Gas (Petrol !) Prices UK

I broke a bone in my foot as a result of a shipboard accident when heading to Los Angeles. Doctor in L.A couldn't even diagnose it from the X-ray... his nurse had to call him back from telling me it was badly bruised and I could overhear her telling him it was actually broken.

Strike--1

Next port of call San Francisco.... taxied ashore again to next doctor. Real plush place, I sank up to my eyelids in the carpet. He had a portable radio playing on his desk which he was listening to while talking to patients !!! His contribution??? He asked me which metatarsal bone was fractured.... had I seen the X-rays myself?... am I the doctor? What the hell is he asking me for ??? All I know is I have a foot twice its normal size and all the colours of the rainbow. According to the first guy (well his nurse ) I have a broken bone.... period !

Strike--2

Next call was Seatle... his input? Drink plenty of milk !!!

Strike--3

Last call was Vancouver... heavens be praised an English doctor who had recently gone to live there.... finally sense at last, this guy actually knew what he was doing and talking about.

All the American doctors had plush places, attached pharmacies there own X-ray equipment and all. Pity they were bloody useless. Granted there may be some good ones over there.....

Reg

Reply to
reg
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Been there, done that.. too embarrased to wear the tea shirt though >:-) No problems encountered.

True, our modern hospital serves the 65,000 or so locals and also takes people from a large surrounding area. Main problem for some patients is due to living in areas with relatively poor access. Ambulance times can be 25 minutes or more in some of the harder to get to areas. I had a problem a couple of years ago and the ambulance arrived in 7-8 minutes and I was straight into casualty 12 minutes later. Within another 30 minutes I was in bed on a high dependency unit and being examined by a consultant and his team. That was after initial diagnosis in casualty and X-rays on the way through the hospital.

On the few occasions where I have needed operations (sports injuries) I have never had to wait long and have had superb treatment.

It is a standard of service that I have seen many times over the years.

There is no doubt waiting lists for routine operations such as hip replacements, cataracts and non essential surgery. Backlogs easily build up.For instance.. a surgeon is due to use an operating theatre all day for hip replacements., another theatre is booked all day for eye operations and yet another is doing minor non-emergency operations.....

Then the 5 seriously injured victims of a 2 vehicle road accident are brought in and need immediate surgery .... one operating theatre gone.

Next.. a man who has collapsed, been resuscitated by the ambulance crew and is taken straight into surgery for a triple by-pass to save his life. two operating theatres tied up.

Next comes the guy who was run over by a tipper lorry and has multipal crush injurys to his chest and abdomen.... 3 theatres gone.

Three theatres and the requisite surgeons and theatre staff have been tied up for most of the day with incoming, life threatening emergencies. All the scheduled operations for the day have had to be postponed.

What will tomorrow bring to disrupt the operation schedule ? Seven lives have been saved and the hip, eye, minor ops go back another day !

Take heart... they are only down there to see if it really is as bad as its made out.. don't normally stop long and never go back >:-)

Only Sun readers and other people of subnormal intelligence watch that or any other soap opera. Who or what the heck is Trisha ?

On a good week with something worth watching..... our T.V. is only on for 3, maybe 4 hours a *week*... that's a good week and there aren't many of those. One thing the U.K is catching up with the U.S.A. on is the T.V in both is *absolute* rubbish. Time they went back to broadcasting for just a few hours a day and made some quality programs instead of the total rubbish they spew out to cover all the hours on air.

Reg

Reply to
reg

Why didn't you go to a different doctor right away? In the LA area there are probably 100,000 doctors available as well as the USC and UCLA medical centers as well as Mount Sinai. Three of the best in the world.

This strike is on you for leaving the first place.

Same response. What are you doing leaving ports with a broken, swollen foot? Not enough sense to get it fixed?

After the shoddy treatment I received here, I'll take the US system any day. Costs less and is far superior. We don't have to ship off our patients to another country for treatment!

Reply to
Paul McIntosh

Well - I might as well poor a bit more petrol onto Reg's flames. He seems to be a really lucky bunny. Bet even his planes have some sort of net to catch them when they fall out of the sky.

I don't know which Northern utopia he lives in but it certainly isn't the Southern one that that discharged my Mother from Hospital when she was still vomiting - nor the one that left a blood pressure cuff on her for 45 minutes. Nor the one that nealry refused to re-admit her on the GP's advice on Boxing day when she was dangerously dehydtrated. Only took me seven harrowing hours to sort that one. Must be one of those Northern places that Labour diverts South East tax funds to. I suppose it is one way to keep the Northern electorate faithfull!! And successfully from what Reg has to say.

CW

Reply to
C W

The shipping company I worked for, via its American agents, arranged the doctors and all the necessary paperwork plus all transport.

Er, pardon ? The ship I was based on was moving from port to port ! I also hadn't experienced anything which would give me a great desire to stay for further lacklustre treatment.

See previous answer and take into account I was relying on doctors to determine the treatment.... in USA I would have done better trying to sort myself with a box of bandaids.

How the heck does it cost less, our National Insurance Contributions are as nothing compared to one bill for a decent operation in US. You don't ship patients sure... but thats only 'cos they don't survive long enough to be shipped anywhere...

Reg

Reply to
reg

Has to be admitted... homebrew does vary enormously in quality.

Reg

Reply to
reg

Nets... don't need 'em all you need do is learn how to land, and use foamies where the ground is covered in boulders.

The one that attracts millions of tourists from all over the world, and is regarded worldwide as being one of the most beautiful places on this planet !!!

My mother's case was the exact opposite... phoned doctor before lunch. He came to her house early afternoon, he then contacted consultant at hospital. Consultant came to our house around 4.30 pm. Mother in hospital by 6pm. After 2 weeks she was admitted to a nursing home straight from the hospital. When her condition deteriorated a few months later she was again admitted to hospital... 2 weeks later she was sent from the hospital into the local hospice.... her treatment and care were not unusual for this area.

If that is true then be thankful that the rich are helping to support others, because from all accounts only the very rich can afford to live within a reasonable (2 hour) commute of London.... that is why essential services workers can't afford to live there... hence poor services ???

The government is proposing moving around 10,000 civil servants (or at least their jobs if they won't move) out of London and placing them in the north. Now that should cause some fun in the ranks of those who don't even have a clue as to the quality of life we enjoy here. Not just my views.. we have a number of southerners who relocated here and they are amazed at the benefits of living here and the friendliness they encounter.

A 5 minute walk from home gives me 11 miles of golden sands to walk along. A few minutes drive 5 min in one case and 12 minutes for the other takes me to 2 wild and unspoilt nature reserves. A 20 minute drive puts me on top of my favourite slope soaring site with superb scenery laid out below and all around me... some days I bring the slope soarer down and just sit and admire the beauty... 30 minutes drive takes me to the heart of possibly the most beautiful area on this planet. We also have the areas the tourists don't know about, beautiful valleys and hills where you can wander all day and seldom encounter anyone else.

Of course we don't have the M25 or congestion charges... but Hey, nowhere is perfect >:-)

Reg

Reply to
reg

Ahh, the company doctor! Probably the best they could get for $2.00.

My medical insurance costs FAR less then what the NHS costs everyone. I thought I heard from some NHS spokesman on Sky news say that the NHS costs something like 6000 quid for each patient average. My medical insurance costs me about $200 a month and is good worldwide. And, with your country letting in just about everyone who can hitch a ride across the channel, it is bound to get a lot worse.

I guess we can agree that our individual experiences are very different.

Reply to
Paul McIntosh

No, better. Most of the ones coming in are doctors and nurses. And dentists.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Yea, right. All of those people on the French side of the Chunnel are doctors and nurses. Same as those found in the back of lorries.

Reply to
Paul McIntosh

Don't think they were company doctors... sure worth about $2, well $1.10 anyway. Their premises indicated a lifestyle based on more than $2 a visit.

With an increasing number of elderly people and a decreasing number of younger people they are going to need them to maintain the workforce, and thus pay into our wonderful health system.

Do you get free treatment when you reach retirement age, I have never seen this mentioned anywhere so just curious ? Here at the age of 60 both men and women get free medicines and eye tests as well as medical treatment.

Undoubtedly >:-)

Reg

Reply to
reg

when you come right down to it, there does not seeme to be a WORKABLE solution to anything. That's discouraging.

Reply to
John R. Agnew

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