Frump to Fab 2018 - Fabulous Dahhhhlings

humptydumptybits

lessonlearned wrote: »

I am borderline diabetic so podiatry is not a little treat for me. It's necessary to ensure good foot care and hopefully avoid complications further down the line. I don't much care for the idea of amputations.... so I do have check ups.

Re acupuncture, chiro, physio etc.

These services are available on the NHS, they are now recognised for the value they offer in pain relief and healing. A lot of pain clinics try and provide these treatments because they are now fully recognised as often being just as effective as drug therapy.

Unfortunately as you rightly point out there aren't enough practitioners working in the NHS to provide enough cover. Waiting lists here are very long. And often they can only offer 4 physio treatments. After my car crash I needed physio for 6 months. Without it I would probably have ended up in a wheelchair. Luckily my car insurance covered most the costs.

As I said......there are no easy answers.

Maman you are right, we can't take on the world (ha ha tried that when my husband was sick, it's like tilting at windmills). All we can do is the best we can to stay as healthy as we can and to watch over our families and help them to stay healthy.

Don't know much about how education is faring at the moment. I have been out of the loop for several years but even when my kids were at school all those years ago the cracks were already showing. I can only assume the worst........

I did say podiatry for diabetics is important but I genuinely don't think it is for the rest of us.


Acupuncture and chiropractor might be great but it isn't what the NHS was set up to do. I can remember being a young mum and paying for my private prescription for the pill and then paying for it to be dispensed, itwas a struggle but at the end of the day it was my sex life and the NHS wasn't set up for that. We now stretch it all so far that everything is stretched. Extras are all very well but I'd rather know that heart operations and cancer treatments were easily available and I'll happily pay for my hygienist or podiatrist or whatever. It is about what we need to prioritize and that seems to be where we have gone wrong.

In my area they have improved the physio system by self referral. Like the physio I saw said why go and waste a doctors time asking to be referred when you can phone up and get assessed by a physio and start treatment. It has improved the whole system so much, quicker referral which often means shorter treatment times. I think that is what we need, think outside the box.

humptydumptybits

maman wrote: »

I agree humpty and education is sinking fast too. Recruitment is a massive issue. As fast as the government tries to attract people to train as teachers, with hugely expensive advertising campaigns, they are leaving. About 30% leave the profession within the first 5 years, many after just one year. The problem has been masked a little as worsening pension entitlements have meant older teachers staying on a bit longer. It's mainly the result of education being used as a political football in recent years and the hugely increased workload that has resulted alongside spending cuts and lack of support from agencies such as child mental health and social services because they've been cut too.:( Some of the issues with GP practices are around doctors working part time to help alleviate the workload. That's not an issue in education as pay is so poor for a graduate profession that it's not practical to work part time without another income so people leave instead.:(


I understand your position LL and money. I too could pay for private healthcare if I chose but someone has to look out for the people who can't afford it. I already pay for dentistry as it was the only way to stay with my practice when they went private. The podiatrist is just a treat for me really but imagine having to pay about £30 for a half hour treatment on a low income. It just wouldn't happen just as many don't go to the dentist any more or get prescriptions dispensed.


It's so depressing but I find I just have to try not to think about it and focus on me, my family and friends on occasion or it becomes overwhelming.


We did get to the NT property yesterday. It was really good to see the house all decorated on the theme of the Night Before Christmas poem. We went on the way to the family Christmas party so I must have been the only person wearing a dress looking round the house.:D I indulged in a bit of people watching and there seems to be a uniform for visiting NT at Christmas: jeans, quilted jacket and boots/wellies. I can see why you'd buy a hat living in the country money. It really does make a difference to keeping warm and a beanie is great as you can just put it in your bag or pocket.


I wore my Zara maxi dress again yesterday with leggings. I wore boots to the NT and then changed into ballet pumps for the party. Compliments again on my dress from family. I think it's probably down to about £6 a wear now and worth every penny.


Quiet day at home today. My plan is to make mince pies later. DH loves a home made mince pie and Christmas wouldn't be the same without them. :xmassmile

I love a mince pie, in fact I love them too much.


Education is another area that is in crisis, don't know what is going to happen if recruitment and retention don't improve.

maman

Didn't mean to cause offence about the podiatry LL . We had a diabetic friend who had an amputation. Silly chump got a rose thorn in his foot from walking around barefoot. If he'd had podiatry it would have been picked up. I can see why you'd pay for those services. It's a treat for me and I can mix and match with pedicures. I used to have a beautician in Turkey that did a pedicure as well as any podiatrist but she's retired now. My current beautician locally is good but better at the skin than the nails.

I think other services can be a bit of a postcode lottery. I've seen programmes of GPs behind closed doors where they offer acupuncture in the GP surgery.

DH had 2 mince pies straight from the oven. He's happy.:D

We're out tomorrow evening for drinks with friends. Lots of bits to do before then.

moneyistooshorttomention

I certainly don't agree the NHS is for "lifestyle choice" issues - but I do know personally that footcare is essential and wouldn't be spending our scarce resources on things like over-sized beds/sex changes/anything that was down to "lifestyle choice" personally.

Re feet - I can recall when I was in a lot of pain with my feet (ingrown toenails) and could barely walk on them/they were even painful from sheets resting on them and the NHS refused to treat me (as I wasnt pension age) and a chiropodist found a way to get them to treat me - as he knew I couldnt afford £100 per foot that he would have charged me. He forewent his fees I would have had to go into debt to pay him and fought my case for the NHS to deal with my feet (regardless of my being in a younger age group). I've not forgotten that.

The contraceptive pill - yes....that should be free always and forever when it's needed. It saves the NHS a lot of money dealing with the result of unwanted pregnancies that could happen otherwise. So it's short-term spending for long-term savings.

Certainly exceptions can/should be made imo for medical staff to come here from other countries and work in healthcare here if they choose to do so. I feel guilty at the thought we would, in the process, be "poaching" them from their own countries (where they are also probably needed) and don't know the answer to that.

So - all round - I do worry about the state of the NHS. The fact I pay for some private health care doesnt mean I can actually afford it - I can't. But my own personal take is that if I can see something can be done to ease illness noticeably then I will have it - and, if it means going into debt, I'll still have it and go into that debt and be very voluble about being forced to go into that debt (no "shut up/pay up/keep quiet about it" - that wouldn't be happening for sure). More like "pay up - and then yell about being forced to".

But - yes there are things that make me despair about the money some people expect the NHS to pay out - eg drunks in A & E Departments with self-inflicted problems or people expecting prescriptions for things they can buy over the counter pretty cheaply (aspirins - oh really!!!). I know I've certainly had occasions where I've worked out for myself what a minor ailment was - and duly just headed for wherever-it-was (chemist or otherwise) and bought my own remedy for it. Currently thoroughly amused at one local friend that has developed a tendency just to ask me what I think the problem is/can be done about it if they get a minor ailment now.....

lessonlearned

Maman. Of course you didnt give any offence. . Yes I've been warned not to walk around barefoot. And part of my skin care routine on legs and feet is to keep them well moisturised to preserve skin integrity, to protect against dry skin fissures or cracks and therefore minimise risk of infection.

Of course reducing blood sugars is the best protection of all. I'm getting there.

silvasava

Money I'm really surprised you couldn't get your feet sorted through NHS. Both my sons had this problem and our local doctor dealt with them. My elder son developed them again about 18 months later and was treated in hospital as an out patient - mind you this was about 35 years ago!
DS2 is a type 1 diabetic & consequently has to take very good care of his feet.
I do think that perhaps the NHS should pull back from some of the treatments they currently provide. Another huge expense to them are the advances in equipment - scanners, MRI machines, the linnear accelerators used for radiotherapy treatment cost in excess of 3 million each and that without the running costs and maintenance let alone the expertise of the radiographers.
My fabbing at the moment is limited to sticking my false nails back on - lost one when I was preparing dinner - had visions of it surfacing in the tomato sauce with the meatballs! Luckily it was on the work surface!

lessonlearned

:xmassmile:

Well I'm awake nice and early.....will get cracking and start the day soon. Give the place a final fluff for Christmas.

So let me take this opportunity to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas. :xmastree:

seven-day-weekend

Merry Christmas to you too, Lessonlearned, and to everyone else here on this thread.

I too think that there are treatments/procedures that should not be available on the NHS, such as fertility treatments, gender re-assignments and the like.

However, as was mntioned further up the thread, the NHS is expected to deal with so much more than it was ever intended. I think we should expect to pay privately for some things.

The operation my husband has recently had on his hand is no longer going to be funded by the NHS - which I think very short-sighted because if it gets too bad it can result in amputation. Instead the only treatment that will be funded for the condition is an injection that does not always work.

He has had the operation on both hands now, so hopefully won't need another one, but if he does we will pay privately.

Meanwhile, people who can't afford to do this will have to live with their hand slowly turning into a claw. Don't know what the answer is.

https://www.epainassist.com/images/innerBanners/Sports_Injuries/Finger-injuries/Dupuytrens-Contracture.jpg

moneyistooshorttomention

I know what operation you mean re the hand - Dupuytrens Contracture. Certainly treatment for that is necessary - though I'm not convinced that operation works - as my father had it and his hands are "going back to it again" a bit.

Obviously I'm scared I might have inherited a tendency to that - and I really should have kept the details of it in case - but there is an alternative treatment that definitely does work long-term and it can be got in France. I long since decided that, if ever I find that has been passed onto me and my hands start "clawing" - then France it is.....:cool: and I'll have them deal with it (unless we have that treatment here by then - which I doubt...).

Reminds me - I knew there was a reason why I thought I'd revamp the schoolgirl French and learn some more - shades of New Year Resolutions coming up.....besides the fact I'd like to speak French and Italian.

seven-day-weekend

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I know what operation you mean re the hand - Dupuytrens Contracture. Certainly treatment for that is necessary - though I'm not convinced that operation works - as my father had it and his hands are "going back to it again" a bit.

Obviously I'm scared I might have inherited a tendency to that - and I really should have kept the details of it in case - but there is an alternative treatment that definitely does work long-term and it can be got in France. I long since decided that, if ever I find that has been passed onto me and my hands start "clawing" - then France it is.....:cool: and I'll have them deal with it (unless we have that treatment here by then - which I doubt...).

Reminds me - I knew there was a reason why I thought I'd revamp the schoolgirl French and learn some more - shades of New Year Resolutions coming up.....besides the fact I'd like to speak French and Italian.

Dupuytrens usually affects males....although the occasional female will get it too (Margaret Thatcher had it).

My husband has his first operation about three years ago and his fingers are still straight - the operation apparently works more often and for longer than any of the alternative treatments. BUT of course we will research the treatment in France if it becomes necessary.