Brick walls and queues in The View from the Terrace

Earlier today I was just putting in some washing and looking forward to a nice relaxing day after a rather stressful week when my phone rang. It was Cat who was out walking the dog.
‘Mum,’ she said, ‘There’s something wrong with Billie.’ My heart sank, its been one thing after another lately and the dog is the main thing that is keeping her going. She told me Billie was bleeding from her rear end. Oh Lord, that sounded serious. She asked me to ring the vet while she walked the dog home.

The vet is only a short walk up road. I rang them and was told that all of the vets there had left and we would have to go to their emergency centre in Newport. Newport is 14 miles away and the route is along a motorway. Cat is still a learner driver and not allowed to drive on motorways and I am not insured to drive her car. I explained all of this and the receptionist suggested I try other local vets. I found one and rang them. They said they couldn’t see us unless we changed vets and registered with them. I couldn’t believe it, the dog could be seriously ill and they were quibbling over rules of etiquette.

Cat arrived back at this point and I told her the position. We decided to try the Pdsa animal
hospital at Cardiff Bay. They kept putting me in a queue and leaving me there for ages while playing me recorded information about vaccinations and worming while our dog could be bleeding internally. We decided it would have to be Newport and I was trying to work out a route that avoided the motorway. Cat said not to worry as she had driven on motorways before. She and David are no respecters of the law. Then I rang the emergency line to say we were coming. I got through to a nice veterinary nurse who listened to Billie’s symptoms, asked a few questions and said it sounded as though it could just be a burst blood vessel and, if she seemed otherwise Okay, to put her on a diet of boiled rice for today and see how she was. Billie has been fine since and it is such a relief, but why didn’t the receptionist tell me to ring the emergency line for advice in the first place?

I am getting so tired of this sort of thing lately. Earlier this week I tried to ring the hospital to find out what is happening about Cat’s appointment. She is still having trouble with her arm. At her last visit almost three weeks ago they said they would arrange an appointment for a nerve test but we have heard nothing since. I tried ringing them on Wednesday morning but it just rang and rang. When I tried again in the afternoon I did get a reply and they passed me to the booking department where I was in a queue for ages. Eventually someone answered and told me I needed to contact the trauma clinic, where she was seen and that they would be there in the morning. They weren’t there in the morning, I tried several times. They did answer in the afternoon but only to tell me I needed a different department and transfered me back to reception. Reception didn’t answer. I still haven’t spoken to anyone.

I also rang Cat’s doctor to see if she can get a repeat prescription for her allergy Meds. They said they couldn’t speak to me because of confidentiality. I explained that Cat is autistic and can’t speak on the phone. They agreed to talk to me if she gave permission, on the phone, of course! She managed to do that and I was told we would have to go there and fill in a form. I don’t know why that information was confidential. You can’t order over the phone here like you can at our doctors so we had to drive there Wednesday afternoon. We were told it would be ready Friday afternoon but it wasn’t so we have to go there again on Monday.

It really does feel as if every time I try to sort something out someone builds a brick wall. In Herefordshire the duty vet would have come in to the regular surgery, the doctor would have happily explained the medication situation to me and let me order it over the phone and you can get through to the hospital on the telephone. I don’t understand why things have to be so difficult here. I suppose it is because it is a city but I can’t help but think that one of the reasons why so many people end up at A &E could be because it is so difficult to get hold of anyone else.