KT Dodge

I have just read an article in the Telegraph  detailing a ‘recommendation’ to cut ‘in-patient’ beds for cancer patients.   As my husband is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment I am well aware of ‘the cost of the chemo’ and the care needed to administer it.  As more and more people are diagnosed with this terrible disease that knows no age, class, race or gender boundaries, of course, the NHS wants to CUT costs involved with the treatment of it.  Of course there is nothing wrong with making a service more efficient and effective - treatment in local clinics may be the answer as suggested in the recommendation - but often this fluff is just a smokescreen for ‘CUTs’ that actually make the service worse not better!  

Is it such a shock to everyone that we are now being told that the Olympics are going to cost the UK taxpayer much more than originally thought.  The original estimate quoted was 4bn but unfortunately, the government and olympic committee did not take into account the effects of ‘inflation’ and VAT and this budget has now risen to more than double to 9bn!Now we are only in 2008 and we still have 4 more years of ‘forgetful’ budgeting to go … who knows how much higher this Olympic budget will go?  Especially as nobody seems to be held accountable for ‘unrealistic’ budgets.  How much money is being wasted every day on the 2012 olympics?  Did they forget the effects of inflation because they do not really record ‘inflation’ properly.   Let’s face it this government has been telling us that we only have 3% inflation ….. do me a favour everything in our lives has gone up … except our wages!  So the only thing that I am certain about is that 9bn is just the beginning of the increases.

Check out Andrew Ian Dodge’s latest work of fiction ‘The Gathering Dark and Other Tales’.  If you like cthulhu or a good bit of dark fantasy you’ll love his book - I did.  For more info visit Andrew’s blog www.andrewiandodge.com and click on the banner on the right side.  You won’t regret it……

I am really pleased to report that ‘Somers Town’ directed by Shane Meadows of This is England fame has been chosen to be in Robert de Niro’s Tribeca Film Festival in New York.  My brother Perry has one of the lead parts so he’s going to be attending the Festival too - how exciting.  I can’t wait to hear if he manages to meet the man himself.  Am I jealous?  Of course I am …….. 

Guido has challenged us to come up with a clever pub tune to fully show our discontent for his booze hikes. This was a joint effort between Andrew and I.Dear Mr DarlingDear Mr DarlingYou’re not welcome hereWe’re fed upCos you put up our beerVery Sorry dear darlingYou are banned from hereVery sorry dear DarlingFor you putting up our beer Not impressed by yer new budget law And your consistent effortsTo make our life a sober bore Why don’t you shave your eyebrowsSo you can see clearThat you’ve made a mistakePutting up our beerYou’re banned,You’re not welcomeStay outta my pubCause you’ve spoiltSomething that we love We’ll take a drinkHoping for your demiseWe’re fed upWith being victimisedVery Sorry dear darlingYou are banned from hereVery sorry dear DarlingFor you putting up our beerVery Sorry dear darlingYou are banned from hereVery sorry dear DarlingFor you putting up our beer

In light of the latest reports on the danger to tourists in Goa and a family’s fight for justice to find out the truth about their daughter Scarlett Keeling’s death or as they suspect murder is going to be tough. Ok when I first heard that she had been left with an Indian tour guide whilst her mother and other siblings toured another part of India I thought that was irresponsible. The problem is that Goa is sold as this idyllic, cheap getaway with friendly people. As tourists very often the ’safeguards’ you would have at home you suddenly forget when you’re abroad ‘in paradise’. However, to have your daughter taken from you in such a way deserves justice and publicity.

This story is just one of many British tourists who have ‘died’ in India. It seems that there is a seedy side of Goa that is run by the ‘criminal underworld’ who target tourists there. I know that ‘nasty’ things happen there as a friend of mine was drugged whilst having an afternoon drink on a beach bar and raped in Goa… not something you really bargain for from a holiday!

Unfortunately, scantily clad liberated holiday makers are easy prey for rapists/murderers who want to exploit them especially if the justice system is hard to negotiate and full of corruption. The widespread image of hippies and drug fuelled beach parties in paradise make it easy for the police to dismiss any tourist deaths as suicide and not investigate them properly.

There was a time when I wanted to visit Goa but not any more!

I’ve just read an interesting article in the weekly magazine Autocar by Hilton Holloway describing how the new infrastructure for LEZ zone charges, introduced quietly on 4th February to help decrease pollution from lorries, coaches and commercial vehicles in London could actually be used to introduce a toll for all motorists crossing the new network of cameras around London i.e. effectively anyone crossing the M25 which is a Transport for London legally defined border now.  It seems that the sums just don’t add up  - the financial benefits of charging commercial vehicles because they do not comply with low emission levels will never equal the cost of  running the LEZ scheme therefore, it is quite evident that there is a hidden agenda and we all know who will activate this road tolling if he gets a third term …. Ken Livingstone! 
 

I’ve read another article today about bad nursing care and cleanliness in one NHS hospital Bath’s Royal United Hospital . Lord Mancroft was appalled at the dirty wards and poor nursing care. However, he did have a choice as he was swiftly transferred to a private hospital, lucky him. But many of us who get sick and cannot afford private health care fear the prospect of entering into the ‘lottery’ of NHS hospital care.I must say that Andrew’s care in the oncology out-patients ward at the North Middlesex Hospital is very good and the nurses are nice and efficient. If there are delays it’s usually because chemo has not arrived from the Pharmacy … which is frustrating. Sitting in the waiting room for treatment we are constantly hearing stories of patients who have arrived at 10am and are still waiting for treatment at 2.00pm because their chemo hasn’t arrived. Now this kind of stress is not good for any patient especially someone suffering from cancer. Obviously, here it seems to me that it is not the ‘nursing’ care that is disorganised it is the ‘administration’ side that lacks management. The communication between different departments seems amiss.Andrew has chemo that lasts 48 hours and has to wear a bottle which continuously drips into his body. After 48 hours a District nurse has to remove the bottle and re-dress his arm. We asked for more dressings for Andrew at the hospital (as they gave us a bag of them at the beginning of his treatment and these had now run out). We were strictly told by one of the nurses that these had to be supplied by the District Nurse not them, as it should come out of their budget. Financial awareness from nursing staff is now commonplace in NHS hospitals and surgeries. Unfortunately, it is much more evident that financial constraints affect the care of patients in the NHS and how expensive a treatment is takes priority over whether you get it or not. We are constantly being told how much the chemo is costing as it’s being administered …. which is actually something a patient does not need to hear at that time.Well since we didn’t want the dressings to come out of the hospital’s budget we asked the District Nurse to order more supplies .. this was greeted with, you need to get them from your GP not me. I challenged this unhelpful response and she agreed to fax the GP and order more supplies. It seems to me if they can ‘pass the buck’ they will.

As you may or may not already be aware, members of the Watcher’s Council hold a vote every week on what they consider to be the most link-worthy pieces of writing around… per the Watcher’s instructions, I am submitting one of my own posts for consideration in the upcoming nominations process.

Here is the most recent winning council post, here is the most recent winning non-council post, here is the list of results for the latest vote, and here is the initial posting of all the nominees that were voted on.

On our way to dinner last night we came across a frog sitting completely still on the pavement.  I was pretty surprised at this as I’ve never noticed any frogs before on the busy pavements where i live …. then it clicked, it must have sensed the oncoming UK earthquake that we had last night …. next time I will pay more attention and read the sign!