Whilst I'm here, an old one from some time ago, resuscitated to recognise this great British season
Global warming today
Apparently we are due some hot summers in Blighty in the near future All because of my car apparently...Anyway, todays rant is based on the commonly stated assertion, that if July and August end up as hot as 25 degrees on average everyday, this will be cutting down Englishmen and women in their thousands !!
Now Britain is the only country in the world where Global warming seems to make us more prone to rain and flooding in the winter, so first things first. lets sort out water leaks, fix up the reservoirs, and stop losing millions of gallons of water per day.
Next fit meters to every hose, especially anyone with a swiming pool !!
And then sit back and bloody well enjoy the sun
If our summer weather was any bloody good, we wouldn't burn fossil fuels flying abroad !
As to whether we might find a few old people getting hot....and see a few more skin cancers, have you seen aboriginees and Tuaregs..They all seem to live to a ripe old age.
I don't see Italians dropping dead every time I go to Tuscany, and funnily enough, despite their penchant for dodgy jewellery and falling over and rolling on grass when an English footballer comes within a fifteen foot radius, they are exactly the same physiologically as me..so basically, it's bollocks.
The reason pensioners die in France, and might well over here (old people don't cope with extremes of temp so well ), is that, unlike more family centred countries, we to our shame, seem not to give a toss about our elderly.
Friday, 31 July 2009
Why is my ward filthy...?
As a Dr watching hospitals and GP surgeries getting muckier and muckier over the years, it has become quite clear why this should be so
First, Nurses, and Nursing auxilliaries no longer do it, and thus it's contract cleaners. They ain't scared of a dressing down from matron, in fact they don't seem to be scared of anyone.....
Second and more important, it's all about health and bloody safety. Cleaners ain't given anything that actually cleans.
Bleach, carbolic, stuff that moves grime.? er no, because that's a bit abrasive and might harm skin
Of course it harms skin, that's why it cleans things !!
Now we get some sort of biological crap that doesn't move anything.
It won't be long before we need to use cold water in case someone scalds themselves
Of course the real answer is to get Drs to wear short sleeves, no ties and no watches...
In which case why were hospitals not full of infections ten years ago ?
Hello Mr Superbug, I can't say it's a surprise to meet you
First, Nurses, and Nursing auxilliaries no longer do it, and thus it's contract cleaners. They ain't scared of a dressing down from matron, in fact they don't seem to be scared of anyone.....
Second and more important, it's all about health and bloody safety. Cleaners ain't given anything that actually cleans.
Bleach, carbolic, stuff that moves grime.? er no, because that's a bit abrasive and might harm skin
Of course it harms skin, that's why it cleans things !!
Now we get some sort of biological crap that doesn't move anything.
It won't be long before we need to use cold water in case someone scalds themselves
Of course the real answer is to get Drs to wear short sleeves, no ties and no watches...
In which case why were hospitals not full of infections ten years ago ?
Hello Mr Superbug, I can't say it's a surprise to meet you
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Flu, I've had it up to here....
Well, three weeks on the front line, and I still have no idea just what it is we're supposed to be doing.
We now have a flu hot-line staffed by well meaning volunteers, who having had three hours of intensive training, may know something about applying plasters, but are woefully ill equipped to deal with medical issues. Using NHS algorithms will for sure reduce the chance of major cock-ups, but will also catastrophically over treat a majority of patients and will undertreat the severe throat infections, chest infections and other possible causes for the symptoms we are asked to check for.
To boot to avoid the chance of missing meningitis, any reference to pain when looking at lights triggers an immediate recommendation to ring 999.
The fact that they keep telling the patient to ring the GP too, even having sorted out the Tamiflu, does seem to defeat the object of the exercise !!
Now then, as we're not supposed to issue more than one course per patient, what happens when the guy who had Tamiflu for his cold last week, gets swine flu for real next month ?
Will we generate resistance by dishing out Tamiflu like smarties for every viral infection suffered in the UK for the next 6 months.
I don't know, but tragically, neither it seems does anyone else....
Hmm.
And whilst I'm on..Lord Darzi !!
Having spent three years pretty effectively denigrating and deconstructing the Primary Care services in the whole country, while actually trying to fix London, his next task was to look at redesigning all his old mates in the Secondary Care sector.
"So Arya, fancy upsetting all your Consultant chums now ?"
"Err, No thanks. I think I'll resign now, while I'm ahead."
I trust they'll now put a GP in charge of that agenda..although a GP might have better insight into Hospital Care, having worked in them for three years, than an academic surgeon, who's probabaly only seen three afternoons of Primary Care in his life.
We now have a flu hot-line staffed by well meaning volunteers, who having had three hours of intensive training, may know something about applying plasters, but are woefully ill equipped to deal with medical issues. Using NHS algorithms will for sure reduce the chance of major cock-ups, but will also catastrophically over treat a majority of patients and will undertreat the severe throat infections, chest infections and other possible causes for the symptoms we are asked to check for.
To boot to avoid the chance of missing meningitis, any reference to pain when looking at lights triggers an immediate recommendation to ring 999.
The fact that they keep telling the patient to ring the GP too, even having sorted out the Tamiflu, does seem to defeat the object of the exercise !!
Now then, as we're not supposed to issue more than one course per patient, what happens when the guy who had Tamiflu for his cold last week, gets swine flu for real next month ?
Will we generate resistance by dishing out Tamiflu like smarties for every viral infection suffered in the UK for the next 6 months.
I don't know, but tragically, neither it seems does anyone else....
Hmm.
And whilst I'm on..Lord Darzi !!
Having spent three years pretty effectively denigrating and deconstructing the Primary Care services in the whole country, while actually trying to fix London, his next task was to look at redesigning all his old mates in the Secondary Care sector.
"So Arya, fancy upsetting all your Consultant chums now ?"
"Err, No thanks. I think I'll resign now, while I'm ahead."
I trust they'll now put a GP in charge of that agenda..although a GP might have better insight into Hospital Care, having worked in them for three years, than an academic surgeon, who's probabaly only seen three afternoons of Primary Care in his life.
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Well, 4 days into my return to work after a week off.
I returned to find the UK in the grip of what appears to be the new Black Death.
Let's ignore the fact tht there are not sufficient cases to trigger use of anti-virals during seasonal flu. Let's forget that thus far the virus seems no more virulant than seasonal flu. Let's forget the fact that we normally only treat the prostrate and the at risk population.
Instead let's suggest that GPs triage all cases only by phone. Let's define swine flu as a set of symptoms that you could also get with pneumonia, tonsillitis, Pyelonephritis or any common all garden para-influenza, and suggest that such patients should be sent via a buddy, a course of tamiflu costing nearly £17 a go.
Let's all ensure a level of hysteria that massively increases the demand on urgent services, ensuring delays for patients who may actually be ill.
Sooner than later, some poor GP is going to treat a patient needing antibiotics and clinical review with a 5 day course of Tamiflu, and then stand back and watch him/her get pilloried in the national press.
If we restricted our management to those who were really ill, or at risk, the work oad would be manageable and we could actually physically review the patients and assess them properly. Has someone forgotten that we do this every flu season anyway !!
Could it be that the Government is driving up levels of hysteria, to keep themselves and their own difficulties off the front of the papers until the summer recess......
I returned to find the UK in the grip of what appears to be the new Black Death.
Let's ignore the fact tht there are not sufficient cases to trigger use of anti-virals during seasonal flu. Let's forget that thus far the virus seems no more virulant than seasonal flu. Let's forget the fact that we normally only treat the prostrate and the at risk population.
Instead let's suggest that GPs triage all cases only by phone. Let's define swine flu as a set of symptoms that you could also get with pneumonia, tonsillitis, Pyelonephritis or any common all garden para-influenza, and suggest that such patients should be sent via a buddy, a course of tamiflu costing nearly £17 a go.
Let's all ensure a level of hysteria that massively increases the demand on urgent services, ensuring delays for patients who may actually be ill.
Sooner than later, some poor GP is going to treat a patient needing antibiotics and clinical review with a 5 day course of Tamiflu, and then stand back and watch him/her get pilloried in the national press.
If we restricted our management to those who were really ill, or at risk, the work oad would be manageable and we could actually physically review the patients and assess them properly. Has someone forgotten that we do this every flu season anyway !!
Could it be that the Government is driving up levels of hysteria, to keep themselves and their own difficulties off the front of the papers until the summer recess......
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