Day: December 1, 2023

It’s Obvious Really


https://app.portsmouth.co.uk/full_page_image/page-8-1958/content.html

Read this article yesterday. I am always amazed that, so often, it requires a study to discover the obvious.

Only a few days ago, I posted that I felt my wife’s stenosis diagnosis was delayed by up to twelve months due to the lack of face to face time with a doctor.

Much of a doctors diagnosis has to do with “observation.”

You can not “observe” via a telephone consult.

We have been forced into using e-consultation tools. My experience is that they do not allow sufficient space to describe symptoms fully. On several occasions, when I have used the e-consult tool, I have found the questions leading you down a path to either diagnosis of a brain tumour or diabetes when you are suffering from a broken toe. Invariably, the tool tries to abort, telling you that you need to see a doctor, which is where we came in.

You can not “observe” via an e-consult.

Last year, we were told by a nurse practitioner that nothing had changed, that we were getting the same level of service from our GPs as we always had.

What total and utter nonsense.

Another issue with the current level of service is that there is no continuity. In the “good old days,” not only could you get a face to face appointment with a doctor, but it was the same doctor each and every time.

Continuity would allow the doctor to “observe” physical changes in the patient between appointments.

So, back to the article, anyone with more than a single brain cell could have seen that patients are not getting safe and accurate diagnosis under the current level of NHS care.

Eating Meat ?


What are your feelings about eating meat?

Meat is an essential part of my diet. A meal is incomplete if it doesn’t have some kind of meat.

I don’t mind the occasional vegetarian meal. In fact, I have been known to order a vegetarian dish to have as a side for a meat dish. But I could never, willingly, become a vegan/vegetarian. What’s the difference?

As children in the 50’s & 60’s, my sisters and I were brought up on a hugely varied diet. My dad grew fruit and vegetables but also raised chicken and geese. So there was generally fresh chicken at least once a week and always eggs.

Naively, the geese were given names, and when “Ethel” drew the short straw at Christmas, we all tucked into roast goose. All that is except Mum, who, although a participant in the preparation and cooking, pushed her plate away, saying, “I can’t eat Ethel”. That was the first time I was confronted with the emotion that can be associated with meat eating. Although I believe it was more that the geese, having been given names, became pets. That was certainly the case with the remaining geese. Ethel’s solo sacrifice saved the many.

No such sentimentality from me, Dad, and my sisters. We happily finished our meal. That episode did nothing to reduce our meat consumption, which, along with lamb, pork, and beef, was supplemented by wild rabbit and pigeon. The rabbits were usually obtained by my dad going off-road to run them down on the grass verges at night, while he was on night duty as a policeman.

Dad ran our garden like a smallholding, so we ate rather well considering the era. In addition, Dad got me into fishing, which in turn triggered something in him. He made our fishing rods, built his own push nets, set sand-lines with 200+ hooks. So we had fresh fish and shrimp.

My freezer is a reflection of me and my eating habits. It has seven drawers full of meat, ranging from chicken thru to venison. I do have another, small, freezer which has just two drawers filled with vegetables.

So I have no qualms about eating meat. If I have any concerns, it’s more to do with the care and treatment of the animals from birth up to and including their death at the abattoir.

There is no place for cruelty.