I have an elderly friend who's nearly 90. As she's very active she likes to garden quite a lot but as her eyesight isn't too good, she does bump into things a bit. This has led to some serious bruising and cuts on her legs which became infected.
She had some antibiotics from her doctor, but she'd finished the course and her legs were still swollen. As she was going away today (Tuesday) she needed to see someone on Monday (Bank Holiday).
We went down to Stamford hospital, forgetting that it's not a 24hr service. Of course, the A&E was closed, we had to drive to Peterborough.
The A & E had a 3hr wait, so they sent us to their walk-in centre. After driving there, we waited for about 40 mins, were seen by a doctor and sent away with some new and stronger anti-biotics. We used the pharmacy in Tesco at Serpentine Green and were all set. It was a great service.
The question is - why do we have to go to Peterborough? Why is there no small injury or walk in centre in Stamford? Of course, we could have gone to Oakham, but if we had found that closed, then it is a longer journey to either Peterborough or Leicester - my friend lives in Ketton.
I've since discovered that Rutland does run a small injury clinic which is 24 hrs, but this is after some hard work on Google. I do recall that when I last used them for a severe allergic reaction to some bites, I was seen, but told that I should have gone through a doctor first. I didn't understand it then, and I don' t really understand it now. That's why we didn't go to Oakham as I'm not really sure what they DO deal with there.
So, why don't we have decent medical cover in the Stamford/Rutland area? Why should people have to travel over 20 miles to get such treatment? My friend doesn't drive; fortunately she does have a surgery in her village but it's only open a few hours a week.
Do people imagine that everyone who lives in a rural area has access to easy transport and enough money to drive the necessary miles AND PAY THE PARKING - or that we just won't get ill?
It's a disgrace.
