I’ve posted (on someone else’s thread) about the meeting that I’m having with the chief executive of my local hospital, where the physios are closing the MS exercise classes they have run for the last 18 years. As luck would have it, I was telling a friend who works at the hospital concerned about my campaign. She looked a bit worried and said “have you told them you’ll be in a wheelchair? The office is on the first floor and I know there’s no lift.” When I emailed to check, she was exactly right, I wouldn’t even have been able to get to the office. They’ve changed the meeting venue now but it does make me think - this guy has absolutely no idea what it’s like to have MS. It sort of explains why all the letters about the closure of the class mention “exercise classes in the community”. He thinks we should all be out doing the step class!
hiya
nothing surprises me any more…
nobody knows-including this guy-dont be too hard on him cos hes simply lost use of his wits like loads of others
I was going to use it as an excuse for a little lecture on the effects of MS at the beginning of the meeting - always good for people to know more at the end of a meeting than they did at the start.
hiya
i agree with ur last few words in that sentence. i dont know which context u are meaning re ‘lecture’ tho…
however hope it goes well and everyone involved with the meeting gets something positive out of it
Hmmm - positive. My plan was to point to the bit in the NHS Constitution where it says that patients MUST be consulted and listened to on things relating to their treatment. Then I was going to show him the letter announcing the closure of the class, with absolutely no consultation. Then I was going to see if he was going to reinstate the class. If he doesn’t say he is, I’m planning on telling him I’ll be referring him to the Health Ombudsman for being in breach of the NHS Constitution. I’m not sure there’s really a positive outcome for both of us in this. But we’ll see.
Sorry for being even snappier than normal in my posts - I am nervous about the meeting.
Don’t forget to tell him that if it hadn’t been for your intervention the meeting wouldn’t have happened because of his thoughtless incompetence.
loads of luck at your meeting.
Jan x
hiya again
i dont sense snappy but passionate!
both positives? u get your view across and he learns something. but my cup is always full-i always try to find the positive in anything because it is there, just hard to find sometimes.
let us know how it goes.
ellie
We’ve had the meeting and we’re going to have ‘consultation’ with everyone in the classes on the way forward. Although this is less than I hoped, I think it is probably as much as I could have ever really expected. I had a big argument on the phone a month ago with the horrible woman who came to the classes to tell participants they would be closing. She was absolutely determined that she could close the classes if she wanted. I am getting a lot of satisfaction from imagining her face when she hears that it is not going to be quite as simple as she thought.
This hi lights the aggressive methods of certain service providers, it is cost cutting without care or compassion. Keep up your pressure on them as the savings are not taking the into benefits into the equation. If these classes keep one person out of Hospital it is beneficial. And it is one location rather than having physios running round to individuals homes.
Don
I agree with Don. You really need a physio on your side who can point out the positives of keeping the class and the financial benefits to the NHS. Surely a service that keeps patients as mobile as possible and helps to prevent falls by working on core strength and balance (as a minimum I would imagine) has to be beneficial to the NHS as well as to the patients?
Good luck
Tracey x
I’m just very happy that I’ve made a little difference. I was practically certain they were just going to close the class without listening to the participants at all and now something different is happening. Made my week.
My exercise class is still limping along - we have been told that there is going to be another class in a fortnight and another one a fortnight after that. but the aim is still to provide for ‘exercise in the community’. However, our local MS nurses are no longer available. Since the beginning of February, the message on their answerphone has said “due to unforeseen circumstances, this voicemail is temporarily unavailable”. Do you think I should write to the CEO of the hospital again pointing out that there is no-one for local people with MS to ask about any problems? The MS nurses are attached to another hospital, not his.
Why bother the CEO?
Get onto PALS, and let them bother the CEO.
Geoff
Go girl and take a bit of Boudicca with you!
pollxx