THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

pollyanna_26

Mar I can't speak for Scotland but we in NW England have spent much of the last year campaigning against the breakdown of NHS services . Despite leading Surgeons and Consultants and many other staff fighting openly to back up the facts all was denied by the trust management .
Fast forward to the general election and the news was released very low key that a chunk of the local trust was now in the hands of a certain millionaire .
Digging deep it became apparent that all had been signed and sealed months ago .
On top of the hospital services the mental health service which had been run so far down to be barely functional over recent years and was placed in special measures has been hived out to another private company who have not yet even started to build their state of the art unit .
I still think of myself as a prepper but for a long time my main focus has been on a fair welfare state . The safety net that we oldies remember with affection . We can't let the younger generations grow without that back up .
Many jobs will go here at all levels of the health service and I'm angry at blatant denial of the truth .
Well it's stupid o clock here , I'm beyond tired too many elections and too much heat have drained me . All we can do is hope a measure of sanity enters at some point but I fear that ship has long sailed .
Take care
polly x

Karmacat

I agree with all those so far ... terrorist events, bad weather disrupting power and comms, NHS going downhill ...

Fuddle, I've had to retire so I don't earn any more, but my equivalent of your OH losing his job would be a financial crash - all my pension funds would sink in value, and I'm years from the state pension.

Agree with pollyanna that the sanity ship has sailed away from public life

So, what else besides those above:
- water main breaking/water being undrinkable due to accident at the purification plant (like Camelford)
- a problem that emerges while I'm travelling - if I'm not walking distance from the house, I have a (very little) EDC with me.
- the financial crash - rejigging where money is stored, to make it a little bit more resilient to a crash, there'll still be problems, of course.
- a new prep: against vermin. I'm going to buy a tub of the rat poison that my pest control guy is using.

mardatha

Pollyanna that's really shocked me. I had no idea that could happen to the NHS!

[Deleted User]

MAR learn herbs and old fashioned cures, most of them are effective in some measure and some old wives tales also have truth at their hearts. Not the NHS as we have it now but better than nothing at all eh?

pollyanna_26

Sad to say Mar nothing shocks me any more . I posted a while ago on the fence " open your eyes and then open your eyes again " ( thanks Terry ! )
People on this thread are not lacking in awareness but it is shocking how others take every headline and soundbite as gospel truth .
We have had a mountain of news over recent years and a useful thing is to always look behind the headlines and then look deeper .
A lot of us have grown up with the NHS and other safety nets .
I think I mentioned on the old thread my mother always expressed annoyance I was born a few days before the NHS went live and there were Doctor and Midwife fees for my parents to pay ,
I still haven't worked out how I personally could have changed that

The fact is structure is falling apart . I have zero tolerance for those who abuse the system either health or benefits wise but I do believe the genuine are living with the fear culture which has grown around that safety net .
Some of you will be aware I have to fight that while trying to keep my daughter seeing a reason to go on .

We will never know the reasons for the dreadful events over the past few months . It can be many different factors but out there are a lot of people with broken lives , no support for problems they may have . This can lead to isolation , anger and feeling outside everday life .
Bring in those who prey on the vulnerable make them feel they belong and you have a situation waiting to happen .

I have never been a person who gets angry . I was raised to recognise injustice and do what I could to help make the world a better place .
Anger is a negative emotion which changes nothing but I am and have for some time been very angry .
I think the tipping point was the announcement that Tory mps who lost their seats in the election were being given financial support by the government as many of them were in financial difficulties !!!
You couldn't make that up . That wont be a whipround in the house that will come out of public money .

Anyway I apologise for the length of this . I think I need a wander out in the garden with a brew .
I'll have a chat with Billy Blackbird and wait for the promised thunder and lightning and please a proper downpour .

With you on the herbs Lyn with proper knowledge can sort certain things .
Look we're nearly half way through the day , still have you and yours in my mind x
polly

Cheapskate

Afternoon all, just been reading back as it's been mega-busy here. Adult child #3 got married recently, so it was all hands to the pump, but now they're off on honeymoon in some sunny, far-flung spot.
Re own preparedness, we're looking to have skills and knowledge to cope with various mishaps that directly affect us (and possibly the adult children).
We have a solid fuel stove, a garage that's been tarted up to be more weather resistant, and will soon have new windows and doors to help against wilder weather. The end of the summer will see me prepping our garden for growing more edibles (building work precluded it this year), crocheting blankets for beds, sofa, and car, and foraging/batch cooking/freezing food for over the autumn/winter.
My mum's estate is just being wound up, finally, and we're going to use the money to pay off a chunk of our mortgage (with some left in the bank for a safety net), which will be money better spent than trying to find a good interest rate somewhere.
Re the "old" prepping thread - I'm more than happy to help out, too, if someone will pm details?

A xo

greenbee

pollyanna_26 wrote: »

I think I mentioned on the old thread my mother always expressed annoyance I was born a few days before the NHS went live and there were Doctor and Midwife fees for my parents to pay ,
I still haven't worked out how I personally could have changed that

She should have kept her legs crossed and made you stay in

My grandfather was involved in setting up the NHS. When he first started as a GP he had to tell the midwife that, unlike his predecessor, he didn't expect her to hold the babies in until he arrived (doctor got a guinea if he was there at the birth, but not if he wasn't).

fuddle

Was your grandfather proud to be part of the NHS Greenbee? Your story of your Grandfather rings true to what I was told about the vast majority of GP's back then in that they didn't fancy the idea much because they would lose out in money.

A dear old mariner from my time in the South explained to me about the pain and suffering that saw his mum die in childbirth. This is before the NHS. His wife would get grouchy with the District Nurses and often times I would hear him apologise with a gratitude that I can only describe as heart wrenching.

I have fallen foul of getting uptight about my expectations not being met with my own health care but once I calm down I think of him, his words and his eyes.

The Prime Minister we have now has had a clear sign, I think, that austerity needs to cease now and I can only hope that this is the end of the destruction of the NHS. It's currently going through it's 'Five Year Forward View' and attributes the rising demand to our growing and aging population. It also talks about our demand and expectations for immediate and in depth care, a social shift in mental health acceptance and difficulties with social care having an effect.

If you're worried about the NHS it's worth an encouraging read https://www.england.nhs.uk/five-year-forward-view/next-steps-on-the-nhs-five-year-forward-view/executive-summary/ but it's one thing charting ideal next steps but quite another when money makes the world go round.

[Deleted User]

I often wonder if the ailing NHS might recover if the current management system was lessened and the individual hospitals were actually run by a Matron, obviously hospitals these days are much different to the institutions they were when the NHS was first created and the vast range of procedures they can offer needs real expertise both from Doctors and the Nursing Staff so they are a much more complex organisations and very much bigger too. I can't get my head around hospitals and schools being run as 'competition' to each other and never have understood the actual value of League Tables and hospitals competing for patients as though they were customers. Perhaps you're right and austerity does need to be eased but I really think a different approach and different thinking might breath life back into the poor old NHS.

greenbee

fuddle wrote: »

Was your grandfather proud to be part of the NHS Greenbee? Your story of your Grandfather rings true to what I was told about the vast majority of GP's back then in that they didn't fancy the idea much because they would lose out in money.

Yes, he was, because he wanted to treat everyone, not just those who could afford it. There were all sorts of schemes to try to cover people including those who were 'on the parish'. He was involved in a TV programme about it - the programme isn't available, but there's a nice picture of him on the programme page here (Feel free to nag the bbc to make it available - they've done this with a number of their archived programmes on the birth of the NHS).