Rules, Regulations & Law

My exercise of choice is lane swimming. I go 3 - 4 times a week for 30 minutes & swim about half a mile doing back crawl. There are conventions of how lane swimmers should behave, to do with safety & consideration for others. If there are several people in a lane it is important that these are observed to avoid swimmers crashing into eachother. I have to be especially careful because obviously I can't see where I'm going. If others don't observe the rules I'm in danger of a collision, which has happened occasionally.

My point is that rules & regulations are there for a reason, to enable us all to live together as harmoniously as possible. Societies are huge, complex systems. They cannot be a self indulgent "free for all". Everyone has to be prepared to conform to some extent. The alternative is chaos & harm.

So called democracies have a legislative framework that enables law to be enforced and operate in daily life, usually created by government ministers. The really important word in that sentence is "enforced". There is no point in having rules, regulations & law if they are just written & not enforced by a body with oversight & the power to impose sanctions.

My feeling is that in the UK & much of the world we have reached the point where norms of behaviour & the rules that govern them are not being complied with. Worse still oversight bodies or even legislators are not acting against serious breeches of accepted behaviour. 

This "laissez faire" attitude permeates from the ground upwards to the very top. The current debacle with the Water industry, the handling of the Covid epidemic, the Post Office Horizon scandal to name just 3. All have gone on for years. All have been shocking in the levels of incompetence & deception that have been revealed. 

Yet the Water industry is supposed to be overseen by Ofwat. Margaret Thatcher's government privatised England's water companies in 1989. The combined debt of the industry was £60.3 billlion in 2023.

Covid cost between £310 - 410 billion, largely due to the lack of preparedness for a pandemic everyone knew was coming. Public Health England had oversight, but were constrained by poor political decision making.

The Post Office is a public corporation of the Department for Business & Trade. There is supposedly a Post Office Redress Service, but I haven't heard anything whatsoever about them in the current enquiry. During the time of the scandal there were 11 government ministers in charge. Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office prosecuted 736 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses—an average of one a week. The cost of this will be in the billions.

"Headless chickens" are the words that come to mind. But it is worse than that. People in charge have routinely lied to protect themselves or their organisations. Enforcement simply did not exist. Innocent people have had their lives destroyed utterly & even died as a result. The tax payer - you & me are paying & will continue to pay the bill for this profligate incompetence. 

We deserve so much better. We all need to think very carefully about how we use our vote in the coming elections.

 

Things to be Grateful for.

I'm feeling more like myself - No longer Covid positive.

I have had very good care from the NHS despite the financial & staffing problems facing them.

I have been given 4 really helpful aids to remain independent by the Occupational Therapist.

I'm gradually returning to what passes for "normal".

I have a lovely, caring family & really good friends.

I have lost over a stone in weight - although there must be easier ways!

I'm aiming to be able to return to swimming & my usual activities next week. (But I will take it easy).

I have a home of my own & am financially secure.

I'm really lucky. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

But, all is not well in the world. We are facing serious issues at home & internationally. These will not be solved easily. It will require everyone, not just politicians, leaders of industry & wealthy philanthropists, to work together for the good of everyone & the world we all live in.

Self interest will not work. We in the developed world need to be prepared to make significant changes to our lifestyles immediately. We need to be grateful for what we have. We need to get things in to proportion. 

There is poverty everywhere, but the poverty in the developing world is far in excess of anything here. We have food banks, but we are not in a famine or starving to death. There is discord in the UK, but we are not involved in a war at home. We have access to clean water. Energy costs are very high, but we have heating & electricity. We have homeless people, but not in the numbers of displaced people around the world. All our children have acces to a free health service & good education.

Hitherto we have taken these things for granted, as a right. Now we have a responsibility to be more aware & share more equitably with the rest of the world. It isn't right that where you are born determines your life chances. It isn't right that decisions we have made are destroying the world we live in.

We all have to be grateful & be prepared to do something about the situation some of us have created.

 

 

 

Covid Misery

I have had all but the latest vaccine & I've had Covid mildly. I have shielded & been careful when restrictions relaxed. I take Covid seriously. But I got Covid again 16 days ago.

I have been quite ill when travelling abroad with sickness & diarrhea, but this was a completely different order of illness. A blinding headache which had me climbing the walls, nausea, retching, not eating for days on end, a day of dreadful diarrhea, so weak I could barely move, muscle aches & pains which meant I couldn't be comfortable in any position, utterly exhausted because I couldn't sleep in any position without being in pain, breathless at any exertion even speaking, unable to do anything except listen to the radio a bit. Just completely sedentary & dozing all day, every day & trying to drink fluids.  

So now, although I don't have Covid, it looks as if I have long Covid. The virus seems to have affected the muscles of my left leg which was bruised badly when I had a bad fall. An Occupational Therapist is coming today to assess me. My lovely Osteopath is helping a lot. I need to be mobile. I need to be able to look after myself. I need to be independent.

I have had really good care from the NHS. Not from my GP's, but 111, Paramedics & AAU at the JR Hospital. I have had batteries of tests, exhausting, invasive, but necessary & informative. A designated Covid team who phone me every day to check on progress, or lack of it. 

Dealing with being so ill & disabled when you live alone is difficult & quite frightening at times. My daughter is wonderful & has kept me going physically & emotionally. But she is a teacher & has a family to look after. I've been a carer for my parents & parents in law. It isn't easy, especially when you have a demanding professional job.

Today I actually woke up & didn't feel sick. I felt well enough to have a shower - only the 3rd shower in all this time! I wasn't able to eat a whole bowl of cereal, but I think I will fancy a sandwich for lunch & some chicken for tea.

Progress of any sort is welcome. It's a pleasure to start feeling something like my normal self.  

Anyone who thinks Covid is over is deluded. If you haven't experienced what I have you have no idea how ill you can be. I was aware that hardly anyone wears masks, distances or sanitises any more. So stupid & ignorant. Why put yourself at risk rather than do a couple of simple things to protect yourself & everyone else?

I'm going to make myself my first cup of real coffee now. I hope I can enjoy it. 

PS

The O T was amazing & will deliver everything next week. I am going to be given a variety of aids to help in the house & outside. All I hoped for was a shower stool, but there is so much more available. I'm not proud, I don't have a problem with being elderly & needing help. I am just really grateful that the NHS has such skilled professionals who try their very best to help people in need. 

It is just shocking that they have to put up with complaining & even abusive patients. We should all be very grateful they continue doing a very difficult job.

Covid Crash

I'm not sure what I expected, but not quite this. I haven't been able to find much information about what to expect if you are fully vaccinated, clinically vulnerable & elderly. There is a list of symptoms, but quite a lot don't apply to me. 

• I don't have a high temperature, but do have bouts of hot sweats
• I don't have a cough or sore throat at all
• I haven't lost smell or taste
• No diarrhoea or sickness

 I do just feel unwell & have 

• Headachy symptoms & a weird fuzzy feeling in my head
  
• Muscle aches
• Breathlessness & an ache in the centre of my chest when I breathe
  
• My legs feel like jelly, I've been totally sedentary for a week now
  
• Complete lack of energy, unable to resist falling asleep

I know my body & I know this isn't the normal symptoms I have from chronic conditions. Normally I am able to carry on a reasonably active life day to day. A week of almost total inactivity isn't normal & is very frustrating. All I do is read, watch TV, work on my computer, or sleep. There are so many things I need to do, but I just can't do them physically or mentally. 

I understand that we had to move forward from isolation & shielding. I just feel that we are possibly relaxing too much. Covid is very debilitating even when you are fully vaccinated. I don't understand why so many have stopped wearing masks & distancing in enclosed crowded places. I don't feel that I can now avoid unwanted contact with possible carriers. The fact that I have got covid proves that I can't.

I'm a statistic.

 

 

Covid Positive

I felt quite unwell yesterday. But I've been having a lot of vision problems so I thought it was that. When I stupidly went for my normal swim I discovered that it wasn't. So I did a lateral flow test. Positive! I've evaded it since 2020, but it's finally caught up with me.

I notified everyone I've been in contact with. My builders went home till next week. Because I'm clinically vulnerable I also notified the NHS. Fortunately I did a big food shop on Sunday & wore a mask. I'm used to being solitary, so it isn't a problem. The symptoms are relatively mild at the moment.

Now we are in the 3rd year we all know so much more about Covid & how to deal with it. There are systems in place. There is an app that works. Most people are vaccinated. It's all so much more positive than in 2020 when fear was predominant.

It is like a game of dominoes though. One piece falls & all the others follow. The knock on effect of Covid still needs to be taken seiously. We have all relaxed, because the extremes of shielding etc weren't viable long term. We have a more positive attitude to adapting to Covid.

But the pressures it is putting on the NHS are still there. Staffing & funding issues remain. Patients feel that their access to medics has been severely & permanenetly curtailed. Phone triage doesn't work for everything. The changes in the way the system operates are possibly necessary, but for patients they are not positive. We value a face to face consult with our doctors.

The morale of Medics has been knocked hard. 

https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/covid-19/what-the-bma-is-doing/covid-19-the-impact-of-the-pandemic-on-the-medical-profession

https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/covid-19/what-the-bma-is-doing/covid-19-how-well-protected-was-the-medical-profession

It is really important that the government, the NHS & Medics associations honestly evaluate what has happened during Covid. There will be other pandemics & emergencies. We need a NHS that is ready to deal with them.

At the moment the outlook is not positive. Privatisation really won't help patients.

 

Covid 19 - Anniversary

The 31st January is the 2nd anniversary of the Covid 19 virus appearing in the UK. I have to admit that I lost a year somewhere & didn't realise it was 2 years. In that time we have had several variants - Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta & Omicron. The virus is playing cat & mouse with us & has morphed from a pandemic to a worldwide endemic disease.

Populations have gone from drastic Lockdown measures, particularly for more vulnerable people who had to shield because they are more prone to serious symptoms & outcomes, to attempts at a more normalised life. 173,248 people died in the UK  up to the 24th December 2021 with Covid on the death certificate. Total UK deaths in 2019 = 604,707. Total UK deaths in 2020 = 689,629.

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths

Covid has affected every aspect of everyone's life, work, leisure, home, education, health...It has also impacted every aspect of the world economy, business, supply chains & availability of goods, transport & communication, financial structures, politics....None of us who had not experienced SARS which emerged in China in 2003 & spread to 29 countries were prepared. MERS jumped from animals to humans in the Middle East in 2012. Both are Corona viruses.

We do not know what 2022 will bring. There does seem to be agreement that this will not be the last pandemic. We need to be better prepared for the next than we were for this one. Governments & Politicians varied hugely in how well they dealt with the decision making & control of Covid. The Lowy Institute has an interesting performance index on their website. Europe & America did worst. The Middle East / Africa & Asia / Pacific did best. 

https://interactives.lowyinstitute.org/features/covid-performance/

The scientific response to Covid 19 has been exceptional. I'm very grateful that I have been fully vaccinated & boosted in the UK. The response of the NHS, Carers, Teachers & many others has kept everyone going. The volunteer co-operatives who have supported thousands of people truly restore faith in human nature. The vast majority of people have complied with guidelines to keep others safe.

We have shown what we individually can do. It is a personal choice whether to behave well. We do all have rights. But alongside that there are responsibilities to others.