You know you never really get the impact until you experience it. Mrs K is carrying an ACL injury with private surgery scheduled for October. ~She went over on her leg at the weekend and its swollen massively, still after 2 days. Our local A&E was shut down last year and turned into an “Urgent Care centre”.
So off she went, and after an initial inspection she was suggested the she employ RICE and revert to a private consultant. “But” she argued, “Aren’t you going to ask someone to do a further examination?” The direct answer was given – that there was no further qualified staff to see her in the building, and that as it’s clearly not a break they would not waste money on an X ray. But the chap did write a letter of recommendation to the private consultant.
It’s the clearest experience of the NHS cuts I’ve experienced and to have a medical facility effectively turn you away to lack of staff with skills and cost saving as the excuse brings it right to state of bleedin’ obvious. I’m lucky my work enables family private care, there’s many that don’t have it.
Add to that the low key compromised queens speech today and I’m feeling like a very exposed, leaderless weak Brit at the moment in a country with a paper thin framework.