14th November, 2010
We become centurions this week – maybe alone but we’ve managed it. Pauline and I are desperately unhappy at the moment. We have moved in to a shoe box and, although we know it is temporary, we hate it. We feel like we are in student accommodation. We always knew it would be difficult but now we are dealing with the reality. The pictures below are the reality:
The main bedroom is described as a good sized double. As you can see, we can only just get our bed a two little cabinets in. It is totally unacceptable and the sooner we find somewhere to buy the better. However, it is important that we don’t feel stampeded in to it.
15th November, 2010
We woke up to a beautiful sunny day today but the car was covered in frost. That’s another thing we hate about here. We can’t put our car in the garage. We nearly bought a new car last week but decided we didn’t want to expose it to these conditions. I am off for my annual diabetic review today. I am bound to be told off for not losing weight. I am taking Pauline with me for defence. We hope to discuss the possibility of a gastric band with the gorgeous Judith, our doctor.
We are going down to stay with Pauline’s sister in Surrey next Monday. We will be there for almost a fortnight and we have incorporated a trip to France in that. I’ve booked a return trip through the tunnel for £20.00. This is one of the perks of being retired.
16th November, 2010
We woke up to a beautiful day. Unfortunately, it was also going to be a very sad one. Today, we were saying goodbye to Mum’s cleaner, Cath the Maltese Falcon. She has cleaned for Mum for ten years and adopted her as a Mum herself. She cleaned for me in school for twenty years. It is a massive wrench saying goodbye to her. We are also saying goodbye to Margaret, the warden for the past twenty years. She has been so wonderful. Worst of all, we are saying goodbye to Mum and her flat which still contains furniture that Pauline & I bought and built in June 1981. This is becoming a nightmare.
A response to our meeting with the Oldham Hospital came in today and we think it is reasonable:
Dear Mr and Mrs Sanders
Thank you for taking the time to meet with me and Mr Hadfield on Thursday 4 November to discuss your concerns about the care your mother received from the surgical team. We were very grateful for your description of events and the dignified and professional way that you articulated some very upsetting experiences. Since our meeting I have met with Mrs Sara Renwick, senior nurse/matron in charge of F2 and other medical wards at the Royal Oldham Hospital and reflected on what happened. I was concerned that nursing staff had felt unable to escalate their concerns to senior medical staff (including the consultant on call) when they did not feel they were getting an appropriate or timely response from junior members of the medical team. On my behalf she has reminded the nursing team of the agreed and expected escalation procedure. She has also provided positive feedback to Lorraine and the team about the nursing care that they provided and your appreciation of the support that they offered to the family.I have also spoken to the manager of the General Office to discuss the problems that they have experienced. We have agreed that when difficulties arise that they feel unable to resolve promptly that they will contact me for advice and support. I can also confirm that Mr Hadfield has spoken to junior medical staff about the image they portrayed on this occasion. He has reminded the whole medical team of the Trusts dress code and the importance of presenting a professional image to patients and their families. As we explained surgical services across the Royal Oldham Hospital and Rochdale Infirmary are to be reconfigured at the end of November and from the 1 December all acute general surgery will be carried out at Oldham meaning that two medical staffing rotas can be amalgamated into a single rota enabling a greater on site presence of junior and middle grade doctors. This will prevent the delay in securing a medical opinion that you described.
Thank you again for taking the time to meet with us. We appreciated that this was a very sad time for you and that you were extremely busy in planning and preparing your house move. I hope that everything went well and according to plan. I would normally have chosen to write to you at your home address rather than email but am aware that you will now have moved to a new address.
Very best wishes
Diane Brears
17th November, 2010
We went to see our friend, Chris Woods at Hepworth Honda this morning. He had phoned us yesterday to tell us about excellent offers and free financing on new Hondas. Our car is now £30,000.00 to replace and we wanted a like for like replacement. He had a silver one in. He knew we had been less than happy with black. Ours is four years old and has done 43,000 miles. He wanted £14,000.00 to replace it. With that we would get two years 0% finance and three years free servicing. They would also pay the road tax, full AA cover for three years and the cost of transferring our cherished number plate – NIL 9299 – which we’ve had for more than ten years and sums up how much money we’ve got. We pick it up when we get back from Surrey in a couple of weeks.
18th November, 2010
A quiet day today and we need it after that England performance last night. We were going to have Christmas Day with Mum in her flat. Now we will be in Surrey. We are joining a family meal at the Cafe Rouge but it is strange choosing a meal in November. Fortunately, Pauline & I love the traditional meal anyway.
19th November, 2010
I am having a nightmare with internet use at the moment. I am relying on Vodafone Mobile Broadband at the moment which is bad enough but now the signal is so poor in our flat that it is almost useless. I am having to drive down to Sainsburys Cafe in town to use my wireless laptop. I have to wait another two weeks before BT deliver my phone line and broadband connection. For this reason, my Blog and website are fairly perfunctory.
Sanders Blog 