2 December 2010

The winter conditions prevail except that our little part of East Anglia is being spared the worst. Even our dear old donkey, Mouse, has ventured forth from her stable. It may, of course, have something to do with the pail of hot water that ‘my lovely’ has been taking to her each morning in this cold weather. The donkey seems to love this rather bland treat and drinks a whole bucket full.

I mentioned a few days ago about all the kind people that visit the house from social services and the NHS, in contrast to the situation in the USA. We’ve had two further examples of this over the last couple of days. Two different inspectors have been here to check over the wheelchairs and the hoists. Presumably this is all to do with health and safety but nevertheless it is reassuring. The hoist man told us that they had to take the hoists away every six months to service them but presumably they provide temporary replacements.

Having extolled the virtues of our NHS and social services I was shocked to hear today that there are some hospitals in this country where the elderly are appallingly treated and neglected..

The report said that some were left pleading for food or water, others were left in their soiled underclothes or bed linen and so on. The government’s answer to this is to create, or should I say to recreate, the appointment of an independent Matron in every hospital, who will presumably answer to someone other than the hospital board or the CEO, concerning the welfare of patients. In my youth all hospitals were run by a Matron and I do mean run. Matron was like the captain of the ship, her word was law. A consultant only crossed Matron at his/her peril.

This report, which also mentioned problems of the elderly feeding themselves, prompted me to resurrect my feeding frame for the elderly, which readers may recall I had designed and of which I had four prototypes made. I had previously decided to wait until the outcome of the Mitt Wipe was known before pursuing this idea.. However, this report makes it apposite to get on with it straight away. Accordingly, I have today sent off a proposal to one of the U.K.’s leading entrepreneurs to see if I can interest him in pursuing the idea. The beauty of this invention is that it enables even the most feeble patient to feed themselves with the minimum of effort. Once in production, it should have appeal for all hospitals and care homes, internationally..  On this one I have not taken the precaution of an intermediate patent but will have to do trust to the honesty of the person to whom I’ve made the proposal.