Good morning Friday

[lissie]

The whole NHS system is in chaos at the moment.
They are running Ashford, Margate and Canterbury hospitals as one now and you
are offered the appointment at the first available. That is ok if you have transport
but you are talking about travelling up to 25 miles if you get Margate.
When we went to K&C on Wednesday we saw the doctor who used to be head of the stroke unit
with 3 under him.
He was in the Ambulatory care unit -the only doctor there all on his own. He can only take
2 patients a day and if an emergency comes up they are cancelled. All the other doctors have
been moved to Ashford as will the Stroke Unit.
I asked him what was going on and he shrugged his shoulders and said "God knows-you tell me"
They are building more and more houses around Canterbury plus 2 Universities and cutting back on
health care.
It is getting that you are scared of being ill.

[meriad]

Morning all

A cloudy day but seems warm enough... we'll see how it turns out. Off to the garden centre in a bit to see what veggie plants they have out and maybe look at getting some in. But definitely will get the compost bought.

Kaz re the GP - it really is very frustrating. I had actually resorted to booking a private GP appointment just in case I couldn't get through yesterday - which as you know I thankfully did. And when I got there it seems that they only had 2 GP's and one nurse working. The surgery is huge with 5 consulting rooms, 3 nurse rooms and some for minor surgeries etc... so 100% definitely understaffed. Even reception was covered by 1 person only - usually there'd be 2. It's interesting with Nadine being a nurse and she does agency work - which many nurses now do. Without going into too much personal detail but doing it via the agency she gets paid at least 3x if not more than what she'd earn if she was employed directly by the NHS; and that's not taking into account what the surgery is paying on top of that as agency fee. They really need to revise medical salaries - nurses are hugely underpaid. Up the salary of the NHS nurse by a lot and lower the agency rate. That may start balancing out. And same for GP salaries... NHS just doesn't pay the right salaries.... but because they have such ridiculous protocols in place that surgeries have to follow so they get their Quaff points and therefore their government funding it's all about numbers and results. Patient care comes a lowly bottom because there just isn't enough time anymore for a GP to do the job he / she wants to do.

anyway, that's my rant for the day. Kaz, I do hope you get sorted with an appointment asap xx

Aggers, is it the official birthday or proper birthday today?

to many people to reply to separately, so happy Friday to you all and have a lovely day and vibes where needed xx

[JoM]

Morning all! Dull but mild here. Billy's walked me around the woods and common for 5 miles, we were out just after 7 as John cycled into work today so was up earlier so I always think that I might as well get up and get out early myself. In all the time we were out we never saw another soul, not even in the distance.

Kaz, that's so annoying! We took Joe for an appointment at Stoke two weeks ago and the way staff resources are wasted was shocking. It was all impressive at first, with a row of touchscreens in the lobby to check in for the appointment rather than going to a reception. We got to the paediatric outpatients and there was still a reception desk with two receptionists there. In all the time we were there (probably spent 45 minutes sitting in the waiting room) they did nothing more than move files from one pile to another and take the follow up sheet from patients at the end of their appointment. Why did it need two of them sitting there to do that? The best was when he went for his blood test though. At Stafford he'd be sent to the paediatric assessment unit where a nurse - one nurse - would take his blood. Not here though. There was one nurse taking his blood, another holding his arm (which wasn't necessary!) and a third putting his info sticker on the envelope for the vials of blood to go in

[Kaz]

It ius scary Lissie, and that soituation you describe is shocking

Ria I don't know how you access a private GP here in Gloucester, everything covered privately has to be refered by the GP! We do have private health care now, Axa ppp highest level of cover, through M's job, but we haven't used it yet No wonder people go to A&E instead of the GP

Jo

I've decided to go down to the surgery. I need to get registered for this online business anyway, so need to take my passport down there. I will ask about the doctor situation and whether it is likely to get any better

[Kaz]

Or I would if Mick could find the passports!

[JoM]

They're not still in the bag you used last holiday are they?

[jenniren]

Morning all

Dull but dry here today.

Enjoy your day with mum and dad Ally.

I'd be pretty annoyed too Kaz, definitely worth looking for another surgery. I did an online search for reviews on the local GP's when we moved here, picked the one we're with based on that. We're really impressed, thought our old surgery in Swindon was good, but this one is much better. If they're fully booked for the day they arrange for the GP to phone later at an appointed time and if he/she thinks it necessary you will get seen the same day. I've only had to do that once, always managed to get an appointment within a reasonable time on other occasions. Because we're both on meds we also get a phone call when it's time for a review and the secretary makes the initial appointment and any follow up while she's on the phone. I can't really comment on the hospital situation here, but it's well known that the East Kent Trust is in crisis, it's the main reason E stayed with his consultant in Oxford.

Hope you get the results today Lissie, horrid waiting around xx

E's back to the dentist this morning. He needs a new plate so it's a bit of prep and impressions today. Although we're both under the NHS, because he needs a special type the bill is £1200 we could have a week away for less Bless him he was more shocked than I was and said he'd make do, he wouldn't have blinked if it was for me, no wonder I love him so much.

Afterwards if he's feeling okay we'll pop into town, might even stop somewhere for lunch.

Hope you all have a good day

jen x

[saundra]

Morning all its bright and breezy here my hayfever is bad as well
Kaz if you have private health care I would use it
Went to my drs yesterday they are ok but it's so drab in there and the carpets need a good clean gosh Jen that's alot of cash I need new really top and bottom but we will see hope everyone has a good day

[Osc]

Morning all, it's dull and cool here, but dry at least. Big pile of ironing waiting for me to start We have friends coming around this evening to practise some sequence dances for a social we are going to on Sunday - they wouldn't know the dances as well as we do. So that will be fun, and we'll have time for a cuppa, cake and chat

The whole doctor thing is mad - not as bad for us because we have too much money ( ) to qualify for a medical card, so we pay €55 a time for a GP visit. We would usually get an appointment within 24 hours, or there is a walk in clinic every day 9-10am. It's like you need to plan being sick, isn't it.

[Diflower]

Afternoon

Ditto weather here Osc

Far too many to reply to; I haven't been to my Gp for about 4 years so have no idea what the appointments are like!
I do get very good service though, if I need a new item on prescription for instance I just phone and it's put out the same day.

Been to our Craft and chat group this morning. Definitely more chat than craft today, but we were doing various things as well. One lady was sketching each of the rest of us, a couple were knitting, one embroidering, and two or three of us drawing.
I'm trying to do a painting of a photo I took, that I've already enlarged and have on our kitchen wall, so I was doing a practise sketch for that

Bb has stopped and got us baguettes for lunch, my favourite brown seeded, so looking forward to lunch

Hope your days are going well, Kaz hope yours is better than it started
x