Thanks for your confidence in me, Skylark.

 

I like the fact that the little items grow quite quickly.

Hi squiggle xx

Welcome frodo too  
Was it Veggie that was the knitter ? I do wish she would she come back.....
Off now, catch up tomorrow, goodnight  everyone  

Yes, Veggie used to knit for her grandsons. I also wish she'd come back to us.

See you here tomorrow, Skylark (it's so good to be able to post that again)

Off for a bath, then bed. Goodnight all, see you tomorrow. Summer, leaving you a hug, in case you are night owling

Good morning everyone

 

Wet night here, looks as if it will be a windy showery day. I hope those in Scotland haven't been blown away.

Good morning everyone, loads of rain overnight again and very high winds.  Quite a clear morning but I've got the feeling that it won't last long.

Good afternoon everyone. Weather is still breezy but the rain has stopped and the sun is shining.

Various news stories re local (to me) health services I have found today on my local news website:

 

On the plus side:

PIONEERING work on dementia care has been highlighted by Gloucester's MP, who has invited health ministers to see it in action.

Richard Graham secured a debate on the illness which affects more than 8,000 people in Gloucestershire, and he challenged Minister of State for Care and Support, Norman Lamb to see how the Barnwood Trust is helping people with dementia.

"We are fortunate to have a local charitable foundation, the Barnwood Trust, and it is working closely with the Gloucestershire clinical commissioning group, which has won £500,000 from the NHS dementia challenge to create dementia-friendly communities," Mr Graham said in the Westminster Hall debate. "That means having community workers who are trained as dementia link workers - people who are connecting to local communities."

Lib Dem Mr Lamb wouldn't commit to a Gloucestershire visit at this stage but didn't rule it out.

 

On the plus side:

MATERNITY services in Gloucestershire have received a glowing recommendation for a high standard of service after an intensive review. The top safety rating was awarded after a full two-day assessment was carried out in January.

Five key aspects of maternity services came under scrutiny, including organisation, clinical care, high risk care, communication, postnatal and new born care. The Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trust's Maternity Standards are divided into three levels.

Gloucestershire Hospitals now joins only a handful of Trusts in the country to have achieved the top Level 3 CNST status.

 

But on the minus side:

CLOSING Cheltenham's accident and emergency department is inevitable, a GP has warned.

Dr Phillip Fielding, who is based at the Royal Well Surgery, said the idea of centralising the county's A&E services in Gloucester had already been discussed by GPs and county health chiefs.

The news will increase speculation surrounding the future of the A&E department at Cheltenham General Hospital after concerns were raised by MP Martin Horwood earlier this month. But leaders at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have repeatedly stressed A&E departments at Cheltenham General and Gloucestershire Royal hospitals were safe from closure. The stance was reiterated yesterday by a senior consultant who said there were "no plans" on the table to close either department.

But Dr Fielding, who is chairman of the county's local medical committee, said that, although it would be a bitter pill to swallow, centralising A&E services was the best option to ensure the highest standards of care remained available to patients.

He said: "It all goes back to the question of how to maintain the best standard of service locally.

"In an ideal world we would be able to maintain that standard at A&E departments in both Cheltenham and Gloucester.

"But we may have to accept that it's not possible in the current climate.

 

And to cap it all:

MISMANAGEMENT within the NHS is crippling Gloucestershire hospitals and strangling the quality of patient care, according to a senior county clinician.

The whistleblower said he fears for the future of both Cheltenham General and Gloucestershire Royal Hospitals, and said huge sums are being drained from the NHS in unnecessary consultant fees.

Endless 'merry go-round' meetings, cancelled operations and mismanaged beds which are creating a shortage, are having a devastating impact on the service, he said.

The knock-on effect is that morale is plummeting among frontline staff.

"I've come across patients who have been treated on the wards appallingly, a real lack of care," he said.

"Too much time is spent micro-managing by people – it's a great danger. I've worked in a blue chip company. If their senior managers had needed outside consultants to come in and tell them how to run the firm – they would have been sacked.

"I've always believed nurses want to be nurses – they are not lazy and not stupid, but grossly overworked. When you actually look at what they are doing, it's mainly paperwork and reporting rather than patient care – that's left to untrained and unskilled nursing staff."

He told BBC Radio Gloucestershire that cruelty is becoming normal in Gloucestershire hospitals, and alleged that one stroke patient with a broken arm was left starving, unable to feed herself.

Dr Frank Harsent, chief executive of Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, was angry at the claims.

"I am disappointed this individual feels the best way to highlight their concerns about our organisation is to approach the media," he said.

"It is important to remember our Trust operates as part of the wider NHS and we play our part within that structure. While we can understand individuals may be frustrated with the complex systems in place throughout the health service, as a public sector organisation it is our duty to implement these."

The insider's claims have been backed up by a nurse at St Paul's Medical Centre in Cheltenham. The nurse, who doesn't want to be identified, said staffing pressures are stopping nurses delivering the best possible care.

"In my experience, bullying within the NHS from management is hugely escalating," she said. "Our level of performance as nurses is being constantly scrutinised and that is putting us under pressure."

Good news about the dementia and maternity services.

Not so good news about A&E and mismanagement, El.

Hello all

I love the Mr Darcy clips and Colin Firth ,I have the book Pride and Prejudice

Mansfield Park ,Northanger Abbey ..but I love popular novels as well 

Maeve Binchy ,I have quite a few of her books.

 

Knitting used to be one of my fav things ,but the sewing up was my downfall and they seemed to be all wrong at the end 

Animals are my other love ,they have been for their walk well fed tummies and asleep on the sofa wrapped in their blankets

 

lovely to speak to you all ..bye for now x

 

Yogi is that your dog in the photo reminds me of my lovely Ben a labrador I had 

Hi Frodo.

 

I must admit that the sewing up of knitted garments is my least favourite part. I will do my best with the little jacket I am knitting, and hope any mistakes will be overlooked.

 

My family love dogs. The one in my avi is my golden retriever, she's called Keira. I sometimes look after my son and DiL's golden labrador, he's called Harvey. They get on really well together - like best of friends.

What kind of dogs do you have? Do they get on well together?

 

Squiggle introduced me to Maeve Binchy books, and I have enjoyed the ones I've read so far.

 

hello again Yogi

just small dogs of mixture ,I swore I would never have another animal  

one was a puppy we got ,the other has been thrown about ,never having a good home until now  they have had slow braised brisket for tea with rice and biscuits ..trust me not to recognise the retriever ,so gentle .

 

speak to you soon xx

Sounds like they have a lovely home with you, Frodo, with lots of love and spoiling.

Summer, you haven't been around today, hope all is well with you.

Goodnight all, see you tomorrow.

*night owls* Thanks yogi all is well, just been very very busy and too tired to log on last night hope you're enjoying your knitting Lovely to see you back skylark! hope all's well with you. Do you know what your computer problem was? Hi Frodo, nice to see you back. Nice to see you like dogs too Squiggle & El, I hope you've both had a lovely day

Good morning everyone

 

Overcast, damp and windy here at present.

Yesterday on my local news website I noticed this headline:

"Cheltenham Town: Rooney on Robins radar?"

 

But the actual story was less sensational as they were referring to Swindon Town's Luke Rooney

Good morning everyone. Weather is blowing a gale, with very heavy rain - and I have to go out later.

Glad all is well, Summer.

The thought of robins having radar made me ,El.

Yogi, not only is Robins the nickname for Cheltenham Town, it also is for Swindon Town

Good  morning everyone, very windy here.  A big welcome to frodo your dogs sounds very well taken care, their dinner sounds delicious!  We used to have a beagle called Ben.

 

So it's not George Clooney signing for Cheltenham then EL? Shame we might have arranged a few outings to see you, and of course just happen to see George Clooney play   I always liked sewing the knitted things together, but then I like sewing more than knitting. Hope you had a good night's sleep Summer you sound like it's been an exhausting week.

Good morning It's windy, wet and raining here! Squiggle, I was telling mr summer about your Ben, someone we know has bought a Beagle puppy and they are having trouble controlling it- it bites! I think they've chosen the wrong breed of dog for them, plus they've never had or trained a dog before. Mr summer thinks Beagles need to work and he's never known one as a pet, I said I'm sure your Ben was a pet and a very well behaved one too These people are taking the puppy to training classes, hopefully it will help

Summer, I've never heard of a beagle biting anyone, they tend to be quite gentle dogs, but can be a bit stubborn. How old is the beagle puppy? Is it possible (as your friends aren't experienced dog owners) that it is just normal puppy mouthing? If it is proper biting, they need to nip it in the bud right now. A gentle but firm shake of the scruff of the neck - as mother dog would do - might get the message across. 

 

I got absolutely soaked when I went out - and that was just going from the car to the bank and post office.

That's pretty much what we were told to do with our boy dog as he was adamant he was going to be the leader of our pack.  We were told to grab him by the scruff of his neck and force his head to the floor, which is what a mother dog would do to put him back in his place. 

Good advice Cinds.  We can do a lot worse than learn from the way the puppy would have been naturally trained as to what his position in the world is.  Ben was a sweetheart, as Yogi says he was definitely stubborn but very good natured.  With that beagle puppy he definitely needs to be gently educated and shown that biting is not acceptable.  Then he should be a happy well adjusted dog.

 

Sorry you got soaked Yogi, when you get those heavy showers you can be drenched in no time at all.

I quite agree girls, bramble only growled at me once as a young puppy- I scruffed her neck and pinned her to the floor, staring in to her eyes. I had to wait about a minute for her to submit, but she knew who was boss right away! She was only 8 weeks old at the time. She's a submissive dog anyway so I am lucky with her. The beagle pup is 16 weeks old, so I hope they get him under control before he gets much older. They have a young child Yogi, did you get dried off and warmed up? I've decided to give up fizzy drinks for lent, I'm too fond of diet coke and after reading a scary article about Aspartame, the sweetener, I think it best to never drink the stuff again!

Squiggle, at the idea of George Clooney playing for Cheltenham Town.

 

Summer, health scares about aspartame have been around for years but I found this article on Wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame_controversy

The article is too long to copy to here but it's worth reading as it should put your mind to rest.

Hi all, just popping in to say havent been around because i have had a bit of food poisoning. Pinpointed it to tuna sandwiches i had bought from a shop i use a lot, so surprising, but have been quite unwell. Just sticking to mineral supplements today . Hope to catch up with you all soon x

Skylark, I hope you feel better fast

 

Unless it's already in the news, I would report this to the environmental health officer at your local council as there must be other people who have gone down with food poisoning.

Get well soon and try to take it easy until you are back on your feet, Skylark.

I hope you feel better soon Skylark, you would have thought tuna was a fairly safe choice, a wise move sticking to the mineral supplements

aw skylark! I hope you soon feel better, get as much rest as you can and plenty of water to keep hydrated

El, thank you for the link, that does put my mind at rest a little bit surely if it was so dangerous, it wouldn't be allowed to be consumed..? I'm still giving up fizzies for lent, my body & teeth will thank me for it I may well give up chocolate too, I usually do

I've had one of those evenings when I was very busy but didn't seem to get much done.

Popped in to say goodnight everyone and to leave a hug for Summer.

Good morning everyone

 

Rained overnight here but dry now, likely to be more rain later. Temperatures expected to fall during the day and expected to be a cold night but temperatures recover by Sunday.

 

Re my post yesterday re A&E in Gloucester and Cheltenham. I found this on the red button yesterday evening so copied it from the BBC website.

Cheltenham's accident and emergency department is to be cut back, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has said.

The hospital trust wants all out-of-hours emergency "blue light" cases to be taken to the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in Gloucester.

The trust said the step has been taken because there were not enough trained doctors to staff both sites full-time.

A 12-week public consultation on the decision is under way.

 

'Right balance'

Experienced nurse practitioners will continue to deal with "walk-in" patients, but anyone more seriously ill or in an ambulance will go straight to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital on Great Western Road.

NHS Gloucestershire has estimated that 16 patients, on average, with critical illness or injury would be diverted from Cheltenham to Gloucester at night time.

Emergency medicine consultant, Dr Tom Llewellyn said the proposal "strikes the right balance" between providing specialist clinical emergency care and maintaining local access to services whenever possible.

"We believe that this proposal, which relates to emergency care at night time, will help us to provide safe, timely services to the people of Gloucestershire, 24 hours a day, seven days a week," he said

The emergency departments at Gloucestershire Royal and Cheltenham General Hospitals currently treat around 120,000 patients every year.

 

'Sustainable model'

The proposals also include moving all elective (non-urgent) paediatric day case surgery, excluding ophthalmology, and medical investigations from Cheltenham to Gloucester.

The majority of services for children in the county are already based at Gloucester's children's centre.

"There is a shortage of specialist doctors and nurses to care for children and bringing together the day case services will ensure we have a sustainable model for the future," said consultant paediatrician, Dr Miles Wagstaff.

A Great Western Ambulance Service spokesman said they will look to feed back "any likely impact" on ambulance services.

The deadline for responses 3 May.

 

As I live in Gloucester this would have less effect on me compared to those who would have been taken to Cheltenham. But I wonder what the effect will be on waiting times.

Good morning everyone. Weather is dry ATM and, thankfully, the wind has gone.

 

El, IMO, it is never good news when people have to travel further for A&E facilities.

 

I have a busy day ahead, but will try to pop in later. Have a good day, everyone.

Good morning everyone, dry here too thank goodness.  Yogi I hate those days when you are going like a whirling dervish and don't seem to have achieved anything.  EL I wish they would stop fiddling with hospitals, especially A & E's, they've got their eye on the cottage hospital in Ilfracombe and it would be a terrible loss to the local people if they were to lose that.  Skylark hope you are feeling a bit better today

morning, it's a chilly but very nice sunny day out there we're forecast rainy spells but I'm hoping they don't arrive until later yogi thank you for my night hug. I fully intended to pop back in here last night but passed out in the penthouse, I remember Elizabeth & Mariah travelling home from Kent but have no recollection the aunt & uncle arriving.. I hope you get time for a cuppa today Good morning squiggle how are your frogs? El, it's so rotten about the a&e, those extra miles could literally mean life or death for someone. I hope the paramedics are not going to be over stretched! ^ I tried to post this 3 times earlier but kept getting busy!

Hi everyone.

I've done the weekly shopping trip, been to the bank, picked up the dry cleaning and Mr Yogi's prescription and been to get my hair cut. *twirls*

Summer, it is taking you some time to watch Pride and Prejudice - because you keep falling asleep.

Ooh lovely hair yogi does it feel nice? You have been a busy bee today! Lol as soon as I finish pride & prejudice, I start it again. I think that's why I fall asleep so well, my brain must be hypnotised by it now lol

Love the bee!

 

Summer, I am the same with the series, "As Time Goes By" with Judi Dench. I watch it over and over again, and know most of the scripts by heart.