BE A "PATIENT" PATIENT

A rainy evening in November, one of my sons took a tumble on the way to school this morning and injured his thumb and now he’s saying he can’t move it.

Take him to the hospital shouts one train of thought neglecting to note that my learner driver status will inevitably mean paying out vast taxi fares to get there and back.

And truth be told the males of this house are prone to a little drama queen action when faced with illness or injury, so I don’t much relish the prospect of sitting in casualty till gone midnight only for that terrible pain that ails them to miraculously be cured once again as the patient grows increasingly restless at the waiting time stretching ahead of them.

Our last journey to Medway Maritime for stomach pains that went from being suspected appendicitis to “ actually I think I might just need a poo , Mummy “ is proof enough that its probably best that I assess whether this damaged digit is worth its weight in taxi fares before I go booking up a minicab.

Carefully unwrapping the bandage the school first aider had strapped it up with I was relieved to see that it wasn’t too swollen as a broken limb would suggest but as he couldn’t grip anything with it decided we should still get it checked out anyway.

As it was getting late I decided to forego ringing the doctors surgery and went straight for the direct approach instead ,reasoning that if they couldn’t see us, there was always the pharmacist in the supermarket next door to advise us on what was best to do.

Fully expecting to be told that no I would have to go to the hospital and get it x rayed I explained to the receptionist what the problem was. She said although we might still end up at the hospital anyway she could understand why I didn’t want to make a journey if I didn’t really need to and so if we didnt mind waiting till everyone else had been in for their appointments she’d ask the doctor to have a look at it for us when she’d finished .

So we sat for about an hour watching people coming and going, the cheerful little boy saying hello to everyone who I pointed out to my son wouldn’t be leaving quite so happy when he realised that his mum had brought him in for his injections, the old lady reading the newspaper with the headline “one in 6 G.P’s is failing “and a group of decorators giving the surgery a much needed lick of paint.

Until eventually we were the only people left in the waiting room and we were called in to see our G.P.

In a little under 10 minutes she had made the diagnosis that although it was painful all this thumb needed was a little bit of rest and it’d soon be back at its best again so there was no need for a trip to A&E.

So instead of spending hours and money on a trip to the hospital we were back home within 90 minutes.

Which goes to show that it’s worth checking with your doctor first, instead of overloading those hard working, yet underappreciated hospital staff with ailments and injuries that aren’t an emergency.

Be a more patient patient and it'll benefit everybody.

And that goes for you too , Mr. Health Secretary.  

GIRL FROM THE NECK DOWN COLUMN  - MEDWAY MESSENGER 01/12/14