from: Feb 2018
I recently had open heart surgery at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London. A traumatic experience, but one which has left me deeply grateful for the NHS – massively complex and intricate surgery and after-care – carried out with extraordinary skill, care and attention and FREE.
In
my recent article for The London Economic I wrote about the creeping
privatisation of the NHS. Here I want to highlight the NHS at it
best. A health system based in Aneurin Bevan's words on the principle
that “No society can legitimately call itself
civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of
means.”
I
am lucky to be a citizen of a country that can offer me the medical
procedures I underwent that have kept me alive. For me, it is second
time lucky. Three years ago I had brain surgery that would not have
been possible in the past and remains, as does the heart procedure,
an impossibility for much of the world's population.
We
need to bear this in mind as we fight for our NHS against the
privatisers. They are creeping in through the cracks in our defences.
As recentlyl as five months ago, Barts were responsible for their own
catering. One nurse told me what pride he took in serving food to his
patients and how this was a central part of nursing care. Today this
has been handed to Serco, who run our prisons and whose annual
revenue from healthcare is over £1.4 billion. Breakfast was tepid
tea or coffee, cereal or porridge and toast. As I bit into the cold,
spongy “toast” I could imagine Serco executives meeting to
discuss how to cut back their costs to increase their profits. “Let's
start with breakfast”.
I
got to know my fellow patients, some with more problems than mine.
Barry had already had three heart operations when he arrived at Barts
in January for his fourth. His operation lasted 28 hours and they
“lost” him three times. He told me of his out of body experiences
which had traumatised him and made him scared of going to sleep. He
badly needed psychological care, but with the present level of cuts
in NHS funding, this is not available.
Just
as food is important to getting better, so is after care.There was a
time when post-operative patients would spend time in convalescent
hospitals. No more. In Germany and even in the countries of Eastern
Europe where I used to live, all operations included a minimum of one
month's post-op stay in a health spa.
We
not only have to fight for our NHS, but have to claw back what has
already been scalpelled away and hived off to the Richard Bransons of
this world.
What
memories
do
I take away from the time I spent at Barts? Not the operation and its
after-effects
of pain and worry, but the nursing care I
received with
such commitment and humour. The nurse pushing
my
bed down a corridor who I got chatting to. On
hearing I was a writer, he
brought
my
bed to a halt and with a wonderful smile quoted
verbatim from
Gabriel
García Márquez's
'Love
in the Time of Cholera:'
“Age
has no reality except in the physical world. The essence of a human
being is resistant to the passage of time. Our inner lives are
eternal, which is to say that our spirits remain as youthful and
vigorous as when we were in full bloom. Think of love as a state of
grace, not the means to anything, but the alpha and omega. An end in
itself.”
Then there was the nurse replacing my chest bandage who wanted me to breath in deeply. “Puff out your chest”, she said, 'like a Robin Redbreast.'
Barry, a Jamaican living in Finsbury Park, would chat to the patient beside him, a Trinidadian from West London, about their youthful memories of their island homes and their love of the calabash tree, its soft brown bark home to multi-coloured orchids. They told me that these trees, pollinated by bats, grow on hillside pastures, along roadsides and wherever there are human beings.
The
pulp of the fruit has medicinal properties and acts as a remedy for
respiratory problems such as asthma, a
cure for dysentry, reduces
blood pressure, disinfects
wounds and is
used to treat
haematomas and tumours.
The
NHS is
our Calabash tree.
Last time it was a subdural haematoma.
I escaped with my brain intact.
That involved an earlier pact,
made with myself, to act wisely
with attention to my herd.
My plan of action now
begins with breaking through the fence
to arrive, together, in greener pastures.
Left Field
To my dead Donor:
Dedicated to Dr Wael Awad, his surgical team, anaesthetist & all nursing / ancillary staff at Barts Ward 4B - in respect for their care & skills
My blood pump was stopped
while a machine took over
the job my heart had done
for almost 73 years.
A cow's pericardium replaced
my narrowed, furred valve
that no longer moved like
a sea anemone's fronds.
This valve was given without
agreement or consent
so I made a vow to my dead donor
to never eat beef again.
My blood pump was stopped
while a machine took over
the job my heart had done
for almost 73 years.
A cow's pericardium replaced
my narrowed, furred valve
that no longer moved like
a sea anemone's fronds.
This valve was given without
agreement or consent
so I made a vow to my dead donor
to never eat beef again.
Last time it was a subdural haematoma.
I escaped with my brain intact.
That involved an earlier pact,
made with myself, to act wisely
with attention to my herd.
My plan of action now
begins with breaking through the fence
to arrive, together, in greener pastures.
(David Wilson & Anne Aylor)
Left Field
ReplyDeleteيسر شركة شام ان تقدم لعملائها في مدينة القطيف افضل الخدمات المنزليه واليوم سوف نقدم لكم خدمة تسليك المجاري بالقطيف وقد حرصنا علي ان تكون الخدمه التي نقدمها خدمه متميزه خدمه متوفر فيها جميع عناصر الاحترافيه والخبره ، وتندرج هذه الخدمه تحت مسمى
شركة تسليك مجاري بالقطيف
ومن عناصر التميز التي حرصنا علي توافرها في هذه الخدمه وجميع الخدمات التي نقدمها لعملائنا الكرام المصداقيه واحترام الاتفاقات والمواعيد والحرص والحرص علي الوصول بالخدمه المقدمه الي اعلي درجات الاتقان والجوده ، عزيزي العميل مع شركة شام انت دائما بأمان .
هل تبحث عن شركة متخصصة فى خدمات التنظيف بالطائف بافضل المعدات والسوائل وثقة تمة فى العمل ودقة فى النتائج كل هذه المميزت توفرها شركة الخليج الشركة الافضل والامثل فى الخدمات المنزلية بالطائف وبما اننا الشركة الافضل والامثل بدون منافس سوف نسعى لتوفر افضل الخدمات باقل تكلفة وبقدر كبير من الاهتمام والدقة عزيزى اينما كنت فى اى منطقة ا وحى تابع لمدينة الطائف اتصل بنا وسوف نصلك فى الحال شركة الخليج للخدمات المنزلية شركة تنظيف منازل بالطائف
ReplyDeleteشركة تنظيف فلل بالطائف
شركة تنظيف خزانات بالطائف
شركة تسليك مجارى بالطائف
شركة رش مبيدات بالطائف
شركة مكافحة نمل ابيض بالطائف
شركة مكافحة حشرات بالطائف
شركة عزل اسطح بالطائف
شركة عزل خزانات بالطائف
نقدم لكم بعض الخدمات فى الاعمال المنزلية الممثله فى التنظيف الشامل للمنزل ومكافحة الحشرات وعزل الاسطح وكشف تسربات المياة ونقل الاثاث بكل انوعه كل ذلك يساعد فى الحصول علي مظهر رائع بواسطة افضل الفنيين والمتخصصين فى هذا المجال باستخدام احدث المعدات.
ReplyDeleteشركة عزل اسطح بابها
شركة كشف تسربات بابها
شركة تنظيف خزانات بابها
شركة مكافحة حشرات بابها
شركة عزل اسطح بخميس مشيط
شركة كشف تسربات بخميس مشيط
شركة مكافحة حشرات بخميس مشيط
شركة تنظيف منازل بالطائف
شركة نقل عفش بالطائف