Today's post is somewhat less about feeling grateful and more of a mini rant about the challenges of interacting with the NHS.
The NHS is simultaneously the best invention since sliced bread (or maybe it preceded that?) and arguably the stuff of nightmares. There is an unfortunate and delicate tightrope that the organisation walks between phenomenal clinical care, the best people, the best training, the best drugs, available on time, consistently across the country AND a legacy of red tape, debt and crumbling buildings. There are labyrinths of systems and processes that whilst simple when originally conceived, have grown up and evolved organically, twisting and turning like the roots and branches of intertwined trees...until the start and end points are tangled and invisible.
This balancing act means that patient experiences vary, that errors and inefficiency are inevitable. I love the NHS, I already owe it my life in the most literal sense, but I also hate how it's opaque processes leave one in doubt and in suspense. It may have my physical health well controlled, but am not sure what it's doing to my mental state?
Because of the slightly different tone of this piece, I've placed it on Huffington Post. But please do read, reflect, share and feedback. I'm all ears...
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/kimberley-burbidge/patience-is-a-virtue-but-_b_12948352.html
The NHS is simultaneously the best invention since sliced bread (or maybe it preceded that?) and arguably the stuff of nightmares. There is an unfortunate and delicate tightrope that the organisation walks between phenomenal clinical care, the best people, the best training, the best drugs, available on time, consistently across the country AND a legacy of red tape, debt and crumbling buildings. There are labyrinths of systems and processes that whilst simple when originally conceived, have grown up and evolved organically, twisting and turning like the roots and branches of intertwined trees...until the start and end points are tangled and invisible.
This balancing act means that patient experiences vary, that errors and inefficiency are inevitable. I love the NHS, I already owe it my life in the most literal sense, but I also hate how it's opaque processes leave one in doubt and in suspense. It may have my physical health well controlled, but am not sure what it's doing to my mental state?
Because of the slightly different tone of this piece, I've placed it on Huffington Post. But please do read, reflect, share and feedback. I'm all ears...
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/kimberley-burbidge/patience-is-a-virtue-but-_b_12948352.html
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