maqroll Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 (edited) Moaning about getting older is boring as ****, but occasionally, it must be done, simply for mental health reasons. So here's my moan: I've reached an age now where I fully understand what men mean when they worry about having a heart attack. Nowadays I can feel my heart operating as a contracting muscle, and I'm much more attuned to how it responds mechanically to different stimuli. You become hyper aware from head to toe, really. Must be some sort of slow fuse biological code we use to prolong our lives once we've matured out of our peak physical fitness stages. In some ways, it's kind of cool. So I guess it wasn't really a moan after all, derp. Edited May 16, 2016 by maqroll 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 No wonder people are apprehensive about going to a doctor. Some of them are dismissive, condescending clearings in the woods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 9 minutes ago, Wainy316 said: No wonder people are apprehensive about going to a doctor. Some of them are dismissive, condescending clearings in the woods. Wainy, it's within the range classed as 'normal'. Just. There's nothing else we can do. Try hanging weights off it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 Wainy, it's within the range classed as 'normal'. Just. There's nothing else we can do. Try hanging weights off it. Will you be my doctor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dAVe80 Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 5 minutes ago, Wainy316 said: Will you be my doctor? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 12 minutes ago, Wainy316 said: Will you be my doctor? I am considering it. Would I need to be qualified in any way to do that sort of thing? I'm guessing there's some sort of course they do. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted May 17, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted May 17, 2016 29 minutes ago, chrisp65 said: I am considering it. Would I need to be qualified in any way to do that sort of thing? I'm guessing there's some sort of course they do. Yep. I got my Doctor of Doctoring degree by mail order, from the University of Dry Gulch, Arkansas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 57 minutes ago, Wainy316 said: No wonder people are apprehensive about going to a doctor. Some of them are dismissive, condescending clearings in the woods. They are the ultimate in narcissistic, mercenary and spoilt high status workers, who somehow managed to convince us that they having to work weekends is a bigger outrage than significantly increased delays, neglect and deaths for weekend hospital admissions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted May 17, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted May 17, 2016 Speaking of Doctors, I had to visit mine today. Had the ol' finger up the arse. Don't know what I was expecting, but it was quite horrible. Felt like he had his arm up there. On the plus side, I don't have arse aids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 (edited) 3 hours ago, MakemineVanilla said: deaths for weekend hospital admissions. Except this isn't true. But no matter how many times it's shown to be baseless Tory spin, people repeat it. Quote Believing patients are more likely to die after being admitted to hospital on a Saturday or Sunday – the so-called weekend effect – is a “major oversimplification” of a complex issue, according to two new studies published in The Lancet. The first paper found no association between weekend senior doctor staffing levels and mortality. Experts compared senior doctors’ involvement in emergency admissions at 115 NHS trusts on a Sunday in June two years ago and again on a Wednesday, three days later. The days were selected as they are associated with the highest and lowest mortality rates. June was chosen as it has no public holidays and is unaffected by winter pressures. The authors did find the mortality risk among patients admitted at weekends was higher than on weekdays, carrying an increased risk of 10 per cent. But when they plotted mortality risk against senior doctor staffing levels, there was no evidence of an association between the two. The “weekend effect” overshadows a much more complex pattern of weekly changes in quality of care, which are unlikely to be addressed by simply increasing the availability of hospital doctors on Saturdays and Sundays, the researchers said. “To say that lower staffing is the cause for increased mortality is far too simplistic and not supported by the evidence,” lead author Professor Julian Bion, of the University of Birmingham, said. “Policy makers should be extremely cautious when attributing the weekend effect directly to the lack of consultants at the weekend.” The second paper, led by experts from King’s College London and University College London, looked at weekend stroke care. There was no difference in 30-day survival for patients admitted during the day at the weekend, compared with during the week, and only very weak evidence that survival was worse for patients admitted overnight compared with those admitted during the day. Lead author Benjamin Bray, from the Royal College of Physicians’ Clinical Effectiveness and Evaluation Unit and UCL, said: “Our study shows that the ‘weekend effect’ is a major oversimplification of the true extent and nature of variations in the quality of care that occur in everyday practice. Our findings apply to stroke care in particular but are likely to be reflected in many other areas of health care.” The studies follow similar University of Manchester research last week which said death rates following hospital admissions at the weekend are higher only because fewer patients are admitted at the weekend and they tend to be sicker, skewing the figures. They will add to evidence against Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s insistence on the existence of a “weekend effect” due to lower staffing levels, one of the key factors behind the Government’s push for a seven-day NHS which has led to the dispute with junior doctors. A Department of Health spokesman said: “Once again, we are being presented with clear evidence of variation in care across the week – one study showing that on Sundays some hospitals have half the number of staff in key specialties than they do on Wednesday, and the other showing that care for stroke patients varies according to when they are admitted for treatment. “This ‘weekend effect’ is the established consensus of the medical and scientific community and the Government makes no apology for tackling the variety of factors that contribute to this, including staffing levels and access to diagnostics, to create a safer seven-day NHS.” Edited May 17, 2016 by Davkaus 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 1 hour ago, Davkaus said: Except this isn't true. But no matter how many times it's shown to be baseless Tory spin, people repeat it. Statistics don't have one specific meaning, they have to be interpreted. What they say is that death rates over weekends fall within an acceptable range and that the death to staff ratio is only worse because people who go to hospital at weekends are too ill to wait for Monday, which we presume most patients ordinarily must choose to do. It mentions numbers but it does not say whether the proportion of consultants to inexperienced doctors is different, or whether being treated by a consultant gives better results than by a junior doctor who has just passed their exams. Personally I tend to think that the choices made by the NHS when someone who matters is taken ill, are far more revealing than statistics offered in support of an industrial dispute or to reassure us the NHS is the best in the world. What we do know is that although we are told that staffing levels are perfectly adequate at weekends and all hospitals are just great, the system does not behave as if it actually believes it itself when someone who matters is taken ill. When Prince Philip was taken ill with chest pains on a Friday, two days before Christmas several years ago, he was not just taken the five miles to Kings Lynn hospital, like everyone else who lives near Sandringham would have, he was flown by helicopter to Papworth hospital. The routine stenting procedure was not left to some junior doctor in training, the UK's top surgeon was called out to do the procedure. I think that reveals the truth about the NHS than any statistical report. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post HanoiVillan Posted May 17, 2016 Popular Post Share Posted May 17, 2016 The notion that Prince Philip's heart operation would have been left to 'a junior doctor in training' had he been taken sick on a Tuesday doesn't pass the laugh test. It doesn't tell you anything about the NHS either. No world leader - from Barack Obama to Raul Castro - would be spending time left lying unattended on a trolley in triage. That fact has nothing to do with the organisation of the system. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choffer Posted May 17, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted May 17, 2016 (edited) An anecdotal story about Phil the Greek tells you more about the NHS than actual statistics? Or have I read that wrong? Edited May 17, 2016 by choffer 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 53 minutes ago, choffer said: An anecdotal story about Phil the Greek tells you more about the NHS than actual statistics? Or have I read that wrong? It is not anecdotal because it can be fact-checked. And yes, it does tell us how good the NHS is over a weekend when so much trouble is taken to avoid what they know is the real situation. The anecdotes coming out of Stafford Hospital were not believed and the NHS claimed that their statistics proved everything was marvellous. It was only after the enquiry that the statistics (400-1200 deaths) caught up with the anecdotal truth. And if the NHS is such an open and honest institution, why have the government had to implement schemes for helping whistleblowers? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted May 17, 2016 Moderator Share Posted May 17, 2016 1 hour ago, MakemineVanilla said: if the NHS is such an open and honest institution, why have the government had to implement schemes for helping whistleblowers? It's off-topic of an off-topic subject, but there's a massive problem in British establishment with whistle blowers and how they're treated and it's become worse since (in this case) Hospitals changed to being trusts, with beaurocrats in charge of them, on high salaries with their own backsides to protect. The way people get treated is an utter, shameful, disgrace. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 I always found "booking fees" a bit of a piss take, as if you have to pay a fee to be able to purchase a product off someone... It would be like take a £30 shirt to the till in a shop and then the cashier adding £2 on to process the purchase... Then I just spotted this on an event ticket... Prices from £46.69 From £41.25 (Incl admin fee + 70p facility fee) (+ £2.55 fulfilment fee) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 Katie price Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V01 Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 The wife's work let her take holiday the other week then didn't pay her holiday pay, she's asked them to sort it out and they are refusing because they've moved to a new system that works on accrual. Dodgy words removed, she should have loads of holiday left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 1 minute ago, V01 said: The wife's work let her take holiday the other week then didn't pay her holiday pay, she's asked them to sort it out and they are refusing because they've moved to a new system that works on accrual. Dodgy words removed, she should have loads of holiday left. I guess they owe her money or holiday then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 2 hours ago, MakemineVanilla said: It is not anecdotal because it can be fact-checked. And yes, it does tell us how good the NHS is over a weekend when so much trouble is taken to avoid what they know is the real situation. aaah, so when the latest royal baby was delivered in the private Lingo wing of St Mary's hospital, that was because it was a Saturday. Had it been a Wednesday, they'd have just used the nearest NHS maternity shed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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