PODIATRY

An early start this morning as I had a podiatry appointment at 9am at the Health Centre in the village. I got there early and was actually finished by around 9.05pm.

I took my blip shot as I was sitting in the waiting room.  I was surprised at the figure quoted as I thought 372 was too high to be true. However when I mentioned it to Neil he did some mental arithmetic and made a guess at how many Podiatry appointments they would have at the Health centre  in a month and worked out that approx 10% of patients had missed their appointments.  Then I " Googled " to see if there was any info online and came across this statement from Gateshead's Head of Podiatry.  He said: "Around 10% of our patients don't turn up and that is so frustrating.  We only send out letters two weeks in advance. It's not like some hospital departments where people have eight months to forget. Sometimes I have three appointments in a row where patients aren't showing up. It's frustrating. Time and money is wasted.  He also said Gateshead Primary Care Trust was currently reviewing its appointment system and considering discharging people from the service if they miss a certain number of appointments." 

I would never dream of not turning up for any sort of medical appointment.  I know some people will have a valid reason for missing an appointment but for 372 patients in one month to just not turn up I think is shocking. 

After my appointment I went to Tesco and a couple of charity shops before coming home. When I got back I felt rather tired so I went back to bed for a couple of hours.

Neil had a day off today so he came here this afternoon.  He hasn't had a day off since Boxing Day. It was nice to see him and he stayed until 7.30pm.  I cooked him his usual tea - steak, chips and onion rings. 

The weather was bitterly cold when I was out this morning and has remained so all day.  Hardly got above freezing -  although it was very sunny.

Steps today - 8,544