187. More frustrations

Rant #1

1. Rheumatology aren’t accepting any routine referrals at present. Ok but this is not necessarily routine.
2. My GP practice has tried to contact both the Rheumatology service and the Rheumatology Manager and has had to leave voicemails. Of course there have been no responses.
3. Rheumatology is unlikely to have gone on holiday.
4. The referral says “as the patient would like to speak to someone before her oncology appointment.” No, it’s not patient-led. Oncology expects me to have been seen by Rheumatology by Friday 10 July. There is no chance of being ‘seen’ but spoken with might be helpful. However, it’s getting too late now for anything constructive to arise from it (if it’s needed).
5. UPDATE: I’ve rung and spoken to the Oncology secretary and she’s going to give it a push. “It sounds like someone medical needs to intervene.” Fingers crossed. One rant may be removed but I’m never going to be popular with Rheumatology from now, am I? Why do I always need to be liked???

Rant #2

I received a letter from the DOHSC outlining the plans for The Shielded Ones. They seem to be purely random dates. From 6 July, I am free to go outside for exercise as much as I like. That would be fun if I could walk, painfree, without looking like I’m wearing flippers. I may also form ONE social bubble. Well that’s great considering that everyone else has already set up their requisite number of bubbles (obviously family first) and there’s no one left to bubble with unless they break the rules. And I’ve no wish to bubble with anyone breaking the rules (oh this sounds self-righteous) - the rules are aimed to keep control of the number of contacts and therefore the risk of spreading the virus more widely. Yes we all know that but... it can’t apply to me surely? One extra contact won’t matter. A trip to the seaside won’t do any harm - tell Bournemouth residents that!

BBC News - utter madness? Protection from the sun but not the coronavirus. Ok, makes sense...

From 1 August, shielding is paused and I am free to do as much shopping as I wish, I may go to work as long as it’s safe to do so (what do they mean? Either it’s safe to lift shielding or it isn’t, full stop). I must maintain social distancing and remain cautious - so the advice is “to stay at home where possible.” Really, isn’t that just going round in circles? You can now do this, that and the other but really it’s not that safe and you’re still at risk of severe illness, so try not to! I despair.

It does make me wonder whether the government has the slightest idea of the risks behind their decisions. The virus is still around. The R numbers are not at comfortably safe levels (and probably will soon soar in Bournemouth) but we are all champing at the bit, hankering after our freedom, and they feel they must give it to us. But only on those dates. So if I go to Morrison’s on 31 July, I’m breaking the regulations and I am taking my life in my hands. A few hours later, it will be safe. Ish. Well, maybe. Probably. But just in case... yes, you can go out, but don’t. That’s how I’d rewrite that letter.

Then of course there’s the fact that 2 million poor souls will burst out from confinement only to catch every bug going, apart from the coronavirus I hope, because we’ve zero immunity to the current climate. That should be fun.

I’ve also had to reregister as a vulnerable person because I made the mistake when I first registered of saying I had a means of obtaining food. I did. I have an annual delivery contract with Sainsbury’s and we always get a weekly shop. Apparently that doesn’t work any more. The local council has advised me to reregister and say no, I have no means of shopping. Unfortunately it does mean I shall now receive a government food parcel each week - but I can send it back with the driver. What a waste. Why not just have a tick box ‘I do not require a food parcel?’ But if I don’t comply, I will lose my place on Sainsbury’s priority list. Thinking back to my hysterics over the lack of a small loaf of bread in the early days of lockdown, I believe it’s wiser to follow all these stupid little games.

Rant #3

Sainsbury’s has this rule you can’t get round - only one shopping slot per week. That’s fair at the moment. We lost our regular Friday slot early on when it was impossible to book anything so I grabbed a late Saturday slot. Then the one-a-week rule came in so we were stuck with Saturday. We prefer Friday (please don’t ask - it involves my husband’s very fixed routines) so each week, I click on Friday hopefully - but a red box comes up saying only one delivery a week, so Saturday it is.

On Monday, I routinely checked for Friday. Up came the red box so I selected Saturday. I then did a random shop over £25 to secure the slot, paid and left it, knowing I could go back any time till 11 tonight and do a proper shop. This morning at 9am our shopping arrived, including a £7 fee for delivery. I checked - no text yesterday to alert us about payment, no email apologising for substitutes, nothing except last Monday’s confirmation. And bugger me if it didn’t say Friday!

Sainsbury’s telephone customer services are always helpful so I rang them. What had gone wrong? I got an obdurate woman who simply kept repeating we sent you a confirmation email and it’s your responsibility to check this. No ‘oh I’m surprised that happened - leave it with me and I’ll check.’ No ‘that must be frustrating. I’m not sure anything can be done now but I’ll check.’ She was repetitively polite to the point of rudeness, with long silences where I could hear her thinking ‘how can I get rid of this woman?’

I asked for an address so I could put my dissatisfaction in writing. There is none. I pointed out that early on in the crisis Sainsbury’s removed their email contact, which I thought was poor customer service (in fact all the businesses linked to Sainsbury’s have done the same, places like either Comet or Argos - I forget which) but there must be an address. No, just the telephone service. So, to take my complaint further, I need to ring this number and possibly speak to you again? Yes, that is correct. I said this was the most unsatisfactory service I’ve received from Sainsbury’s, at which point she informed me she had noted all the details to pass to her manager. I pointed out that, had she made that comment at the start, I would have been satisfied and ended the conversation.

So we have a ready-made meal for Dennis (but on Saturdays he always has X, Y and Z), we have an X but no Y or Z, we have Dennis’s milk but not mine, no bread (got some on the freezer ;) ), no vegetables, salad or fruit, apart from the red grapes we didn't really need. I now need to unwind from that bloody patronising woman and a stupid website that - wait for it - has now removed the red box. I think I will order £40 worth of stuff every day next week out of pettiness. Maybe not as the delivery men will bear the brunt of my pettiness - but I must get some bread and milk. Plus another £35 worth of stuff to avoid another delivery charge.

Rant #4

The patio door stuck yesterday. Why not? Join all the other hiccups that cause frustration. I have learnt a harsh lesson - your home emergency insurance doesn’t cover anything not arranged by them so I dutifully rang and they said no problem, they would arrange for someone to come out that day. I got a phone call from the firm confirming the arrangement and was told to expect a call 30 minutes before arrival. They came at 5 minutes to midnight. It was all fixed by half past midnight but... let’s just say someone was NOT happy (routines again) but he broke it so... Suffice to say, we are advised to get a new door. I wonder if that’s covered by our insurance because it will cost a bomb. It’s not UPVC and the whole thing will need redoing. Oh well, more into the money pit we call home.

A nice distraction from my cancer-related woes. And so good to be able to rant it out of my system. Just hard luck only any reader who unfortunately has to take this. Apologies. I hope you are having a chuckle at my expense - it’s the very least I can offer.