Retail Therapy

This half-term has been very boring; I seem to have been stuck in the house (except for taking cars to garages) because of the rain.  I have done family history, slept, put some music on LULU to sell (as well as on my main website), cleaned the fridge out, played the clarinet, sorted my accounts and changed standing orders to various savings account - but I still feel as if I am working.

I felt I had to get out today so I visited Market Harborough, a place I quite like. I bought a bulb for the fridge, so we can see the food, but I really wanted to visit the music shop, the existence of which I have only just discovered after 5 years in a nearby school.

The town is also a haven for anyone who buys clothes from charity shops as there are about 4 - British Heart Foundation, Oxfam, Age Concern and Age Concern.  I took in an old jacket and bought 3 neck ties.

Unfortunately for me, the real magnet of the town is Greenwoods especially when they are having a sale.  I bought five shirts all of - let's say - loud colours; at £9 a throw [with my loyalty card] you can't go wrong and I recommend their shirts if you into wearing a shirt and collar as I do at work. Their website doesn't seem to show the colours I bought but the lady was putting out 'new' stock (at sale price) as I went in.  Green, yellow (custard/mustard shade), red, dark purple, light purple shirts will be making their debut at school next week.  I also bought a new V-neck pullover and 6 pocket handkerchiefs.

I do cut a dash you know.

Getting Old

 

52 - old?

I went to the doctor today about my stiff fingers which I mentioned on my other blog back in October; when I wake up I cannot move the fingers of my right hand.  They are no better after all these months.

I have also had difficulty getting up and down stairs for the last two weeks; as for climbing on desks to put up wall displays in my classroom - agony!

According to the nice lady doctor it is just to be expected at my time of life given that my father suffered from it for years and years.  I am to go back if it starts to affect my life.  Luckily, after 10 minutes and a quick plunge in hot water, I can move my fingers again, but I clearly ain't as young as I once was.

I have spent the day doing 2 things:

[1] Going to the garage to sort out types and the MOT (it failed yesterday on a tyre but the MOT is free if you take it back within 24 hours, all fixed).  Then I had to arrange for my wife's starter motor to be looked at.

[2] I have been labelling and cataloguing scanned photos of my ancestors as part of my Family History Research.  Sadly, the more one does on family history the more there is to do afterwards. It the reverse of a job which diminishes when you spend time on it; the more family members who appear the more there is to do.

My parents' first car

Have spent the evening looking at images of the quake in NZ and tutting to myself that "it's terrible" which,of course it is. All I can do is pray.
 

Cans

Pop over to The Cathederal Choir and see an amazing video.
 

From my bedroom window

This view is likely to change within the next few months as planning permission is almost certainly to be granted for some new houses in the field behind us.

What's going on?

In Firefox, Google Reader looks like this:

Instead of like this:

It must be something to do with the various scans, clean ups etc. I have done today.  I even had to upload a banner to my own website before Firefox would download it, although it was there all the time.

Weird.

Blood 5

The man I spoke to last week phoned again today to say that he had spoken to 'Q' (I have been through my previous posts and removed all names) who was upset that I had been upset - as well she might be.

I feel I can draw a veil over this incident now and I will see what happens the next time.

2327

Just off to bed; it is now 2327 and I've sent the last 71 minutes writing a letter of support to a colleague. At least, having been depressed, I can offer some insight into the situation this person described.  This was such a cheery person that you would never have guessed anything was wrong.  I suppose the clown always has to smile.

Big day tomorrow - I should get a phone call from the blood people at 3pm.

 

Blood 4

As I said in my previous post I shall be hearing from the medical side of the NBS later.  I received this reply from the customer services department today (from Person #1).  I think this is rather good.

Thank you for speaking with my colleague Person #2.

I am writing to apologise again for our poor response to the concerns you have raised.  We need to respond effectively when things don't go well, failing to reply within the promised timescale only makes things worse and I am sorry that this is what we have done in this case.

In reviewing the case I have identified several opportunities for improvement.

I'm afraid we haven't been able to find out what happened to your original letter, which the team forwarded on to my office. Person #2 and I have identified a more robust system for handling such situations, which includes checking receipt when any such document is sent.

When you emailed us on the 18th January we emailed you asking you to resend or call us with the details of the complaint.  We sent this to your old email address, which we had on our system at the time [Note: even though I had phoned to update it] , rather than the current one which you emailed from.  I have now updated our records with your current email address.  I have also clarified with the team that we should always check that we contact people using the email addresses they use to contact us, and update old records.

We set our standard for response to complaints as five working days for the initial contact if not final resolution, and we have been improving our performance in this area. I apologise for our failure to meet this promise.

You emailed us on the evening of Friday 4th February rightly pointing out that 5 working days had passed.  We should have escalated the matter at this point, and I have added this requirement to our procedures.

In answer to your question, I must admit that the young lady in my team with whom you spoke on Tuesday morning correctly took down the phone number and required time for contact that afternoon.  She passed this message to me stressing the importance.  Before the required call back time I conferred with Person #2 who confirmed that he had called and arranged to speak with you on Thursday. I should have identified that he would have called on your home number rather than the school number you had given us that morning, and therefore I still should have called that afternoon as required.

I hope that you found your conversation with Person #2 to be constructive, I know that he appreciated the opportunity to discuss how we might improve the donor experience.  I thank you for raising your concerns with me too, even though you certainly shouldn't have had to, as they have highlighted areas where we need to be sharper.

I am happy to discuss these or any other points either via email or on the telephone.

Blood 3

I had a phone call from the Area Manager today who will investigate the clinical issues.  He only heard about it on Monday!  Hence there will be a serious customer service investigation.  They will phone me again in a week. I think they are VERY embarrassed about it all.  So they should be.
 

Blood 2

No contact from the blood people so I phoned customer services and said that I thought their treatment of my complaint was shoddy.  The girl I spoke to took my details and a school phone number so that somebody senior could ring me between 3pm and 4pm when I am not on games.

No call.

At 4pm I phoned again and was put through to Person #1 who really knew he had messed up big time.  He muttered something about Person #2 having already phoned me at 12.00.  I said this was not the case and that I had given the school number and a convenient time.  I said I would move onto the next stage in the complaints procedure (by contacting the Ombudsman) if I was not satisfied.  I had a real go at him in a calm, collected but forceful manner, not least because I was in the staff room with colleagues about.  Mind you, the Head of Maths told me to remind her never to fall out with me after the roasting I gave Person  #1.

I phoned Mrs TS and she said that Person #2 had indeed phoned to fix up a call for Thursday (my half day).  I look forward to that call but it is amazing how incompetent these people are given that I left specific instructions and contact details.

One wonders just how great the backlog of complaints is if mine has yet to receive attention. Worrying or what?

Blood

On 8th January I gave blood and had cause to complain at the treatment I received.  I have contacted the National Blood Service 3 times now, 4 if you include the person I spoke to on the day.  I have been promised replies variously within 2 weeks and 5 working days.  My patience is at an end.

My letter - sent over a week ago.

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

Blood donation session in XYZ 8th January 2011 – 2pm

I arrived in good time and was greeted; I passed through the initial stages without incident and sat drinking water until my turn was called.

A Junior staff member set up the couch as I had said I wanted to donate from my left arm today.  She was pleasant and cheerful.

Suddenly an older lady ('Q') appeared and – without so much as saying ‘Hello’ – held the card about muscle contractions above my chest in the expectation that I would take it from her and read it.  I did this and the Junior left.  Straight away I was taken off guard and wondered why I was being ignored.

A good two minutes or more passed during which 'Q' was sorting out pipes, organizing sticky labels and so on; she did not speak at all.  Then she put the cuff round my arm and began to search for a vein.

I presume that, as it was a cold day and I had on a short sleeve shirt, the process was more difficult, which I accepted.  However, she asked if I usually donated from my left arm.  This was done in a tone of disbelief even when I explained that I had donated from both arms.  At no point did she say that she was having trouble and would I mind her trying the other arm.  I was made to feel as if I was being unhelpful from the outset.

Eventually she located a vein and inserted the needle; there was no warning about this – I think I recall usually being told there will be a slight scratch although I could be confusing this with other medical procedures such as blood tests and visits to the dentist.

Clearly the needle was not in the right position as she had to fiddle with it – this was not a painless procedure but no concern was shown.  She then ask a left handed colleague to adjust it for her because a left-hander could cope with the angle a bit better.

I was left alone.  At no point did anybody come to see if I was OK (as they have in the past) although I presume this was being done by observation from a distance.

Towards the end of the donation I could see 'Q' looking in my direction as she finished with another person.  She then came over and started to fiddle with the equipment, and the needle in my arm.  She said nothing until I asked her if there was a problem.  I then felt I was being reprimanded when she told me I must not move my arm during a donation.  She obviously presumed I had done so [a] far too much [b] deliberately.  She wanted the flow to be a ‘9’ but it was not.  Gone are the days when somebody stayed with the patient whilst the donation is in progress, but this does not give your staff the right to reprimand people.

She launched into a lecture about why I must not move my arm, as one would to a naughty school child.  She seemed to assume that I had a detailed working knowledge of blood donation but that I had recklessly ignored accepted procedure, so it was her place to correct me.

After my cup of tea I asked to see the person in charge of the session and spoke to 'a bloke'.  Although I explained what I was unhappy about, he too started to explain to me why I must not move my arm.  I was never given the opportunity to say that, as far as I knew, I had not done so.  'The bloke' seemed to overlook the fact that I was bringing 'Q'’s bedside manner into question and again seemed to defend his colleague citing her experience as a counter to my concerns.

I had filled in a feedback form and he asked if I had out my name on it.  I said that there was no space to do so (as these forms appear to be designed to be anonymous) he contradicted me, but he was actually talking about another feedback form which he suggested I should fill in.  I declined, having spent time explaining the situation to him; he agreed to affix one form to the other.

My view of the events is this.  'Q' was either tired or ill, which can happen to anybody, but I felt she took this out on me and, far too rapidly, came to the conclusion that I was a difficult donor.  At no time did I complain to her and at no time was I difficult – what would be the point?  I also feel that her apparent experience and longevity in the job had made her forget that the man off the street is not as familiar with procedures as she is.

When asking me if it was OK to put a plaster on the donation site she mumbled and I had to ask her to repeat the question.  Also, I felt her hair ‘style’ was unbecoming a person working in a medical capacity and dealing with the public.

I should like to be assured that this Carer has been informed that her conduct was, on this occasion, off-putting.  I should also like to know that I can request not to be dealt with by her in the future.