People are appalling
I had a hospital appointment today. Saw the consultant audiologist (all good news). Had a wee bit of a wait to see him and then he did a couple of tests, so it was past lunchtime when I got out. Had coffee and a toastie in the cafe - run by volunteers. I looked around. It was manky: cups, napkins, paper plates, etc, left on the tables, although there are bins provided. And before I start to blame visitors, I wonder which group of 10 sat on wee yellow stools round a couple of tables and left their mess behind? Could that be NHS staff by any chance? A lot of staff eat there.
I decided to visit the loo before I went home. One of the cubicles had the door hanging off. In the one I decided to use, someone had pee-ed on the seat and not wiped it. Two of the sinks had the plugs in and were filled with pretty manky-looking water. The floor was swimming in water too.
None of this is the fault of the NHS.
This hospital is a busy place. It was visiting time by the time I was leaving. The car parks were full.
But I found myself wondering: is this what people's kitchens and bathrooms look like at home? Do they allow the family to drop litter on the kitchen table or the floor and walk away from it? Do they let them pee all over the bathroom and not bother to clean it up?
What is this? Learned helplessness? Or do people somehow expect that the NHS - which is chronically short of cash for essential services - will look after their health and coddle them like babies? Do we really expect - as my mother would have said - to be 'lifted and laid' all our lives?
We seem to think cleaning up after us is someone else's job. I can see the point if there are no bins provided. That wasn't the case here.
I decided to visit the loo before I went home. One of the cubicles had the door hanging off. In the one I decided to use, someone had pee-ed on the seat and not wiped it. Two of the sinks had the plugs in and were filled with pretty manky-looking water. The floor was swimming in water too.
None of this is the fault of the NHS.
This hospital is a busy place. It was visiting time by the time I was leaving. The car parks were full.
But I found myself wondering: is this what people's kitchens and bathrooms look like at home? Do they allow the family to drop litter on the kitchen table or the floor and walk away from it? Do they let them pee all over the bathroom and not bother to clean it up?
What is this? Learned helplessness? Or do people somehow expect that the NHS - which is chronically short of cash for essential services - will look after their health and coddle them like babies? Do we really expect - as my mother would have said - to be 'lifted and laid' all our lives?
We seem to think cleaning up after us is someone else's job. I can see the point if there are no bins provided. That wasn't the case here.
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