MEDICAL MATTERS

[Stanley]

Peter. I am pleased to hear you report an improvement in the service.
At the moment I have minimal connection with the surgery as I am on a 12 month repeat prescription. And the fact that the prescription is so long seems to have had a beneficial effect on Well Pharmacy. Their text service announcing when my meds are ready is functioning well at the moment. So I have no complaints!

[Tizer]

I've written to our local councillor asking her to get our hospital to beef up their infection control on people coming and going from the building. In my many visits this year I seem to be the only person who uses the alcohol dispensers provided at the entrances. Covid and influenza infections are rising in the UK and this is the start of the norovirus season too.

`Children may be hit harder by flu, say officials' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8jrnrkdg43o]BBC
A county's health officials have warned more children and young people could become infected with a severe strain of flu than usual at this time of year. Public health bosses in Hertfordshire said hospital admissions were low at the moment but were expected to rise over the next few weeks. They advised anyone with symptoms to wear a face mask and avoid contact with other people. The county council's executive member for public health, Ajanta Hilton, has called for a national awareness campaign.

Experts in Hertfordshire and across the country were watching the situation in Australia with growing alarm. The southern hemisphere country has seen its worst flu season on record, with 1,544 cases per 100,000 people - a 10.8% increase on the 2024 record. Hertfordshire's director of public health, Sarah Perman, said: "Australia experiences its flu season a few months before we do [and] we're beginning to see with some concern that case rates are rising in this country." Cases among the under-5s in Australia accounted for almost 11% of all infections, external (more than More than 44,500 cases) and more than a third of the infections were recorded in children below the age of 15. Ms Perman said a similar trend was now being seen in the UK, but other groups were also at risk.

[Tripps]

I seem to be the only person who uses the alcohol dispensers provided at the entrances.

You do right. My understanding is that doing so won''t protect against Covid or Flu, but it's good against Norovirus. That's something you can do without. I'm not sure a local Concillor would be the best line of complaint though.

[Stanley]

I am just as wary as you Peter. It is this awareness of the presence of danger that drives my aversion to surgeries and hospitals.
Old shepherds used to say that a sheep's worst enemy was another sheep.... I feel the same my be true of humans.

[Cathy]

I still carry and use hand sanitizer when I’m out and about. And a face mask for when it’s necessary.

[Stanley]

[Tizer]

You do right. My understanding is that doing so won''t protect against Covid or Flu, but it's good against Norovirus.

There are divided opinions on the effectiveness of these precautions - I've seen claims that they don't work on norovirus but it takes so little effort to clean hands it's better safe than sorry and alcohol will definitely kill bacteria. Cleaning your hands when going into a hospital is also a sign of respect for the staff, the patients and other visitors.

I'm not sure a local Councillor would be the best line of complaint though.

We're lucky in that respect, our councillors are always helpful, especially the one to whom I sent my message. Her response was: Many thanks for your email Peter, you raise valid concerns particularly at this time of year. I will forward your comments on in the hope that your message is heard both at the hospital and by our public health team.

[Stanley]

The quality of local councillors varies widely. Here in Barlick we are lucky, we have David Whipp. It sounds as though Peter has the West Country equivalent.

[Cathy]

There is a David Whipp listed in my Ancestry DNA results as a a 4th cousin or half 3rd cousin 1 x removed.
This means that we share 1% DNA. Hardly worth mentioning really.

[Stanley]

He's a good man Cathy..... Keep him in the list!

[Tripps]

I'm at the dentist next week.

I've already had an email inviting me to add a hygeinist session to the appointment. That will be £80 please.
Thanks but "no thanks"

Now today I have a 'gentle invitation' to fill in my medical history online to save me the bother of updating my record when I attend. It's an eight page questionaire and as an encouragement I am told that failure to do so may incur a £100 fine from NHS England. How 'gentle' is that? It seems to be run by a third party company, and frankly is not fit for purpose. For instance it asks if I carry a warning card - then fails to ask what it is for.

I am asked to sign it at the end - but the software to do that is not included. I gave up.

I'll blag my way through it when I go. It was never a problem previously to update it with a pen.

Hutber's law once again proves reliable - "Improvement equals deterioration".

PS In stark contrast - I've just renewed the Tax on my car online with no bother at all, in less than five minutes. Now that is useful.

PPS Then I recalled that NHS England was to be abolished. . .
The Prime Minister cited NHS England as an example of over-regulation and duplication of bureaucracy, before announcing it would be abolished, and spoke of it being "brought back into democratic control" within the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC). He stressed that he was not criticising civil servants themselves, but rather the system which has evolved to work in an overly bureaucratic way. Later in the morning, the Secretary of State made a statement to the House of Commons on the changes, confirming that the expectation would be for the abolition (requiring primary legislation) to be completed within two years.

[Big Kev]

I've never filled one in online for the dentist. Receptionist just asks if anything has changed since my previous visit.