Monday 17 May 2010

The cake inherently only has 'x' number of slices...

So all the left-wing crazies,socialist muppets and smokers are screaming about the cuts to health services that may shortly be coming our way...

...so let me give you three quick examples of why cuts need to be made...or why some services need to be paid for...or why I sometimes find it necessary to drink copious amounts of cocoa at work...all from one day...

The first patient was a charming man who was brought in by his great-great-grand-daughter...directly from Heathrow where he had just flown in to spend six months with his extended family in England.
She said that his Zimmer (walking) frame had been confiscated at the departing airport and that he needed one so that he could adequately mobilise.
No problem there...I understand that...I'm just not sure why she thought he could get one for free from us since he had never paid a penny in tax in the UK in his life.
So I suggested that she go to one of the specialist chemists or even contact the Red Cross and either hire one for six months or buy one...and then perhaps donate it to charity when he returned home.
Naturally...the first thing that got thrown at me was that I was a racist...OY!...so naturally,the Triage Nurse decided to give him a frame...so that's another £55.00 I'll have to pay in tax then!

The next patient was a middle aged woman who had slept in a "strange hotel bed" on Tuesday...(and I'm still not sure if it was the hotel or the bed...or indeed,both hotel and bed...or maybe her partner...that was strange)...and had experienced some back ache which was relieved by normal shop-bought analgesia.
She wanted to know if the pain would resolve by itself and, when advised by the Triage Nurse to carry on taking the analgesia, she demanded to see an ENP....and once the patient demands to see a practitioner,by law,they have to be seen.

Even if they are mad...

The third patient had tripped on a loose paving slab whilst walking her dog...had no pain in her ankle or foot...but had phoned the NHS Direct telephone helpline service, who naturally re-directed her to us.In fact,most of the NHS Direct algorithms seem to end in the phrase..."attend a hospital"...so lets scrap that as well then!
She had no pain in her ankle....she had not felt it necessary to take any pain killers...she didn't want any painkillers...I was unable to elicit any pain during a normal ankle examination...her ankle wasn't swollen or bruised...she didn't have a limp...but she had also demanded to see an ENP because she wanted to know how long her ankle would be painful....except it was already pain free!
*OY*

If we had charged them £10 each at least I would have been half way to recouping the cost of the Zimmer frame!

*OY*

Because this is the hard and unpalatable truth:-there is a difference between a 'right' and a 'privilege'.
You have the right to access free health care.
But free health care is a privilege.

But that's just what I think!

2 comments:

  1. just fly your parents over and have their hips and knees done and then you will feel o.k. again. hope you get new girlfriend soon as trying to put the nhs to rights is a hopeless task.

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  2. someone mentioned u on Bongis blog in the comments

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