Me, that is.
Having just got back from the TT, I had a busy day planned. The Kawasaki was due a service, but the cooling fan had failed, so we had to order a new one and the first time available to do the job was today. As the FTR needed new tyres, it was planned to do that as well. On top of that, I’ve a ton of household chores to catch up on and the shopping. As it turned out, we had ordered the wrong fan, so that job got caped pending getting the correct item.
At 08:30 this morning I had an appointment at my GP practice with the practice nurse for my annual bloods. That all went smoothly, but she asked for a urine sample as well. As they hadn’t asked for that, no I hadn’t brought one with me. Never mind, I was assured, take a sample bottle and pop back later.
As I had shopping to do, I decided to fit that into the trip, even though it was out of my way and added to the day. When I did arrive complete with the said bottle, I was told that the nurse had gone home, no one was able to take collection of it and could I go to the other practice?
The partner practice isn’t that far as the crow flies, but given that just dropping the bottle off and getting away pronto is not an option, I would have to get through the school traffic and stand in another queue, wasting even more of my precious time, so I declined. If they couldn’t take it, we would just have to do without the urine test. I simply did not have the time to spare and that goes for the next week or so as well.
As I’ve grown older, I’ve become less accommodating. The surgery has clearly changed its sample collection arrangements from a simple drop in the box to filling out a form, being there by 15:00 (I was, by about ten minutes) and there being no one to store it, so please waste even more of your time going to another location. It might benefit them, it certainly doesn’t benefit me and I’m not playing.
Sure, a urine test might show up something unpleasant, but the risk is pretty low. I’m more concerned about my blood pressure. But, frankly, I can’t be arsed to go back and forth for what should be a simple process. I don’t think my somewhat brusque refusal left a shining impression, but that’s another thing that I don’t care about as I get older.
I’m now a grumpy old git.
Wifey and I have just been for our two yearly eye check up with Spec Savers. Efficient service and no messing us around there. Although I have to pay for my glasses, my check up is paid for by the NHS due to me being a diabetic. I assume that Spec Savers claim the cost back.
My local NHS surgery is pretty efficient too really, although they do take ages to answer the phone.
There are poor doctor’s surgeries and better ones. But they all seem to limit people’s access by palming them off to pharmacies or making getting appointments difficult.
Perhaps if the GPs were paid for the consultations and treatments they do rather than the number of people on their ‘list’ they might be keener on, you know, seeing people?
I’m all for making GPs lives easier.
Get rid of the need for referrals.
If you know where what’s wrong with you is, you should be able to just go straight to the specialist.
Works in other countries, so why not do it here? Relieves pressure on GPs and makes the whole process quicker and less painful for patients. Win, win!
’As I’ve grown older, I’ve become less accommodating.’
Understandable- these people never seem to realise that time costs sometimes aren’t worth paying.
“I’m more concerned about my blood pressure”
I’m not fucking surprised, reading your blog! 🙂
Dammit, Bucko! That’s a keyboard you owe me.
It’s in the post
“I’m more concerned about my blood pressure. But, frankly, I can’t be arsed to go back and forth for what should be a simple process”
Then why not buy a home BP monitor? The basic Omron M2 is currently on offer at Argos for £19 (down from £29). If you do, don’t be alarmed by the first reading you get – take a tip given to me by my chemist: do 3 readings, and space each 5 minutes apart, while sitting still. The 2nd & 3rd will invariably be lower, and more relevant for regular comparison.
Actually, I do have one. I’m struggling to get the BP down, though.
Then it would appear that Bucko is right!
Try eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice and using “Lo Salt” (potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride). Both help and are a low cost solution.
Since you have a BP monitor, then you can check to see if the experiment is working.
Bananas are supposed to be good. Also beetroot juice. That makes a slight difference. More than the medication.
Don’t want to spoil your day Mark but not sure if you saw this (I heard it on the radio) – wonder what the burglary clear up rate is?? https://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/news/23592927.sarah-crews-says-avon-somerset-institutionally-racist/
FFS! Institutionally useless, maybe.
The NHS, certainly in later years has arranged its affairs solely for the benefit of itself, rather than any patients. A good example would be my local hospital group, who insist on all patients arriving at the same time, giving them the whole day to plan out who shall be seen, and ensuring that the entire day is taken for every half-hour appointment. No doubt they will bleat that it’s because of the number of no-shows, which are also at least partly caused by the time it takes them to process anything at all.
It would be hard to design worse systems, from a patient point of view.
Add to that, the incredible comment I heard at my son’s school, during a ‘careers in medicine’ night. Speaking from the audience, one chap said he was looking forward to welcoming a new generation into the NHS, because they needed help with professional leadership. As the local finance and procurement manager, he had no qualifications nor experience in that field’. If true, and why he would claim otherwise I do not know, it’s breathtaking.
The same evening, the registrar from my local red brick university said that nowadays for medicine, they are far more interested in whether candidates have experience in nursing homes than their qualifications (which in any rate are now lower than those needed to study any single science). All around me I heard muttering, along the lines of ‘Uncle Ahmed has a nursing home. Don’t worry, you can say that you have worked there’. That plus extraordinary greed (combined with total lack of self awareness) from the consultants attending (one of whom truly thought that his current three day week was excessive because he demands work life balance that favours him), and it’s little wonder the NHS is often detested by many who have endured it. Those who know me will know why I have particular animus towards it (it’s disgraceful neglect of my father).
It seems that it is often good in critical situations, but very poor in most others.