The NHS and me

I had a review at my GP surgery today. You know the style: a meeting with the practice nurse when she checks my pulse and blood pressure, takes a blood test for cholesterol and diabetes and questions me closely about how much I eat and drink. This now seems to be all about her completing a form on line. She hardly has time to make eye contact with her patients these days so intent is she on following the form on the computer.

I've got used to the question: are you still an ex-smoker? After 30 years, I count myself as a non-smoker but I don't argue. In fact, I tend to go along with it all. I know it's a useful process but it's harmless. However, today there was an additional question: what target did I intend to set for my weight, my drinking - and exercise?

My review is scheduled annually because I've had a stroke and a fairly serious neurological illness (called Guillain-Barre Syndrome - Google it). The first was caused by a blood clot in a tangle of incomplete arteries in my brain. The second was caused by a virus. I have no control over either, but the two together have left me with what I can only call a neurological deficit. My right side is weaker than my left so sometimes I stumble and once in a while, I fall over. I also struggle going upstairs. My greatest wish is for all of my family to live either in ground floor flats or in houses with a toilet downstairs. So far: 2 out of 6 households have managed to oblige. Shows you how much they value visits from me.

But a more serious question is: when did the NHS stop treating people and start putting the responsibility for ill health onto the patients?

The fact is in every area of the UK where there is a serious health deficit - Scotland and the north-west of England are always quoted: deep fried Mars bars, chips with curry sauce, etc - there's a damn good reason for people being ill. Usually the population have been involved in heavy physical work, have endured generations of poverty and deprivation and the illnesses that go with them, like TB and diabetes, and - as in my case - it doesn't matter a bit how much we live a healthy lifestyle, the damage is done.

I worry about these reviews and their accompanying forms. Are we just going through the motions? Ticking the boxes? No part of this review will stop me having another stroke. Nor can anyone guarantee I won't have a recurrence of Guillain-Barre. But as for the money spent on funding our full time practice nurse, could it be better spent on frontline spending  in a hospital? Or are hospital staff all busy filling in forms too?