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I went for my annual health check at the GPs this morning and all seemed fine. I've lost a fair chunk of weight since last year (not all due to cancer treatment) and my blood pressure was good and when asked if I got depressed I said no, which apparently counts. The nurse doing the assessment said that I needed to have a blood test, which as it has to happen on a Tuesday I can't do til September.
I said "Do I really have to do that? I must have had at least eight blood tests in the last three weeks. Can't you just use one of them?"
She said that unfortunately not as tests from a consultant don't get shared with the GP.
Maybe there's some good reason for this - a patient might want something the consultant knows to be secret from their GP because.... maybe they're in a sexual relationship with their GP and don't want them to know they've got syphillis??
I know that bringing the NHS up to some kind of modern day standard with computing etc would cost an unbelievable amount of money, but surely it would quickly pay that back.
Just a page you can pull up about every patient that gives you all their medical history - my haemotologist had no idea that I'd had evidence of a tiny population of hairy leukaemia cells back in the 2010s. Presumably because the hospital I went to then doesn't want anyone else to benefit from the investigations that they've paid for.
And with everything collated then I bet you could use AI to do a lot of the grunt work in terms of working out who was in danger and have predictive models of when they might need treatment. Which aside from deciphering the scrolls in Herculaneum is surely what AI is made for.
Anyway, I am having a blood test in September and I am sure I will have one at the end of July when I see my haemotologist to see if my healthy white blood cells are returning. If I ask nicely do you think she can send the results to my GP and save the NHS £50 or so? It's a start.
The NHS' days may be numbered which is maybe why my body has cleverly decided to have all its cancers in the 2020s so they can be treated for free. Make sure you get cancer as soon as possible or you might end up bankrupt.
I did a Newsround about the Bayeaux Tapestry/Reading Embroidery, completely forgetting I'd already done one a few weeks ago. Ah well, every show is the same anyway. Sorry we said Stamford Brook instead of Bridge, but Ally did display some remarkable Hastings knowledge off the top of his sawdust filled head. My post-treatment brain is also largely sawdust so it's amazing we get anything together. Last one for a little bit as we're off on holiday next week, though I could do an audio one with me using my hand to do an impression of Ally.
I recorded another fun Book Club today, this one with Martin Fitzgerald, all about his book on the witnesses to the JFK assassination. Out in a few weeks.
The Edfringe RHLSTP dates have now sold over 500 tickets. I can't remember if that's good or bad at this stage, but it's nice to know I won't be playing to any empty rooms and there's still a month to go.
So book ahead if you like, though you can probably make a last minute decision for most of them!
