National Health Passes Out Tambourines to Replace Call Buttons
flownover ·
Jun 22, 2011 at 8:48am
If it weren't so sad, it would certainly be funny.
The instruction manual may be here somewhere.
Some of the older patients were given maracas. Can you imagine the wailing, cries of despair, and pleas for someone to help mixed with a soundtrack of tambourines?
Shame on the British for allowing this to happen to their citizenry. How many of these people have fought for Britain, kept the home fires burning, were real-life Mrs. Minivers?
What would a nationalized health care system do for you in the future? Can we bring our own instruments?
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Comments :
Aug '10
Re: National Health Passes Out Tambourines to Replace Call Buttons
It doesn't seem to be generally known, but everyone in Britain who can afford it has additional insurance to protect them from the neglect which is endemic to the NIH. It's all a huge drain on the economy.
Edited on Jun 21, 2011 at 5:38pmMay '10
Re: National Health Passes Out Tambourines to Replace Call Buttons
Socialism is like-minded misery. Everyone can be poor and stupid, together.
Aug '10
Re: National Health Passes Out Tambourines to Replace Call Buttons
Spot on. You nailed it. Good to see you again, Andrea.
Jun '10
Re: National Health Passes Out Tambourines to Replace Call Buttons
With the under staffed hospital units in the US, you might get better results on seeing your nurse if you bang a tambourine.
May '10
Re: National Health Passes Out Tambourines to Replace Call Buttons
River
Spot on. You nailed it. Good to see you again, Andrea. · Jun 22 at 3:35am
Good to see you, too, River. Guess what! I have a hedgehog, now...thanks to you. :-)
Aug '10
Re: National Health Passes Out Tambourines to Replace Call Buttons
Andrea Ryan
Good to see you, too, River. Guess what! I have a hedgehog, now...thanks to you. :-)
Ooh, is it a boogie boogie hedgehog?
Aug '10
Re: National Health Passes Out Tambourines to Replace Call Buttons
Perhaps they should add a samba whistle to the ensemble. At least this instrument is piercing enough to carry a good distance (it's designed to attract the attention of percussionists, so it's got to be attention-getting). Unlike maracas.
It's hard for me to imagine an instrument whose sound blends easier into background noise than a maraca. (Maybe that was the point?)
Dec '10
Re: National Health Passes Out Tambourines to Replace Call Buttons
When I had my appendix out last year the nursing staff was so wonderful that I sent them a thank you card. It was the only thank you card I've sent in my life. I even called my ex-wife and thanked her for being a nurses aid. Our health care providers are second to none. The government simply must leave them alone to continue doing what they do.
Aug '10
Re: National Health Passes Out Tambourines to Replace Call Buttons
Andrea Ryan
River
Spot on. You nailed it. Good to see you again, Andrea. · Jun 22 at 3:35am
Good to see you, too, River. Guess what! I have a hedgehog, now...thanks to you. :-) · Jun 22 at 8:49am
Awesome! Glad to hear it!
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
Andrea Ryan
Good to see you, too, River. Guess what! I have a hedgehog, now...thanks to you. :-)
Ooh, is it a boogie boogie hedgehog? · Jun 22 at 8:59am
That's a very funny video! Pygmy hedgehogs like that one make great pets. BBC.com has some great video links.
Oct '10
Re: National Health Passes Out Tambourines to Replace Call Buttons
Bet there is noise ordinance in the NHS facility, no noise after 10 PM.Try an air horn,no missing that..
Jul '10
Re: National Health Passes Out Tambourines to Replace Call Buttons
The UK is on its third bankruptcy in the last century. When the government runs most everything and systematically destroys the price signals that come with free markets doing it, tambourines happen.
Of course, the Economist is doing their part to try to drag us down with them, as I noted here ($).
Aug '10
Re: National Health Passes Out Tambourines to Replace Call Buttons
After one visit to the ER for strep throat, I became a HUGE enthusiast for Nurse Practitioners.
It was after-hours on a weekend so I couldn't just go see my regular G.P.
I walk in and, with my hoarse (and drooling) voice, check in with the receptionist. She tells me to sit down and wait for the admitting nurse.
During the course of my many-houred stay I was examined by no less than three separate nurses, all of whom told me I clearly had strep throat, all I needed were some antibiotics, and that I would have to wait for a doctor to fill out a prescription.
When I finally saw the doctor, she didn't even really examine me. She just looked at the chart with the nurses' notes, and filled out a prescription. Took less than 5 minutes.
If my case was so dang simple, then why (oh Lawd why?!) couldn't that first (or even the second, or third) nurse have simply written the prescription?
All the time and money required to train that doctor, and all she does is write a few words on a pad of paper? What a waste.
Aug '10
Re: National Health Passes Out Tambourines to Replace Call Buttons
Or, if Nurse Practitioners aren't the preferred solution, if doctors here could set their own fees, or charge extra on top of what OHIP provides, entrepreneurs could open 24h clinics for non-emergency cases like mine.
To be fair, I think Canada's single-payer paradigm treats acute emergencies well, with good trauma care by skilled doctors and paramedics. It's also relatively (and arguably) pretty good at treating long-term, chronic diseases that could bankrupt a family otherwise.
But we're absolutely rubbish when it comes to treating those middle-ground cases like slightly-worse-than-a-cold infections. Cases where patients would gladly pay a little extra to quickly get in and out of the clinic.
(Aside: Few people realize this, but only after 1984 when the Canada Health Act passed, did this sort of private medicine became illegal. That's only 27 years ago! The rationale was to avoid what politicians saw as the root of the NHS' failure - private medicine draining resources from the public system. But if I could pay to get antibiotics from a private clinic, those nurses and doctor at the ER would have been freed up for more important cases.)
Aug '10
Re: National Health Passes Out Tambourines to Replace Call Buttons
Strep throat ? Broken sneezer ? Fractured fairytale ? Minor things in America don't need Obamacare. we have Walmart .
Apr '11
Re: National Health Passes Out Tambourines to Replace Call Buttons
These elderly patients were voting age after WW2 and no doubt a large majority of them helped oust Churchill and voted in the socialists that would cement Britain's long decline. I wonder if any of them regret those votes.
Dec '10
Re: National Health Passes Out Tambourines to Replace Call Buttons
Liam Neeson might disagree with you.
Jun '10
Re: National Health Passes Out Tambourines to Replace Call Buttons
The King Prawn
When I had my appendix out last year the nursing staff was so wonderful that I sent them a thank you card. It was the only thank you card I've sent in my life. I even called my ex-wife and thanked her for being a nurses aid. Our health care providers are second to none. The government simply must leave them alone to continue doing what they do. · Jun 22 at 9:16am
The government already is involved, causing crazy paperwork demands that take away from patient care. You are lucky. I worked as a nurse and had to care for 36 high acuity patients with one other RN and a nurse's aide. I left the job each night saying a prayer of thanks that I hadn't killed anyone from neglect.
Aug '10
Re: National Health Passes Out Tambourines to Replace Call Buttons
The King Prawn
Liam Neeson might disagree with you.
A few points on that score:
When discussing health care in Canada, it's very important to differentiate between federal legislation (the Canada Health Act) and the various provincial health care systems. Each province has its own rules regarding public vs. private health care services.
Edited on Jun 22, 2011 at 10:50pmAug '10
Re: National Health Passes Out Tambourines to Replace Call Buttons
Aside: I note that Vermont, a state with lots and lots of ski resorts, also has no emergency air ambulance service. Air ambulance services in Vermont are provided by the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire.