Result? A diagnosis of bowel cancer and instant admission to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham for an ileostomy from which I emerged yesterday. I now have chemo and another operation to face if the chemo works.
But from diagnosis to surgery in 4 days? What private health cover could better that? And if you have to have colo rectal cancer then have it in Birmingham which is a centre of excellence in terms of treatment.
I have frequently said nice things about the NHS but never before have I been so personally involved in how fantastic it can be in emergencies and I had excellent pre and post operative care and excellent surgeons.
The only sad thing of course is the post code lottery. That not everyone in Britain has the same access to the excellent facilities I enjoyed because of where they live. At the moment I don't feel like postulating too much on this - I am just too grateful for living where I do.
2 comments:
Brian, sorry to hear about your illness, and hopefully they've caught it in time and are treating it. It sounds like you're getting pretty swift treatment anyway.
The post code lottery isn't as black-and-white as it seems. No health service will ever be able to commit unlimited resources to deal with every and any type of illness instantly, so there has to be some sort of prioritisation. That can either be done centrally, by Whitehall based NHS executives, or devolved to regions where local officials take into consideration local priorities based on the health requirements of their regions.
So in Scotland, the deep fried mars bar eaters will require a different priority to the farmers of East Anglia. Stereotypes, I know, but I'm sure you see what I mean. In Sandwell we need to concentrate resources around cardiovascular illnesses and cancers, as well as attacking the causes.... smoking cessation, improved diet, encourage exercise, alcohol reduction. Torquay, on the other hand, or Bournemouth, will have a greater need for dealing with Alzheimer's, dementia, hip replacements and quality of life improvements associated with the longer life span of their population.
Of course, then if you have a bowel cancer in Bournemouth you lose out in the lottery, and dementia in Sandwell, the same. As the Chair of the Sandwell Mental Health trust, believe me, I know we are underfunded compared to most other areas. But as I say, unless you are going to commit unlimited resources... for lottery, read prioritisation.
All the best anyway, and I hope everything works out fine.
Thanks Bob, I take the point and I wasn't suggesting it was an easy one to get round. As I said rather than make judgements I'm just grateful to be where I am.
Thanks again for the kind wishes
Brian
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