ann and andy lawrenson

As most of you know I’m not adverse to a little moan about things occasionally. However, yesterday deserves rather more! On a scale from exceedingly crap to one of the worst days ever, it was certainly nearer the latter than the former!

It started when I came to the conclusion that my current meds were doing no good whatsoever, so I trotted off to the doctor in search of the same antibiotics he had given Ann. We waited for an hour, and when I eventually got in to see him, he refused to give me anything but insisted on me getting a chest xray at Denia hospital because he thought I might have pneumonia. I could see the sense in this, but was unaware that charming as he is, he suffers from “Optimicus Hilyardis”, a rare disease encountered previously only in Ferring. “Swan up there with this form and give it to Marco at reception”, he advised. “He will make sure you get fast tracked through because you don’t need to see a doctor. Then come in on Wednesday and I will look at the xray on line. It shouldn’t take more than twenty minutes.” (I should say that this is a very approximate translation as he was by now two minutes late for lunch, and he had wound delivery speed up to full unrestricted Kalashnikov.)

We arrived at the hospital just before two, and it took us twenty minutes to find any where to park. Predictably no Marco at reception, but we were very efficiently registered and put through triage. And at that point, nothing further happened for over six hours! After one hour I would be seen shortly. After two there was one person in the queue in front of me. After four, there was still one person in front of me. For the next two hours I think the radiologist must have been having supper. Eventually, at eight I was escorted to the xray room and they took two pictures in less than thirty seconds.  “What happens next?” I asked. The girl shrugged. “You wait until doctor can see you.” When will that be?” “Maybe three, four hours”.

At that point we were both cold, tired and a lot sicker than we had been when we arrived. We gave up and went home.

The whole experience has been a real eye opener. This was nice new facility totally inadequate for the job it was designed for from the day it opened. The Spanish are pretty stoic and found places to sit in corridors and foyers as all the waiting rooms were constantly full. People were waiting on beds in the corridors, some of them in a terrible state. The staff, who must be absolutely fed up to the back teeth were a constant mine of non information. Managers? Not one to be seen, all day. Most of them are political appointees and they have taken their money and run. The whole thing looks completely broken.

Rant over. I promise something positive full of fluffy bunnies, butterflies and optimism next time. Andy.