Politics

I don't usually 'do' politics but.

Today Brown has made announcements about the NHS and how everything will be so much better in the future with many measures to aid early diagnosis.

Let me tell you a little story about our wonderful NHS.

Today a blood test was needed. Patient is told to turn up between 10:00 and 12:30. Patient turns up at 11:00. Patient is asked to take a seat. At 11:15 the nurse emerged announcing that no more patients would be seen.

Our patient says "But it's only 11:15."

Nurse replies "But I've done 35 tests and that's all I have to do. If I've done 35 at 11 o'clock then I can go home."

Patient rebuts with "But I was told to turn up anytime between 10:00 and 12:30."

Nurse concludes with "Sorry. I've done 35. I'm off home."

What kind of dumb system is this?

The people that get their tests done are the elderly folk who turn up at 9:30 to ensure their place in the queue. The people that don't get their tests done are the ones that are trying to fit the test into the work day, hoping to turn up, queue for a short while, have the test and then go back to work or the mums with small children that are trying to fit a blood test around the demands of her children or...you get the picture. The people with the least time are the ones who end up expending the most effort.

But that's not the issue. My guess is that the nurse is paid to do tests between 10:00 and 12:30. We pay that nurse for those two and a half hours. Yet, for some reason, she stops working when she's reached a target of 35 tests when there are still people waiting. Why, why, why?