Blog 09\05
Saturday night just gone saw me once again deeply indebted to the 999 family to which I hold a small role in support( Police Volunteer). At a little after midnight after returning from a night out with my son and a few mates I found my wife collapsed with severe abdominal pain. A “code red” meant she was quickly transported by ambulance to the emergency unit at Southampton General Hospital and placed in care of a junior Doctor and her team of nurses and technicians. Pleased to say shes now out of surgery and on road to recovery but my 24 hours in there prompted this blog update.
Saturday night in A&E at any hospital is manic any Police officer or medic will tell you the same- but this night was pretty full on. I saw, drunks, drug addicts,mentally disturbed people taking up 60% of these valuable facilities and resources. All absorbed dealt with by a professional crew of Drs and nurses fighting not only these people to resolve their issues,but tiredness,stretched patience and abuse,they do this each and every shift without question or hesitation. The never ending string of alcohol related incidents delayed unnecessarily some serious cases being dealt with. At one point up to 4 hours to see the Dr who was so in constant demand. Drs and nurses should never be subject to any form of physical or verbal abuse as with our Police but it happens and I saw it Saturday night.
On top of this they are being pressured with new contracts and unfair working practices which to be fair is now being reviewed and rightly so by the Government minister responsible! Lets hope talks work out because I tell you we need these people they are unique,tremendously loyal devoted people who like our Police Teams make a huge difference. We rely on them at times of great distress in our lives to help us over come adversity. The pressure in the A&E I was in Saturday night into Sunday could have been cut with a knife!
End