We all leave before the morning light
by davebarclay1954
Once again the lying cheating bunch of CONservatives have got into power with a landslide, which will destroy the United Kingdom and leave England alone in a sea of destruction and hatred. However, I won’t dwell on this and instead focus on the better aspects of the week gone by. Music is from the 1980’s (more modern than some I have featured) video is courtesy of YouTube and, as always, apologies if it doesn’t play where you are but the copyright is not owned by me and different regions have different policies.
No one where I live could believe it when they found out that the party of lies, misinformation and creating an autocracy had won the election. That’s the last I am saying about that.
I woke up on Friday morning feeling a little apprehensive about my appointment at the General Hospital. As I am in my 65th year it was time to go for a simple scan to see if I had an aneurism in my Aortic Artery. If I did it would mean going back to hospital for follow up visits to monitor it – or even surgery to have it removed. To say I was looking forward to this simple screening would be denying the truth.
Any way, I didn’t know exactly where I was going so I left plenty of time to get there, arriving at the Cresta Clinic at 11:15 for an appointment at 11:50. After giving my information to Reception and a nurse in the waiting area I settled down for at least a 30 minute wait. Ten minutes later my name was called and I went in to have the procedure explained to me along with details of follow ups (if needed). I was then taken into a separate room where I was told to lie on a couch, pulled my shirt up and had a tissue put into the waist band of my jeans.
The attending squeezed gel onto my stomach and then put the scanner into the gel and moved it around to get an image of my aorta at my abdomen. Suffice to say it was painless and within 5 minutes I had been given the all clear, after taking a few pictures to put on my medical file I was allowed to leave. Heading out of there ahead of my appointment time. I felt a lot better on my departure than I had felt on my arrival. Can’t explain why.
Anyway, the whole ordeal took me a few minutes and once it was over I knew that I didn’t have an aneurism and wouldn’t have to return for any follow ups. God Bless our NHS staff and hospitals who can still manage to offer screening at the moment, to find and correct problems before they become life threatening. I can’t see this continuing to happen here in the next 2 years never mind 5.
If you don’t live in the United Kingdom then you will not know how marvellous a job our doctors and nurses are doing without the necessary funding to keep the service running as it was designed to. If you have to pay for medical treatment then I am really sorry that you will never know how it feels to be able to see a doctor when you feel ill, attend hospital for free in order to be screened early for life threatening ailments.
barclaydave 
We have a hybrid system with both private and public ‘health’. Sadly it’s slipping further and further into the private arena.
Glad your check proved both painless and all clear. 🙂
Thank you, we have private health companies in this country but the NHS was founded on free health care for everyone at the time of need. Unfortunately, due to underfunding for the last 40 years (apart from Labour being in control between 1997-2010) it is no longer up to the task. The staff are amazing and will do whatever they can for anyone who needs them but mistakes are more easily made when someone has worked a straight 48 hour shift without time off and only getting paid for 20 of those hours.
That’s why I’m so disappointed that the NHS will be told to ask private companies for funding which will privatise even more of it and then it will be completely run for profit with nowhere else for patients to go when they can’t get medical insurance.
Ugh, that does sound more and more like our system. And they’re both heading towards the US system in which people who can’t afford medication – e.g. insulin – are basically allowed to die. It’s a terrifying prospect.
I believe that when medicine is treated as a business and hospitals are expected to make profits for shareholders people die. Every Government should take over their health care. Patients not profits has to be the watchword otherwise people will continue to die or become bankrupt because of high health care bills.
I agree. In the rush to privatise – because private companies are more ‘efficient’ [hah] – govts have lost sight of their core, fundamental purpose. They are not there to support business so business can ‘trickle down’ to the populous. Another ‘Hah!’ Govt is there as part of a social contract. We pay taxes. Govt is supposed to use those taxes to make life better for the /people/ who pay those taxes. People have to be the first priority, not business.
The capitalist pendulum has swung too far.
Agree with you totally, but as long as the morons believe the lies about the trickle down effect we are going to continue to see the wealthy getting richer while the poorer in every society are ignored and dying.
Yeah, whoever came up with that particular con job should have their short and curlies depilated without anaesthetic.
With duct tape and super glue?
Yes! So…efficient. Clever man. 😀
There’s nothing free here. If you’re sick and have no money or insurance…you’re out of luck. You can still be seen, but you’ll get an outrageous bill that you will never be able to pay. Sigh.
Coming soon to a hospital in the UK – US health care.
Sigh.
I wonder how many in America would not even attempt to have this procedure due to fest of its high cost.