Socialised medicine - Betsy Kulman

An entry on the UK NHS socialised medicine so that Betsy can ask questions by way of comment.

Socialised medicine is something that we (or at least our government) have been very proud of.

The benefits are that we see our friends receiving modern medical treatment as needed, with almost no regard for cost. Two friends have recently had nerve grafts to recover from cancer and industrial accidents. This is high tech medicine. A german immigrant had his life saved by a UK liver transplant.

However if leads to great inefficiencies:

• Overload due to excessive expectation. Callers to the ambulance service rang to ask crew to help wrap up Christmas presents, and to request an ambulance for a fashion photo shoot because the blue lights would look good..
  
• Many maligerers visit doctors rather than working
• Inefficiency that seems endemic in any large government run body
• Over regulation prohibits development of alternative treatments - Mexico seems better than the UK on this.
• Excessive and politically manipulated waiting lists. Jan's radiotherapy was way later than government targets. My earlier posts list many NHS delays and manipulations.
  
• Political interference - we could not top up Jan's NHS teatment by paying ourselves for additional drugs without losing all NHS treatment - the government claim this is to ensure fairness! Is it fair that I cannot spend my after tax hard earned money as I want?
• It is run as a mechanised production line for statistical efficiency rather than as a caring organisation. Staff have been "removed" for offering prayer support. We pay car parking charges just to attend the hospital. Sometimes these are longer than necessary because our shambolic hospital organisation always results in long delays.
• Ambulances have been wheel clamped whilst parked at the hospital!
  

So I sometimes envy rich Greeks or Americans who have health insurance and choose the best hospital for each treatment as needed.

The drawbacks of UK's socialised NHS

Jan had a further check up between Christmas and the New Year. All was well, the dermatologist reckoned Jan's skin reaction was caused by an allergy to Tamoxifen, so was not Paget's disease or anything untoward.

The visit brought home a snag of our socialised medicine, which enables any waif and stray to demand attention whether needed or not. A consultation fee would stop much time wasting of our hospital staff, which of course has escalated by drunks over the Christmas holiday. A fee might also encourage some respect for our medical staff.

I write this as whilst visiting the hospital we passed a loud youth calling a doctor an "arsehole". |It saddens me that youths can be so uncouth to staff we need to prolong Jan's life!

Power of Prayer

Interesting that since Jan's diagnosis we come across so many friends and contacts who also have cancer...one encouraged us that prayer has major effects.

A lady friend of Jan's had tumours in her neck, needing a nasty operation, to be followed by radiotherapy. The operation cut through the jaw bone to gain access, and a nerve graft to repair the damage. The surgeon planned for the work to take a whole day, and the lady needless to say was very afraid.

A a member of a local church she gathered a large team of folk praying to support her, probably amounting to something just under 200 folk. She assured the surgeon that she was a Christian, and would rest the matter in prayer. The operation was performed, and a week or so later on removing the bandages the surgeon was amazed by the rapid and good recovery. "It must be those 3500 people you have praying for you!" he exclaimed.

More evidence that diet is effective

I was encouraged to read today's news in our Daily Telegraph. It reports from Addenbrooks Hospital Cambridge that a study found that almost four in ten patients with aggressive prostate cancer did not need planned surgery or radiotherapy after making simple lifestyle changes.

Wow, good news for me as a man. and for Jan as breast and prostate cancers share a similar hormone dependency.

More veggies tonight!

All clear after 2 biopsies + scan

All clear was given again ..... we are thankful, but still unclear as to why Jan has a persistent skin rash. As it is not cancer she waits a longer time to see a dermatologist, none of the cancer fast track treatment for that!

To give the historical data, Jan had a biopsy on 6th October to check for endometrial cancer. We took a lovely break to southern Europe in early October, to return on 16 Oct to a letter saying the earlier biopsy looking for suspected Paget's disease had proven clear of cancer. This was followed by a full scan and examination again on 17th Oct looking for endometrial cancer. On 23rd October we saw the oncological registrar again to be told that this was clear, but we must still wait for a dermatologist's consultation...

So good news on the cancer front, and it seems we need to do self diagnosis and treatment for the skin complaint. We did joke to the appointment secretary that the doctors were adding maximum possible delay in the hope that the condition would clear itself rather than causing them any work. She agreed with us, maybe we were too close to the truth!

Gynaecologist

The frustration of dealing with our socialised NHS. If it wasn't that we were sure Jan was cured and further tests were purely a precaution we would be in panic. All the staff seen were charming, but the overall organisation was appalling.

Last Friday we had a phone call telling us to see a doctor at Hertford today, Monday at 10:00. We weren't told whether this would be the dermatologist on gynaecologist as we expect both. A quick Internet search showed the doctor's name was for a well respected gynaecologist.

On arrival at 10:00 the receptionist stated there was no appointment for Jan, we were completely unexpected. After an hours delay the story changed to she was expected at 11:00, but she couldn't be seen before 12:00 as the notes were still miles away at another hospital!

By 12:00 Jan saw the gynaecological registrar, who still had no notes, so Jan explained why she thought she was suffering from a reaction caused by a switch from Tamoxifen to Arimidex. They talked as an ex ward sister talking "shop" to a doctor. Tamoxifen pumps the body with "fake" female estrogens, whereas Arimidex provides none, and stops the body's production of estrogens. So the body has a shock as one goes from excess to very few estrogens, and some effects Jan has experienced tie in with what we could expect from that hormone swing.

He seemed to agree, and was unconcerned by Jan's symptoms, and did not think she had further cancers. He took a sample of the endometrium and wants an ultrasound scan as soon as we return from holiday as a precaution.

He did however state that women who had breast cancer were at higher risk of endometrial and ovarian cancer, hence he wanted to do these 2 tests......... When I look on Google I find no link at all between breast and endometrial cancer apart from that caused by Tamoxifen which is a carcinogen.

Harold Burstein, MD, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School says: "We know there are relations between breast and ovarian cancer. We also know that the BRCA genes account for this relationship." But Burstein also underlined the other side of the news. "Women who don't have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer and are older than 49 when they are diagnosed with breast cancer have a very low risk of getting ovarian cancer."

So why do the UK doctors claim a link? Is he over simplifying for thick people or dare he not admit the dangerous risk that Tamoxifen causes endometrial cancer? ?

This is the second time the hospital have denied all knowledge of pre-booked appointments, after also losing mammograms and test results. If that record keeping is so poor we question whether we can trust their results of these tests.

Tamoxifen allergy or Pagets?

Jan saw the oncology department again on 24th Sept. She saw yet another doctor, there has been no continuity at all in that department. This registrar seemed even less experienced and uncertain.

If Jan has an allergic reaction to Tamoxifen causing multiple skin eruptions it continues, though it is hardly any worse than at the last visit. Could the Tamoxifen or its allergic effects be taking over six weeks to purge from Jan's body? It seems to have the oncologists in panic. After the previous visit on August 13th she had to see three specialist doctors urgently within a week. This visit was no less dramatic.

The starting comment was “you should see the consultant surgeon urgently”. Jan replied, “we have a holiday booked to start in a week's time” which saw an urgent appointment to see him that same afternoon. He took a biopsy to look for the possibility of Paget’s disease, another unpleasant breast cancer. She was later phoned with an appointment to see a gynaecologist within 12 days and expects an appointment to follow to see a dermatologist and a return to the oncologist……..

So we find it alarming, certainly not re-assuring. When I use Google I find the chances are between 4 and 5 to 1 that it is a reaction to Tamoxifen rather than more cancers. The one concern I have is does the research on skin effects of Tamoxifen exaggerate those risks to make the more expensive Arimidex look safer?

In this period of doubt we plan to jet off to Portugal to relax on a warm beach! We won't know the results of the biopsy until after our return....the wonders of our NHS! Maybe it is a test of our faith in God for a full cure?