A week where in the news an ex Post Office boss cried. Was it the onions? `Or was it the abject fear that finally they realised the ‘buck stops here’. No CEO should /could /would blame everyone else for all that they buggered up. The denial of knowledge of prosecutions in-house, rising from 2 in 79 in a mere 5 years was not something for the CEO to bother about. The next job, having buggered that all up, was to Chair an NHS Trust on the strength of knowing the Chair of NHS Improvement. Well no wonder that’s buggered up too.

Rishi got soaked announcing the election in the rain for July 4th. Is that an auspicious Independence Day date? I suppose it would have looked bad if a flunky had held an umbrella for him. Tradition dictates they stand outside with the lectern …so he did. Something to be said for that poor little man dripping back to his front door…he only has 6 weeks to get through then he can drift off into the sunset. After taking his suit to the dry cleaners!

As for the NHS would it will it be any better come July 5th?

I am in London today, for Jerome’s scan. That clinic very late running but running. Nice lady did it. Asked me how come I only have one kidney. God that’s a trigger. I tearfully mumbled something. I need to invent a better story. Shark attacked me when I swam across the Panama Canal?

Jerome had told me to do a blood test and urine test. Of course that was not possible on account of the weekend. NO the NHS is not open 24/7. Fighting back tears of frustration, I stumbled off to the private lab, having paid up my £50, produced my ‘form’ and delivered my pee and flea. Blood test? Dunno. Maybe I can work that out as I have to be in London next week. I have been invited to speak to the Medtronic team from USA> Medtronic is the supplier of medical equipment. My bit is the sacral nerve stimulator. This meeting has been changed, rearranged and shifted location 10 times. Of course as a mere patient I have absolutely nothing better to do than rearrange my diary umpteen times to support the NHS.

Dipstick had cancelled his clinic last week because, apparently, he had to do an operation at another, please tell me, that was NHS…() hospital. I am sure that was genuinely important but….this appointment was in fact the face to face follow up after MRI of January 2023. No new appointment has been scheduled. That’s it …black hole of despair. Frustration. Patients, benign ones. Have no ‘pathway’. not even a driveway. We are just on an endless roundabout getting bloody no where.

Nice Dr GP who was seemingly going to help me get off these toxic brain numbing tear jerking blood pressure meds…has done precisely nothing. No clinic letter. No invoice. No nothing. Well that was a waste of bloody time. No doubt a nice big invoice will be sent.

A quick dash to Luton for jaw wire issues. As in:effing painful. Mr MaxFax as speedy and reliable as ever.

What else? as I emptied Dad’s catheter bag on Friday I pondered how on earth his situation has deteriorated and he is left to kind of cope somehow…he too is benign….so no pathway driveway…just me his daughter yelling for GP, District nurses, carers and generally being the daughter from hell. Because, there is no one else to do that. My mother, certainly not benign, her pathway, co-ordinations, named nurses….drugs, are incredibly brilliant. That is excellent, of course. She has herself realised with all the drugs she now has to hand she could in fact organise her own euthanasia . There does not seem to be a pathway for that scenario. Morphine iv, bromide,, haloperidol, midzolam, all the accoutrements of end of life care. Mum is pragmatic and determined to sign up for bridge and Russian Literature before she signs off.

What can I add here that is cheerful…?ah..I can tell you I did the Moonrise swim. Organised by an ex student of mine. He was a horror at school. But now? He is absolutely smashing it at the lake near us. Dam proud am I. As for the midnight swim. Way past my bedtime. But way worth it. Bonkers bladder doesn’t matter in open water. Quite warming actually !