This is a can of worms but when all is said and done £85 seems excessive and downright greedy considering why the questionaire was required.

From The Royal College of General Practitioners
GPs should tell patients in advance if they will be charged for a service and by how much. The BMA recommends fee levels but these are guidelines only and a doctor is not obliged to charge the suggested rates.
Unfortunately, as I'm not a member of the BMA I can't access the recommended fee page but I would suspect that £85 is higher than the guideline.

Exactly, on the basis of a ten minute chat he is signing off on something that could come back to bite him, potentially forcing a claim on his medical indemnity and damaging his professional reputation.

It is very unlikely that something would come back to bite him as he would not be guaranteeing that the patient is fit to do the swim, merely that in his/her professional opinion, to the best of his/her knowledge there is no past or present medical problem which could foreseeably be injurious or detrimental to the health of the patient whilst partaking in the activity.

Gp is perfectly entitled to chage but is a bit mean to do so.

Very true but like every profession and in other walks of life, some are greedy barstewards and others have a sense of decency and morals.

My GP for instance fits into the g…b… category as he charged me £37 for the 2 minutes it took to complete and sign the form to say I was fit enough to do my job. Not an easy task according to the secretary as he had to locate and analyse my medical records. A total of two visits in the 10 years I have been registered at his surgery (broken toe and a simple eye infection) must have taxed him severely. :cry:

ski sunday are well known for talking pish

Really ? I wouldn't knock it mate as we aren't exactly overrun with snowsports programmes and I think Mr Bell might just know a little bit more than you :roll:

LOL @ El creedo – that was my thought too

Woody – actually I was a crap manager – hence I went back to shop floor work

Well done TJ and thanks for putting a smile on my face. :lol:

I would suspect you are unique, as the NHS is a classic example of the Peter Priciple.

TJ wrote

Stevie – you are the patronising one telling me that my experience is wrong. What is your experience of healthcare and health care politics? I have worked in NHS and private healthcare in shopfloor and managerial roles. I have studied health care politics and management ( breifly) at university level.I actually understand what is going on

What a shame that all that knowledge and expertise is wasted on an internet forum……………mind you, if your work persona is similar to that displayed here, you probably spend all day in duscussion/arguing with your colleagues and achieve f-*k all. Perfect qualifications for an NHS managerial role :lol:

Comparing the cost of health provision in NE England with Scotland just because they have approximately the same population size is abject stupidity. The difference in geography alone, and the need to cater for the islands, would make the Scottish health service a lot more expensive to run.

Call me stupid but I think the comparison is perfectly reasonable. The general health, geographical and socio-economic conditions are broadly similar and to contend that a few islands make that much difference is ludicrous.

It's also the lack of competence of so-called 'managers' in the NHS, people promoted way above their level of competence.

#
IME I would agree with that. I could list a number of instances where incompetence has cost £thousands/millions in my area alone, not to mention the huge number of additional middle management jobs created recently purely to fulfil the criteria for 'Trust' status. Not only are these 'created' jobs comparatively well paid but the incumbents have to justify their existance once in the post. Unfortunately, that invariably means increased admin. and/or additional 'procedures' for those below them, which more often than not are unworkable in pactice and may have a detrimental effect on the area which should be improved ie. patient care.

LOL @ Chewkw

Some rap music when genuine etc etc is brilliant but after enduring a couple of Chipmunk 'songs' recently I just felt despair. Who buys this utter cr@p ??

Olly wrote

i drive like A BIT of a child, and have been lucky so far. (bwarp)

a LOT of people drive like children

Do children drive with their heads up their arses.??????

But well done on knowing what the switches do and being able to use your foglights properly :D

I could go and get one of those IAM qualifications and parade my anality on the front of my car.

You do that quite well without a car :D

Dangriff

I'm staggerred that a 'response car' bloke asked you to take your daughter to hospital yourself. Was he a Paramedic and did you/he know or suspect the ball was in her throat at the time ?

you can tell when you see him on telly that hes doped up to the eyeballs on anti-depressants.

Really ?

Much like I can tell that you are an idiot by what you write on a forum 8O

I'm not a big Robbie fan, although I think his voice when on form is reasonably good and there is no question about his entertainment value but there seems lots of jealousy going on here. Could it be because he's worth squillions and has women throwing themselves at him.

Any chance of a link ?

Care to expand on that a little ?

Are you serious ? If it's not a viral then it's an ok bit of fun at best.

Has been shown before but genuine madness

Good marketing idea but not really very convincing. :roll:

Definately not bonkers and by all means repaint it, but why "modernise"?

As I'm sure you know, 'v' brakes work rather well, especially if you keep it light and fully rigid like the lovely one below.

Drac wrote

I've worked for the NHS for 20 years now never been told to cut corners

Drac is right – the corners are cut for us by those much higher up :wink:

I've tore something in my knee walking on the loose gravel/pot holes in the dark on the Uni car park. My foot gave way as the surfaceis loose and sandy/gravel.

I slipped opening my car door as the floor surface broke apart.

Apart from the obvious discrepancy in those statements, which I'm sure PaulMc would have a field day with in his day job, what sort of 'floor' just gives way? Sand and gravel tends to be a pretty solid surface and doesn't generally 'break apart'. Do you weigh 20 tons in your walking boots ?

I'm really trying not to be cynical here but how on earth do you do that much damage while, according to one of your statements, opening a car door.

I've been to Italy 4 times (lots more if you count skiing from Montgenevre to Claviere)and never had decent snow + I met my ex while skiing in Champoluc, so although I like Italy and the people a lot, it's not been a very lucky place for me :(

Passo Tonale looks like it should be good on all fronts. Have fun.

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. I'm sure I'll find something amongst those. :-)

Sorry Woody, defensive overdrive there.

Xmas and New-Year in particualr always brings up the bile and bitterness.

No worries. I know the feeling and for once I'm not unhappy that I'm working.

The Snowbreaks site looks looks interesting (if a little pricey) and that ratio of 2:1 would not influence me in any way whatsoever, oh no, not at all. Just out of interest and purely from a skiing viewpoint, can you tell me exactly where you went :D

Colin-T

Point taken and you are absolutely right, of course.

No reason why individuals sharing a common interest shouldn't get along just fine. Probably why ST is such haven of tranquility and good natured banter 8O

Pic please before I put my thinking head on :wink:

Adventura/Snowbreaks is a more "singles" but not horribly so.

It's that 'horribly so' part I'm trying to avoid ie. those who are Billy/Belinda no mates for a very good reason + the "I'm desperate to find a life-partner" types!

Not sure about sharing a room with a complete stranger either. Knowing my luck……………………

Now registered with Snowheads. Excellent

Cheers

Sounds like she has been a very lucky girl and I wish her well.

A bit OT but my favourite boarding vid showsTERJE HAAKONSENon a mere 60deg 8O

As the girl says "if you mess up it's aaaaa….like…aaaaa..big consequences !

Whistler sounds strangely attractive :oops:

Atomizer

Definately my cup of tea……and nice to see a bike that has actually been in mud [thumbs up]

Been discussed recently HERE

I have experienced both routes after initially traning on the 'old style' Advanced technician course I then went on to do the university based diploma/degree course which takes 1-3 years depending on if you are direct entry or already a qualified adv tech.

I think your only option now is uni based which will take 2 years to get the diploma and register as a Paramedic. This is a combination of full time paid study and working with a qualified Paramedic as a student paramedic in between. Once qualified you have the option of various routes of specialisation and further study.

I would thoroughly recommend it. Great job most of the time, great cameraderie and very rewarding + the advantage of never the same day twice and not stuck in an office. Downsides are dealing with distress/blood/vomit/sh1t on a regular basis, so definately not for the squeamish.

Wish I'd done it years ago as for the first time in my life I almost look forward to going to work :)

Vinnyeh

No legal or MOT requirement to have the bumpers regardless of year. Only slight complication is re-housing the indicators/lights/numberplate and sorting out the grill.

By the sounds of it, most of the work is aleady done and you should have a very solid car. It would be a crying shame to stop now for the sake of a bit of time and a little extra investment.

Probably a good idea to ditch the bumpers – I'm thinking of doing the same to mine (also a '78) as I think they look better without them and 100lbs + is a lot of weight on a car that was never quick anyway.

Mine has had the suspension lowered/stiffened, stage 1 flowed head, K&N's and a bigbore exhaust with extractor manifold fitted. It will never win any races against a modern box but it brings a smile to my face every time I take it out of the garage……………………and that's all that matters :D

I will get up at 5 AM and go to work……..just like I have done for the past 3 years :cry:

Next year I'm off for the week :-)

drnick

You are undoubtedly right and I would have had the jab (as I have for the past few years) if the effort had been made by my employer to make it easier to get. A round trip of 2 hours to head office on my day off didn't appeal !

I feel that any healthcare professionals refusing to have the jab are shunning their duty to the greater good.

I am not actually 'refusing' to have it but having seen 1st hand some quite nasty adverse reactions, I have decided not to make the effort to go and get it 8) In addition, having been exposed at close quarters a mimimum of 30 times over the past couple of months to probable 'flu/swine flu sufferers it is probably a waste of time having it at this late stage.

I also strongly believe that people have the right to refuse medical treatment and any compulsory or coerced treatment needs a far greater threat and level of proof of need than we currently have.

……….

…..and would be in contravention of the European Human Rights Act !

Unless 'they' could prove that by refusing to have the jab you were obviously not of sound mind and therefore incapable of making that rational decision 8)

Like Drac I can get the vaccine in approximately 10 days time.

However, as I have been in close contact (thanks NHS Direct :evil:) with at least 20 people probably suffering from flu/swine flu over the past couple of months, isn't it a case of shutting the gate after the horse has bolted ?

The biggest joke was that an A+E Department, in a hospital which shall remain nameless, was sending suspected swine-flu suffers out of the waiting room in A+E to stand in the corridor and wait for a taxi or lift home. The corridor just happened to be the main route into the hospital for patients arriving by ambulance and they were standing directly outside 'resus'. Genius 8O

I'm no expert but even someone who really knows their stuff would be hard pushed to put a value on that watch with the details given. BTW one of the sub-dials is probably the 'second-hand'

I would be very wary and although Jaegre Le Coutre are not one of the main targets, with so many fakes around EXAMPLE HEREI wouldn't touch anything without full papers etc. or at the very least authenticated by an authorised dealer. I can't see what you mean about the hands as my NHS computer screen is so old I can't make out any fine detail.

Also bear in mind a service on a watch of this calibre with something like a Valjoux 7750 movement can run into £100's.

Lovely watch though and very tempting :wink:

I've used varifocals (30 day continuous wear type)for about 3 years now with no problems. I found them to be great immediately with no feeling of disorientation. I only realised how much difference they make when I had to use a pair of standard lenses for a day and could barely read a newspaper. With varifocals I can read the smallest print on labels !

I have also had SFB's suggestion recommended to me by others and it is definately worth a try due to cost.

As an alternative and well within your budget the new PRS-3 became available yesterday in limited edition of 50 of each colour. Not sure how many, if any, will be left ! Click for Timefactors

motoGP may have more overtaking, but untill the last lap its fairly pointless, the bikes can slipstreem easily and there's plenty of room to overtake

Do you actually watch Moto Gp ? Have you any idea how narrow the 'racing line' is ? Are you saying Rossi doen't know what he's doing with those silly overtaking manoeuvres so early in the race last weekend – should have waited until the last lap and saved us all the worry of him falling off while leaving the rest trailing :wink:

As Drac says :-)

It was a complete career departure for me but the job satisfaction hugely outways the downsides and I wish I'd done it years ago.

The money is reasonable depending on what you are used to earning and where you live and it can always be topped up with overtime, which is why I'm typing this at 0440 on a bank holiday Monday on double time :wink:

I think the commetary team are a good mix, even 'the tall one' Jake Humphrey who seems to have appeared from nowhere but is good at his job.

100% improvement on the hysterical errant rantings of the previous (thankfully retired) commentator.