The most adept description for this week is ‘boring’. I have tried hard to activate the patients but they all want to stay in bed. Bed is far more interesting than a trip to the cinema. I couldn’t even get anyone outside for a breathe of the spring air. When I suggested it the patients in the smoke room looked at me as if I was mad.
Today I got stuck between two women each talking their own delusions and in fact quite content in those delusions. I lasted an hour and a half, made my escape and was immediately corned by someone else. It can be quite draining listening and sorting out delusion from non-delusion and being able to make the appropriate responses.
Later on I took 2 clients to the local shopping centre. For one of them it only his 3rd time out in 16 months. He started getting wobbly so we beat a hasty retreat back to the hospital.
I left the house this morning to find a dead, headless bird on the grass and a pile of feather encrusted vomit on the path. I left it in the hope that it might have disappeared whilst I was out. Sadly it was still there on my return. Cat denies all responsibility. God knows where the head is. If I still had my old keyworker I would have phoned him to come and remove it but i haven’t seen my new keyworker for a long, long time and so haven’t built up a relationship that could encompass bird corpses.
I saw the psychologist again this week. She keeps insisting on telling me how well I am doing. This is very dangerous – praise comes before a fall. We are currently discussing emotions and in particular anger. Neither figure in the top ten of my favourite topics. To make things worse she keeps giving me homework, getting me to write on various topics. One bottle of wine later and I might get something on paper.
The consultant’s sidekick came round this afternoon to lecture me on my lifestyle. I did waonder what was up when he said yesterday that he would visit. He is such a lovely man that it is just not possible to disagree with him. He went on all fronts – eating(or lack of it), exercise (ditto), wine (too much of) and I need to find something to do in the evenings. If he has his way I will have cracked the diabetes by the summer – watch this space.
When I got my repeat prescription for my phfsiacl meds i was given a leaflet with the diabetic tablets. It flags up a warning to be careful with my antidepressant and the antibiotic the GP has prescribed for 3 months. I figure that no harm has befallen me yet so I should be alright.
I am enjoying your blog! It is very interesting to hear how things are on the receiving end of mental health ‘care in the community’. As a nurse trying to give the best possible care to the neediest of the mentally ill in the community I am constantly frustrated by myriad obsticles preventing me from doing the job properly. And now my major worry is that the NHS is gradually being privatised by stealth.
This is a letter I wrote to my local paper today. I am part of a campaign which is going to support an independent ‘Save the NHS’ candidate in local elections here in May.
I have worked for over twenty years as a nurse in the NHS and I am deeply saddened to experience the gradual erosion of so much that was great about our healthcare service. I am proud that I was trained by public funding in order to serve the public no matter what their financial circumstances.
Now we are witnessing the insidious privatisation of one of Britain’s greatest public achievements and because this government is hacking away at it in a piecemeal fashion, we may not notice what is happening.
Is it a coincidence that the frightening rise in hospital acquired infections started at the same time that hospital cleaning was put out to tender?
And what happened to the promises that using ‘private finance initiatives’ to create shiny new buildings would enhance facilities and save the NHS millions? Did we believe that private companies would want to charitably help fund the NHS? We let it happen and now the consequences become clear as the bills for PFI’s increase and the funds left available for front line care decrease.
And so it goes on, little by little, by introducing targets which hide the truth, by outsourcing treatments to the private sector at inflated rates, by stealth and false promises and now by the creation of ‘foundation trusts’ we are watching the slow relentless death of the NHS.
So far we have allowed this to happen. Maybe the public and NHS employees have felt powerless against the governmental steam rollering of this undemocratic process.
But now local people and those of us who work in the NHS really do have a chance to change the tide of privisation and to make our NHS great again for ourselves and for future generations.
It seems likely that there will be an independent candidate standing for the local elections in May on the ‘Save The NHS’ platform. This gives us all a rare opportunity and a duty to join a campaign to get this candidate elected and to show the local and national government that we will not allow the selling off of our health and welfare to the private sector.
The meeting this Tuesday, April 3rd at Walton Court Community Centre 7pm – 9pm represents the start of an election campaign to ensure that the Health and Welfare of local people is at the heart of the agenda of Aylesbury Vale District Council.
Cat vomit on the path – think yourself lucky! We still haven’t found Tabby’s toe. I had my money on Christopher’s bed but so far no joy. On second thoughts, perhaps I shouldn’t have said that as that is the bed visitors use…
If Tabby’s toe had been found in time could it have been sown back on?
Not a chance – too far gone I think
All quiet on here as J is in hospital again, and has been for 3 weeks, with no access to her laptop. Here’s hoping she’ll be home soon.