MEDICAL MATTERS

[Tizer]

This was on the beeb this morning. It seems to be what we already get but perhaps it will be faster for the doctors. My scripts are getting to the chemists a lot faster now...
`NHS adds digital prescriptions to app after successful trial' LINK

[Stanley]

My medical news..... The next episode in this thriller is that the Well text message has worked this month and I can pick up my meds tomorrow.... Wonders will never cease!

[Big Kev]

Royal Mail have just delivered mine

[Tizer]

Mrs Tiz has just gone to the Well Pharmacy to see if they've got the second part of her two-part eye drops prescription. They got the first in but said supplies from the manufacturer of the second have failed to arrive.

[Stanley]

That was their excuse when they failed me on one item last month. To be fair to them, I have heard from other sources that there are severe problems in the Pharma supply chain, but that doesn't help Janet. She has my sympathy.

[Tizer]

And this will put more pressure on pharmacies...
`Pharmacists to prescribe drugs for minor illnesses' LINK
Treatments for seven conditions such as sore throats and earaches are now available directly from pharmacists, without the need to visit a doctor. The Pharmacy First scheme will allow most chemists in England to issue prescriptions to patients without appointments or referrals. It will save GP surgeries an estimated 10 million appointments a year....

...and cause 10 million more visits a year to the short-staffed pharmacies!

[Stanley]

I thought about you this morning Peter when I arrived at Well at 10:00 and was told the pharmacist hadn't arrived yet. There were six of us waiting and he eventually strolled in just after 10:30. I thought I'd be better waiting than having to walk up there again. I'm back home now and have my next month's meds. That's as good as it gets these days...

[PanBiker]

I received a letter yesterday from the NHS lung health group. It's regarding the CAT scan that I had a couple of weeks ago. It has shown up a small nodule on one of my lungs which apparently is nothing to worry about. As a precaution, I will be called back for another scan in 3 months to make sure that there is no change.

[Big Kev]

I received a letter yesterday from the NHS lung health group. It's regarding the CAT scan that I had a couple of weeks ago. It has shown up a small nodule on one of my lungs which apparently is nothing to worry about. As a precaution, I will be called back for another scan in 3 months to make sure that there is no change.

My mother has one of those, she worried for months and it turned out to be nothing to worry about

[Stanley]

"she worried for months"
That's one of my pet beefs at the moment, very fresh in my mind after yet another test of my bloods yesterday. These tests reassure the professionals that they are doing their best for us but do nothing for our peace of mind. Even the bloods nurse commented on the fact yesterday that they seem to be testing me once a month. None of the minor discrepancies they have noted so far have had any substance. I wish they would leave me alone! (I keep telling them that but it makes no difference.....,)
So I sympathise with you Ian......

[Tizer]

Mrs Tiz had her shingles vaccination last week. No side effects other than a slight red patch on her arm.

[Stanley]

I think I had mine a while ago...... I shall not go into a decline worrying about it.
I'm glad Janet got off lightly!

[Tizer]

I had it ages ago and was told at the time that it was a one off, I would never need another dose. Now they're telling everybody they'll need a booster some time in the future.

[PanBiker]

Waiting to get mine.

[Stanley]

I seem to remember they told me tat as well Peter..... so I probably did have it!

[Tripps]

I had it ages ago and was told at the time that it was a one off, I would never need another dose. Now they're telling everybody they'll need a booster some time in the future.

I think I recall being told that as well. My understanding is that Shingles is a reappearance of the childhood virus which causes Chickenpox, and comes when due to a lowered immune sytem, one becomes vulnerable again.

There seems that in contrast to Measles Mumps and Rubella, there is no vaccination for childhood Chickenpox, so presumably that has been thought through, and a decision made that it be allowed to spread freely - and it does - easily.

During the recent "Get Shingles Ready" campaign I did wonder what was needed to "get ready" after having a lifetime immunity booster. Can't help thinking there is a loose connection with the whole Covid business, and the associated booster campaign. I spoke to a professional recently and was told that Covid wasn't "a thing" any more in the business.

Show me as confused, and still a bit sceptical about the whole thing.

I can't help thinking that GP's may now be paid by the number boosters they give, and the number of blood tests they do. Didn't the Chinese have a system where doctors only got paid when you were well, and not when you were sick?

[Stanley]

"I can't help thinking that GPs may now be paid by the number boosters they give, and the number of blood tests they do"
All the evidence points to that David! And yes, under the Chinese system, the doctor got paid when you were well. As soon as you were poorly he was seen as failing in his task and payment stopped until you were better again.

[Tizer]

There's much in the news this morning about giving money to dentists to get more of them to work in the areas of the country most lacking NHS dental services. If I had my way I'd ban dentists from doing cosmetic dentistry until all `real' dental work had been provided for. (I'm not including in `cosmetic dentistry' the kind of work done after serious injury as in car accidents etc and anyway much of that is done in hospitals rather than dentists' surgeries.)

[Stanley]

I think the Labour accusation that the changes announced yesterday were simply rearranging the deckchairs was valid. The bottom line is that as with so many other elements of the NHS we 'saved money' by cutting back on training. We have reached the point now where dentists are very thin on the ground and hold the whip hand when it comes to contracts and levels of pay so of course they are going to demand more money. If dentists are persuaded to move into a 'difficult' area it means that somewhere else loses their service. I think the last time I had a home-grown and trained dentist was Mr Pinder on Park Avenue in the 1960s. Since then the infrequent contacts I have had with the profession have been with Poles I think. Or am I imagining this.....
Can you remember David Cameron assuring us that the NHS was safe in Tory hands?

[Tizer]

Mrs Tiz has been without her eye drops for a week because each time she visited the pharmacy they said the manufacturer wasn't able to supply them. Yesterday she went to the surgery and they gave her a scrip for a different type which the pharmacy was able to get quickly. While she was in there she heard a man complaining because he was still waiting for his usual prescription medicine but they still couldn't get it for him. The system seems to be collapsing.

[PanBiker]

Just been to the dentist for my 6 month check-up. X-Rays were due and had to have a small repair to a filling which had developed a small hole. Apart from that all OK. My dentist Abid wants to see me in 4 months to check all is still well.

[Stanley]

Peter, that's the impression I get. I think I'm fairly safe because my medication is bog standard but anyone who needs anything that is slightly unusual is in deep trouble, lots of horror stories in the media. (And not all concerning HRT.)
I hope Janet's replacement drops do the trick!

[Tripps]

I would recommend all read this article from the Los Angeles Times . Alzheimers diagnosis

Then have a good think about it.
Cui bono?

[Stanley]

Well done David for raising the matter. It highlights a complaint I have been making for years, doctors are getting too good at identifying small trace elements in the blood and drawing conclusions form them. In the last two months I have had creatinine trace (A marker for Kidney Problems) and Sodium deficiency (causes confusion, cramps and a host of other ailments). Both investigated at great expense and found to be without foundation.
Apart from the expense and man power there is the small matter of stress on the patient. I have voiced this clearly to my doctor and the staff at the surgery.
In the case you have raised. In a system where health is a source of major income to so many my answer to the question who benefits is obviously the doctors. In our system I think that these tests are popular because they are a foolproof way of avoiding any legal challenges connected with mis-diagnosis.
I practice what I preach, I have declined further testing and treatment for my cancer on the grounds of stress. I will take my chance on how fast it can grow.

[Tizer]

I'm still taking my prune juice and can now walk much better. It only needs a small amount each day and I can tell if I've forgotten to take it. After so many years of pain in my legs when walking I'm now free of it. Such a simple `intervention' with an amazing result.