Lack of compassion at NHS

On Friday I was in such pain I couldn't move from my seat for 5 hours. I had to call 999 and two ambulance men gave me morphine and took me to hospital. They were very helpful. Not so the doctor at A and E. She went away and looked at my records, she barely bothered to examine me and told me to go home. They pushed me in a wheel chair to the taxi, when I got out at my home I nearly collapsed in pain. I complained about this. However, as with previous experience the NHS always find in favour of their staff which makes a mockery of complaints. According to the NHS it does not matter how extreme your pain is, you will not get a bed in hospital, it is not an emergency if it is on going pain. My experience is that there is a complete lack of compassion and humanity in the Scottish NHS

Nicola Sturgeon said NHS waiting lists have improved under SNP. I don't agree. I was told I had to wait 26 weeks to see a rheumatologist. I also asked for an appointment on 24 October for another Gastroenterologist  and was give a date of 18th January 2017 . I am told today that I will need to wait at least 30 weeks to see a spinal consultant. If clinics were open 7 days a week that would improve these terrible waits, She should be sorting out the NHS not calling another independence referendum

NHS lack of care

My pain consultant at The Pain Clinic prescibed me a fentanyl patch for my back pain. He never warned me how strong a drug this is. It is about 80 times stronger than morphine. No wonder I have had such horrible side effects. It has made my back pain much worse and I now have pain in my hands and feet. I had originally asked for a few morphine tablets for when the pain was severe, but he wouldn't give me them, instead he gave me these patches which have made the pain worse.

2nd Independence Referendum

For goodness sake Nicola Sturgeon, don't call for a second independence referendum. The country is in chaos and the economy badly affected by the clowns who voted to take us out of Europe. We need time to adjust to the new harsh realities, more uncertainty would completely shatter the country.

The European referendum and Scottish Independence

If Britain leaves the European Union you can be 100% certain that Nicola Sturgeon will call another Scottish Independence Referendum. This time the Nationalists are likely to win because they will promise to take Scotland back into Europe. So a vote to leave Europe is likely to lead to the breakup of the United Kingdom.

European Union benefits

It seems to a bit small minded to want to leave the European Union. The internet is breaking down barriers and giving people chances to travel and do business in any country. Young people are working and travelling to Europe. Lets not forget that it was the French and Germans who warned us not to invade Iraq, If we leave Europe we will inevitably have to rely more on the USA. Looking at who is the likely next President, Donald Trump, that could be risky for Britain.

Remain campaign

The European Union has done a lot to help protect our environment. They have helped protect honey bees. They have brought rules to stop use of pesticides. Several British cities have been fined for having high levels of air pollution and doing little about it. Do you think the British government would have done these thing? I don't, I was a city councillor and saw how little our government cares about the environment.

Brexit

The European Union is by far the largest market for British businesses, if we leave we will make it much harder for these businesses to export to Europe, there will be many new obstacles put in their way. There will be years of re-negotiations  which will add much uncertainty. Furthermore the SNP have threatened another Independence Referendum if we leave. Can you imagine the uncertainty all this would cause?

European Referendum

I believe we should stay in the European Union. It was formed after the end of World War 2, as a way of preventing any more wars in Europe. Millions of people died in two wars fought among Europeans. If you look back in history there have been many wars fought in Europe. The idea behind the European Union was to prevent wars by having a parliament where countries could settle disputes. Since the EU was formed we have had no more major wars in Europe which can only be a good thing.

I decided to try the NHS complaints system as I find it very difficult to get to clinics. I was told that consultants are far too busy to do home visits. The consultant manages to take the whole of Friday off to run his private clinic, does that sound like he is rushed off his feet?  They earn well over£100,000 but only have to work 4 days a week and are allowed to run their own private businesses. Nice job.

Benefits of the United Kingdom

Being part of the United Kingdom has many benefits. The Royal Navy has spend billions building  new ships on the Clyde. These provide highly skilled jobs for many Scottish businesses. If we became a separate country these contracts would no longer come to us.

If we go ahead with Scottish Independence the consequences for us are going to be enormously disruptive. Every aspect of our relationship with Britain will have to be renegotiated. For example the whole benefits system will change. Anyone on benefits will no longer get them from DWP, as that is a UK Department. The whole renegotiation will take years, probably decades. During that time the interuption to government will be huge. Anyone looking to get anything done for them will find that civil servants will be tied up in negotiations.Everything from our TV licence to our driving licence will change because they are organised by British Departments. We will have to get a new passport, the list is endless. I know how frustrating it can be to get a passport. Can you imagine the chaos that is going to follow independence.

Assisted Suicide

Opponents of the Assisted Suicide Bill say that elderly people will be coerced into assisted suicide. I looked after my mum in a care home for three years. I witnessed many deaths, but I never saw a family that wanted their loved on to die, on the contrary, they did all they could to keep them alive.
The safeguards in the bill will mean that only those people who really want as assisted suicide will qualify. The person has to make two written applications and take the medicine themselves. When you consider that the person will be very ill and probably in a lot of pain, that will be a considerable task.

Assisted Suicide Bill

Assisted Suicide Bill

Margo MacDonald's Assisted suicide bill is going through the Scottish Parliament. This bill will allow people suffering terminal illness to die with dignity. I strongly believe this right should be given to people who are suffering chronic pain. If your life has become intolerable you should have the right to end it. Treatment for chronic pain in this country is almost non-existent. There is one little pain clinic hidden away at Stobhill hospital with one consultant and waiting lists of almost a year. Doctors have almost no understanding and little interest in chronic pain. Sufferers are treated like third class citizens.
 Opponents of the bill believe life is sacred and we have no right to decide ourselves. If you have watched loved ones die you will know that it can be a terrible thing to suffer so much. Painkillers have very unpleasant side effects, and in many cases they have almost no effect. Religious groups are lobbying MSPs against the bill, they believe life is not ours but belongs to some god. They think that suffering is some essential part of life. When you look at the world, religion has caused untold suffering.Many wars have been fought in the name of god.

Glasgow pain clinic

Suffering from chronic pain as I am, I was referred to the Glasgow Pain Clinic. It demonstrates how little the NHS thinks about pain sufferers. The clinic is one Consultant . He did nothing for me. All he could do was talk and tell me how little doctors know about pain. He referred me to a physiotherapist. All she did was take down my details and told me to continue doing the exercises I currently do.
You are treated as a second class citizen if you have the audacity to suffer from chronic pain.

NHS 24

NHS 24

Over this year I have had the misfortune to have to phone NHS 24. It would drive you insane trying to get help. Every time you phone you have to repeat the same information. Basically you have to give some call handler you life story, then if they put you through to a nurse you have to repeat the same information. They ask you a series of safety questions. Can you believe it, they ask if you are conscious and breathing. They seem incapable of storing any information, for instance if you phoned back the next day, you would have to given them all your personal information again.

Only an organisation so unaccountable as the NHS could dream up this. It always annoys me to hear politicians telling us how wonderful the nurses and doctors are. It is evident that none of them has spent a night in a hospital or waited to be seen in Accident and Emergency

Glasgow's public transport

The SNP Government in Scotland has not done anything to help clean up the air pollution in Glasgow. Increasing studies have clearly shown the link between air quality and heart disease. Recently they spent about £250 million building a new motorway in the south of Glasgow. Since then, the congestion in Glasgow and the air pollution has increased. That money could have been spent to upgrade the bus services; build miles of cycle lanes; install the infrastructure for electric vehicles and improve the trains.

Glasgow City Council election hustings

I attended a hustings meeting to hear what candidates would do about the environment of Glasgow. A number of people in the audience were concerned about the damage that air pollution does to our health. The Conservative candidate talked about his plans to improve the cycling lanes, something much needed.
I was given a list of the Green Party's green priorities for 2012-17. It was full of economic policies such as: bringing in a living wage; harnessing the buying power of councils. There was no mention of tacking Glasgow's deteriorating air quality, no mention of improving our public transport, and nothing about our cycle lanes. Very disappointing.

Will Scotland join the Euro?

The SNP are at sixes and sevens over their economic policy. That's not surprising when you consider that Mr Salmond was an economist for the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Initially they promissed that we would join the Euro after independence. Now they want to delay that and stay with Sterling for a while. This dithering is not good for businesses; which need stability. In reality, an independent Scotland would have little choice. If we want to join the European Union, we will probably have to accept the Euro as our currency.

Approximately 60% of Scottish exports go the rest of the United Kingdom. If we have a different currency from our main customers it will impede trade. Many Scots also work for British organisations;and it would be complicated to get paid in a foreign currency.

Even if Scotland were able to keep Sterling as its currency, there would be problems. Britain would have to impose strict supervision over our spending and borrowing so thay we didn't damage the currency. The Bank of England would be unlikely to bail out Scotland if we got into financial difficulties.

In either of the above currency scenarios, we would be less independent than we are today.

Glasgow city council elections

I have just heard the SNP leader for Glasgow City Council speaking about carers. Her party, she says, will have a "carers' champion".
Her party completely let me down when I was caring for my mother. I was having terrible problems with the management of the care home and asked my SNP councillor for help; he was not interested. The social workers supported the care home against me. I also contacted Nicola Sturgeon, she is the Secretary for Health after all. Twice I tried to contact her, and she never bothered to reply.