MEDICAL MATTERS

[Stanley]

I read these accounts of poor or non-existent service and wonder what happened to all the promises of more efficient communication using modern methods. Hollow Laugh from me, I immediately think of all the dropped lines encountered by BBC presenters when trying to contact people.
You may remember that I have occasionally had a rant about one of our biggest modern problems being general incompetence. All this reinforces it.
(And what's all this crap about four hours needed for a software upgrade?)

[Big Kev]

(And what's all this crap about four hours needed for a software upgrade?)

There could be many things to take into account, not all software upgrades are the same. There may be checks required once it's been done, the software itself may have been thoroughly tested but upgrading the ECU in a vehicle is still an untested area.

[Stanley]

Funny how these 'improvements' to vehicles always seem to involve the owner shelling out more money.

[Wendyf]

I managed to get in the phone queue this morning and it didn't take long to move up from 16th on the list! Phone triage booked for this afternoon.

[Big Kev]

I managed to get in the phone queue this morning and it didn't take long to move up from 16th on the list! Phone triage booked for this afternoon.

[plaques]

Funny how the Colne health centre's new number gave a big waiting list. I suspected that this was to turn people away from ringing but if you did hang on the numbers dropped quite quickly until you got down to about No4 then a long wait. Yes I now I'm an ace conspiracist.

[PanBiker]

Pleased to report that all the imaging equipment at LGI is working correctly so I can attend to day for my appointment. My letter advised me to ring before setting off to avoid any unnecessary journeys.

[Big Kev]

Pleased to report that all the imaging equipment at LGI is working correctly so I can attend to day for my appointment. My letter advised me to ring before setting off to avoid any unnecessary journeys.

That's good. I was booked for an MRI at BGH a couple of years ago, turned up and the IT systems were down. Fortunately it was only Burnley, I'd have been mightily unimpressed if I'd gone a lot further.

[PanBiker]

Yes, it's a common sense request on the appointment letter, there's a lot of tech to potentially go wrong. I bet it needs a few shillings in the meter to run the big degaussing coil for the half hour I will be in it.

[Whyperion]

Plaques that's interesting, I believe the phone number is the same for both Earby and Colne, 731370 is that the one you used?

The old number is 731731 The new system is 911401.
Normally a No6 position in the queue is a 15/20 wait.

I thought 911 was barred from a prefix use due to an actual reserved use as meaning 999 ( I know its not officially advertised but didnt the GPO Telephones keep it reserved due to the use of the number in the US and to avoid confusion for visitors from the land of the special relationship )

[PanBiker]

Trip went OK apart from getting a bit of a soaking on my way for the bus yesterday. I was in time for the 10.47 train so got into Leeds for just after 11.30. A reasonably short walk to Station B on Boar Lane just off the City Square. Bus came within 5 minutes so I was up at the hospital for 12.00. I went in the cafe for a brew and a bit of lunch, still too early so I went looking for the bus stop that would take me back down to the station. Couldn't find one going the other way! Noticed that I could get through to the Jubilee and Brotherton Wings where I am more acquainted with the bus stops so I decided I would go for that option after my scan.

I rocked up 40 minutes early to the MRI reception and had to fill in the obligatory medical screening form. I was expecting to have to wait for my slot at 2.15 as there were five others in the waiting area although they may not have bee waiting for the same kind of imaging. Five minutes later I was scooped up by the nurse who took me round to the lockers to strip off all metal contraband, Belt, keys, mobile phone, wallet as the MRI wipes credit and debit cards and finally my fitbit watch as they have a tendency to fry as well.

I will let you judge how well the nurse did when she fitted the cannula for the contrast dye.



Hardly a mark on me if you dismiss the other tracks for blood donors.

I was in the machine five minutes later and a half hour early. It was a relatively new Siemens machine having been replaced in the last 12 months. It had a flat screen TV reflected in the periscope visor that they fit along with the neck braces and headphones. Video was rolling hills and fjords , sheep, babbling brooks, rivers and trees all displayed along with offerings from Classic FM which for a change you could hear above the noise of the machine, which was considerably quieter in its operation.

Half an hour later I was out and after retrieving all my stuff from the locker was following the signs to the Jubilee Wing. Some of the corridors looked mightily familiar as I had been treated to numerous journeys when I was in the wing. A mile or so of internal corridors later I was out at the other side at a familiar bus stop. No immediate buses though so I walked back down via the Headrow. I was back in the railway station in time for the mid afternoon train which got me back to Skipton at 4pm. Problem on the last leg, the next bus home was at 17.27! I rang Sally who came and picked me up, home before 5pm.

Clock is running now for my results.

[Stanley]

Glad it went well Ian. Best of luck for the results....

[Tizer]

`NHS cyber attack hits patient care with records left in ‘chaos’ three months on: Exclusive: i newspaperMental health practitioners and social care managers have revealed that patients’ records are missing, safety has been compromised, and medication doses are at risk of being missed'
`Patient care is still being undermined at NHS mental health trusts and social care providers that were hit by a major cyber attack in August, doctors have warned. Three months after the major attack wiped out NHS systems, patients’ records are missing, safety has been compromised, and medication doses are at risk of being missed amid ongoing “chaos”, i has been told. Dr Andrew Molodynski, mental health lead at the British Medical Association, said the prolonged systems failure has damaged care because records are “integral to patients’ safety”.
`Mental health patients’ records and safeguarding alerts have not been available in some trusts since 4 August, when NHS software provider, Advanced, was hit by a ransomware attack which targeted its Carenotes records system....A total of 12 NHS mental health trusts have been impacted by the cyber attack, potentially impacting tens of thousands of patients as well as social care providers. According to Advanced’s own hazard log spreadsheet, seen by i, the risks associated with disruption to its server include “medication doses missed”, “required number of carers not met”, “basic needs not met, such as nutrition and personal care”, and “health needs not met, such as wound care and physical support”.'...

[PanBiker]

Over 60's bowel screening results are in, no further investigations required.

Just need the top end results now.

[Big Kev]

Over 60's bowel screening results are in, no further investigations required.

Just need the top end results now.

Good stuff

[Stanley]

Peter.... I wonder what it was that made the NHS vulnerable to such a serious attack and what defences were in place. It sounds to me like an attack on an old and out of date system that had no effective back up strategy in place. In other words a system that had been starved of adequate funding and supervision.

[PanBiker]

I received the results of my recent MRI today. All good, no changes from my scan last year.

[Big Kev]

I received the results of my recent MRI today. All good, no changes from my scan last year.

Good news Ian

[Wendyf]

Good news Ian.

[Stanley]

Perfect...

[Tizer]

Great news, Ian!

[Tripps]

Press is full of wonderful new Alazheimers drug today. Seems to be based on removal of amyloid plaques from the brains of sufferers.
Without looking it up, and from memory - I doesn't seem long ago that the research into such matters was deemed to be unreliable. This drug "Lecanemab" seems to rely on suspect research.

Read this please, and get things into some sort of perspective. Dementia treatment.

Doctors warned that lecanemab will be a massive challenge for the NHS, not just because the drug is given through an intravenous infusion every two weeks. Most Alzheimer's patients are currently diagnosed when they have moderate symptoms - too late for treatment with lecanemab. And just 1% have their diagnosis confirmed by a brain scan or lumbar puncture, a biopsy of their spinal fluid.

Susan Kohlhaas, director of research at Alzheimer's Research UK said: "It's safe to say that the NHS is not ready for a new era of dementia treatment. "We estimate that unless there are drastic changes in how people access specialist diagnostic tests for Alzheimer's disease, only 2% of people eligible for drugs like lecanemab will be able to access them."

I've been waiting for a cure for another condition for thirty years now, and have grasped eagerly at every such press headline. This will follow the pattern of all the others, and come to nothing. It will probably make a lot of money for the pharmaceutical company though.

[Wendyf]

My feelings exactly Tripps.

[Tripps]

My feelings exactly Tripps.

Thanks - that's very pleasing to know.

Here's some background to previous amyloid plaques research. It all quickly becomes immensely complex, and beyond my ready understanding - but I liken lt to the Navy Command "Make Smoke" when in a sticky situation. Similar to the reaction of the UEA when they adjusted their climate change research results. Politicians are good at it e.g. deny stuff you haven't been accused of etc

Alzheimers research potential fabrication

[Wendyf]

I was reading up about it this morning and discovered that the benefits were less than minimal but absolutely amazing compared to nothing at all.