Monday, February 19, 2007

sometimes true life is why people turn...

today the times announces that doctors feel nulabour have 'ucked up the nhs whilst in a totally un-related moment not designed to counter such bad news tony bliar announces new targets etc etc etc and so on.

ironic then that the Y campaigns' negative experience with edinburgh's general western hospital continues. ironic, as in, today the nhs dominates the news and today 'er indoors and i agree the nhs is useless.

so, the earlier post.

now today's post.... i deliberatly waited to post this in order to calm down...

firstly; the general western really, really hates cars. when they send out an appointment letter they nicely send out a little map to let you know where, within the metropalis of western general, the neurology department is. it even tells you were to park. well, try navigating their little narrow roads only to stop at every "one way only" sign and road painting. eventually we gave up and tried to park in the first car park we found.

security guard: "where are you going?"

Y: "into the carpark because we might be late"

security guard: "which department are you looking for?"

Y: "neurology"

security guard: "i'm sorry sir; this car park is for cancer patients only. you need to park in bays 7 or 8 only"

Y: "oh, okay. which way?"

security guard: "down this road sir, take a left and follow it's path going round to the right."

Y: "but i can't go that way because the signs say it's one way only"

security guard: "oh, that doesn't come into force until the 23rd. let me just double check."

eventually we parked up and found the now familiar reception area. this time our wait to be called was much shorter than last time. a young trainee walked us to the check-up room; along the way he politely chatted away, talking to us about what we should expect to encounter. flashing lights, induced epilepsy. he subtley asked a few 'patient history questions' such as; when was your last attack, are you on medication, nice weather today... for a newbie he was pretty good - shame i can't remember his name so i can say thank you in this, my own way.

in the room - a little disappointing - we found normal things. a small camera to record the treatment. an old nhs underfunded computer to track the results. a bed, strange paper style sheets covered it. 'er indoors was free to sit on these sheets, but as soon as she moved they were promptly disposed off and another replaced it. a sign of the times i suppose. a nice clean blue lino floor. a poster on the notice board letting all staff know that if they performed a basket lift they would be severly disciplined. another sign of the times? i guess i was hoping for something out of csi.

the treatment itself was routine. dump a load of goey stuff on her head where the plugs would go and lay her down in the correct pose. the problem was; not the fact the attack(s) began in august and only now are we seeing signs of the nhs doing something.... no no no. the problem was the staff!

seriously; last time we went the building was shoddy (see above). but the dodgy lino was replaced. there were no patients in the corridors and everything seemed as one would expect; a hospital full of poorly people being treated.

we were just so lucky as to get the most ignorant fucking useless doctor on the planet..!.!.!

oh how things change.

the doctor, well. where do i begin?

during the attachment of the many little probes in, walked this young girl. the trainee guy looked young; we're in our mid twenties and boy he did look young. at least he answered honestly; if he didn't know the answer he said so and went and checked. this girl looked "fourteen" as 'er indoors said. the young girl waltzed in, wearing the same clothes as the trainee. didn't announce who she was; just proceeded to whisper to the trainee. she got involved a little, but generally just whispered a lot.

the whole e.e.g. went on. all the time the young thing just whispered. the lights flashed, the computer monitered, the camera recorded and all along the young thing whispered.

here's the bone... anyone with t'interweb connection can find out what to expect with an e.e.g. but patients do not like doctors who ignore their patients. this young thing was actuallt the trainer to the trainee... how where we to know? no introductions, no name badge, no reference. if i see her again she will not be allowed anywhere near 'er indoors. not with a barge pole.

for the majority of the whole scan we were convinced there were two trainee's in the room and not a single doctor. i am also convinced that this concern / query affected the results of the scan; 'er indoors admitting she was glad i challenged the young thing to announce who she was.

if any doctors are reading this then please, please, please remember that patients are not numbers on a target list, they are real people. people with concerns and fears. when you forget this you make us hate you, hate you so much. all you had to do was announce yourself, or maybe not whisper everything you said. do doctors really forget that patients are human too; do they just not care; or do we keep getting the crap ones?






blogging will be light the next few days. i have to catch up on the work i've missed over this debacle...

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