Orange juice, of all things, has been the latest cause of Freya turning into a Tasmanian Devil.
We tested it for nearly a week, because she is going off her milk and we need a new way to give her her poop meds, before her behaviour (and my guilt at giving her something clearly upsetting her) made me call it quits – though not in time to stop her breaking into a cleaning cupboard at playgroup which I didn’t even know was there.
By Sunday she was her normal self again.
On the Monday we had a lovely morning out at Whitlingham and then on Tuesday she came down with a monster cold which, despite valiant efforts to hold it off, came my way on Saturday. Lack of sleep, the cold and the icy weather has meant no running just two weeks before the sponsored 5k. And to top it off my poor old dad had an operation to remove a lump on his head 10 days ago which is not healing as it should (he’s on antibiotics now).
All of these things have turned me into a snot covered grump and my rage (maybe it’s not food that upsets Freya but an inherited temper?) at this letter is probably 100% stronger than it would normally have been.
Let me just say, I think every single person who works for the NHS is a hero, I really do, not just for the jobs they carry out but because they have to work within a general system that is essentially broken.
Back in January, Freya’s consultant said she wanted her to have skin prick tests for allergies. I expected a wait. It’s not an emergency, there are limited appointments and probably people more in need of them than Freya. Fair enough, I don’t have a problem with it.
Yesterday I was sent this letter.
A letter which basically says…nothing.
You’re sending me a letter to tell me that at some point in the future someone will call to make an appointment. Instead, why not just call (which I agree is more likely to mean I will keep the appointment)? My phone has rung before, it won’t shock me. I don’t need advance warning.
Why waste someone’s time (not to mention the paper, envelope and postage) by sending a pointless letter. And this is just one tiny example of a low level waste of time and money, just imagine what’s going on higher up.
After The Rain 
In fairness that would annoy me too. I got a letter in December with an appointment date for Alex’s 2 year review. However I couldn’t make it due to work commitments. I rang them well ahead of schedule and they said they’d get our HV to call back to rearrange. It’s March and I’m still waiting!
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That’s really annoying. I’ve constantly had to chase things up, like I have nothing else to do. I hope they get in touch soon.
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I imagine that by making contact some ‘essential’ performance indicator will have been met, even though, in fact, from a patient perspective absolutely nothing has happened. The fact that the letter has gone will tick a box that allows senior managers to evidence some target to people who have no idea what the real work of a health provider should be. In local government and the NHS a huge amount of energy is put into maintaining the system in this way, rather than in doing the work that is needed. So frustrating for staff and potentially damaging for patients.
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For sure. I think that route of the problem is that they have to be so target centered now that they can’t afford to think about the fact that they are dealing with actual people. It must be so hard not being able to do the job you want to do because of all the targets in the way.
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*sigh* A testing week for sure. Hope everyone is on the mend now. I’m pretty sure if you book a holiday then an appointment will be arranged right in the middle of it…
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Thank you! Yes, that’s exactly what I should do – especially as no one has called yet.
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We had a letter postponing Oscar’s annual check up in January and still no reschedule….. Grrrrr!
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It’s ridiculous. And you probably won’t hear anything until you chase it. Grrrr, indeed.
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