Virtual Care (What??)

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I noticed a small piece in today's i, down on page fifteen in 'News in Brief': "Virtual Hospital Care is no Silver Bullet". Just let that sink in for a moment. Virtual hospital care. What on God's earth is that supposed to even mean? To quote the final paragraph of this little throwaway in full: "Virtual wards allow patients to receive care at home, with clinical staff using apps or monitors. I mean, are we really that far adrift from reality that this makes any sense at all?

When I was a toddler, back in the mid-nineteen-fifties, I was severely scalded on my lower abdomen, groin and legs, occasioned by my dragging a freshly-made pot of tea off the kitchen counter right over me. I was run down in my pushchair to the accident & emergency department of Dudley Rd. Hospital by my mom and nan, a distance of three-quarters of a mile or so, on foot. I was treated for severe burns on the spot, with no wait; and spent the next six months in and out of the outpatient department, having my dressings regularly changed, by some extraordinarily kind and gentle nursing staff. I have no scars left to show for it, due to the timeliness and quality of the care I received that year.

I can't help thinking things would be woefully different these days, with A&E queues around the block and 'virtual' follow-up. This is in no way to slag off the NHS, but reflects rather on the disgusting neglect of the institution by successive Tory administrations, who consistently seem to be pathologically hell-bent on destroying one of the very few truly great British inventions and successes: a health service that provides care, free at the point of need, to all, regardless of their ability to pay. The establishment have sold our birthright from right under our feet, and it's up to us to support the front line staff in their constant struggle against tiers of management ill-suited to running a health service. We don't need no stinkin' privatisation, we need our NHS back, period.

Comments

  1. Anonymous16 January 2024 at 08:30

    Staff IN hospitals are RUN by Apps and Progs so what's the difference NOW???

    ReplyDelete

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