The Whale and I spent most of the afternoon at the hospital. Despite the fact that I had rung the ambulance company to warn them that we would be there for an indefinite period instead of the usual half an hour for the monthly change of catheter, Whale rang them during the morning to explain it all again.

They turned up in force at 1.30, two men and a youngster on work experience but there was still room for me to squeeze in beside the walking frame, and we arrived in good time for the 2 o'clock appointment at x-ray. The Whale was taken through at five past two and came back about fifteen minutes later as it had been difficult to arrange him on the machine in a standing position. We both said they would need the walking frame but they left it in the waiting room with me, a  young lady on a stretcher who was obviously feeling very sick and kept retching into her bowl, an old lady in a hospital wheelchair who appeared to be blind, and a poor old chap who kept making very strange noises.

Nevertheless, we couldn't fault their organisation. As soon as the x-ray results were ready two porters turned up to wheel him to the outpatients' department, where, after a few minutes, he was pushed straight in to see the specialist. He wasted no time in telling us that the x-ray didn't show any problems and after a few pokes and prods he decided that there was a possibility that the sciatic nerve was being squashed(?) by two vertebrae. So, it was straight back to x-ray and a fifteen minute wait for a second picture. This time they took the walking frame!

Back again to see the specialist and we went straight in this time, only to be told that there was no problem with vertebrae. The Whale didn't know whether to be pleased or disappointed. He had been counting on something being discovered to explain his increasingly painful posterior so that a 'cure' could be found. As it was , the doctor could only suggest a series of massages by the physio. That's exactly what the locum GP had prescribed when our doctor was away but the physio had bluntly refused!!!!

The nurse changed his catheter and then they phoned for the ambulance to come and get us. We didn't have long to wait - perhaps because they had left the Whale on their stretcher so they couldn't really do anything else except drink coffee until he was ready - so we were home before four thirty.

I reckon that compares pretty favourably with what I remember of the NHS.