Nov 16, 2020 10:48AM Rosiecat wrote:
Hello Sylvia,
Hope all is well down in Exmouth despite the grim Autumn weather. The afternoons get shorter and darker every day. I usually draw the curtains and switch the lights on soon after 3pm, just to shut it out.
As predicted, I now have my NHS 'extremely vulnerable' patient letter to add to my collection. I'll have to sort it out when I have time. What a complete waste of taxpayers money. My daughter had dozens of patients with letters asking them to shield when they didn't need to and vice versa during the first lockdown. She didn't appreciate wasting valuable time sorting out the Government's mess.
The drive-through Covid testing centre in Norwich had to be closed down yesterday, when several staff tested positive. G4S run it! When will the Government stop handing out contracts to this company? Outsourcing doesn't work. All part of the Tory chumocracy I suppose. Some people are getting very rich on the back of this pandemic.
You will no doubt have read about the Moderna vaccine. This is nearly 95% effective and much cheaper than the one produced by Pfizer. It won't mean the end of coronavirus, but it might mean that hospitals will be able to start treating cancer patients within the set NICE time limit again. Heaven knows how the backlog is going to be cleared. Private hospitals appear to be filling the gaps for those patients who are able to pay or persuade their hospital to transfer care from the NHS to the private sector at a cost to the NHS. It does seem that there might be light at the end of the tunnel - let's hope.
Like you, I find Professor Van Tam the most reliable and sensible of the public health advisors. He doesn't seem to be as easily influenced by Johnson's briefing expectations as either Whitty or Vallance. Jenny Harries followed the Government line to the letter and wasn't worth listening to. I rarely bother with the briefings now, particularly if given by Matthew Hancock. He constantly exaggerates, flips the facts and contradicts himself. Most of the track and trace success stories are simply made up. The system that will be super efficient is always in the pipeline, but never actually materialises.
Again, there is very little breast cancer news to report on. Breast cancer awareness month came and went and lots of money will have been raised. However, amongst the many stories about women who were 'battling or had' battled' breast cancer, there appeared to be very little about the wide range of different types of breast tumour. The experiences and expectations of women with an oestrogen+ cancer may be very different from those of women with triple negative, HER2+, metaplastic, inflammatory and so on. Oestrogen+, being the most common, is naturally the main focus but it shouldn't be the only focus. Apparently some women with metastatic breast cancer feel particularly sidelined by the annual pink washing of this incurable disease. If the organisers of breast awareness month could steer clear of the 'celebrities with breast cancer' approach and concentrate more on the realities and the science it would be a step in the right direction.
I think the weather, Covid and the lockdown is beginning to affect my temper. I'm becoming crosser by the day. Perhaps someone has some nice uplifting stories to post?
Take care Sylvia.
Love,
Gill xxx