Is the whole country now run by Indians or what?

[zoco]

My wife has just had an operation done privately and is now at home convalescing.

In the early hours of the morning, she rolled over and pulled on one of the stitches. result - claret everywhere.

I got her into the bathroom, cleaned it all up and stemmed the bloodflow. The concern was possibility of infection & we couldn't see what had actually torn -whether it was a stitch or it was actually flesh that had ripped becasue it was too manky to see clearly.

So, I rang the emergency number that the clinic gave me to call in the event of complications out of hours and found myself talking to an Indian nurse (maybe not Indian, but definitely from the subcontinent). I spent the next 10 minutes struggling to make myself understood while listening to the kind of BS platitudes I'm used to hearing from a bob in a morning scrum when I'm enquiring as to whether or not they are on schedule with their workload.

"No problem sir, is dissolvable stitches sir, no problem if breaks. very good stitches, very good"

"But we're not sure it was a stitch that tore, we're worried it was flesh"

"No, no, no sir no problem. Stitch never tear - is dissolvable stitches. If not bleeding now no problem sir, very good stitches" etc etc....


Anyway, I called outpatients at 8am, spoke to somebody who knows what they are talking about and am now sat waiting for my wife who is with the consultant who wanted to see her urgently

[minestrone]

Now seated!

[Old Greg]

My wife has just had an operation done privately and is now at home convalescing.

In the early hours of the morning, she rolled over and pulled on one of the stitches. result - claret everywhere.

I got her into the bathroom, cleaned it all up and stemmed the bloodflow. The concern was possibility of infection & we couldn't see what had actually torn -whether it was a stitch or it was actually flesh that had ripped becasue it was too manky to see clearly.

So, I rang the emergency number that the clinic gave me to call in the event of complications out of hours and found myself talking to an Indian nurse (maybe not Indian, but definitely from the subcontinent). I spent the next 10 minutes struggling to make myself understood while listening to the kind of BS platitudes I'm used to hearing from a bob in a morning scrum when I'm enquiring as to whether or not they are on schedule with their workload.

"No problem sir, is dissolvable stitches sir, no problem if breaks. very good stitches, very good"

"But we're not sure it was a stitch that tore, we're worried it was flesh"

"No, no, no sir no problem. Stitch never tear - is dissolvable stitches. If not bleeding now no problem sir, very good stitches" etc etc....


Anyway, I called outpatients at 8am, spoke to somebody who knows what they are talking about and am now sat waiting for my wife who is with the consultant who wanted to see her urgently

I am afraid that private hospitals are notorious for poor night-time care (with the possible exception of very big London names like the Wellington). If you are an inpatient, then there will be a resident medical officer who probably does not work in the NHS. Best thing to do next time, I suggest, is get to A&E. The NHS is used to clearing up private hospital messes.

[DiscoStu]

I am afraid that private hospitals are notorious for poor night-time care (with the possible exception of very big London names like the Wellington). If you are an inpatient, then there will be a resident medical officer who probably does not work in the NHS. Best thing to do next time, I suggest, is get to A&E. The NHS is used to clearing up private hospital messes.

The one time I spent a night in a private hospital I was in some pain (nothing excruciating but enough to make me uncomfortable) and I think I must have waited about 10 minutes between pressing the buzzer and anyone appearing. When someone did arrive they gave me a quick glance and then a shot of morphine, I'm assuming so I didn't disturb them again!

[CloudWalker]

I remember when my wife was in hospital the day shift was White and the Night was Black, very ironic ! But as long as they do their job I don't mind

[Old Greg]

I remember when my wife was in hospital the day shift was White and the Night was Black, very ironic ! But as long as they do their job I don't mind

Many years ago I worked on a hospital ward and there were dedicated 'night only' nursing staff, who were mainly black. There has been a move away from night only staff in the NHS as part of initiatives to improve hospital at night safety, as night only staff tend to get fewer opportunities for training and are not as well monitored for performance. Or that's the theory anyway - don't know whether data backs it up.

[VectraMan]

I recently had an operation done privately - but in an NHS hospital, followed by a 5 day stay. They seemed to give me a different nurse each day, and two different ones for the nights, only two of which were English (they were white, but I don't mean racially English - calm down UKIP nutters - I mean from their accents the others were from abroad), plus the cleaning staff and people bringing food and water were all obviously East European. One of the doctors on the ward was Polish too.

None of this was bad necessarily; hospital proved quite an interesting oppurtunity to meet people from different places and cultures without all that tedious mucking about actually going on holiday.

The biggest communication problem was with a Spanish nurse (who was otherwise great). She said to me: "Have you moved your bolts?". "Have I moved my bolts?", said I. "Your bolts. You poo? Number two?".

[FatLazyContractor]

My wife has just had an operation done privately and is now at home convalescing.

In the early hours of the morning, she rolled over and pulled on one of the stitches. result - claret everywhere.

I got her into the bathroom, cleaned it all up and stemmed the bloodflow. The concern was possibility of infection & we couldn't see what had actually torn -whether it was a stitch or it was actually flesh that had ripped becasue it was too manky to see clearly.

So, I rang the emergency number that the clinic gave me to call in the event of complications out of hours and found myself talking to an Indian nurse (maybe not Indian, but definitely from the subcontinent). I spent the next 10 minutes struggling to make myself understood while listening to the kind of BS platitudes I'm used to hearing from a bob in a morning scrum when I'm enquiring as to whether or not they are on schedule with their workload.

"No problem sir, is dissolvable stitches sir, no problem if breaks. very good stitches, very good"

"But we're not sure it was a stitch that tore, we're worried it was flesh"

"No, no, no sir no problem. Stitch never tear - is dissolvable stitches. If not bleeding now no problem sir, very good stitches" etc etc....


Anyway, I called outpatients at 8am, spoke to somebody who knows what they are talking about and am now sat waiting for my wife who is with the consultant who wanted to see her urgently

How do you normally get yourself understood to the Bobs ?

[OwlHoot]

I am afraid that private hospitals are notorious for poor night-time care (with the possible exception of very big London names like the Wellington). If you are an inpatient, then there will be a resident medical officer who probably does not work in the NHS. Best thing to do next time, I suggest, is get to A&E. The NHS is used to clearing up private hospital messes.

WHS - There was an article on this in the latest Private Eye.

It's strange, because one might think it was the other way round.

[Old Greg]

WHS - There was an article on this in the latest Private Eye.

It's strange, because one might think it was the other way round.

The case mix in a private hospital is very limited, so it's of little interest professionally. People work there (usually extra shifts on top of their NHS jobs) for the easy money.