Immigrants Swamping A&E

Yesterday I dislocated my thumb, and damned painful it was too. This is an X-ray of my hand viewed edge-on. I had a local anaesthetic and air/gas during the realignment procedure and didn't feel a thing - in fact the medic was quite surprised at how easily it slipped back into position. However, there's a codicil to that, but later, and it's by-the-by.

While talking to the paramedics who came to the house after Hay called the 111 number, I learned something very pertinent to all this talk of our NHS being swamped with immigrants. Apparently anyone who provides a service, whether that be private or public, is so afraid of litigation and ambulance-chasing solicitors that their first response on someone having an accident, either at work, school or whatever, is to send the victim to Accident and Emergency at the local hospital to cover their arse.

No bloody wonder Accident and Emergency departments are overwhelmed. Even a cough is enough to send some to the local hospital - common sense and the watch-and-wait philosophy that was prevalent decades ago seem to have flown out of the window.

The paramedic recounted one example where he attended a child at a school where the parent was asked to sign an statement by the headmistress to the effect that she did not intend to send the child concerned to Accident and Emergency, so as to absolve the school of any responsibility.

Back to the thumb. I have to attend our local hospital's plastics unit today as the procedure to realign my thumb was only 80-90% successful; the joint insists on subluxing, which was why it was so easily put back into place. It may well be something to do with the fact my thumbs are double jointed or I may have torn the ligaments and require a splint for a while - or even surgery. Naturally that means no bike riding or Rollerblading for some weeks. It might also mean no blogging for a while; I'm typing this with one hand, the other being swathed in bandages to keep the thumb as immobile as possible. Given the angle of the dislocation, ligament damage seems highly likely - if you ask me.