Hospital
The Communist had a bit of a funny turn while finishing his lunch in a pub yesterday and he ended up in hospital.
It might have been a diabetic hypo, caused by eating too late, or it may have been low blood pressure – he’s on tablets to lower it and it might be a bit too low – we’re not sure, but they’re doing tests.
He was taken to A and E, from where my mother rang to tell me. She can’t speak too well when she’s stressed, because of the stroke she had nearly fifteen years ago, but a doctor spoke to me – very well and very clearly, I was pleased to note, since I spend a lot of time helping to train doctors to do exactly that - and he explained that the Communist was being kept in to see what was going on. Once he was transferred to a ward, she came home and Stephen and I went to see him later to take pyjamas, etc.
By the time we got there he was feeling much better, was very cheery and I could see he was working up to flirting with the nurses and explaining to everyone exactly where the Government is going wrong.
The ward was full of very, very old people – I think their average age was about a hundred and thirty-six. The Communist at a mere eighty-three looked very young and fit in contrast. He’s quite a good patient, I have to say – I think he likes having a tame audience who are longing to hear about the political changes since 1940 told from a Marxist-Leninist viewpoint.
The Communist is diabetic, as I said, and we hadn’t taken his insulin to the hospital because of that thing that hospitals do where they won’t let you take any of your own drugs, not even recreational ones.
And this is where we went wrong. The staff on the ward were delightful but unfortunately they hadn’t been able to find the Communist any hot food that evening as the evening meal was over by the time he was transferred to the ward. They did their best and made him a sandwich.
Unfortunately, however, also, the Insulin Shop had now closed for the weekend or something, so they were completely unable to find him any insulin. Finally a doctor decided it would wait until morning.
Hospitals have made tremendous efforts over the past decades to train their staff in communication skills and that’s great – everyone we met was just as we hoped they would be.
However, getting the correct medicaments, plus proper food for patients of a kind they might wish to eat, available when the patients need it, would seem to me to be somewhat fundamental in patient care and perhaps the Government might work on that one over the next few years.
Get Well Soon, you old Communist.
It might have been a diabetic hypo, caused by eating too late, or it may have been low blood pressure – he’s on tablets to lower it and it might be a bit too low – we’re not sure, but they’re doing tests.
He was taken to A and E, from where my mother rang to tell me. She can’t speak too well when she’s stressed, because of the stroke she had nearly fifteen years ago, but a doctor spoke to me – very well and very clearly, I was pleased to note, since I spend a lot of time helping to train doctors to do exactly that - and he explained that the Communist was being kept in to see what was going on. Once he was transferred to a ward, she came home and Stephen and I went to see him later to take pyjamas, etc.
By the time we got there he was feeling much better, was very cheery and I could see he was working up to flirting with the nurses and explaining to everyone exactly where the Government is going wrong.
The ward was full of very, very old people – I think their average age was about a hundred and thirty-six. The Communist at a mere eighty-three looked very young and fit in contrast. He’s quite a good patient, I have to say – I think he likes having a tame audience who are longing to hear about the political changes since 1940 told from a Marxist-Leninist viewpoint.
The Communist is diabetic, as I said, and we hadn’t taken his insulin to the hospital because of that thing that hospitals do where they won’t let you take any of your own drugs, not even recreational ones.
And this is where we went wrong. The staff on the ward were delightful but unfortunately they hadn’t been able to find the Communist any hot food that evening as the evening meal was over by the time he was transferred to the ward. They did their best and made him a sandwich.
Unfortunately, however, also, the Insulin Shop had now closed for the weekend or something, so they were completely unable to find him any insulin. Finally a doctor decided it would wait until morning.
Hospitals have made tremendous efforts over the past decades to train their staff in communication skills and that’s great – everyone we met was just as we hoped they would be.
However, getting the correct medicaments, plus proper food for patients of a kind they might wish to eat, available when the patients need it, would seem to me to be somewhat fundamental in patient care and perhaps the Government might work on that one over the next few years.
Get Well Soon, you old Communist.
posted by Daphne at 7:45 am
3 Comments:
My mum, as a doctor, was a staunch defender of the NHS but she used to say that one of the worst things to happen to it was that nurses no longer have any responsibility for making sure their patients ate anything, let alone having any facilities on ward to prepare food. She would wax lyrical about the days when you could arrive on a ward at any time of day or night and a nurse would make you a piece of toast or scramble you some eggs. Now whilst it is important that nurses' position as healthcare professionals is not taken for granted and it is probably a good thing that they don't have to spend hours cleaning and cooking under the watchful eye of a stern matron, surely the crucial role of caring for patients, particularly elderly ones, should still include making sure they are not in danger of becoming more ill through lack of a piece of toast.
I hope the Communist gets well soon.
Glad to hear 'pop' is doing well and providing lively political debate on the ward ! If nothing else, he'll be suplementing the sleeping medication of his captive audience.
The medical setup here in the US has many plus points over the NHS but in my opinion, many more minus points.
Last year I had my first experience of being treated in an NHS hospital (I'd been in BUPA for my first heart attack in 1993 but didn't have a choice for my second) and although the nursing care was satisfactory, the overall experience of being in a ward in Jimmys was pretty awful and if I'd had to stay longer, would've seriously affected my health.
Get well soon, Commie, and get out soon !!
Sing it, sister, as they say.
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