What annoyed you today?

[Graham Butcher]

23 minutes ago, Stonekeeper said:

 

Only just?

 

For a fuller explanation, watch the documentary video I posted early, explains just what is going on with our NHS and the 111 service.

[skomaz]

So...   Antibiotics were found and started, I got some sleep and I'm starting to feel a bit more like it.

 

Still knackered though...   Thought I'd try and empty the dishwasher earlier this evening...   Managed it but needed a sit down and a hot drink afterwards 

[BTandSid]

45 minutes ago, skomaz said:

So...   Antibiotics were found and started, I got some sleep and I'm starting to feel a bit more like it.

 

Still knackered though...   Thought I'd try and empty the dishwasher earlier this evening...   Managed it but needed a sit down and a hot drink afterwards 

Whilst having that rest, try and catch comedian Jon Richardsons routine about his wife (Lucy Beaumonts) loading of a dishwasher 😂

[BTandSid]

10 hours ago, J.R. said:

What is the point of the 111 system if it takes 12 hours for them to respond, going to casualty sounds much quicker although still a dreadfull wait.

111 was intended to take the weight of the ambulance services, providing people with an outlet they could call with ‘less’ urgent issues or for general advice. Sadly there’s always been far too many people who can’t be bothered to register with a GP so when they have even the slightest of medical problem, a  poorly child, sore throat, grazed knee . . .they’d call 999 as they had no one else to turn to. So 111 was set up. God forbid they gave a thought to perhaps popping along to a chemist for advice or somewhere to buy calpol or lozenges 😱After all, they have to expend fuel to get there whereas an ambulance would be free as would the medications they came away with.

[Graham Butcher]

35 minutes ago, BTandSid said:

111 was intended to take the weight of the ambulance services, providing people with an outlet they could call with ‘less’ urgent issues or for general advice. Sadly there’s always been far too many people who can’t be bothered to register with a GP so when they have even the slightest of medical problem, a  poorly child, sore throat, grazed knee . . .they’d call 999 as they had no one else to turn to. So 111 was set up. God forbid they gave a thought to perhaps popping along to a chemist for advice or somewhere to buy calpol or lozenges 😱After all, they have to expend fuel to get there whereas an ambulance would be free as would the medications they came away with.

And then the GP's practises began putting the message to dial 111 for assistance on their pre-recorded message on the phones for out of hours services so GP's did not have to provide cover any longer and so the 111 service became overloaded.

Edited 11 December, 2023 by Graham Butcher

[J.R.]

5 hours ago, Graham Butcher said:

For a fuller explanation, watch the documentary video I posted early, explains just what is going on with our NHS and the 111 service.

 

Thanks I watched it, and then went down the rabbit hole of watching another relevant related film that featured in your one, you should definitely watch this if you havn't already.

 

https://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/sicko/

 

It will show you where the NHS is going if it really is being handed over to the health insurers, it will also make you feel proud of the NHS as it was in 2007 when the film was made and compare to how it is now, something I cant do.

 

It made me very proud of the French system and you will see why I like Lee can't bring myself to tell you fully how good the system is here, but what touched me most of all was to fully learn how bad the system is in the USA even for those with full health insurance, that was an emotional enough experience but to see the Cuban system taking care of 911 heros denied healthcare in their own country brought tears to my eyes.

 

And on a much more personal practical level I did not know that you could find full length films and documentaries like that on the internet, that would not have adverts popping up every couple of minutes and that my phone 5g connection only interrupted once, for the first time in 2 years confined in a caravan I was able to lay back on the seats, relax and watch a film at a distance rather than sitting upright in front of a screen, it wont be the last.

 

Thankyou again @Graham Butcher

[Paws4Thot]

Well, IME the issue with 111 is when the first line call handler asks all the triage questions, and passes you to second line who spends another 30 minutes asking all the triage questions again.

[Graham Butcher]

@J.R.Thanks, I'll watch the other film later today, I had missed that link somehow. Yes I'm proud of how the NHS was before it started to be systematically dismantled. Maybe you can see why I'm so cynical about much of what is going on around us today. I look to see who or what is lurking in the background and linked to so much of the events happening now. There are some very shady connections, I assure you.

 

As to the YouTube, yes I knew that was possible, I seldem watch TV, YT provides me with so much interesting things, educational, factual and entertainment, and no adverts. Surely you didn't think I would put up with adverts, I posted about how to get rid of them. 

[Graham Butcher]

5 hours ago, Paws4Thot said:

Well, IME the issue with 111 is when the first line call handler asks all the triage questions, and passes you to second line who spends another 30 minutes asking all the triage questions again.

Remember the adverts used to claim that you would be getting expert help in seconds? Yeah, like that's ever going to happen 🙄

[Graham Butcher]

@J.R. As I promised I would, I have just finished watching the film "Sicko" and just like you, watching the Cubans take care of the 911 heroes that USA would not do, even though they made a great thing out of thanking them at the time, once it was all done and dusted, turned their back on them, it brought tears to my eyes as well and a lump in my throat. Money truly is the root of all evil, and the American Health System and the drug companies are truly evil. Watching that film makes you wonder if what the PTB are trying to convince us that the French and other nations are not to be trusted as it was mentioned that the PTB have been twisting the truth for years to make the public believe their deception as in the Cuban section of the film for example. 

 

I have friends in America, and they often told me gut-wrenching tales of how some people over there, if they are involved in road accidents and the like, plead with people not to call ambulances for them because they cannot afford to pay for treatment. There were sections of that documentary in the NHS Heist documentary that I posted the link to as well. So thank you for sending me that link.

 

That is precisely where our NHS is heading if the politicians here, get their way, one party in particular has been systematically chipping away at the NHS for decades in the pursuit of money. In the documentary, some UK doctors and GPs were interviewed and said that they were employed directly by the NHS, that is not always the case now. My own GP is now part of a group of GP's who have formed their own business and are under contract with the NHS, and hence why I said that I have had personal experience of the 111 service because my GPs group now instruct everyone via the pre-recorded telephone message to contact the surgery when they are open, if it can't wait the to call 111 service.

 

When you call the surgery during open hours, you again get referred to the online triage system and then an untrained person decides if the Doctor will grant you a face to face appointment or not, or again refer you to the 111 service. This has all happened in the last 20 or so years and each tiny change is sold to us as if it is a real benefit to us, which it isn't. 

 

Many services of the NHS have already been privatised but the staff operate from NHS buildings in some cases, others are from office blocks. I have myself had received this year received treatment from one of the private companies call "Provide" but the staff all wear NHS uniforms to help disguise the fact that it is private company.

 

This is one of the reasons why I'm sceptical about many things that are going on at present, I have no faith in the Politicians to be acting in the people's best interests and sheer scale of corruption that is being exposed by people is staggering. Like the ULEZ scheme for instance if you dig deep enough and follow the connections and the money it shows some nefarious connections. 

 

 

[J.R.]

The film conveniently avoided it and I have not spoke about it much but Frances health system is not a 100% public one but a hybrid one where for most people an insurance company, a mutuelle pays for approx 35% of the cost of healthcare be it hospital treatment, operations, doctors visits, ambulances and medical transport, nursing visits, opticians, dentistry etc etc etc.

 

The premiums for this are paid for by employers (its compulsory) or for the self employed, unemployed, retirees etc they pay a private premium, those on low incomes either get a subsidised mutuelle or a free one run by their local Caisse d'Assurance Maladie like myself.

 

The big difference that I see is that they are not free to do as they wish, they cannot increase premiums for existing conditions (long standing ones like diabetes etc are covered 100% by the state anyway), they cannot refuse payment for treatment, they have no say in whether you are treated, its the doctors who decide, they cannot cancel your cover for their own reasons.

 

The prices charged for everything are fixed by the government, they can charge more but as there is so much choice people would go elsewhere, its the private specialists with money no object clients that generally do.

 

It's not perfect, you continue to pay the equivalent of NIC in retirement but that is part of solidarité, there are medical deserts like where I live where you can wait months to see an opthalmogist or dentist but if you are willing (and able) to go to the nearest city you will have a choice of appointments within days and surprisingly even these practitioners will not charge any extra so the patient effectively pays nothing, the problem is more encouraging the newly qualified professionals to work in rural areas.

 

The cost of a mutuelle is not good value for someone in good health and who has a reserve of money to draw on, they will always be better off overall paying the extra as and when, if they find themselves needing regular costly treatment they can just sign up for a mutuelle pay the premium and get it back several times in the cost of treatment as crazy as it sounds the insurers are not allowed to refuse them, they make their money from the others who are scared into paying for one when its not in their interests, in that respect the state is complicit in aiding the mutuelles, so its a partial privatised system encouraged but controlled by the government.

 

The cost of medications at the pharmacy if you have to pay for them is surprisingly low, for 17 years I had no mutuelle cover and my costs were €6 towards a doctors visit or one with a specialist, a few euros in medication, one year I had a partially subsidised mutuelle, I had to contribute €25 per month and it actually cost me more than the years before when I paid my way, I was not going to renew it but then as my income had plummeted I qualified for the non contributary one.

[Graham Butcher]

Well the NHS is directly funded by the public in 2 directions, one is via our National Insurance which is a percentage of our pay, the other is from the taxation that government rakes in from all of its various revenue streams. Dental treatment with the NHS used to free for things like check-ups, fillings extractions etc as far as I can recall but some cosmetic dentistry has always been chargeable I believe. But now we have to pay a fixed fee for all forms of dentistry, the more you have done, the more you pay, so we have already been introduced to the idea of paying extra towards treatments.

 

Understanding NHS dental charges - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

 

NHS prescription charges - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

[Stonekeeper]

Dental charges were introduced in 1951

[Graham Butcher]

9 minutes ago, Stonekeeper said:

Dental charges were introduced in 1951

Were they, really? In that case, I have had some lucky breaks. I think I can remember years ago I had to pay for some root fillings as they used silver rods, but I can't recall ever paying for normal cavity fillings. I remember in my late 20s/early 30s I spent a bit of time long distance lorry driving and while I was up north I got a bad toothache and I had to seek out some help with it. I managed to find a dentist in a location where I could park the lorry for a while, and he did a temporary filling for me to tide me over till I could get back to my usual dentist, and there was zero charge for that.

[Aspman]

On 11/12/2023 at 11:38, J.R. said:

What is the point of the 111 system if it takes 12 hours for them to respond, going to casualty sounds much quicker although still a dreadfull wait.

So you die quietly at your own expense without cruelly and selfishly using up any money that should be given to Tory party donors.

 

Edited 13 December, 2023 by Aspman

[Graham Butcher]

6 minutes ago, Aspman said:

So you die quietly at your own expense without cruelly and selfishly using up any money that should be given to Tory party donors.

 

Also without any will or dependants to make a claim on your estate, making more money for the Tory party donors. 😉

[skomaz]

The latest update... 

 

Have now had an allergic reaction to the second set of antibiotics...   So awaiting receipt of a third set. 

 

I'm getting a bit bored of this merry go round now. 

[Gaz]

57 minutes ago, skomaz said:

I'm getting a bit bored of this merry go round now. 

 

I've have said you were going through the ringer, rather than on a merry go round ☹️

 

Third time lucky on the abx 👍

 

Gaz

[mac11irl]

On 08/12/2023 at 16:05, mac11irl said:

yesterday evening pootling through town and drove over a speed bump, well more a ramp really at a junction in slow moving traffic. 

came down the bump/ramp (its quite gentle) to the sound of a loud, metallic "Badong"...

 

and so last night wheike waiting to start work i had a chance to get down on the wet ground with a torch....

yup.. rear spring decided it wanted make my car 1/4 VRS by lowering itself... 🤬

 

 

just had a chance to pull wheel off to check the colour code again, and remove the broken piece from inside coil to stop the rattling. 

 

no colour code on the sachs springs id put on 🤦 so ill just have to go email digging 

aaand... 

the piece wasnt there.. so clearly it snapped and vanished (I reallt hope noone lost a tyre to it 😞 )

i did learn the rattling is because the broken end had slipped out from under the mount into the wheel arch and was banging on on the metal. so after much levering and twisting i managed to turn it enough to squeeze it back under the frame. hopefully it will stay there until i get my new ones ordered and delivered. try and borrow a set of spring compressors over the christmas if i can and get them changed out. ugh.

[mac11irl]

1 hour ago, skomaz said:

The latest update... 

 

Have now had an allergic reaction to the second set of antibiotics...   So awaiting receipt of a third set. 

 

I'm getting a bit bored of this merry go round now. 

i wonder were round 2 related to the first 1s? as in same "family" of abx?

happened with my son, he's allergic to penicillin, and docs get told everytime, but ended up being given abx that were different but still related..  nasty reaction 😞

 

[skomaz]

2 hours ago, mac11irl said:

i wonder were round 2 related to the first 1s? as in same "family" of abx?

happened with my son, he's allergic to penicillin, and docs get told everytime, but ended up being given abx that were different but still related..  nasty reaction 😞

 

 

No they were completely different by all accounts and were supposed to be ones that 'nobody reacts to'...   just my luck eh? 

 

Anyhow since tests are now back I've been given meds specifically targeted at the infection I have and that are supposed to be a 'one shot' fix...   We'll see. 

Edited 14 December, 2023 by skomaz

[Graham Butcher]

Maybe they were reacting to other abx that you have already had? Hopefully the new meds will cut straight through and get you OK again in time for Christmas. 

Edited 14 December, 2023 by Graham Butcher

[MikeTheThinker]

55 minutes ago, skomaz said:

they were completely different by all accounts and were supposed to be ones that 'nobody reacts to'

This is not to indicate a lack of sympathy for your current pharmaceutical challenges but the above immediately made me go to Monty Python (and now for something completely different) and The Spanish Inquisition ...

[MikeTheThinker]

58 minutes ago, skomaz said:

We'll see

🤞

[robt100]

10 hours ago, skomaz said:

The latest update... 

 

Have now had an allergic reaction to the second set of antibiotics...   So awaiting receipt of a third set. 

 

I'm getting a bit bored of this merry go round now. 

I'd definitely recommend making a personal note of the meds you've had so far that you've reacted to. The amount of times in my old job I heard experiences of it not being noted down on medical records (or just plain ignored) next time anti-biotics were needed!