Sleepless ponderings of an infected fool (chapter 3) It was about 5 50 yesterday morning that i first heard him softly calling my name. His name is Gordon Edwards, and he is my bestest and oldest friend in the whole widest world. (bearing in mind the fact that, until Im well, this ward IS my whole widest world). Gordon is 82, he has lung and heart problems that they cant cure. he is awaiting a heart op that may pre-long his life (if he lives long enough to under go it) but cant have it yet due to a bowl problem and, until last night, he was constipated. Do I feel sorry for him? No, not in the lest, and dont you dare feel sorry for him either. This geezer has more fire and spirit in him than most people half his age, and a great sense of humour. He knows his time is close, and is too busy laughing to dwell on fears or regrets When they first said Im staying overnight, i was laying in bed in the acute assessment ward, butterflies in my tummy, surround by lots of sickos, all of us laying there in silence, feeling sorry for ourselves. Then they wheel in Gordon and put him next to me. He introduced himself in a formal way (as folk that age do), shook my hand, then started taking the micky out of a nurse and getting the rest of us (well, those who were compus mentus) to join in. It was such a relief to be able to relax and joke. The next day they put me in the medical short stay unit and latter that day Gordon was again put next to me. Weve been giving the staff hell ever since. So when he calls my name at 5 50am Im out of bed and by his side whats up mate could you do me a favour, i pushed my buzzer about 20 minutes ago, but nobody came, could you get me a nurse please? Its 5 50am, i aint slept, i aint had a fag, i aint happy and my mates being ignored. So I march into the corridor, stop a nurse and politely yet firmly tell him Gordon needs help right now. He follows me muttering something about only having one pair of hands, walks up to Gordon and says whats wrong, you need a bottle? Ill go get you one and quickly leaves. (a bottle is the polite term for a piss pot for the bed bound). By the time Gordon (who has lung issues) has taken in enough breath to talk, the nurse is gone. i dont need a bottle he says to me i need someone to stop this pain before i need a crash team hell be back in a bit i say Ill wait here and tell him Ten minutes latter he still aint back and Im not just angry, but also a bit scared. Its one thing to watch and laugh at vinny jones doing his heart massage advert on tv. Its a totally new ball game when your thinking that you might have to do it for real (although the irony of maybe giving heart massage in a doctorless hospital ward was not lost on me). I storm into the corridor and my angry eyes fall on a young small Asian girl. Again my words are polite, however my voice is a little louder than it needs to be, my stance is that of someone ready for trouble, and, as those who know me know only too well, my angry eyes look very.......well.......angry. MR EDWARDS ROOM 1 BED 2 HEART CONDITION BEEN REQUESTING HELP FOR OVER 30 MINUTES ATTEND TO HIM NOW......PLEASE. She acts like a true professional. That is to say that she immediately starts to move in his direction whilst talking to me in a calming voice. Were both by his bed and he tells her whats wrong. She says shes a doctor (surprised me, she looked like a teenager, or is that me getting old), she can prescribe some tablets that will take about 5 minutes to work, but the law says she cant give them to him, it has to be a nurse (i presume thats to stop another harry shipman murder). Within 2 minutes shes out the door and back again, this time with the nurse whos carrying the tablets and swearing blind that Gordon said he needed a bottle. The curtains are pulled round him as she wants to check him over and i relax and feel more than a little ashamed about how i first spoke to her, but damm it, when he mentioned a crash team and i saw the look of pain on his face. That combination was the best and most effective laxative Ive had in a long, long time. But before you say bloody rubbish NHS, or what a stupid nurse please take on board the following. Being the global slut that i am, Ive been around a bit, including to countries outside of Europe. So when I hear someone complain about the NHS, I tell them to go see the real world, then complain. Well I have seen the real world, places where its taken me 3 days to get a kid into a hospital, a kid whos legs were starting to rot. So I can complain, and here it is. I personally think we have one of the best health care systems in the world. One that could easily rival the amazingly good one set up by Saddam Hussein before 12 years of sanctions ruined it. I believe that those who work for the NHS do a marvellous job under difficult circumstances, so I dont blame the nurse and heres why. There are 30 beds on this ward, the night staff comprise of 1 head nurse (I forget his title), 5 not so qualified nurses and, untill 6am, 0 doctors. that night one of the night staff failed to turn up, leaving them a man down. In my humble and unqualified opinion, to have no doctors on a ward where at lest one man has a heart condition is wrong. To not have a replacement protocol in place to bring in extra staff is stupid/neglectful. Yes, a nurse should had attended sooner and yes, he should had listened to Gordons needs. But the real culprits are every serving MP. I know times are hard and cut backs have to be made, but how many MPs have you heard saying, we need to cut this benefit, or funding to that service. lots yea? Now ask yourself this. How many MPs have you heard saying times are hard, so thats why the 100 or so bars in the houses of parliament are no longer going to be tax free and are no longer going to be subsidised? Enough staff to look after a ill war veteran or cheap booze for the rich, which would you choose? Which have they chosen? Thats why i blame the MPs, because in the past Ive raised this point with them via email, yet still they ignore it. The question now is, can you blame them, or has it never occurred to you too raise these facts with any of them? And if you havent told them your view on this why not?. And if you dont tell them, or cant be bothered to vote, at all levels, including European. Whos fault is it then, theirs OR YOURS?
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 12:29:52 +0000
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