Recently my wife had breast surgery and had to go to a private hospital to get it.
She was first examined in a hospital in Spain, where the doctor confirmed surgery was necessary, but could give no indication when that could be carried out.
So, as we were about to journey to the UK for summer, we decided to see our local UK doctor and go to the local hospital, where doctors again confirmed what Spain had said, after she had scans and tests under the NHS. They said the surgery was needed soon, before infection could set in, but the indication was that it could be two years before the procedure was carried out, because of the huge and ever-increasing waiting list.
There was no way that we could wait that long – the chances are things could be far, far worse by then. So there was no alternative but to go private – the NHS suggested the private hospital.
So, we had our first introduction to private health hospitals. Instead of waiting three weeks for a doctor’s appointment and weeks more just to have scans in an NHS hospital, Mrs M was given top notch care, before the op, during the op and post op – she says she was treated like royalty, introduced to the surgeon and the anaesthetist. She as even given shampoo, special socks and special clothing to take away with her.
On the day of the operation she was led by her dedicated nurse to her own room with full facilities, and I was offered coffee and biscuits and a staff member showed us the menu for lunch for both of us.
Every few minutes the dedicated nurse was there to check how she was, providing slippers and dressing gown. Nothing was too much trouble.
Compare all that to what you would get under the NHS today. The cost to our bank balance? 9,000 pounds.
I am no Socialist and certainly no Tory and have always considered private hospital to be totally morally wrong.
My wife and I have paid National Insurance contributions all our lives. So why on earth, when we most need the services of the NHS are we failed?
Governments, past and present, should be thoroughly ashamed at the way they have let the NHS degenerate into an apology of a service.
Please don’t think I am not in praise of what the NHS is still trying to do, but there is no doubt that it is understaffed, under resourced and overwhelmed by demands on it.
More and more people are being forced to pay for private medical insurance – on top of the National Insurance contributions.
The whole situation is ridiculous. The NHS could be again the envy of the world.
How? By bringing all private hospitals, doctors and care homes under NHS control and ensure that every patient was treated equally and it would do away with the need for millions of people to have to buy hospital medical insurance. That money could go straight to the NHS instead.
If every super-rich person knew that if they were ill they would have to wait in an ambulance for a bed to become available in A&E, the situation would be sorted within hours.
*The good news is that Mrs M’s first post op check has shown that all’s well and we should be able to travel back to Spain soon. Can’t wait – to get away from all the rain and storms in the UK.
Gone Phishing!
Have you got an email address? Have you found an avalanche of unwanted “phishing” emails invading your address over the last few weeks?
It’s been dreadful for me – I have been receiving these annoying emails up to more than 30 a day. I have been told that I have won a 170-piece Screwfix tool kit so many times I could stock a shop with them! But I know that if I opened these messages the only one who would be screwed is me.
I have had so many messages inviting me to on-line gambling I could by now be bankrupt many times over.
I have so many uncollected mail packages that they must, by now, fill a warehouse and I know it’s rubbish because I haven’t ordered anything.
I am told countless times that my Cloud storage is full and inviting me to buy more space – but I have no cloud storage.
My streaming service is in danger of being cancelled – but I don’t have a streaming service, I am invited to get an incense diffuser, whatever that is, I can get a gadget that will improve my posture and I can lose 10k in weight in 10 days if I open the message. I can imagine I won’t lose weight, it will be loads of money!
Oh, and if you want me to pass onto you a small army of Ukranian and Russian girls offering their services – well I get loads of them.
I try to block the messages but the cunning b*****ds just switch to another site. Email companies must know what’s happening and I’m sure they could put an end to it if they wanted. So why don’t they – are they being paid by the crooks who are creating all this crap?
You know that whenever you open a new website you are asked to accept Cookies, whatever they are. Are the people getting these cookies using your email address to sell onto crooks and the devious? It wouldn’t surprise me.
