Saturday Night Fever at Swindon Hospital
I have been running Spanish Ham Master for many years, and some more cutting Jamón, and never until now I've had a cut that needed medical attention.
A few weeks ago on Saturday, Spanish Ham Master was hired by an important client for a private event at his residence near Oakham. Given the distance to where I had to travel, I decided to do it myself and not send anyone from my team.
To summarise the story a bit, tell you that once I cleaned the ham and was about to start the service, I had the bad luck of cutting my thumb while trying to take out a knife that had been left for me to try. From minute one I realised the extent of the cut. Thanks to the help of a couple of chefs who were working at the same event, we were able to bandage the wound and cover it with a glove to be able to perform the service and not leave the customer stranded.
The event was a success and the Jamón that I had selected for the event received all the admiration of the public. I have to say that a Jamón 100% Iberian Acorn-Fed that we select at COVAP is always a success.
After the event and after informing my wife, I took the car and decided to go directly to the Great Western Swindon Hospital. After three hours of the event and another three hours of driving, I can tell you that I was very tired and the finger bothered me a lot, the pain began to make the situation more complicated.
At midnight I entered the emergency room door of the Swindon hospital. It was incredible to see that the entire room was full of people. A sign already announced that the minimum waiting time to be attended was at least 4 hours. At the reception, I gave my details and they told me to sit down until a doctor could see me.
Those of you who already know me, know that I am a person who likes to observe and analyse what is happening around me. I soon realised the tension that could be experienced in the environment. People are very fed up with the situation in hospitals in general, but especially in emergencies.
I felt very ashamed of the treatment that some people gave to the nurses. The bad education among the patients dominated the situation and made the work of the medical teams very difficult. What happened to all those nice words and messages to the "NHS heroes"?
Life has to revolve around rules based on respect for others, but much more on respect for all those people who are part of essential services for our society. During the long night that I had to spend in the hospital, I saw on a couple of occasions how the police brought a couple of patients under arrest. I honestly felt a great rejection towards these two people for their rudeness, but I felt disappointed that the police did nothing to respect the work of the nurses. What is happening to this society that authority is no longer respected? A doctor does an essential job, a nurse is vital for patients to be referred to the right doctor, we have to respect their work and the police must have sufficient authority so that at least the unique requirements for a society to function are met. Education is a basic pillar for everything to work properly.
Citizens are fed up with the malfunctioning of some systems, that's why from here I would ask politicians to manage the country correctly, fulfil their promises and make their work of service to the country their law of life.
To conclude, I want to express my gratitude to the doctors and nurses who take care of our hospitals and medical centres daily. Thanks to the doctors and nurses at Swindon Hospital who attended the emergency room on the night of June 12th -13th, showing great professionalism. And very special to nurse Eliana (Portuguese nurse) for the magnificent treatment she gave me, and to a doctor (an Indian doctor that I can't remember his name) who had come from Oxford that night and did a great job with my wound putting the stitches.
Please let's not forget that NHS are still heroes, and we have to take care of them!
Muchas gracias!
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