General Chat

Thanks Ann. he is now under the local memory clinic and I did kick up a fuss at their delays in seeing people . He had all the test before being directed to them and I made it VERY clear he wasn't to wait undully for appointments that meant he was losing memory brain cells that would be lost forever.

He has had an ECG that is normal so is now eligible for a new medication that slows down the brain cell loss and could keep him at this level for many years.

He has his appointment on the 2nd OCT.
I have though seen a very marked deterioration since Jan when I first voiced my concerns to the doc.

Pity that it takes SOOO long to get a diagnosis

anything to do with mental health is bottom of the pile with the NHS unfortunately - having worked in psychiatry in the NHS for thirty years I can vouch for that - why, I have no idea - a mental health problem is just as important as a physical problem

AnnC A close relative of mine had experience in last 10 years of Northamptonshire and the Royal in Llantrisant.

I am a big fan of Welsh NHS. They spend less and give us far more value than across the Dyke, I think.

But I would give them 2/10 for mental health, compared to 8/10 in Northants. The diagnosis and support in Northants is exemplary - I cannot speak too highly. But in the Royal, there is no attempt to even supervise patients. They can just walk out of the building unnoticed and very vulnerable. I wrote to my MP about it 2 years ago and elicited a lovely letter from the Hospital General Manager. So I hope she put the wheels in motion as she said in her letter.

One last point - Northamptonshire nurses don't say much and listen to patients (even when they ramble or get angry). Glamorgan nurses jabber away (usually to each other) and the patient can hardly get a word in.

Last thing you want is a post code lottery for Mental Health.

'imself retired two and a half years ago.

He took very early retirement but this is something we'd planned and saved for over the years. I've chosen to carry on working part time because I still really enjoy what I do. The money is also handy and I intend working until our state pensions kick in - maybe even longer.

We've always got on well so neither of us was too worried about what retirement would be like. We have separate hobbies as well as mutual ones and enjoy the time we spend together. We bicker sometimes - but we always have done so nothing's changed there. Work takes up a lot of my time and his many guitars and band practice take up quite a bit of his.

If we were in the same room 24/7 I'm not sure either of us would be able to cope with that.

We've just got back from a week in Sussex and hardly squabbled at all - it must have been the good weather.

Gwynne

I have to say that the mental health nurses in Whitchurch Hospital do a grand job under difficult circumstances - all are very dedicated - my daughter in law has just grduated from Bristol Uni as a mental health nurse and has just secured a ost with Cardiff and Vale - she is to work at Llandough Hospital where Whitchuch patients are being moved. Now that is a financial decision by Cardiff and Vale - Whitchurch Hospital is a beautiful building set in fntastic large grounds - worth a lot of money and it is earmarked for housing development -Llandough, whilst apparently the new mental health facilities are superb, is in the middle of nowhere - there are no outside facilities - not even a shop. Whitchurch has everything anyone could want, pubs, churches, shops, chemists, libraries, top class transport services - both train and bus passing the door. Llandough has a limited bus service and one pub across the other side of a busy road. Absolutely nowhre for patients to go. Most of the staff come from the valleys so they will have the extra travel and visitors will have enormous difficulty getting to the hospital - and this is all in the name of money!!!

With all the traffic that will ensue from new build, the area will be unable to cope - the local school is already full and the local comp is already the largest in Europe - I dread to think what will happen when this new housing is up and running and I fear for the lives of the patients in such a barren area as Llandough

sorry about that rant - gone off topic a bit I know :-D

AnnC I think the point was to do with Mental Health and it affects a lot of us. Thank goodness we can talk about it more these days. And we are beginning to see that a broken head can be mended just the same as a broken leg.

And I think we are both saying that best practice in NHS is world-beating, whether in Northampton or Cardiff. Just hope other NHS trusts come up to mark.

Our long lives ( I have 106 in mind for myself, God willing) means that we experience illnesses in ourselves and spouses more than old days, physical, mental and both. And many years of widowdom sometimes (wasn't Queen Mum a widow for over 50 years?)

OH and I have always done nearly everything together since we met 32 years back, but I always go off to Durham at least once a year on my own to visit family.

I stay in a hotel on my own for a week, which I love doing as I do not like being restricted to bed time routines and such, so I can then visit family in my own time, visit the Durham RO, have a one sided conversation at Steve the Flirt's grave, and just have a week for ME (or maybe 2 lol)

Being married or having a partner does not mean you have to loose you own independence

Kim xx