26/04/2011 – WrAnTz

Cough It Up

Things have been a little quiet around here. Well post wise they have.

Home is anything but quiet. Ever since my wife went down with Flu or some such affliction. It really is quite nasty. Started with sore throat and tenderness extending to one ear. This steadily worsened over a period of a week, blocking nasal/sinus passages and moved onto her chest. Much coughing, croaking and wheezing. A visit to the doctor last week culminated with her being prescribed a nasal spray. By Saturday morning things were so bad that a trip to the doctors was in order again. This time the doctor was sufficiently concerned enough to prescribe steroids, antibiotics and an inhaler. I think the death rattle with every intake of breath probably nailed the diagnosis.

This last weekend was the Easter Bank Holiday Weekend. A four-day long break with possibly the best weather forecast for decades and we had such plans. Jobs to do around the garden and trips to the garden centres. To cap it all even though she was too weak to work in the garden she was also not allowed into the sunlight due to the fact that the antibiotics have a side effect which can make the skin hypersensitive to the sun. My wife being a keen sun-worshipper was decidedly unhappy at the prospect of being trapped indoors on such a beautiful weekend.

Suffice it to say things have improved but not dramatically so. My wife should have been in work today but is too weak to walk to the car let alone go to work in an office. She is now resigned to the fact that she will not be going to work this week. In her usual way she is feeling really guilty for letting her colleagues down which of course is total bollocks.

She is also heartily pissed off at, for her, the lost weekend. Lets hope she regains enough health to allow her to enjoy this upcoming wedding weekend. Another 4-day jolly….hopefully.

Bid to move surgeons from QA sparks fears that lives may be lost

And well we might be scared. This is a clear example where common sense is being overridden by the bean-counters.

It may well make sense financially to move these surgeons to Southampton but from a practical patient safety and well-being standpoint it is total madness. After all the money that has been spent on the QA the bean-counters are intent on ripping its heart out.

I have been working for many years in an industry where there have been many changes including the centralisation of skills and services on a global scale. In some cases it has been successful but there have been many instances where from the ground level it has been far from practical. At least in my case there have been no lives at risk.