Unmerited patience

If you've endured thus far you will know that I could not hold the BBC in any more than the lowest of contemptible corporations. It simply should not be allowed to exist in its current form. At every opportunity it seeks to denigrate, humiliate, and cynically undermine every aspect of what it was established to uphold.

For a few days we had a BMW salesman occupying a bed in E bay. How do I know? Because he spent nearly all day loudly talking to his colleagues on his phone. He also paid for TV access. Thus I awoke to breakfast time TV and proceeded to endure daytime tv as he refused headphones. By mid afternoon, and being unable to hear my brother speak I asked him to turn it down, which he did. A little. The main item running on local news was our health correspondent telling us that 3 out of 5 full time health professionals wanted out and that the NHS was choked with old people bed blocking.

Less than 2 minutes with Google elicited that her quoted survey had been a telephone poll of a few hundred people undertaken by a bunch of students from a university that hadn't existed a decade ago. I'm sure that you could substitute full time health professionals for tinkers, tailors, soldiers, spies or any profession you care to name and the results would be the same.

But old people bed blocking? Not that I've seen in my very small sample of wards over a very few weeks. One elderly gent was desperate to get home but social services were unable to source the personnel needed for him.

However, every ward of six  beds had at least one drug addict and usually two cluttering up the system. The first I met refused to go to the hostel offered as he'd been there and didn't like it. He had to have a temporary address to get a temporary doctor to write a prescription for his methadone. After nearly a week a large social worker arrived and told him that they were leaving the ward, he was going to the hostel to be registered there after which he could do whatever he liked. They left.

One Friday night a young (38) addict was wheeled into a bed opposite me by paramedics carrying the detritus of his life in carrier bags. He was canulated, drip fed and an orangey yellow drip was attached as well. He remained docile all day Saturday but at 0615 on Sunday i was awoken by a bright light shining at me and this fellow rabbiting away on his phone. He was talking postcodes, house numbers and figures which sounded like quantities of goods and cash. He then arranged for a friend to collect and deliver. A nurse closed the curtains but they may dull the glare but not the volume.

There was much rummaging around and then he went off to get a jug of fresh water. I believe he had arranged various drug deals and was taking his own drugs. Mid morning his mother came and demonstrated with him for self discharging himself from this hospital recently and one other. She left very upset and his sister arrived and comiserated with him but left no room for any doubt over what she thought.

By late morning the doctor arrived and explained that he ws so full of opiates that he ws unable to digest any food and that they had to clear out his intestines. He promptly asked for particular drugs to be given which the doctor refused. He got quite wound up and then declared that he'd discharge himself. This, he was assured he was free to do. So he did. As he collected his things you became aware of serious personal hygiene issues but eventually he was ready to go. At this point he began shouting for a nurse who promptly arrived only to be asked to send for some porters to carry his bags down to the bus stop. This too, was declined. He went anyway.

Then his area was deep cleaned and it was only once the curtains were removed that the filth and damage he had caused became apparent. It took teams of cleaners and handymen till 9 in the evening to make his bay useable.

The final example of an addict reminded me of Neil in the young ones. Always whining, whingeing and demanding attention. Every few minutes for days he demanded methadone, oromorph and various other pain killers. At this time I was a frequent morphia user myself but he kept saying his leg pain was 8/10. Yeah, right.

It amused all of us that as soon as every nurse had told him "no" he briskly swung his painful leg and his good one out of bed and marched off for a fag. Outside was a significant walk away. This went on and on for days. Finally a doctor and nurse told him he was being discharged to his hostel. Cue Oscar quality whining, whingeing, complaining, painful to listen to but finally he said he couldn't afford the taxi. Fags, newspapers in abundance but no money to get home. The nurse informed him that the taxi was paid for by the NHS, cue sharp intake of breath all round, but that at one o'clock the meter would start and if he wasn't there he'd be charged for keeping it waiting. Moaning and cussing he went. Cue deep cleaning but no damage although two phone chargers were left in the wall sockets.

Drug addicts are costing the NHS dear but do you ever hear that on the BBC?

I conclude this post with by far the very worst example of patient misbehaviour, any misbehaviour I've ever seen. Unfortunately this specimen occupied the bed opposite me. Foul in every aspect doesn't begin to do him, his mother or his cousin justice.

He arrived clad in two gowns laced at the sides carrying his catheter bag with his utterly obnoxious mum in tow. Their language was obscene. All the time. They treated the staff like dirt. In the mornings he'd be asked to get up to allow a bed change. He told them where to go. The cooks would ask for menu preferences and he'd swear at them, too. He'd stomp about the ward at 0200 shouting into his phone eating pasties, pastries and chocolate.

He was, I was reliably informed, a frequent flyer. He had a wuss of a GP who stood for little. When he wanted his bedding changed he'd disconnect his catheter bag and drip some of it's contents between his legs and get a nurse to sort out his "leaking" catheter. I saw him do this more than once.

His mother would visit, sit in his chair, plug in her mobile and shout at her phone. All afternoon. She was foul, too.

On Friday afternoon his older cousin arrived. She had left a course because it was like school. I thought they cut your benefits if you walked, he said. They never do, she replied. She then explained that she'd been to the benefits office to claim for this that and the other as her telly was two years old and she wanted a bigger one. The benefits she'd just claimed were for specific use but no one checked so she could spend them on a new telly.

Earlier, Pat, visiting her husband next to this creature asked what he did. Nothing, he said. He was on benefits. He'd not only never worked a day in his life he, nor anyone else in his family ever intended to. She asked him where he thought the money came from, he replied, "the government, they got plenty" she was aghast, as were the rest of us.

On Saturday afternoon they all arrived to visit laden with bottles of coke, Pepsi, tango, dr.pepper and every other fizzy drink imaginable, bags of Haribo by the dozen and towers of chocolate bars. He began phoning his mates inviting them into hospital to watch some tv show that evening. We were in shock. Pat was noting everything said and went to see someone. She returned as they all trooped out for their fags.

Fortunately, around 5 to 5:30 they all started shouting and swearing at each other and by 5:35 He was left alone cursing and swearing loudly to any who cared to pay attention. No one did and eventually fags dragged him away and the evening passed quietly.

On Monday the eagerly and constantly demanded urologist arrived to see him. He was on an extended fag break but a nurse offered to find him. No need, I've seen him before. There's nothing wrong with him. Remove the catheter and send him home. When he returned he lay down and some hours later demanded that the urologist appear. When informed that he had done so this foul specimen threatened to sue, instigate proceedings and other dire consequences.

This carried on for ages but before the conclusion was reached I'd been removed.

If a person cannot work I'll gladly pay my taxes to support them. If a person will not work then let them starve. This family were utterly foul, rude, selfish and having never worked had no conception of what it means to get on with people. We have paid our taxes to permit this utterly intolerable state to not only continue but to flourish.

Shame on us but you will never find our BBC reporting this shameful state of affairs but no doubt some politico programme commissioner would make it into a sitcom or reality TV programme and think they were doing a good job.

Such is the depravity of our national broadcaster.