To thine own self be true– a reply by Jayantha Vincent Perera Counter reply ……..
Posted on August 2nd, 2016
Sarath Obeysekera
I am glad that I opened the Pandoras box ( by the way my blog is called pandorasbox 50) to raise the importance of the Ambulance Service in UK and also in Sri Lanka ,which is the subject of many news items today .I never meant to run down or criticize the ambulance service in UK ,but my contention was to explain how good our government health service .With such a poor income levels among the poorest and inefficient tax collection system in Sri Lanka ,our state doctors are trying their best to give the service people deserve .
My samyak prayoga” I exercised in UK was decided collectively with my wife because my health condition was so critical ,and my wife and I knew it was the only way to get urgent medical attention in UK during the weekend .
As he has provoked” the debate ,I would like to highlight similar incident I have experienced in UK last November when I attended my daughter’s wedding in a rural wedding hall in Gloucetershire ,It was a cold winter and the room my self and my wife were allocated was not very well heated and I started getting similar systems of getting asthmatic attack . As we went back to UK from Sri Lanka where we had a very warm whether ,sudden weather change would have been the reason for the attack.
Next day I had to usher my daughter for the wedding ceremony ,hence I did want to be taken to emergency Unit in Gloucester , and yet I called the Ambulance service in the middles of the night as I had all the symptoms of chest pain and difficulty in breathing . Paramedic came driving her own car alone just after 1 am in the morning ,brought her own ECB unit ,nebuliser and all the medication and spent almost 1 hour trying to ease by breathing . She uggested that I should be taken to emergency care and I begged her to treat me so that I can be at the wedding service until next day .
It went well ,I recovered and attended the wedding next day and again in the night I started getting asthmatic attacks and paramedic came again ,this time it was he” and he was so kind and nebulised me on the spot .
Came back to London ,and I had it again and this time I decided to that I should be taken to Emergency Care ,I did not fake this time .
I was taken to the Emergency care in Northwick Park Hospital and as I am not a critical patient I was asked to sit in the lobby inside for three hours until the staff doctor came to me to treat me for my somewhat eased breathing condition .
The doctor checked me and prescribed some drugs to be taken ,like prednisolone” and I went home by a taxi next day morning after spending 5 hours in the emergency care unit .
I asked for a prescription to buy the drugs ,but he asked me to go to GP next day and collect a prescription .I was annoyed but he was adamant .
Next day I was trying to get an appointment with GP ,and I was told by the GP’s secretary over the phone that next immediate appointment is in a week!
Well, it was like whole in the bucket –in the song Harry Belafonte sang.I went back home an almost called the ambulance to go to Emergency Care to get treatment
I almost used the samyag Payoga” again ,to get the medical attention ,but under protest from my wife I refrained .
I went to GP service in Clementine Churchill Private Hospital ,paid 60 pounds to the GP and got the drugs which suited me fine .
Point I am trying to make is that I have paid so much tax in UK and we retired people find it difficult to get emergency medical attention through conventional GP service in UK ,hence using such tricks is somewhat used by many in UK
Mr Vincent Perea,s claim that I should have been honest ,may ne justifiable ,but when you lie down on the bed ,being unable to breath due to the purported Asthmatic attack ,I would have ended up in the morgue with course of death as heart attack ,which would have culminated from the breathing problem.
I do not agree with him that paramedics could have given me wrong medication, but am sure that they would have known my condition well.
By the way when you have had a Quadruple by pas 10 years back, you are always worried that any pain below the neck, up from torso is a heart attack !!
The attacks are sometime silent and you would not know when you are diabetic .
Sarath Obeysekera ( dropped my Dr title as I am not a medical doctor )
August 2nd, 2016 at 6:01 am
Sarath
You have got a very bad GP.
By the way, I am also a retired engineer living in the same Nothwick park area.
When I need a doctor’s appointment I will get one on the same day.
Our GP operates his appointment system on “first come first serve basis” over the phone. So there is no delay if you phone them between 8 am to 9 am and you will get an appointment same day.
You should know that now, you can change your GP if you are not satisfied with the one you have.
It is true that there is a 5 hour waiting period at the Emergency care at Northwick Park Hospital. That is because the National Health system is so stretched due to EU open immigration policy.
So we have Brexit now and expected to be better very soon.
August 6th, 2016 at 4:17 am
Mr. Sarath Obeysekara Sir,
Prior to initiating any project you must carry out a feasibility study. For this you will have to hire a consultancy. Once you have carried out your feasibility study, you will have to approach the CEA and provide them with your feasibility study report and proposed plans etc. and the CEA will ask you to carry out an initial environmental examination or an environmental impact assessment. For this, you will have to hire a specialist consultancy. Once you have carried out your IEE or EIA to the satisfaction of the CEA, then only will you get the permission from the CEA to go ahead with the proposed project. This process is so that your project complies with the environmental laws of the country, especially the ecological aspects etc.
Additionally you will have to comply with resettlement and compensation issues if your project inconveniences or displaces any persons etc. To comply with the country’s resettlement and compensation legislation. you will have to hire sociologist and will have to come up with a resettlement plan depending on your individual situation. Any in event, you will have to comply with the national resettlement and compensation legislation.
Once you obtain the necessary permission from the CEA, and prior to the pre-construction stage, you and your contractor will have to obtain a whole host of permissions from a wide variety of agencies, departments, ministries etc. for example, if you are digging up a roadside, obtaining water for construction purposes, obtaining electricity for construction purposes, if your construction activities displaces existing utilities, if your construction activities affect traffic flow, inconveniences the community, comply with all health and safety issues of workers etc. A whole host of agencies, PSs, municipal councils, departments will have to be approached to obtain the necessary permissions.
You will have to go through this process since this is to comply with the country’s legislation that is there to safeguard the country’s natural environment and minimise any socio economic issues that may arise. Other countries may have much worse draconian legislation than even Sri Lanka. Therefore you should not complain but go through the necessary process since these laws are there to safeguard Sri Lanka’s natural environment and any socio economic issues that may arise.