the NHS?

[cashman]

i went to audiology yesterday at blackburn hospital the guy could not dewax my ears cos he told me there was a hard lump of wax in my lughole, so gave me a paper and said ask my doc to remove it,so i went to make an appointment, showed the paper and was told by a receptionist to come back today to see the nurse to inspect it to see if it needed cleaning,can someone tell me if this is a complete waste of time? cos it seems so to me if the hospital told me the reason.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I cannot say if it is a waste of time Cashy…….but usually before they attempt to remove wax, they ask you to use ear drops for a week so that any hard wax is soft enough to remove more easily.
My understanding is that GP’s no longer offer this service of removing earwax…..but it is done commercially at the patients expense ( this can be as much as £50 per ear).
Makes you think this is a creeping commercialisation of services that used to be done by the practices(usually a suitably trained practice nurse).

[cashman]

i went back to my docs at 12-00 to be told its a waste of time i should not have been there, the receptionist had given me the wrong information! so i had been for nowt.the guy who was on gave me 3 phone numbers to ring for wax removal he also said docs no longer do it now. none of the 3 are in accy i have another hospital appointment on 19th of april so the soonest i got was 9th of may so i rang blackburn hospital to tell them and got a recorded message saying leave your details and they will ring back nobody is there to take the call, what the hell is going on i ask myself?they will ring me back, so i have to stay in until they do.

[monkey hanger]

it gets better. got a message to say you have an appointment next wednesday 10.30 at the airdale hospital. did not say who in the house it was for. 6 hours later i,m still waiting for a call back to find out if it is for one of us or they got the wrong number. not going to hold my breath. got no paperwork through the post so if we do not turn up there will be more problems as we,ll be told we have missed an appointment. oh if only i could afford private medical treatment it could save me and many others so much wasted time.

[Margaret Pilkington]

There is a place in Blackburn that does syringe ears…..down opposite Edmundsons Furniture shop…but they will relieve you of a good chunk of money to do it.

[taddy]

[QUOTE=cashman;1265484]i went to audiology yesterday at blackburn hospital the guy could not dewax my ears cos he told me there was a hard lump of wax in my lughole, so gave me a paper and said ask my doc to remove it,so i went to make an appointment, showed the paper and was told by a receptionist to come back today to see the nurse to inspect it to see if it needed cleaning,can someone tell me if this is a complete waste of time? cos it seems so to me if the hospital told me the reason.

Cashy, Do the same as I have been doing for the past umpteen years, get hold of one of those glass eye dropper thingymybobs fill it with olive oil, (the cooking stuff, not Popeys mistress), put it in you lugoils ever night for a week, Job done, it will clear the wax, but you will still be deaf as a post.

Yours Taddy

[cashman]

[QUOTE=taddy;1265503]

Originally Posted by cashman

i went to audiology yesterday at blackburn hospital the guy could not dewax my ears cos he told me there was a hard lump of wax in my lughole, so gave me a paper and said ask my doc to remove it,so i went to make an appointment, showed the paper and was told by a receptionist to come back today to see the nurse to inspect it to see if it needed cleaning,can someone tell me if this is a complete waste of time? cos it seems so to me if the hospital told me the reason.

Cashy, Do the same as I have been doing for the past umpteen years, get hold of one of those glass eye dropper thingymybobs fill it with olive oil, (the cooking stuff, not Popeys mistress), put it in you lugoils ever night for a week, Job done, it will clear the wax, but you will still be deaf as a post.

Yours Taddy

i have been putting olive oil in fer years myself mate it makes only a small difference my lugs accumulate much wax every couple of months,then have to be done again also the doc rang at teatime to tell me i got a perforated lug as well, ive always been a lucky get,

[monkey hanger]

just waiting for local barbers to start up again to do simple medical procedures again. hope they don,t as you,ll never be able to get through on the phone for an appointment for a hair cut.

[Margaret Pilkington]

It seems that (according to MSM that is) GP’s receptionists are going to be trained to take blood.
So you have an even smaller chance of having your phone call picked up, or being able to book an appointment to see a health care professional…..getting to see a GP is looking like getting to see the pope.

[Less]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

It seems that (according to MSM that is) GP’s receptionists are going to be trained to take blood.
So you have an even smaller chance of having your phone call picked up, or being able to book an appointment to see a health care professional…..getting to see a GP is looking like getting to see the pope.

It's a shame they can't just prioritise training receptionists to be receptionists, the attitude of some of them is terrible, or maybe they are all trained to reject the needs of the patient and to keep the surgeries quiet and free from unhealthy people?

[Margaret Pilkington]

If the receptionists accept this responsibility, then they must realise that while they are doing the blood letting, no one is doing the job they are paid to do.

I can remember nurses falling over themselves to take on roles that had previously been done by the junior doctors.
This meant that while they were doing these jobs the patients who wanted to be showered or taken to the toilet or given pain medications did not get it….and it robbed the junior doctors of the experiences of gaining the basic skills…..and the nurse still had her own duties to perform.
The junior doctor was not going to be showering patients for the nurse.
When I brought this up I was told that I was preventing nurses from expanding their roles.

[lettie]

There was an advert for ear wax removal in the free Acorn magazine a couple of weeks ago. The lady is a nurse called Carol, she works in Accrington and comes to your home. She removes it by micro suctioning.

Her phone number is 07598 766314. email [email protected]

I don't know how much it costs but the review written in the Acorn by the chap that had had it done was very good. I could probably do with mine looking at too. I'll give her a bell when I'm a bit less busy.

[Margaret Pilkington]

That is worth knowing.
Thanks Lettie….she might be getting a surge in customers soon.

[monkey hanger]

Originally Posted by Less

It's a shame they can't just prioritise training receptionists to be receptionists, the attitude of some of them is terrible, or maybe they are all trained to reject the needs of the patient and to keep the surgeries quiet and free from unhealthy people?

its not their attitude that bothers me as much as some think they know all about the medical profession and its ailments as much as an experianced GP does. bit like the bus cleaner at the garage giving advice to the manager about what new vehicles to buy and route timing.

[StevenB]

The last time I had my ears hoovered out it was done free at the Acorn Medical Centre on Blackburn road.

My dad has recently had the same thing done. He needed new hearing aids and Royal Blackburn audiology said that he needed to get his ears checked for wax and cleared before he could have a hearing test. An appointment was made directly with Acorn for a check-up by the nurse who then said he needed de-waxing. Unfortunately it couldn't be done there and then and there was a month or so waiting list. An appointment was made and it still got done for free eventually at Acorn.

So it seems if you want it done now, you'll have to pay. If you want it done free, you can make an appointment at Acorn, but will have a to wait a few weeks.