Lonely

Wednesday, 12 May 2010 14:00

One on a narrowboat for two

You'll probably notice a change in style before long, so I might as well say at the outset that it's the editor writing today, rather than the usual blog author. That's because, once again, Fi's medics at Harefield Hospital have decided they want to borrow her for a few days to check on her progress.

BW have been very understanding, allowing me to overstay for a limited period on the 48 hour moorings while I wait for Fi to come back. I rang them on Monday and they said I could stay until the end of the week, but should move off "onto 14 day moorings" if we aren't reunited by then. That's fair. It's what everyone says we can do. Honest communication - the vital content of a relationship.

Let's hope that the doctors at Harefield hospital are on the ball with their communication on this occasion. From time to time Fi has blogged about the waiting-in-ignorance that is so often associated with her visits to each and every medical establishment she has sampled.

For example, "Hospitals They are in a time warp of their own. How long can it take to have a blood test and get a prescription filled?" We know she is not the only patient, that emergencies have to take priority, and that microbiological testing takes time. However, past experience has demonstrated that patient patience can sometimes be stretched to near breaking point when it comes to planning either hospital admission or discharge.

Sometimes it seems that medics live in a different world to the rest of humanity; or perhaps they have to have tunnel vision relating only to medical matters. Couldn't they be trained to think about the practical lives of their patients too? Perhaps this is something the new coalition government could suggest to NHS Trusts? That's all I'll say about politics, except to quote Paddy Ashdown - "Hooray!"

Back to Harefield - once again we proved that it is quite possible to live aboard with medical needs. Last time Fi went for her annual checkup she had to arrange an appointment for an exploratory operation in just a matters of a couple of weeks time. We checked our Nicholson guide to see where there was a station and Congelton was about the right distance.

Next step was to use Transport Direct's Journey Planner to check the public transport timetable options. It's quite an amazing, comprehensive feature, available thanks to mobile Internet broadband. I tend to use a combination of railway or bus stations and postcodes (pubs' or supermarkets' postcodes are easy to find, using Google Search) to set the From and To details. As a Londoner, and someone who has travelled to the same hospital many times over the last 14 years, Fi knows her optimum way to get there. So we didn't use the Journey Planner default route, but combined a route to London Euston with Transport For London's Journey Planner's route from Euston to Harefield Hospital, via Uxbridge Tube station. That takes her right to the door:

 Entrance from Hill End Road

It's not such a bad place - in fact, the hospital grounds have several lovely places to walk and sit; and the cherry trees are looking lovely at the moment:

View from behind the wards

There are a few more pictures here if you are interested

Nice grounds, yes! But I know at least one person who will be glad to put them behind her - hopefully later today. Then you'll have your blog author back So far, the reports are positive, I'm sure you'll be pleased to know. I know I am!