My brother in law has just been taking to hospital after having a fit, they suspect he's epilleptic.
My missus phoned the ward and asked how he was. Nurse was very helpful and said he's stable and less confused now.
Here comes the RANT.
She asked to speak to him, and was told
" i'm sorry he's not activated his phone for calls, you can do it if you like, but it will cost you £20"
I know it's not the Nurses and they do a fantastic Job ( I know I couldn't do it!)
BUT for *expletive* sake her brother has jsut been taken to hospital and she has to pay to talk to him!!!
ARGHHH
Sorry to hear the bad news....
BUT - I suspect the phone services are provided by a seperate private company - they make money and they have no social conscience....
Get used to it - anyone see Panorama last night. Looks like Humana et al are set to invade the UK healthcare market invited by the government...
sounds a right con
no you would not want to be a nurse, the jobs horrific
Yup. Privatisation sucks eh!!!!
A few years ago when the hospitals needed some cash they sold out to companies who installed little TVs and phones next to the beds. Whilst installing
these they removed all the old televisions and the old telephones on wheels.... which was nice of them 
Consequently the only choice is to pay out for rip-off phone cards and expensive tv-cards... And although relatives can ring in, its ridiculously
expensive......
Still, I'm sure the TV/phone company made a nice little profit (new Mercedes all round fellas) and I expect the hospital directors got some nice
meals out.....
Clearly the emphasis should be on patient care but this government is obsessed with turning the whole NHS into a "buisness model" and
"outsourcing increasing parts of provision to the independant sector"- now I just thought they were privatising the whole thing (badly).....
Fortunately (Un?) I'm kept up to date with every in and out by my GP wife... She has declared we're never moving back to England...
Will you be in a Polyclinic soon Ben?
It seems like a mobile phone, laptop, portable TV and anti-MRSA mask are now essential items to take into hospital. I wonder if the ambulance does a detour to your house on the way to hospital to collect your 'essentials'.
Yep, the state of the hospitals is terrible, I have so much admiration to the 'sensible' staff that work under such draconian management
systems.
My youngest son is epileptic, its not too much to worry about. But, while he's in hospital its time to get some good jokes sorted......
Ask him to do your laundry next time he has a bath.
When squeezing into a tight spot, if anyone asks 'can you fit' just shake for a few seconds. My wife still doesn't see the funny side
of that one 
If it makes you feel any better then most of the private companies who installed services like this have been loosing money on them
Nice to see kama at work 
a few of them have even been removing the hardware from hospitals to try and claw back some lost revenue. So if people
continue to not use the services these companies provide then hopefully we will get back to a more 'patient friendly' costed system sooner
or later.
Hope you BIL is feeling better soon
[Edited on 8/7/08 by Duncan_P]
quote:
Originally posted by balidey
Ask him to do your laundry next time he has a bath.
quote:
Originally posted by Duncan_P
If it makes you feel any better then most of the private companies who installed services like this have been loosing money on them
Nice to see kama at work
Hope you BIL is feeling better soon
[Edited on 8/7/08 by Duncan_P]
It's strange, but this wasn't the experiance I've had with hospitals over the last few weeks. Mostly it was all very positive.
My Dad had one of these phone come TV come internet things, but registering it was free and he could then take incoming calls.
I guess it's different NHS trusts and different private companies.
[Edited on 8/7/08 by bilbo]
When my boy was in hospital, the TV thing was a god send, try keeping a 3 year old confined to a room without TV but it was free for kids. And it
turned off at 8pm, when kids should be asleep, but us parents then had bugger all to do, unless we paid ££££
My mother-in-law died two years ago, having spent 9 weeks in hospital completely bedbound, with no access to a phone or TV (all her brothers and
sisters live abroad and couldn't visit regularly). The reason she had no TV or phone was because they'd all been removed - it seems that as
the elderly pay less per day, there is not enough profit in it, so they were all ripped out of the elderly wards. Nine weeks of no phone or TV while
unable to hold a book or magazine and nothing to take your mind off the fact that you are dying - such a caring system!
quote:
Originally posted by SeaBass
Fortunately (Un?) I'm kept up to date with every in and out by my GP wife... She has declared we're never moving back to England...
Will you be in a Polyclinic soon Ben?