us that he understands as he appeals directly to those disenchanted with the EU ahead of the local and euro elections.

Writing in The Telegraph, he proclaims his “passionate” and “optimistic” belief in Britain’s potential, arguing that “real” patriots should vote Tory rather than be tempted to support the UK Independence Party.

“If you’re thinking 'I’ve heard all this before’ – I get it,” he says, before going on to offer his personal guarantee that he will resign as prime minister if he cannot deliver an in-out referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU after the election next year.

 

Fat fucking chance, and who the hell is going to vote for Niggle Garage and his load of racist Numptys....

 

It seems that poor old angus isn't the only one in the NHS queue

Allegedly Patients waited more than a week to see their GP on almost 50 million occasions last year, new figures show.

An analysis by the Royal College of GPs found that 47 million GP appointments in 2013 – one in six of all consultations – involved a wait of at least seven days to see a doctor or nurse.

In 2012, the figure was 40 million – suggesting a rise of 17 per cent, year on year. If the trend continues, projections suggest that next year 57 million GP appointments will involve a wait of a week or more.

Senior doctors last night warned GPs were buckling under the demands of an ageing population, and that too often only those who “shouted the loudest” were able to secure help quickly. Experts said some patients were forced to wait even longer than a week, with delays of up to a month for appointments at some surgeries.

 

So it's us old farts that are causing it; still waiting times should plummet when they bring in the ten pound charge to see your general medic....

 

Right a lot to Taiwan

 

 A scooter rider has been caught on camera falling off his vehicle - and then sliding straight into an open manhole.

He loses balance after clipping the right wing mirror of the car, goes into a skid, comes off his scooter and falls down the hole.

The accident was filmed in Taiwan and has been viewed more than 30,000 times since it was uploaded to YouTube.

The rider luckily escaped with just a few minor injuries.

 

Luckily my manhole has never has a scooter rider up it.....

 

Left even more to the home of the free and the land of the brave

 

Deputies are looking for a man who is accused of defecating in multiple yards in a Houston neighborhood.

The man has allegedly struck one home on Byrne Street so many times it forced the homeowners to install security cameras to catch the man in the act.

Police are looking for the man seen in the surveillance photos, saying he has defecated in the front yard of that home six times -- and has spread his waste to other homes in the area.

"This is our neighborhood. Whatever people think should go on around here -- pooping is not OK," neighbor Aimee Parsons told KPRC-TV in Houston.

 

Oh shit......

 

Last eve I turned over to BBC1 to watch the news and was confronted with

 This:

 

The "winner" of the Eurowasting Song doodah turns out to be a bloke with a beard wearing a dress and singing a song that should have been consigned to the editing room floor.

Apparently Austrian drag act Conchita Wurst has been crowned the winner of the 59th annual Eurovision Song Contest held in Denmark's capital, Copenhagen.

The singer, whose real name is Tom Neuwirth, won with the song Rise Like a Phoenix, collecting 290 points.

The Netherlands finished second with 238 points, with Sweden in third place with 218 points.

The UK's Molly Smitten-Downes came 17th, with 40 points for her song Children of the Universe.

 

Another reason to get out.....

 

And finally

 

Dahn a bit to the place where the great British Mini comes from

 

It seems that the Germans have a thing that can crack soft boiled eggs and is called the Eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher.

Wonderful: I've had one for years...it's called a spoon.....

 

That's it: I'm orf to get a transfusion...if I can get an appointment...

 

And today's thought:

The paradox of growing old

 

Angus

Later lack of care: Forkin Numpty: Second hand avoidance: Where did you get that hat: Pot for the Potty and Riccing:.

Definite lack of warm, indefinite amounts of skywater, a whimsy of atmospheric movement and sod all solar stuff at the Castle this morn, the wet stuff is that nasty fine drizzly thingy that gets into all your nooks and grannies, but I did catch a snatch of Dawn's crack yestermorn.

The itches have finally gorn, the diabetes thingy is well under control and his Maj has discovered the joy of waiting for me to wash the kitchen floor and then dashing in through his "smart" cat flap and leaving muddy paw prints all over the place.

Been in the garden most of the week, putting up fences, concreting in posts, repairing the back gate, moving stepping stones and having a general fettle.

Also been watching the Ice Cold Olympics, really nice to see a load of young maniacs going about their business and enjoying it.

 

Over to the East

The Ukraine thingy is still dragging on and has been the "most important story" according to the BEEB and the rest of the media, lovely, really don't give a Porpoise's plums, have a think about Northern Ireland, Afghanistan and Iraq; what interests me more is:-

 

Up Norf

The case of a diabetic patient who died at Stafford Hospital has "wider implications" that mean a judge needs "time to reflect" before sentencing the NHS Trust, a court has been told.

Gillian Astbury, 66, lapsed into a coma after nurses failed to give her insulin and died at the hospital in April 2007.

Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust admitted health and safety breaches.

Mr Justice Haddon-Cave told Stafford Crown Court he would reserve sentencing of the trust to a later date.

An inquest in 2010 ruled there had been a failure to provide basic care.

 

Bollocks, this has been going on far too long, let's see a few "managers/CEO's" slapped in prison for corporate manslaughter...

 

Left a lot to the place where James Tiberius Kirk comes from

When a vending machine refused to give Robert McKevitt from Iowa in the USA his choccy bar, he decided to attack it with an 8,000lb (3,628kg) forklift.

Apparently the Forkin Numpty was overjoyed when two extra bars dropped into the tray but his joy was short-lived after he was eventually fired for inappropriate use of the company' property.

'That machine was trouble,' the 27-year-old said.

'They fired me, and now I hear they have all new vending machines there.'

 

Life's a Twix.....

 

Back in Blighty

Allegedly Chris Moyles claimed to be second-hand car dealer to avoid tax on £1 million, Moyles, 40, was one of the BBC’s highest-paid stars as the presenter of Radio 1’s Breakfast Show when he joined the scheme run by NT Advisers, whose initials stand for “no tax”, in 2007.

He filed a self-assessment tax return that claimed he had “engaged in self-employment as a used car trader” during the year to April 2008.

The broadcaster said finance charges he had incurred through his involvement in the second-hand vehicle business meant he suffered a loss of more than £1 million, which he sought to set against his other tax liabilities.

The top rate of income tax at the time was 40 per cent, meaning he could have avoided paying £400,000.

After investigating his case, HMRC rejected the loss claim, leading the former BBC star to launch an appeal before a tax tribunal along with two other wealthy men who had also used the Working Wheels scheme.

Moyles did not give evidence to the tribunal but submitted "a very brief and rather uninformative” witness statement that made it clear he had entered the scheme “for no purpose other than to achieve a tax saving”, Judge Colin Bishopp said.

 

Oh dear; what a shame.......NOT....

 

The future of Millinery?

 

Or not....

 

Back over to the left a lot

Cannabis and cookies is turning out to be a winning recipe for some enterprising Girl Scouts.

Lexi Carney, 8, set up shop outside the TruMed medical marijuana dispensary in Phoenix Saturday, where a day earlier she sold 76 boxes of the popular cookies in just a couple of hours, Arizona's 3TV reported.

Lei's mother, like Carney's, accompanied her child, and told the East Bay Express she feels it's perfectly safe.

"There's always a security guard and cameras everywhere," she said.

Neither of the girls' scout troops commented officially on their business ventures, but in Colorado, where recreational marijuana is legal, the Girl Scouts posted a statement on their Face book page condemning the practice of selling outside any "adult-oriented business."

 

Oh well, that's alright then...

 

And finally:

 

Somewhere in a fridge/oven/box

Back in November 2013, Christina Ricci decided to put her entire body in her fridge. She shared the picture via Twitter, and in the blink of an eye started an Internet phenomenon called "riccing." People pose for pictures while squeezed into a confined space, such as the inside of a cupboard, oven or refrigerator.

 

 

I'd  be happy just to find some food in my fridge...

 

That's it: I'm orf to Sue the EU for bad weather and other stuff

 

And today's thought:

Be afraid, be very afraid.

 

 

Angus

Still here

A nice lack of skywater, a nice dose of solar stuff, an even nicer absence of atmospheric movement and an expected amount of lack of warm at the Castle this morn.

 

I managed to survive my "visit" to Grimly Dark Orspital, and am now back on the sofa "resting". 

It was interesting; as this was my first experience as a patient I can only go on what I have been subjected to and the treatment I received.

 

First up, my GP had sanctioned "Orspital Transport" for poor old Angus, it was booked for 11 of the am, unfortunately it turned up at 10 of the am and in my rush to get going I forgot to turn orf the central heating, but the 'concierge' was good humoured and helpful, the driver was a bit of a miserable mare and didn't say a word, but ho-hum.

 

Travelled to Grimly Dark at 57 mph (the transport was limited to that speed)  but arrived safely and was taken to the "Pre OP" do-dah or "POD" an hour early but as the receptionist was orf somewhere collecting the mail ten minutes passed before I was booked in.

Sat waiting for half an hour, then was called to the "ward"-four trolleys jammed into an alcove given a gown and left to change.

 

The nurse (Chinese)  was good, kind and attentive, the staff nurse (non specific nationality but not native) was OK.

I was booked to go dahn to have the old arteries reamed at 2 of the pm, so a nice three and a half hour wait was in store, managed to have a nap and chatted to the two other guys, one had been there since 7 of the am and had just been told that he had been bumped to the afternoon list, the other one was taken away almost immediately and I never saw him again.

The nurse did a few checks-blood pressure, sats and a blood sugar thingy, time passed, no food or drink, then at 1.45 of the pm I was taken to the "theatre", stayed on the trolley in the waiting bit, the nurses (one Polish and one Brit) chatted and gave me an extra blanket because of the lack of heat.

2 of the pm came and went, as did 2.30 and three of the pm then just after 3 the organic mechanic turned up, sort of explained what he was going to do, got me to sign a consent thingy and then pissed orf for another half hour.

 

Taken into the theatre at 3.45, the organic mechanic returned with another who was concerned that I hadn't had anything to eat or drink since eight that morning, told her it was because that is what the letter said that they sent me, "I will change that she said".

Removed the boxers and got onto the bed thingy was painted orange from belly button to dangly bits covered up with a big paper sheet do-dah and a couple of stick on holey things either side of the man veg.

Said first organic mechanic then proceeded to inject local anaesthetic in the left side next to the dangly bits, did a bit of pushing and shoving while the nurse was asking me questions-address, name, age, what am I allergic to etc.

Then the OM inserted a balloon into the numb groiny bit and told me to tell him when it hurt---did I......then he said he was going to put a stent in which he did.

 All done, all I had to do now was remain flat on my back and not move for two hours, then stay still for another four hours.

 

Taken back to POD on the trolley, stayed on the trolley for two hours while the nurse did "obs" every half hour-blood pressure, sats, pulse and the inevitable blood sugar thingy.

Then I was allowed to sit up a bit, and given a cup of coffee and a cheese sandwich.

By now it was getting on for 6 of the pm and the POD closed at seven so a hectic race was on to find me a bed.

 

After many, many phone calls a "bed" was found and much to my surprise after spending eight hours on the trolley was whisked orf to "Parkside" the private Orspital attached to Grimly Dark.

Oh joy I thunk, private room, en-suite and a TV, it turned out that the room was vacant because the roof had leaked, and there was no remote for the TV.

And to be really honest I would rather they had put me in the car park because it would have been quieter, the "sister" was a German who could only communicate at decibel levels above 100 and I swear she was marching up and dahn the corridor all bloody night in her jack boots, and on the roof of the room was a stonking great air-con thingy which cut in and out every fifteen minutes, add that to the hourly obs-blood pressure, sats, pulse and the inevitable blood sugar tests ( I had run out of fingers to prick) poor old Angus didn't get much sleep.

 

But the night finally ended, the hourly obs stopped, the German Reich Fuhrer buggered orf and was replaced by a very nice English lady.

I managed to have a pee, staggered up the corridor to get a cup of coffee, someone found a remote and life became almost bearable.

 

Breakfast arrived-cold scrambled eggs, cold hash browns and a warm coffee, more obs, yet more blood sugar thingies, then I waited from six of the morn to eleven of the same morn for a medic to arrive to discharge me, and as buses do four arrived at once, none of them was the Consultant I saw or either of the organic mechanics but a boss lady two F something's or other and a pompous, patronising, posh Pratt of a pillock who waltzed in, turned orf the TV and ordered me to drop my kecks and get on the bed so that he could take a peek at the old groin.

We had a short discussion about using the weed, which he lost, and then he minced out shouting instructions to someone about statins and other stuff.

I was not given any information about post op care, what I could and couldn't do or what to do if it all went tits up.

 

The nice English lady came in and said that they had the stuff I needed in the drugs cabinet and that would save me having to wait several hours for the pharmacy to deliver them from fifty yards away.

Boxes of stuff in hand I was then allowed to get dressed and found out that someone had lost my boxers, so I was given a pair of paper undies to keep me decent.

Then I was taken to the "Patients Lounge" to await transport back to the Castle, given a cup of tea and waited three hours before a ham sandwich arrived and I got so fed up with sitting there feeling my groin swell up  that I phoned a taxi and came home.

 

Now, as I said as this was my first time at Grimly Dark as a patient I can only report what happened to me.

 Whether my experience was "normal" or not I don't know, what I do know is that it seems that very little has changed since 2005 when Mrs Angus was killed by the poxy place, I don't care what the CQC says.

The nurses, staff nurses and ancillary staff were excellent but once you got above the front line ranks things were sadly familiar, lack of care, lack of information, lack of common sense and worse of all lack of empathy for the patients (me).

Whether I was given a private room because "they" remembered me from 2005 I don't know, or whether it was just fortune or not is beyond me, but if it was the first they failed to impress, the system is badly flawed, no one speaks to anyone else, departments are separate kingdoms, the "that's not my job" ethic is rife and despite all the money thrown at it this particular part of the NHS it does not come up to the standards expected or deserved by the old or the sick who rely on the "service".

 

All in all not a satisfying experience, mentioning the nationalities of the staff involved is not racism, just a hint of how much we rely on immigration to keep the old girl going and how hard the "soldiers" work to try to offset the arrogance and ignorance of those that make the big bucks and sit in their top floor offices whist the patients spend untold hours of their lives waiting.

So as I sit here contemplating my black plums and the bruises from arsehole to navel I wonder; would I do it again, or worse what is in store for me as I stagger even further dahn the road to dotage and the final reckoning.

 

Only time will tell......

 

 

 

Angus

Jezza CHunt and Nicholson: S’now parking: Useless machine: Cow shit air freshener: Higgs Boson +: and If you are dead stand up.

Drizzly amounts of skywater, doubtful amounts of lack of warm, draughty amounts of atmospheric movement and doubtful amounts of solar stuff at the Castle this morn, the ring of agony has finally subsided but the left elbow has flared up in retaliation and I am orf later to test out my old farts bus pass.

 

Jezza CHunt the Elf secretary has finally come clean-a bit

And reckons that “Sir” Dave Nicholson is “partly” to blame for the Mid Staffs massacre, speaking in the Commons during a debate on NHS accountability CHunt admitted that “Sir” David, the NHS chief executive, was partly at fault for the failings that led to Mid Staffs, where up to 1,200 patients died needlessly were killed.

Allegedly Jezza attempted to divert some of the attention away from Sir David by insisting the he does not bear "personal" responsibility for Mid Staffs and that the deaths there would have happened with or without the NHS chief overseeing the trust.

It comes after it emerged that senior Government figures are considering a plan for “Sir” David to “pre-announce” his retirement.

“Sir” David (otherwise known as Teflon Dave) would then step down later this year or early in 2014, having managed the NHS through the first months of major Coalition reforms starting next month.

 

Walking away with a nice fat pension and no responsibility-as usual...

 

East a bit to the land of laughter

 

Traffic wardens in Germany left a parking ticket - on a full-sized snow sculpture of a Volkswagen Beetle.

Pranksters had built the car overnight in a no-parking zone in Aachen, complete with outlines for its headlights, windscreens and even the distinctive VW badge on the bonnet.

But the prank has received a frosty reception from local police.

A spokesman said: "We can take a joke as well as the next person and it was a very convincing prank.

"But whether it was made of metal or snow it was still obstructing a road that should have been clear."

 

No sense of humour those Germans....

 

West to the home of technology and the land of stuff

 

A Regina man is gaining a name for himself as a builder of 'useless machines' — devices which serve no practical purpose but are enormously popular among fans of gadgets.

"The concept of a machine that turns itself off has been around a long time," Coulthard explained. "I saw a video online [and] I had to have one, so I made one."

His first version was made about three years ago using items found at a dollar-store.

He takes particular pride in noting his machine is actually turning itself off, pointing to a mechanical finger that flicks a toggle switch.

Coulthard went on to design a number of useless machines and his devices have become so popular that he devotes himself to making them, full-time, and selling them around the world.

Coulthard has been selling a plastic machine and is currently working on one made of wood.

He created a business, the Frivolous Engineering Company, to market his gadgets online.

"It turns out that on many different levels, it is a useful machine," Coulthard said, talking about the success he has enjoyed. "To me it really is the ultimate machine. It's going to sound corny but it's changed my life."

 

And it is even more useless when the battery dies...

 

East to the place where Indonesians live

 Dwi Nailul Izzah and Rintya Aprianti Miki won first prize in the country's Science Project Olympiad with their alternative and environmentally-friendly air freshener.

The air freshener is said to have a natural fragrance of herbs and is good for human health because it doesn't contain any harmful chemicals like other freshener products on the market.

The girls collected cow dung from a cattle farm in Lamongan regency of East Java and left it to ferment for three days.Secondly, they extracted water from the cow dung and mixed it with coconut water.

Then the liquid was distilled to remove any impurities; the end product is a liquid air freshener with a natural aroma of herbs from digested cow food.

 

Can’t wait for that....

 

Back over to what is left of Europe

With the recent confirmation of a Higgs Boson discovery, many physicists were at least a little disappointed. That's because all signs point to it confirming the Standard Model, the nearly 100-year-old theory that explains the tiny bits of matter that make up the universe.

But some physicists still hold out hope for results that could provide a bigger shake-up, looking for the Large Hadron Collider and other experiments to reveal other hidden particles lurking in the universe. From gravitons to winos, here are five bizarre things that may exist beyond the Higgs. 

If a theory called supersymmetry is true, there could more than a dozen particles out there awaiting discovery. The theory holds that every particle discovered so far has a hidden counterpart.

In the Standard Model, there are two types of particles: bosons, which carry force and include gluons and gravitons; and fermions, which make up matter and include quarks, electrons and neutrinos, according to Indiana University physicist Pauline Gagnon's blog Quantum Diaries.

In supersymmetry, each fermion would be paired with a boson, and vice versa. So gluons (a type of boson) would have gluinos (a type of fermion), W particles would have winos, photons would have photinos, and the Higgs would have a counterpart called the Higgsino.

 

Will it ever bleedin end.....

 

And finally:

 

Dahn Unda

 

Dead people would be buried standing up under a city council plan to make better use of space at cemeteries.

Darwin City Council has asked the NT Government's Local Government Department to investigate if people can be buried feet first, The NT News reports.

"Vertical positioning of the body in the ground is a good use of space," Alderman Gary Lambert said.

The council also wants to see if up to three people can be buried in a grave in a "horizontal stack".

 

Does that mean that all coffins would have to have a “this way up” sign attached?

That’s it: I’m orf to dig up the car park-just in case

 

And today’s thought:

Shove a ticket on that you misery.

 

 

Angus

The Mid-Staffs killing fields

After many years and unbridled effort from relatives and carers Robert Francis QC has managed to produce about a couple of thousand pages of “report” and quite a lot of “recommendations” regarding the Mid Staffs Massacre and the rest of the ailing NHS.

Apparently patients who were killed and tortured by lack of water, food, medication and being left to lie in their own faeces and urine were treated thus not because of piss poor treatment but “a systemic failure”, and according to Robert Francis QC “it is clear that the primary responsibility lies with the Trust Board but he is also adamant that scapegoating individuals would be a mistake. To do so merely allows others to duck responsibility. The main purpose of the Inquiry was to learn lessons for the future rather than perpetuate a cycle of 'defensiveness and concealment'.”

And goes on to say that “At the core of the failure was a culture of defensiveness to complaints and a lack of openness. Management was distracted by organisational churn and meeting targets rather than seeing what was happening to the patients in their care.”

 

Interesting but bollocks, as with “Ms” death at the hands of an almost Foundation Trust (at the time-2005) the “blame” was put on “system failures”-NAH:

Yes the “board” and the CEO are ultimately responsible, but the Medical Director and the Nursing Director are directly responsible for the Doctors and Nurses under them as the Consultants and Sisters are directly responsible for those on the front line who are responsible for the treatment given to patients.

These aren’t “systems” they are people who should and do know better, they are so called “professionals” who are happy to take the kudos and money but lack basic humanity and morals.

 

I don’t accept that no one should be held to account, forget the NHS “complaints” system which never worked and never will, forget the RCN and the piss poor GMC, what we need are criminal prosecutions, not for revenge or “scapegoating” but justice, if I held someone against their will and starved them, left them in agony and abused them until they died I would be hauled up before the beak at a rate of knots, so what is the difference between that and nurses and doctors who took oaths not to do harm treating the old and sick in the same way.

 

We need a purge, it is time to hold all those gutless, cruel, uncaring killers to account, prosecute the murdering bastards, don’t just strike them off from the “registers” throw them in prison for the statutory sentence they deserve, and bring charges of corporate manslaughter against the CEO, the board and all the other managers that allowed the culture of see no, hear no, speak no evil to propagate.

 

The Hospital allegedly has “a vision”:

Our Vision is to be recognised as the safest & most caring Trust in the NHS. This vision sums up everything we want to achieve and supports the Trust’s 5 strategic Themes which continue to be the focus of our effort and measurement of improvement.

Creating a culture of caring

Seeing zero harm as our target by keeping patients safe

Listening, responding and acting on what our patients and community are telling us

Supporting our staff to become excellent: giving responsibility but holding to account as well

Continuing to do what we need to do to satisfy our regulators

 

Far too fucking little far too fucking late....

 

And let’s not forget that this isn’t an isolated case, torture and murder are rife in our NHS, your local Foundation Trust is killing patients as you read this, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters are dying because of lack of “care”, bad decisions by doctors and nurses, the focus on financial targets instead of care of the sick, the need to cover up, lie cheat and deceive so that they can continue to advance their careers, the old boy’s GMC club and the “non disclosure” letters that help to keep the truth from us.

 

Is most of the NHS doing a wonderful job-probably, are there an undisclosed number of Foundation Trusts that manage to maim, ruin people’s lives and kill-definitely.

Is there proper redress for patients and relatives of those harmed by the “caring” professions-NAH, will there ever be-probably not; will the all pervading culture of “not my problem” change-I hope so, can we look forward to being treated with dignity, care and professionalism when we are unfortunate enough to end up in hospital-you tell me.

 

Because if it wasn’t for the efforts of Julie Bailey and others who had the balls to stand up and confront the “system” we would be none the wiser.

 

Angus

(normal service will resume when I can be arsed)

Get your finger out CHunt: Look to Home: Thighs the limit: Precision walking: Belgian old fart GPS Numpty: and the DeLorean hovercraft:

Not a lot of lack of cold, even less atmospheric movement, just as much white fluffy stuff and less solar stuff than you could fit in U-Turn Cam’s “brain”, just returned from the stale bread (£1.45) gruel (94p a tin) and his Maj’s food run dahn Equine Tesco, managed to avoid all the knob heads that have to drive at ten fucking miles an hour on perfectly clear and safe roads who stop at every roundabout whether it is clear or not.

If “they” are that scared of a bit of wet and cold then they should get out of their motors and walk so that the rest of us can proceed at a decent pace to where we are going.

Still using HMTL to insert photos....

 

And talking of useless CHunts 

 

The ‘Elf Secretary reckons that a forthcoming report on standards in the NHS would provoke “a huge debate” about poor standards of care and the absence of “compassion” on hospital wards.

While the scandal at the Mid Staffordshire NHS trust represented the worst of the problem, “everyone can sense that there are little bits of Stafford dotted around the system”, Mr CHunt said.

His comments come 10 days before he is due to receive the final report from the public inquiry, conducted by Robert Francis QC, into standards of care following the Mid Staffs scandal.

Stafford hospital was exposed in 2009 after regulators found that between 600 and 1,200 patients died unnecessarily after suffering appalling standards of care.

Patients were found in their own excrement, thirsty and without pain relief, while in A&E it was left to receptionists to assess which cases were urgent and who should wait.

Official figures showed that there were 70 cases of surgery being conducted on the wrong parts of patient’s bodies in 2011-12, and 161 foreign objects being left inside patients after operations. In total, 326 “never events” occurred during the last year, almost one a day.

Jezza CHunt said he had been dismayed by the number of so-called “never events”, such as the wrong limb being amputated, or the wrong implant being fitted, that take place in the NHS.

 

Not as fucking “dismayed” as the poor bastards on the receiving end Jezza...

 

And shit for brains U-Turn Cam is concentrating on Norf Africa 

Where half a dozen Brits sadly got killed by “terrorists”, and reckons that the world must respond with "iron resolve" to the terrorist threat, fair enough and condolences to the families but we do have more pressing problems in Blighty-the item above for a start which is happening every day not once in a BP moon, but at least Silly Billy has got his 15 minutes of fame.

Time this “government” got its priorities right.

 

The latest “thing” to emerge from the land where radiation is a thing of the past 

 

Has come from a Japanese “marketing” firm that is recruiting girls to promote companies by wearing sticker adverts…on their thighs, the gap between the hem of a short skirt and the top of a long sock is apparently called ‘zettai ryouiki’ in Japanese, which roughly translates as ‘absolute territory’.

 

Absolute crap....

 

Still in the land of “slanty eyed yellow bastards” (quote from Prince Phil the Greek)

 

Another fad is “Precision Walking” where a load of tosspots walk about in formation while being shouted at by an even bigger tosspot.

 

Otherwise known in Blighty as military drills.... 

Back in what is left of Europe

 

A Belgian woman drove for nearly 1500 kilometres through six countries before realising her car navigation system had "gone wrong". Then she had to drive all the way back.

Sabine Moreau, 67, left her home at Solre-sur-Sambre to pick up a friend from the train station at Brussels.

The journey was meant to last just 61km, but she took a wrong turn and ended up 1500km away in Zagreb, Croatia, the UK's Daily Mail reported.

It's believed she drove through France, Germany, Austria and Slovenia on the way.

She passed traffic signs in different languages and stopped to refuel her car several times and get some sleep, but didn't stop to question the Tom-tom sat-nav until 60 hours later when she realised she may not be in Belgium anymore.

A police spokesman from Belgium said it was "an incredible story" and said the woman did nothing wrong.

 

Well; she is Belgian.....what a cupid old stunt....

 

And finally: 

From the home of the car and the land of the odd

Comes the DeLorean hovercraft...

 

Handles about as well as it did on the road...

 

That’s it: I’m orf to check out my helix

 

And today’s thought:

Hyundai non-hovercraft

 

 

Angus