Respecting Our NHS

For many women of my generation our career choice was either becoming a nurse, a secretary, a hairdresser or a shop assistant. Throughout my early childhood I wanted to be a nurse, I loved dressing up in my nurses uniform and I had a little red Dr's bag complete with a stethoscope and various plastic bottles. I ministered to my teddies and dolls and eventually my baby brother.

By the time I reached my teens I wanted to become an actress, when I left school I became neither, however, for many years I loved watching a British medical drama series called 'The Royal' which was set in the fictional 'St Aidan's Royal Free Hospital.' The show was set in the 1960s and was very nostalgic depicting a time when hospitals were smaller, Matron took charge, relatives adhered to strict visiting times and everything was spick, span and orderly.

Those halcyon days of the 60s, when hospitals were safe havens, your GP knew your whole family, appointments could be made on the very same day and stays in hospital were lengthy, are long gone.

Sadly, surgeries and hospitals are besieged by people who abuse the NHS and we're all paying the price. Consultant Christian Solomonides, an emergency consultant at Barnet Hospital, decided to vent his spleen on Twitter, which has in turn faced him with being struck off and attracted the media who are asking: 'Is this Britain's most politically incorrect doctor?'

I have to say, I sympathise with Solomonides, he tweeted: 'Ambulance called for a broken nail, an earache, period pain and not being able to get to sleep are all REAL. What's going on with people in the UK.'

He also stated that in his experience of working front line, 90% of call outs for an ambulance were unwarranted (it costs £1,000 to deploy an ambulance to convey to hospital) and reasoned, you can appreciate why the NHS is crippled financially.

His fury was further extended when a patient abused him saying: 'You mean to tell me I've waited 3 hours to be told I've got a bruise!' To which Solomonides replied: 'Well yes sir you clearly felt you needed the obvious stating.'

Solomonides controversially went on further to say that immigration has precipitated a dramatic rise in unwarranted attendances. Inevitably, the larger our population grows, the greater the strain on the NHS. He suggested that by imposing a £50 fine on those who abuse A&E it may go some way to keep the NHS free of time wasters and keep wards free for genuine cases. Sick and poorly patients are being held on waiting lists or lying in A&E corridors all hours of the night. Hospitals across Britain are regularly on 'black alert' where ambulances are stacked up waiting to deliver patients to hospital. Patients who have life threatening conditions and should be on an 8 minute call out time are waiting for up to 2 hours, vulnerable elderly people are being conveyed to and from hospital all hours of the night and for many of us, trying to get an appointment to see a Dr involves a 3-4 week wait, by which time you're either recovered or dead.

Imposing a penalty for misuse of our great institution, which we should revere and want to protect, shouldn't worry those of us who treat the NHS with respect, maybe one day we could even return to some semblance of the calm and orderly hospitals of the 60s.

As I said, I never became a nurse and didn't find my true vocation until my 50s. I now write for a local newspaper, review restaurants and of course write this blog, however, a close friend of mine did become a nurse and I don't envy her. Quite often she comes to visit and is need of a sustaining meal, this next recipe is one of her favourites, I can rustle it up very quickly, it's lovely and fresh, nutritious and utterly delicious. Ingredients such as soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce, fish sauce and flavoured oils are great store cupboard staples, they can transform a simple salad or bowl of noodles or rice. This salad also makes a fab packed lunch which is why I've stated the recipe for roughly 8 servings, you could use less but it's really worth making a larger quantity.

Sesame peanut noodles

Recipe
For the dressing
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp garlic oil (I blend a clove of fresh garlic in olive oil)
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsps sweet chilli sauce
100g smooth peanut butter
2 tbsps fresh lime juice

For the salad
125g mangetout
150g beansprouts, rinsed
1 red pepper, de-seeded and cut into strips
2 spring onions, finely sliced
500g ready-prepared noodles
20g sesame seeds
Fresh coriander

Simply whisk together all of the dressing ingredients
Place mangetout, beansprouts, pepper strips, spring onions and noodles in a bowl
Pour the dressing over and mix thoroughly, coating everything well
Divide into bowls and scatter sesame seeds and fresh coriander over the top

'I was born in a hospital.
But I do not want to die in one.'
-J. R. Rim.

Love Donna xxxxxx