Tuesday 23 August 2011

Reasons (mostly) to be cheerful

As I learned on my student days, the best conversations can take place after midnight. The conversation I had at around 1.30 this morning convinced me further that the Private Finance Initiative, which provided us with such buildings as the current UCLH is a flawed arrangement. Goodness knows the health service needs managers and leaders of vision, but to make the profit motive so paramount sets up a conflict of interest with healthcare.

I am not going to break the confidentiality of any staff members here, but suffice it to say that I have seen with my own eyes noticeable deficiencies on the part of the service company, connected with the ultimate owners of the building, in my time here. My bathroom has not been cleaned, nor the floor of my room or its (with some exceptions) fittings, during my stay.

I am only glad that the new dedicated Cancer Centre is not a PFI building, two-thirds of its £150m construction and fitting out costs having been provided from the sale of The Middlesex Hospital site.

Today I was allowed to take imodium to suppress my diarrhoea and my temperature decided to rain on the parade by again rising above 38 degrees C. As I was writing this another reading was being taken and it is currently 37.5.

Although not wishing to overstate, I have been a bit more energetic and alert. I also chose to ignore the standard food offered by said service company, another example of its derelictions, and to choose ethnic food, provided by smaller, independent companies: Afro- Caribbean curry goat (in fact, mutton) today and Asian tomorrow. It was a wise decision as my meals today have been appreciably more appetising.

My wife met a friend for lunch and then brought her to visit me. I watched "Iron Man 2" and it proved not nearly as poor as the critics say, although not up to the standard set by the first movie.

My wife has now gone home to sleep on our wonderful mattress and will come back tomorrow evening. Tomorrow my brother will be here to watch out for me.

Thanks to all for your encouraging messages and assurances of prayer. Although my counts are not coming up yet, today has seem a real improvement in how I feel.

Laus Deo!

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