A patch of fine weather this morning enabled me to get outside and clean the remainder of the tar from the exterior of the stove flue. The inside of the flue has a very thin layer of hard baked tar type substance. I can’t fit my hand down the flue and a brush probably wont remove it. I’ll have to do some research in an effort to identify a suitable chemical that will either remove or loosen it.
Meanwhile Jan was inside on her knees cleaning the carpet with a hearth brush. Initially I thought she was worshipping (me?) but quickly realised that was a ludicrous thought!
Am I on my own or has anyone else noticed the TV coverage of the current crisis with NHS A&E departments always shows the staff either filling out paperwork or sitting at a computer work station. Either they are unable to film anything else, or the NHS has an administrative monster with an insatiable appetite. If it’s the latter then surely the entire process needs to be reviewed with the objective of improving productivity and eliminating inefficiency and duplication.
11 comments :
Hi Tom . Carried out my 250 hour service on our Beta 43 and guess what ...thanks to you I double checked that the old seal had come off with the filter and not stayed on the engine . I can see how it would easily happen..All the best Gary nb Inca
This sort of footage is "library shots" to paper over the reporter's voice track. If the package is merely an update of an earlier story, or if the only new elements are "talking heads", i.e. interviews with no fresh overlay material, then footage shot for an earlier report is often used (to make it seem more interesting to the casual viewer).
If an earlier report had featured identifiable patients, then those pictures wouldn't be used on any day other than when it was filmed in case a patient had subsequently died. That's why staff doing innocuous stuff like paperwork is always filmed, so that it can be reused later. It's cheaper not to have to shoot more material than you need; if you can get away with library shots that keeps the cost down.
As a first cheap option, Tom, try white vinegar and hot water on the flue - white vinegar seems to work for everything else!
I've been to UK A&Es and whle paperwork is a task, the staff certainly do work with patients lots - otherwise where does the paperwork come from? I think that's just the media's slant/spin to make them look worse than they probably are. After your trip to Bletchley Park, spend the evening looking up BBC iPlayer and check out the documentary series on King's Cross Hospital's A&E for evidence of the hard work they do.
The people being filmed are filling in the forms for getting permission for filming something else. It would breach patient confidentiality for them to be filmed doing something else without filling in the forms for doing it first.
Re the NHS news shots, which I will not have seen, we must remember that a lot of patient medical information is now presented 'on-screen' (instead of paper) so without seeing the screen we don't know what the user is looking at; it might not be 'Admin'.
Against that, what is 'Admin'? If the nurse wants to find a free bed in an appropriate ward, is that Admin?
Is making the request (perhaps by a clerk) 'Admin', but reading the screen by a medico, to know the patient can be moved to that bed, also Admin, or medical care?
Regards.
Halfie
I thought it might have been library footage but it's never the same footage. The "administration" isn't done for the camera so it must exist!
Marilyn,
I don't doubt the NHS staff work hard. I do wonder if they are burdened by the need to complete so much paperwork thereby taking them away from their 'core' responsibilities.
Paul
If you wrote what I think you wrote then I'm still laughing! :-)
David
You may be right but my concern is seeing highly qualified medical staff performing tasks that could (should?) be completed by someone with other (lesser) qualifications. If the nurse needs instant access to patient information why isn't she/he carrying a tablet.
Not sure that the tablet idea is a goer from a financial point of view - one tablet per nurse/doctor on any roster plus additional tablets for times when the batteries have diminished while the staff member is still on duty, plus costs for networking, wifi, security of access to wifi ...
Marilyn, Tablet type devices are already being used by emergency services and are not expensive when purchased in bulk. They are certainly cheaper than employing administrative staff!
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