Let me share with you the wonderful world I hope you do not know but should not be afraid. I was (am) on the cancer pathway because there is a chance of having cancer. That cancer is not zero but it is not (as was thought) a cancer in my bowel. This has been discovered within two weeks of request from my GP.
I was afraid and rightfully so and spent two days not eating and drinking things that cleaned my body of anything that could get in the way of an investigation and I spent a few hours in a central London hospital being very kindly by a group of multi-national nurses and consultants including a very good Korean, an excellent communicator Philippine and a number of others from nations I did not inquire into.
This operation allowed me to see, while sedated, my insides as a camera made its way around, it allowed me to watch bits of my inside being cut off as potentially cancerous and it was quite fun. To suppose this is to be feared is a myth. What I experienced was a group of people dedicated to helping me at a cost to the NHS of £700 in terms of time in the treatment room.
Had I not played my part and followed the detail instructions, the operation would not have happened and I would be sitting at home worrying whether I had bowel cancer. As it is, I have things to do which will stop me bleeding and I know my next step, my GP will do his job and I will get there.
I am sure I could accelerate the next step by going private but let me face it, stopping me bleeding my cauterising haemorrhoids is relatively minor in the scheme of things. I could pay to have it done to accelerate it and there may be a business argument to do so, but the life-threatening stuff is out of the way and unless one of the tests come back cancerous – which the doctors said was unlikely – I will be off the cancer pathway.
I don’t want to make a big thing of this, there were a lot of people in the recovery room and I’m sorry to imagine, some who were finding out bad news. But we were be treated together and with dignity. To argue that the NHS is not fit for treatment, which many of my friends do, by relying on private sector is a myth. I am pleased to see doctors working on a Saturday morning so – if I was not in danger – I could work a Friday (just) and a Monday (probably) without losing important time (for me and my colleagues).
We do not have a malingering culture, we have one that ensures that people in trouble are treated properly and those who look like they’re in trouble – but aren’t – are allowed to get on with their lives as quickly as possible. I found this same attitude last November and December when I was saved from death in A&E and recovered in the neurological ward of a great hospital. I was transferred to that hospital by another great hospital that knew it could not do brain work like its compatriot in another part of London.
To suppose that the NHS is a mess is a disgraceful supposition. People may not consider a hospital a hotel (though I do). They may want treatment that secludes them from the everyday life of people but that is foolish. I wrote yesterday (and it was picked up on social) that you meet many people in public wards and you understand a way of living you may not otherwise come in touch with. That goes from NHS staff and NHS patients.
And my experience of the NHS continues to be a good one, including the people at my GP which I visit often- often to thank them and the people at the Boots pharmacy with its excellent team who I am proud to be served by. They know what they did when I got into trouble a few weeks ago and they know I am grateful.
It was a busy morning yesterday. It means that I do not lose time off work so it has been productive. It has resolved a puzzle about me for the NHS and it has put a problem behind me. It could have been existential. My friend Ray tells me he has had four such episodes, he is now fit and plays fine guitar for a band I follow at some stage in his seventies. I think he reads my blogs and if he does, he will be pleased by my news.
We do not share good news about the NHS or indeed the easing of bad news that they bring. I have someone who works with me who has a member of her family in a worse state than I would have been (if diagnosed) and she is getting advanced help. We talk and it makes it better for me and I hope her.
You may ask why this comes on a pension blog and my answer is straight, most of the people I met and saw yesterday were pensioner age and health deteriorates. Our health service is available and enjoyed by us – (myself particularly). When you pay your tax and national insurance you are paying as a young person for what you most likely get when you are older, it is part of the pensioner deal.
We should be happy to have this service and grateful to the people from all over the world who choose to serve us. Thanks to all from the pharmacy to the A& E and all those in between.