Newham General (the hospital I tend to find myself at most often) is to undergo improvements under a new Private Finance Initiative (PFI). The article says that the A+E has undergone improvement...but in my eyes it is still too small for the number of patients that it sees. The department was designed with 14 cubicles, but they have had to split each cubicle in two by using curtains in order to have enough trolleys to cater for patients. These cubicles are designed for one patient, yet are now holding two, which obviously has a detrimental effect on patient privacy, dignity and confidentiality. It also makes it a bugger to get a patient off my ambo trolley onto a hospital trolley.

Also they are selling St Andrews at Bromley by bow in order to pay for the shiny new Newham hospital. I suspect that there will be a further fall in the services for the mentally ill. No surprise there then...

Two posts back I told you that I had to study for an exam...well I have since passed the exam -sigh of relief- and am now bound into my work as an EMT. The exam itself is one of those things that you tink "Hell, I've been living the job, it'll be easy" until you turn over the page and the first question is "What is the minimum distance you should be able to read a license plate, in order to have the required eyesight to drive?"
I'm sure that its important to have decent eyesight, but I think the first "da Firm" would know about any failing vision would be by the trail of destroyed ambulances you leave behind.
Still, I managed to see some collegues who I hadn't seen for over a year and catch up on some of the gossip. I found out that the new computer MDT dispatch that my sector has been using for the past six months went "live" in North-East sector yesterday, so if you live there, the confused looks on ambo-crews faces are nothing to be worried about.

Now I'm just gearing up for a week of night-shifts by laying in bed until 14:00 (that's 2pm for normal people) and staying awake watching the Discovery channel until 04:00 (erm...4am...)

Should have something interesting ambo based for you on Sunday.

Gary Turner has had one of his genius synthesis moments, and now considers the SETI project a mission of intergalatic spam.