For some reason or other, Carol didn't have an appointment arranged to have the pump removed, which she has as part of each chemotherapy cycle. Usually which ever nurse is in charge of her care when she's in the oncology unit arranges the appointments and writes them in the book she has which she takes to all her appointments. Probably it was forgotten because the staff are so busy. It would be easily done. I suggested we ring up and find out what time was on the system at the oncology department. Carol said we should just turn up, but it wasn't such a good idea because we could just find we sit and wait for a long time otherwise. The first number I rang was to get a bleep number, but when the operator answered I was told it was for emergencies only, so if so, why was it in the book I was given? Then I rang the direct line into the department and the lady who answered couldn't find Carol on the system, so it would appear we would have wasted our time without Carol being on the system. The receptionist said she'd speak to another nurse and then ring back. Which she did within the hour, by which time it was around midday. We could go immediately. Which we did. Of course, there were one or two things necessary before leaving in the car, such as Carol getting dressed.
Parking wasn't a problem, fortunately and the oncology department was almost deserted. The nurse who dealt with Carol said that when she'd come to work that morning it was difficult to park. Even the brand new multi-storey carpark which has just been opened especially for staff to park their cars was full to bursting. It's what you would expect, no sooner there's a new place to park then it's going to be full and then there's nowhere else to park. You would imagine the opposite, but that's not the case. Crazy. This same nurse was telling us how her husband had an accident and fell down stairs and broke his arm. He had to go to Accident and Emergency. It sounded like a really horrible accident. Seems amazing that you would break your arm.
I was speaking to another patient in the oncology department this morning and he was telling me that a Conservative MP, Robert Halfon, Member for Harlow, has introduced a Bill to scrap hospital parking charges. I am so glad that someone in Parliament has thought this important to have these wretched charges removed. Not for just patients, but it seems amazing that the staff who run N.H.S. hospitals have to pay to park their cars for work. We don't have to pay, and get our parking tickets clipped in the Macmillan unit at Milton Keynes Hospital which means wee don't have to pay. Although it does annoy me that usually the barrier at the exit of the carpark is usually raised which means you can leave without having to put a ticket in the machine which raises the barrier. I shall follow the progress of this piece of legislation with interest and will report on it here.
Parking wasn't a problem, fortunately and the oncology department was almost deserted. The nurse who dealt with Carol said that when she'd come to work that morning it was difficult to park. Even the brand new multi-storey carpark which has just been opened especially for staff to park their cars was full to bursting. It's what you would expect, no sooner there's a new place to park then it's going to be full and then there's nowhere else to park. You would imagine the opposite, but that's not the case. Crazy. This same nurse was telling us how her husband had an accident and fell down stairs and broke his arm. He had to go to Accident and Emergency. It sounded like a really horrible accident. Seems amazing that you would break your arm.
I was speaking to another patient in the oncology department this morning and he was telling me that a Conservative MP, Robert Halfon, Member for Harlow, has introduced a Bill to scrap hospital parking charges. I am so glad that someone in Parliament has thought this important to have these wretched charges removed. Not for just patients, but it seems amazing that the staff who run N.H.S. hospitals have to pay to park their cars for work. We don't have to pay, and get our parking tickets clipped in the Macmillan unit at Milton Keynes Hospital which means wee don't have to pay. Although it does annoy me that usually the barrier at the exit of the carpark is usually raised which means you can leave without having to put a ticket in the machine which raises the barrier. I shall follow the progress of this piece of legislation with interest and will report on it here.
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