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My sister lives in Spain. Recently, she broke her arm and shoulder. She can't speak Spanish and no one at the hospital spoke English. Result, confusion. In my opinion, if you want to live abroad, the

The cost of interpreters is a huge factor both inside and outside the NHS.   As I said, my sister doesn't speak Spanish and, after her initial visit to the hospital, she had to book the serv

On the subject of why, I wonder if the people of Gloccamorra ever wonder how things are with us?

17 hours ago, FLY2 said:

Professional rabble. No wonder British jobs are filled by foreigners. Ok, no political intent. 

 

Fly maybe its the same here. Only foreigners want the menial jobs. Look for a cleaner, carer, washerup, street cleaner they are all Tunisians, Macedonians, Africans, Albanians, Morrocans  .etc. Looking for professionales is a  nightmare.

At the hospital a few years ago the consultant I saw when he realsed I was English started telling me that they could't get drs and surgeons, they were all emigrating to uk because they were higher qualified and could demand a higher salary. 

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My sister lives in Spain. Recently, she broke her arm and shoulder. She can't speak Spanish and no one at the hospital spoke English. Result, confusion. In my opinion, if you want to live abroad, the least you can do is learn to speak the lingo.

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El correcto,, el Senorita...........brokeo armio ?.............young Jillio..............leastio oneio can doio...........easy Spanish   lol

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28 minutes ago, benjamin1945 said:

El correcto,, el Senorita...........brokeo armio ?.............young Jillio..............leastio oneio can doio...........easy Spanish   lol

 

Stands back in amazement....    Ben is a polyglot!   :Shock:

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15 hours ago, Jill Sparrow said:

if you want to live abroad, the least you can do is learn to speak the lingo.

 

 

That is an absolute necessity in my view. Not only to have some respect for your host country but, as is made apparent by Jill, to be able to live day-to-day and, should it be necessary, in an emergency.

 

When I began living here I had a modicum of ability to speak French, having worked in France on and off for a number of years beforehand and, during which time the company I was working for gave basic French lessons as part of their work package.

 

It is amazing, however, how quickly you can speak colloquial French (or, I expect, any other language) when you have to and I feel that anyone living in a non-native country has a rather strange insularity in not doing so.

 

One of the problems the English have in speaking a different language is that they think they are going to be judged by their ability. They couldn't be more wrong. I would expect that all natives of all 'foreign countries' would be keen to help non-native speakers in learning the language. I certainly found that and remember - you learn by your mistakes. No need to be embarrassed if you get it wrong.

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One of my wife's friends works at QMC booking appointments. One aspect of this also entails continual booking of interpreters for many different languages, at £200+ per visit, for the many foreign patients who can't speak English. This is a significant cost which gets hidden. What's even worse is many of the patients then don't bother to turn up but the interpreter still gets paid! 

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My Daughter carries out a similar role at the QMC TBI,,,(maybe know each other ?)...........she tells me similar stories of wasting money,,

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The cost of interpreters is a huge factor both inside and outside the NHS.

 

As I said, my sister doesn't speak Spanish and, after her initial visit to the hospital, she had to book the services of an interpreter for subsequent attendances. This service was not free. She had to cover the cost herself and we should adopt the same strategy.

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2 minutes ago, Jill Sparrow said:

She had to cover the cost herself and we should adopt the same strategy.

I agree with this and maybe people would turn up for appointments, if not charge then for the consultant/doctors time that was wasted. Same thing at doctors surgeries as well.

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Quite agree, SG. If you fail to turn up for a booked appointment, a penalty charge should be imposed. After all, many people these days book medical appointments with the GP online and it takes only a moment to cancel it, thus freeing that slot for someone else. Just boils down to thoughtlessness.

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Talking of time and money wasting. As you know I am very proud and thankful to our wonderful NHS. They have saved me in times of trouble and still continue to do so, but something has happened this week that shows it is not only patients that waste time and money but also consultants can falter as well.

My sister has been going through an ordeal these last few weeks. Breast cancer, mastectomy, and now beginning a course of Chemotherapy followed by Radium treatment. She has been going through all the fears associated with her cancer diagnosis and treatments and prognosis.  

 

She went to hospital yesterday for her first chemo treatment. The chemo was to be made on arrival of the patient as explained, each chemo is made specifically to the individual persons requirements. After all the stress, she was told she would have to go home and come back next week as the consultant hadn't put the prescription in ?????? WHY!

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That's rotten for your sister, Carni. We all make mistakes but those kind of mistakes cause such a lot of stress. I hope she gets her treatment and will make a full recovery.

 

As with most things that are free, people tend not to value them. If you have to pay for something, it is seen as being of greater worth. We do pay for the NHS of course but not usually at the sharp end...ie hospital and no pun intended.

 

We are blessed to have such a service and abuse it at our peril. If we lost it, we would all be the poorer.

 

My sister received a bill some months after her treatment for around 10% of the cost...and moaned about it. However, she received no physio as would have been the case in the UK and mobility in her right arm is now pretty restricted.  Spain's hospital system is very highly thought of but, apparently, it has its limitations.

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1 hour ago, Stavertongirl said:

I agree with this and maybe people would turn up for appointments, if not charge then for the consultant/doctors time that was wasted. Same thing at doctors surgeries as well.

I know that in Sweden you have to pay between £10 and  £20 if you don't turn up for an appointment, that also includes Dentists

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Carni, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your sister. You know of the awful events which we have had to endure over the last four years and of the awful outcome in both instances, and I really hope that the treatment for your sister is truly beneficial. We have gone through problems with the NHS over that time, and I have been critical of the mistakes that they have made, and sometimes think that those mistakes brought about the horror visited upon us, but when you are desperate for help what alternative is there.

Thank you for your pm, there is absolutely no distress caused, your support is a comfort at this time.

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Why are so many so eager to impose monetary fines and penalties for minor infringements?

 

Why not suggest a fine for doctors who keep you waiting for an hour, a bus that never comes, a tram that breaks down? People have a life and it sometimes gets in the way, thing happen, they forget an appointment made weeks ago and yes, sometimes just plain ignorance.

 

I would suggest the vast majority do not miss appointments and we can do without these Draconian pettifogging rules and regulations.

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Today I collected my aunt from James Cook Hospital and I have the nothing but praise for the treatment and care she received. She fell when out walking and was thought to have broken her hip, fortunately she had not but due to her age 97 they kept her in longer than normal. The only draw back which has been mentioned before is that some staff have a poor grasp of the English language and made my aunt feel unable to ask for things she needed.

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At the doctors in Doncaster they would put up a notice to say how many people had missed appointments in the previous month. The figure was astounding, usually well over a hundred. I can understand that some people can forget, writing down in a diary could prevent this, but it was very frustrating when you had to wait 1 to 2 weeks to see a doctor. If you find you are unable to attend it is only common courtesy to cancel the appointment surely and let someone who needs it have it.

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4 minutes ago, Stavertongirl said:

At the doctors in Doncaster they would put up a notice to say how many people had missed appointments in the previous month. The figure was astounding, usually well over a hundred. I can understand that some people can forget, writing down in a diary could prevent this, but it was very frustrating when you had to wait 1 to 2 weeks to see a doctor. If you find you are unable to attend it is only common courtesy to cancel the appointment surely and let someone who needs it have it. 

 

Quite right and I did include the ignorant in my liitle rant. There may well be over a hundred (25/30 per week) but taking several doctors (average 2000 patients each) it's still quite a small percentage. Guessing at five doctors that would be five misses per week or one a day.

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6 hours ago, Jill Sparrow said:

If you fail to turn up for a booked appointment, a penalty charge should be imposed.

I agree wholeheartedly Jill. Sadly, it would be hard to put into action. I don't think it would be an easy job getting the penalty paid. Perhaps the threat of being struck off the Doctors list for non payment would work. On saying that, it would open up all sorts of other problems, particularly for the people with genuine reasons for failure to keep appointments, and also not having the money to pay fines. Worse case scenario, we would probably have people getting ill and possibly dying  all because they inadvertently missed an appointment in the beginning, and don't have the funds to pay up for their mistake. Something definitely has to be done. What and How, I have no idea? 

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