Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Another senior appointment

I've had the same hairdresser since 1985 when we moved back to England.

You are just showing off, I don't think I've had hair since about 1985

Spectacular thread drift this.

How many of appointments at the GP practice are no shows, I would think quite a lot? At my mothers NHS GP practice they had a board that said this week 42% of appointments were no shows, there in lies a considerable part of the problem. Over here you have to pay a CoPay of $15-$20 to see your Doctor which means you only go to see the Doctor when really necessary, to see a Specialist you pay $20-25 and you keep your appointment. For a lot of minor ailments you go to the Pharmacist or an Urgent Care Center. Now we are over 65 yrs old and on Medicare we don't pay to see our Doctor but do pay the CoPay to see a specialist.

Whilst over in the UK last month visiting in Cornwall my wife took a fall and broke her femur at the hip socket and was admitted to the Royal Cornwall Hospital so we experienced the NHS firsthand in it's current state. The ambulance would have taken 3 hrs minimum to get to her lying on the side of a road, with help from some very good locals we managed to get her into a ladies car who drove us the 40 minutes to the hospital, where a Paramedic team transferred her to a wheelchair. I then had to push her into the A&E, in great pain she waited 1.5 hours to be seen with no pain relief given, once seen by the Nurse she was immediately taken away. Long story short she had dynamic hip screw surgery two days later and spent a week in the trauma ward (not a pleasant experience) before being transferred to rehabilitation hospital before being declared Fit to Fly back to America. Thank goodness for Travel Insurance who were brilliant in monitoring her medical treatment, arranging the rehabilitation and paying for everything. The hospital bill was just over GBP9,000 which is charged as a NHS package. The NHS Staff were brilliant, way over worked and functioning in a system that was clearly failing them.

The biggest frustration is that if the reception had taken a second to check my file, she'd had seen that my last appointment was three years ago, for a persistant phlegmy cough and I was prescribed antibiotics and steroids. So when I ring up with almost identical symptoms (a six week phlegmy cough - we teachers do tend to pick up lots of this stuff from the kids) the doctor could probably have prescibed similar with a 30 second phone consult and saved a lot of hassle.....

I've managed to wangle some 'non contact' time Friday, so will attempt a call then, otherwise it'll be 111 or a walk-in clinic

Thank you gentlemen it certainly was an unexpected deviation from the planned trip, Liz is doing well improving every day with the intensive PT she is receiving.