Friday
The medical tests were over and done with really quickly yesterday. I was a little anxious about people maintaining the correct distancing in the waiting room but there was no need to worry at all as the public area has has a complete overhaul. As well as the screens on the reception desk, the fitted seating in the waiting room, which previously could seat about 60 people, has been removed and there were 15 chairs spread out in the room. The entrance door is locked and you now have to use an intercom to gain access, appointment only, and if you arrive too early there are seats outside to wait ... very strict! When you're allowed in, they take your temperature, log your attendance for track and trace, and provide sanitiser to use before you can go into the waiting room. They provide masks for anyone who arrives without one. I only had to wait for a few minutes before being called to the treatment room, so it all felt a lot safer than I was expecting.
From the time I left home to the time I arrived back it poured down so there was no chance of a walk. I haven't been too lucky with the weather this week. I took the long route home just to give the car a run out so I had the change of scene I wanted. It cheered me up anyway. The rain stopped not long after I got home!
I made a start on the paperwork once I'd had a coffee and sorted through the last lot. I still have to do the shredding and filing, and make up a parcel of the documents and items I want to return to his family, but I'm almost at the finishing line.
The talk on poisons in Victorian medicines was just under an hour long and gave an amusing overview of the ingredients used back in the day when health and safety legislation was non existent - so cocaine, heroin, opium, you name it and it was in some form of medication easily available to anyone who wanted it!
On to today and my diary is empty. I have no firm plans for what I'll do with myself once I've filed the last bits of paperwork and finished off the shredding, which will take about 30 minutes max. I have the rest of the day to fill so Italian practice and exercise, then maybe some reading, piano playing, watch a film, phone calls with friends ... a pottering sort of day!
It sounds as if the surgery has it all very well organised, good for them. I'd have been worried too.
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It's something I'd prefer to avoid if possible but won't feel quite as anxious if I do have to have an in person consultation on the future.
DeleteI hope my surgery is as efficient, I have a long-overdue blood test appointment on the 18th and have been worrying about it since I got the date.
ReplyDeleteI think they are following NHS guidelines but I am fortunate in that the refurbishment of the waiting rooms was going to happen anyway and I think they've been able to accommodate more Covid safety aspects as a result.
DeleteGood luck for your own tests.
Now we know how the Victorians & Edwardians got through strict society & moral ethics - cocaine, heroin, opium in their over the counter medications! As for the women wearing such corsets & all, pain relief would definitely have been needed! I read once that in the original Coco Cola (Coke), there was cocaine - talk about building a market strategy. Hopefully shredding & the rest of the paper work goes quickly & you can begin the weekend! Although these times certainly blend into "what's a weekend?" :)
ReplyDeleteThey covered the coca cola story and their original recipe. They also spoke about the introduction of heroin as a non-addictive substitute for opium drug addicts! They definitely got that one wrong.
DeleteIt sounds like your clinic is observing all the Covid prevention guidelines! I hope the test results will be good. Too bad the rain spoiled any plans for walking about a bit. I wish I could send you some of our weather and get some of your rain - this is supposed to be our rainy season and we've had under 2 inches of total rainfall, so far (average would be 9 inches and last winter, we had over 15 inches!).
ReplyDeleteNo rain today so I finally got out for my walk 😁 At least we just have the rain in this area - other counties are dealing with snow and much colder temperatures so we've got off lightly. We'd end up with water restrictions with such poor rainfall as you're experiencing. As it is, we constantly alert to the possibility of flooding at the other end of the village.
DeleteI'm glad your doctor visit went so well with people making adjustments due to the pandemic. It's a comfort to see the professionals acting professionally :)
ReplyDeleteIt is a comfort. The initial checks when they let you in are the sort that people can be lax about after the repetition of doing it day after day so I was relieved that they are still being vigilant.
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