GP surgeries are open

“GPs must bring back face to face consultations with their patients. We need to get back to our workplaces.” Jacob Rees-Mogg said that in Parliament being unaware, along with our Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care that surgeries have been seeing patients face to face since the pandemic began.  

It is frustrating as before the pandemic, it would be common to be sitting next to someone in the doctors waiting room who had a viral respiratory tract infection.  Just before the first lockdown, many GP’s moved to a system of triage by telephone before seeing patients and this recommended by medical institutions. Patients continued to be seen, but what could be dealt with by telephone was dealt with by telephone.

In the surgery I work in, much more face to face activity is taking place, but people still slip through the net, coming into the surgery with symptoms of infections.  Staff are now vaccinated and social distancing takes place, putting them at far less risk compared to last year.  However there is a risk to them still, and more importantly to other patients.

With the waiting rooms kept quiet, the risks posed to other patients is reduced (at our surgery, we see suspected respiratory tract infections in our hot room).  If general practice is opened up to the levels seen before the pandemic, in the same manner, then more people will catch infections in the waiting rooms, and of those, some will be COVID19, and of those, some will die when they would not have if the triage system was in place,

Sadly, the Conservatives forget the pressure that Primary Care was under before the pandemic, let alone the increased pressures it faces now.  They did promise to recruit more GP's in 2015, and failed.

So when Jacob Rees-Mogg speaks about GP’s seeing patients on a face to face basis, he either is unaware that this never stopped, or that he wants waiting rooms full of ill patients infecting each other.

Why I am wrong to call Conservatives scum.

Our nation has record levels of In Work Poverty, rising Child Food Poverty and the government are to cut Universal Credit.  Apparently this is acceptable, as is referring to women in certain forms of Muslim attire as letter boxes, being racist, being homophobic, conspiring to beat up a journalist, cheating on your spouse as well as lying to your employer, electorate and other politicians.

Angela Rayner was unprofessional when she called the Tories scum.  But I have done the same, normally when I have dealt with someone who has been affected by the policies that the Conservatives have brought in.  Often after and during listening to interviews with Conservatives redefining black as white I will rant about how much I hate them.

I know that many honestly are unaware of the hardship that they cause, but I honestly think that is because they refuse to see and hear the truth.  

However, it is wrong to refer to all Conservatives as scum.  I would consider it accurate to say that they have done some scummy things and those in power appear to have no morals and seem to turn a blind eye to corruption if not engaging in activities which do not appear above board.  But not all Conservatives are like that, and due to this, I have been wrong on the many times that I have called them scum.

Zombieland

Last night, I finished watching Zombieland.  And I enjoyed it.  I still think that Shaun Of The Dead is one of the best Zombie comedies around (along with Braindead) but this was fun and I am glad I watched it.  Full of gore, and black humour, it was a much needed lift to the day. 

PMQs and our COVID vaccinations

First of all, family.  We have had our COVID vaccinations today, the kids having their first ones, my wife and me having our third ones.  However, I did get worried when my daughter had a headache later.  It did improve with paracetamol though though did not do away.  My son had wanted to have time off PE due a sore arm, but he asked us this before he had his vaccination and forgot to mention it afterwards.

Anyway, PMQ's.  Angela Rayner put in a spectacular performance, asking Dominic Raab about his comments on British workers being amongst the worst idlers in the world as well as the trade deal our Prime Minister had said we would get with the USA. He gave credit for the USA dropping travel restrictions to the UK to Boris Johnson, even though the USA had decided to do this for Europe and was considering this before PMQ's.  However he did not answer the question posed about British workers.  She referred to the issues that many face about In Work Poverty, missing out on how things are at record levels.  Dominic Raab did list a range of things done which he said was to improve the lot of those who are poorly paid, but he ignored how things are worse under the Conservatives.  I did not get a chance to listen to the rest of it, but the main event was enough.  

Get Out

I am knackered.  This morning my son took Leia out for her walk.  I had intended to cycle to work, but instead started to put our TV together.  My wife and ordered a television and had mentioned the size of it to me, but I had not realised how big it was to be.  Yesterday we realised that what we put the TV on was not big enough for it.  So this morning, after doing some cleaning in the house, I got to putting the TV together.  My wife had been trying to get a new item of furniture for the TV yesterday and after I put the TV together, we went to collect an item that she managed to agree a deal on.  

I took my daughter with me and it was a pleasant drive to Manningtree to get it.  She was of great use helping to put it into the back of my wife's car as well as taking it into the house when we got home.  After that, it was a case of disconnecting the old TV and reconnecting the new one after moving furniture about.

Needless to say, this was quite exhausting which meant that when I did go to work, it was late and I had no energy to cycle into work.

On getting back, my daughter and I watched Get Out on the new huge television.  The picture is amazing.  And I have to say the film is great as well.  I had worked out that I had wanted to watch this before and therefore had done my best not to find out much about it.  My view is that most trailers spoil films.  I have liked Daniel Kaluuya since watching him in The Fades and he was just as good in this film.  It was well worth watching.  And the video is for those who have watched it, or are never going to.

In Work Poverty and PMQs

The government are going to cut Universal Credit. Or rather, not cut it, but instead allow he temporary uplift in it to expire. Over the last few years, we have seen the rise of Child Food Poverty as well as In Work Poverty.

The issue of if this should be cut came up in PMQ’s today.

Needless to say, Boris Johnson did not answer the questions posed to him about how he is to cut help to those who need it most.  And this was a matter that came up on several occasions.

I do think that Keir Starmer would have done better if he had used the personal examples that Jeremy Corbyn did in this role as ignoring reality is so much harder when real people are used.

I hope our MP does not vote for these cuts.  But he is a Conservative and I suspect will toe the government line on this.

13 Reasons Why; The World Closing In

Is redemption possible if true repentance has taken place?  In my view yes.  I think my daughter thought so when watching this before, but my son does not appear to agree, yet.

On a different note, my son was not able to go to school today as he vomited last night, but my daughter returned.  My wife and I spent the morning shopping either on-line or in Waitrose while he looked after Leia (his school said that there was no work for him as him being home was not COVID related).