NHS Tragedy

Today I understand once again that NHS is a useless system that only works for birth control, STDs, and cancer.

The whole idea is making things too complicated that you finally give up freaking bureaucracy and find your own way of recovering. Do you want to know how? Take a deep breath and read then:

Monday morning: I had hay-fever last Sunday after a tiring journey. I woke up sweating as if I attended a marathon Monday morning and called my GP (General Practitioner) GP is the doctor who you never meet but you have his name on all NHS documents. You can't reach him when you need him. You are periodically forwarded to a lot of useless nurses instead (there are always exceptions for sure!). You register with a different GP wherever you move in to so that they are aware of your existence, they can invite you for cancer scanning, they can give you thousands of condoms for free or prescribe contraceptions. Yes NHS is obsessed with birth control!

Anyway. GP gave me the "first available appointment" for Tuesday afternoon. I forgot to tell you. You have to make an appointment to see your doctor for a cold, flu etc. In the mean time you are on your own. When you finally get the chance to see your GP you mostly recovered or your medical condition is evolved. You would be survived on paracetamol's, hot tea with lemon or lemsips, reiki, pray, good will etc.

Tuesday morning: Hence I woke up Tuesday morning with an itchy eye. It was eye infection. However it was to take another 2 days to diagnose eye infection for NHS! Because GP said my temperature is fine, my tonsils look all right. I should be drinking lots of liquid and "two of my eyes are the same", no problem!

This "very scientific" explanation from my so-called GP did not impress me at all then I went to Boots to talk to the pharmacist. She said she couldn't give me antibiotics that I should see an optician for prescriptions. Then I googled my address and optician as key words and phoned the first result to make an appointment. Because my eye was getting painful, worse. Considering my job on TV, being applied make up on&off all the time with a swollen pink eye is the last thing I'd like to have nowadays!

Wednesday morning: My eye was swollen, pink, painful. I could see the infection behind my eye lid. I googled everything I diagnosed myself but all I needed was an antibiotic cream and a doctor with a degree who can prescribe it! My colleague David suggested me to go to eye hospital close to work instead of an optician. I phoned the optician to cancel the appointment. And he said he can refer me to the hospital. I should be seeing the optician first. After general check-up he'll refer me. I was helpless, in pain and in need of urgent solution in my long lunch break so that I could come back to work asap...

Optician checked my eyes. Without using computer-based system: I turned out to be "shirt-sighted" 0.50 both eyes, having very dry eyes needing urgent dehydration. AND after 45 minutes he asked for extra £15 to check my REAL problem, eye lid. He said this could be an allergy but he couldn't say anything. He referred me to an ophthalmologist in another eye hospital in Baker Street. And his mate was showing me frames for glasses. God sake I was trying lots of glasses as if my urgent problem was SEEING! I don't drive, I don't watch TV. The longest distance I look is the computer screen! Who cares being short-sighted when you have a painful infection inside your eye?!? I paid £40 for check-up, £30 for artificial tears for dehydrating my eyes, £90 for lenses, £160 designer's frame: I was robbed around £340. Still no diagnosis to my swollen eye. No solution. Nothing.

It took 1 hour to find the hospital. I waited 2 hours to be seen by a doctor. Apparently I was lucky because I had a referral from my optician otherwise they wouldn't see me that soon (!)

And guess what: Doctor diagnosed infection under eyelid, prescribed antibiotic cream for one week. He said it should get better, if not I should come back for a minor surgery to remove infection. Just like what I read online. He also said take paracetamol for pain just like any other doctor in this country. I went back to work, starving, carrying lots of papers in my hand, late for my afternoon job. eventually I bought the antibiotic cream costing only £5!

NHS is the system that you should fight with the help of your immune system. The only logic is take paracetamol, take days off, put your feet up, eat well and try to strengthen your immune system! Otherwise you are in trouble.