Management in the NHS...

There have been lots of complaints in the UK press about how expenditure in the health service is managed. Every year, the government (doesn't even matter which one) pumps in more and more cash into the system, and yet year on year, services to the patients don't improve. Significantly anyway, to justify the expenditure. I've always thought that living in the SE corner of the UK is great (so far! touch wood!) in my few encounters with the NHS (now with the pregnancy, but previously with colonoscopes and an emergency cornea treatment).

Till now...that is.

Since being discharged from the hospital about 2 weeks back, I was told (I thought) that I should wait for an appointment to be made for me with the OB/GYN consultant to discuss my scans, my c-section dates etc. And so I waited. I figured that there will be a delay of some sort due to christmas/new year holidays.

Today, I decided to give them a call, in the hope that perhaps an appointment was already made but there was a delay due to the post and so on. I got passed round to 6 administrators (started off with the midwife at QEQM who sent me along to the East Kent Patient Appointments hotline, who gave me the phone number of the consultant's secretary who told me that she didn't deal with Ante-natal appointments (?) who then passed me on back to the midwife, who told me that I should speak to some one in Reception called Pat?! and I got Pat's answer machine. Onto which I left a message.

Thankfully, because I 'spoke too fast', she didn't quite get the message and so, rang me back within 2 minutes! (I can't imagine if she could hear my message - would she have left it longer then?). The fact that she rang me back in 2 minutes makes me wonder whether she was just screening her calls? ... anyway, so Pat rang me back and got me an appointment with the OB consultant Mr Bel, in two weeks time, by which time I'll be 34 weeks (and would have had a scan already done the week before).

I can't imagine if I had left it till next week when I have my 33 week ultrasound, whether the hospital would have been able to make me an appointment in time to see a consultant to discuss the PLANNED Caesarean!?! hmph.

I was not impressed.

I don't have a personal grudge against any single particular person (midwife, or doctor) because when it comes down to it, these people are very professional and knowledgeable in whatever they are doing. However, it just seems such a laughable matter that to get to see these professional people there are others who are not trained in even making appointments for us to see them in the first place!

oh well.

Christmas and New Year 2007/08 went well though. Christmas, we went over to C and N's house where they cooked christmas lunch which was yums.. and it was so relaxing because we didn't have to do anything! In between Christmas and New Year's, D and I washed all of baby's clothes, blankets etc. We even washed all our curtains and upholstery from our sofas so that the house felt alot 'cleaner'! (makes us sound like pigs but we aren't really!). I feel alot more ready for baby to come now, although having said that I still have a long list of things to do. We bought some lovely cardboard boxes which I have all intentions to pack my clothes into so that they are nice and tidy and in the meantime sort out things for the charity shop etc, but I have yet to do that (and the empty box has been sat in the bedroom for the last few days!!). I will get round to doing that tomorrow.

New year's eve was spent with C and N also, at the Fordwich Arms where we had a really nice meal and welcomed in the new year. Didn't feel too good that night - think I caught a cold off someone coz I was fine on the 30th!

Today, I had coffee with some girls from the NCT class. One's already given birth (there are 7 couples altogether) and we're the last ones - even with the planned c-section. So...another 5 more to go before it's our turn!! The blue pea had better stay in till then!

Love
P and the blue pea x
32 weeks exactly