Today our son was rushed to hospital, after a series of messing around by a NHS that needs signs saying “backside” and “elbow”.
As I type I’m unaware of his condition. He had crashed out when the ambulance arrived (a good 45 mins from consultation at a very wet and partially flooded buckland hospital A and E on a day that befalls all changeable weather before it. Oh yeah they “were” going to shut a and e because of the leaky roof and the hospital titanic. I can just see Dr de-caprio at reception swimming for it. (but I didn't – partner took Blaine)
This is what's wrong. Blaine's adenoids are up so is his tonsils, a suspect upper and lower respiratory infection as well. Buckland hospital cant xray - no xray team at weekends yet we are literally 1min away so he’s had to go to the William Harvey in an emergency ambulance. His breathings erratic, he is like that kid in Malcolm in the middle the disabled kid who says a couple of words then breaths out of breath then next couple of words etc.
Right that’s what the symptoms are, but getting an audience with what feels like god is another kettle of rotting NHS fish.
We have had a rough night with him, we did not get much sleep. Breathing all over the shop so we boot up the laptop, go to NHS direct and do the symptom checker. At first its said “999”, eeeeek! (we think – surely not) so we take a different angle and it comes up with ring GP now!
OK, we ring get an 03000 number and talk to a brain-dead teen on the other end and what sounds like a chimps tea party in the background. So after the usual question and answer session and after much answering “oh well a person will ring in 20 mins”. What person? Captain nemo? Dr evil? Ruby wax? Who for the love of all that’s fizzy?
A couple of mins later the phone rings “hello, weekend GP's” or whatever they were called on the line. So again with the mother flipping Q and A. So she concludes....get him to A and E.
They (partner and son) get to a and e after being in a New Delhi monsoon. Get MOANED at for not having an appointment (because out of hours don’t make appointments – you supposedly turn up – yeah right) even though blaines struggling to breathe. Get ushered to a doctor whose English is not his first language and speaks brokenly he has to goto the Harvey as Canterbury have no emergency paediatric and Dover have no xray at the weekend. So its the Harvey. But that is not all. They have arranged transport there and not back and they have to wait in a 2 hour time frame to get it. - he could be dead by then I thought. They were supposed to ring one of our mobiles for us to get ready and they didn’t. Turned up 50 mins later after consultation picked him and my partner up and took him – not heard a dickey bird yet.
So here is my pitch.
1 why is there NO adequate emergency cover for kids in this part of the country?
2 why has patient transport been cut so much that the ambulance service is moaning that they have to take older people home from hospitals. I thought it was duty of CARE?
3 why is there a 50 mile radius of hospitals for paediatric care? - that 50 mile radius could prove FATAL.
4 why have Canterbury and Dover been mega downgraded? Is there any point of having an hospital at all?
5 why should patients especially those with ill children and older people have to effectually pay 60 pounds a throw to get to and from hospitals especially if your around 25 miles from the two? Who makes this up? Insanity! Plus taxi fares are NOT reimbursed by the NHS.
These cuts in the NHS are totally submerged like submarines, silent running and running deep so no-one KNOWS what the situation is. Its a mess. Its playing god with you and loved ones lives. What is the point of government? They do not serve the people, they serve themselves.
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