I absolutely love the NHS, specifically that I get great health care at no price. However, with socialized medicine there are some minor set backs, which, while minor, can really annoy the hell out of you.
Today, I went to the doctor to get put back onto the Anti-Coagulant clinic's roster as I "hadn't been attending" since I had been removed from blood thinners (b t dubs, I'm back on them for what looks like the rest of my life), and the only way is to have my doctor call in for me. I tell the receptionist at my local doctor's that I need to talk about my warfarin and INR as soon as possible with the doctor and she gives me an appointment for the following Friday (mind you this is a whole week away at the time). Fine, whatever.
I wait it out, and go to the doctor today only to get lectured that I should have come to them sooner, that my INR might dangerously high, and I could have to spend the night in the hospital hooked up to a Vitamin K drip. Sounds like a stellar Friday, right?
My doctor asks me to call back at 5 PM to find out what my INR levels are. I call, the receptionist tells me they will call me Monday. I try to explain that I have to talk to the doctor on call tonight as my doctor instructed me to do so, she tells me to call back Monday (as that MUST be what my doctor really meant). Finally, I tell her that I need to talk to him to see if I have to spend the night in the hospital and that it's a near emergency at this point. Finally, she puts me through. I'm fine. No hospital tonight!
I think my major problem is that I don't know the magic words to get around the receptionist. I think I'm saying things to express the urgency, but it doesn't seem to work, and in order to get an urgent appointment, I apparently need to convince her it's really important. If anyone has some tips, please let me know. I've tried warfarin, i've tried INR, I've tried "the doctor told me to call back at this time" and yet it doesn't seem to work. Grr.
Okay, that complaint was more about the receptionist than the NHS, but it's kind of the same problem that I have with the whole NHS. It's not that you have to wait so long for the appointments as most people think, it's the bureaucracy of it all. You have to walk through so much red tape (hence the "I HAVE to see the doctor to get onto the clinic's list again but then I get in trouble for not getting the INR checked earlier"), that it slows down the process.
Many people have asked me about the NHS and socialized medicine as it was a hot topic during the election. As I've put it, if I feel I need something done quickly (that isn't an emergency) I'll get it done when I'm in the States. However, when I spent a week in the hospital for my stroke, I didn't have to pay a dime! Or I guess a 10p. So really, I shouldn't complain so much, but it's bureaucracy that's so prevalant in every day life in the UK that drives me nuts some times.
Showing posts with label scotland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scotland. Show all posts
Friday, 30 January 2009
Friday, 14 September 2007
the start...
I've officially been in scotland now for 3 days. It's quite a nice city, still adjusting. still don't understand everything the scottish say but I'm getting by. That includes the sneaking suspicion that my Master's program doesn't actually exist.
Since I came here earlier than originally expected much of the information about my progra was sent to the states after I arrived overseas, so yesterday I began the search for this information. I started in the international and postgraduate office and they sent me to the television, film, and theater department. I head down the hill to one end of the campus, but find the television/film/theater faculty don't know about my program. The woman i speak with sends me to the arts faculty and believes its actually in the french department. I arrive there, receive my information, sign up for an advising session, then realize that the advisor i was intrusted to sign up with is not the one the registrar assigned me. I contact the one assigned to me and she refuses to claim me so overall i'm feeling like i'm here on one big joke. However, I've paid for my room and i'll just drink wine (from "the wine cellar" across the street) until they drag me away and then i'll demand they put me in another pogram.
Later that day, I headed up for a "social" by the international office and society. Free drinks, free food, and scottish highland dances. Afterwards, I headed to "the wee bar" with two Americans doing their whole undergrad here and we met and "exchanged" numbers with a 50 or so old scotsman, former rugger, and expert on kansas city night life (no shit!). A very friendly guy who says he worked on some of IBM's biggest deals, may have lots of illegitimate children all through out America, and helped me with my coat as he muttered "let me undress you." overall a lovely combination of skeezy and charm.
Today, I spent a good 30-45 minutes today looking for the specific part of the registry that deals with fees and money, which is not the actual fees enquires in the west registry but in the normal enquires in the east registry. Yes, there are two. Let's add to this mess of making my loans go through and finding my advisor that although very picturesque the university is one of the oldest (apparently older than oxford or cambridge since they weren't real universities in the beinging but monastories that taught men) and its age is apparent witht he towers, the cloisters, and the robing room. This makes finding ANYTHING rather difficult since nothing is properly marked and most the doors are old and wooden with no handles.
That's about all i feel like writing today. perhaps there will be more, or perhaps not, i can be lazy, but if there's another one it'll probably be a long post complaining about a lack of skype and other fun things that have been blocked.
Since I came here earlier than originally expected much of the information about my progra was sent to the states after I arrived overseas, so yesterday I began the search for this information. I started in the international and postgraduate office and they sent me to the television, film, and theater department. I head down the hill to one end of the campus, but find the television/film/theater faculty don't know about my program. The woman i speak with sends me to the arts faculty and believes its actually in the french department. I arrive there, receive my information, sign up for an advising session, then realize that the advisor i was intrusted to sign up with is not the one the registrar assigned me. I contact the one assigned to me and she refuses to claim me so overall i'm feeling like i'm here on one big joke. However, I've paid for my room and i'll just drink wine (from "the wine cellar" across the street) until they drag me away and then i'll demand they put me in another pogram.
Later that day, I headed up for a "social" by the international office and society. Free drinks, free food, and scottish highland dances. Afterwards, I headed to "the wee bar" with two Americans doing their whole undergrad here and we met and "exchanged" numbers with a 50 or so old scotsman, former rugger, and expert on kansas city night life (no shit!). A very friendly guy who says he worked on some of IBM's biggest deals, may have lots of illegitimate children all through out America, and helped me with my coat as he muttered "let me undress you." overall a lovely combination of skeezy and charm.
Today, I spent a good 30-45 minutes today looking for the specific part of the registry that deals with fees and money, which is not the actual fees enquires in the west registry but in the normal enquires in the east registry. Yes, there are two. Let's add to this mess of making my loans go through and finding my advisor that although very picturesque the university is one of the oldest (apparently older than oxford or cambridge since they weren't real universities in the beinging but monastories that taught men) and its age is apparent witht he towers, the cloisters, and the robing room. This makes finding ANYTHING rather difficult since nothing is properly marked and most the doors are old and wooden with no handles.
That's about all i feel like writing today. perhaps there will be more, or perhaps not, i can be lazy, but if there's another one it'll probably be a long post complaining about a lack of skype and other fun things that have been blocked.
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