I’ve become a tiny part of how the NHS is changing for the better

 

This is me with my new NHS electronic spirometer which, via an app and my mobile phone, enables me to send lung test measurements I take periodically direct to Nottingham City Hospital’s Lung Department. We were introduced to one another at the City Hospital a week ago with the help of a wonderful member of staff, who took me and Susan through the procedure step-by-step, and after a week of sending in daily test results I learned today that I will part of the program to remotely monitor people with lung conditions (I was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in 2015 and have been living very differently ever since).

The pandemic has changed the way we are cared for dramatically and I have become a tiny part of that future, one where more and more of us will be monitored remotely, thus reducing the number of visits we make to hospitals, clinics and the like.

The NHS needs more resources and staff and this Government has to be reminded at every opportunity by all those who care about the NHS of its Brexit promise to redirect £350millions a week to the NHS. Remember this?

Providing outreach services like the ones I am a beneficiary of is one way of spending money differently, so money can go further. The NHS needs spare capacity when it comes to resources, staffing and quality of care. - if the pandemic teaches us anything it should be this.

Many of the NHS 'horror stories' we see, hear or read about in the media come down to overworked staff, often depressed, working long shifts. We all want someone to blame, so perhaps we should look in a mirror, because Governments that fail the NHS are a measurement of shortcomings in ourselves.

My time will come soon enough. In the meantime I am happy with what I have. I am fitter and feel healthier than I have at any other time in my life, despite being a few months short of 77 and medically ‘vulnerable’. I had open heart surgery four years ago this month to replace part of my aortic valve (I was born with two cusps instead of three, which was discovered thanks to Nottingham City Hospital’s Lung Department back in 2015). I am here today thanks to our NHS and what it does with limited resources. 

I am one lucky bunny.