[kj] O/T Thanks for the messages

[Paul Wady]

One way or another I was in a room full of London council reps this week.  One explained that his borough was losing £22 million pounds over the next year.  He said that what is poor service today will be worse or gone over the next few years.  Everyone knew they faced a slow disintegration, an erosion of the services they were expected to offer and maintain, and do so to 100%.
So everyone in that room was part of organizations of people who daily face abuse over what they try to do, let alone look forwards to more over this.  A pal of mine years ago was a chief housing officer for Hackney.  Quite a normal thing for people on the phone, that he'd had to refuse accommodation, to terminate the call with effective and explicit threats of violence towards him.  I watched him remember, and shake as well.  A good buddhist who suffered bipolar.  Imagine being him?
Yeah, this is what the decline of western civilization looks like.  Everyone got to expect a certain standard of societal maintenance, support for the body and mind and law and order.  It is slowly evaporating here in blighty.  Remember the Mad Max films?


Keep smiling folks!  



From: fatpotanga at gmail.com
Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2011 11:53:42 +0000
To: gathering at misera.net
Subject: Re: [kj] O/T Thanks for the messages



Couldn't agree more with what Janean said,
I empathise with your anger totally and to leave your father sat there from 1pm til 6.30 defy's beliefThere'd be outrage if it were livestock.And add to that no one had even called you in the first place.
You have every right to be bitter & angry.

On 20 Jan 2011, at 11:44, Janean Lancaster wrote:

    Jesus, what a nightmare.  Your poor dad.  You've every right to a
    bitter rant.  

    

    Public cuts/spending is all arse-over-tit and politicians like it
    that way.  Cut hospital beds, teachers and lollipop ladies; leave
    all those bloated managers, directors and chief execs alone.  

    

    On 20/01/2011 11:20, Brian Whitehead wrote:
    Thanks for all the mails of sympathy.

      A rant:

      

      My dad (88) was in and out of hospital 3
        times over the last few weeks because as soon as was discharged
        he went straight
        back in. He’d had a heart attack just before Christmas which he
        survived which resulted in him having a pacemaker fitted.

      At his last hospital stay: I went round to
        visit him last
        Friday at around 3:30pm and as I walked into the ward I saw a
        forlorn figure
        slumped in a chair in the waiting room in front of a TV with
        kids TV on
        surrounded by his bags and belongings – my dad. They were
        discharging him again!!!!! It was just a case of waiting from
        his medication to arrive from the
        hospital pharmacy and then they’d get an ambulance to take him
        home. He’d been
        there since around 1pm and they had not contacted me or my
        sister to let us
        know, they had absolutely no idea of his circumstances at home,
        whether he had
        food in or even if he had a key to get in.  I sat with him until 6:30 when his medication
        finally arrived and by
        which time he was getting very desperate and just wanted to lie
        down. There is
        no way I could put him through another couple of hours sat in
        that chair waiting for an ambulance to take him home so I
        grabbed a wheel chair and pushed him through the maze of the
        hospital and to my
        car on the car park. It was a massive struggle as it was cold
        windy and rainy but I
        eventually managed to get him home and sat in his favorite
        chair. I was just
        about to getting the heating sorted out when he started to
        complain of chest
        pains – his heart was giving in again. Long story short – called
        999 and within
        a hour of arriving back home he was back in the hospital
        battling for his life, which he eventually
        lost around 12 hours later.

      In off the reord chats with staff they tell
        me that the pressures on the helath service and to free up space
        is even greater with the cuts. So if I hear another politician
        use the phrase "We're all in this together", when certain
        sections of commerce are earnig huge profits again, I'll
        explode.

      Do I sound bitter...yes, good.

      

      Rant over

      Brian.
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