I went to have a check-up of my artificial knee last week. I’ve had it for 19 years and it’s still going strong, which is amazing. I am so grateful for it. I had to answer a questionnaire and have an X-ray which meant a 45 minute drive to a big general hospital in Sheffield. There wasn’t an appointment. I could turn up any time with my letter, which was a good job.
Driving through fast and busy traffic in Sheffield isn’t pleasant and makes me tense. I arrived at 10.15 and searched and searched for a parking space. I drove around five of the car parks in the huge grounds and still found nowhere. So I drove out again and parked on a side street ten minutes walk from the hospital grounds and fifteen minutes from my target building. The letter had sent me directions which didn’t work, so I had to ask for help. When I got there it all went smoothly, but by the time I got home I was drained.
Yesterday I had to go to a different hospital, for something else. This place is in Chesterfield, 25 minutes drive away, and an easy drive. We found a parking place straight away. We didn’t have to pay. The waiting room was quiet and serene with no blaring telly in the corner. The chairs were comfy, and the hall faced one wall which was completely covered by a photograph of a view from Baslow Edge, similar to this, but not this:
My appointment was on time, slick and swift, and I came home wishing all hospitals could be like that.
And having written all of that I’m thinking how fortunate I am to live in a country which has any kind of free health care. We moan on and on about the failings of the NHS, and I don’t deny them. The recent press stories about the inadequacies of maternity care in particular are shocking and make me sad. I had such good care. The NHS has been marvellous for me, and life saving in at least one case. I’ve had four major operations, plus I’ve had my cataracts removed.
I’m truly grateful.
6 comments:
How refreshing to read your praise for the NHS.
As parents of a daughter who, after 19 in years in training, countless exams all passed first time and each costing hundreds of pounds paid for out of her own pocket) which had to be studied for alongside working punishing shifts and being moved from hospital to hospital (requiring renting flats in addition to paying the mortgage on her own home or exceptionally long and difficult daily train and bike travel, we rejoiced last week that she had finally completed her qualifications to be a consultant. Not yet though - another two years of further experience before she can even apply for a consultant post. It amazes me that young doctors ever survive such brutal careers - but at what cost to their own health and well-being. I cannot praise them nor their colleagues enough as they work in often very unsatisfactory conditions and without much support from their employers. The NHS is a wonderful organisation but it is the staff who make it so.
I think you were lucky at Chesterfield. There have been times when I have driven round and round and failed to find anywhere to park. This was also the hospital that failed to realise that I had a broken leg. Still, I am glad that you had a good experience!
Indeed. We do not have that and long for our version of it!
To the Anonymous who wrote about Chesterfield Hospital, I wasn’t talking about that hospital, which I have also found impossible to park in. The one I went to was Walton Hospital on this side of Chesterfield.
Yes, NHS staff are wonderful. I completely agree. And it is shocking that they are underappreciated by the government, and abused by some members of the public.
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