MilesA

John I fear that your request that people vote for one party or another to 'save' the NHS is one of the key reasons why it will continue to suffer. Each political party will exploit its 'commitment' to the NHS to secure power and a few terms later all will change as a new party comes to power. I suspect the Labour party's 'credibility', appeal and difference to the Tories is too heavily invested in its historical association with the NHS for it to stop deploying it in the drive for and maintenance of power. In my humble view, the first thing that needs to happen is that there must be an open and honest debate above the state, future and future funding mechanism of the NHS. Too often, any attempt to open such a debate whether on a national or private basis is howled down with allegations of wanting to destroy the NHS. At a national level, the debate needs to be removed from the party political ping pong in some way to neutral territory to which all parties are committed and which can provide a mechanism for agreed changes to be implemented. I do not know if such a process exists or whether the political parties would be honest enough to subscribe to one. Such a debate must obviously address funding. The mechanism established in 1948 is in my view no longer viable in 2023. There are variants being deployed in other medically successful countries. So let's examine them. To be clear, from my perspective, this is not about privatisation. As an addition, not a counterpoint, to your start of this debate, I found this article interesting :https://www.sajidjavid.com/news/sajid-javid-we-need-agree-new-nhs-future-or-1948-dream-dies I am not a cheerleader for Mr Javid and I do not agree with all that he asserts, but his article did seem to me to include some interesting information and proposals that are pertinent to the debate and change that must take place. Miles

Excellent stuff John. Always love seeing that trio on the charge! Been twice Hamish in my 3A with its twin Weber 45's slurping fuel like a good 'un at the rate of 18mpg max and a thumping sports exhaust. Stayed off the main routes and had great drives on uncrowded French roads that suited the TR. You can do it! Miles

Excellent news Roger. Sure the mental relief is as great as an explanation for the physical symptoms. Lucky you weren't able to get the original sized Mars bars though; greater satisfaction but even larger trousers! Hopefully see you around during the summer. Miles

Looking VERY purposeful. No pressure then for the coming season... Miles

Spoiled...!

Excellent Hamish. Started to remind me of my times in the pit area at a couple of F1 races back in the day... Miles

Ian As some other functionary may take a different view, make a 'contemporaneous note' of the conversation in as much details as possible, sign and date it in case needed as future evidence. As for snail mail in my case to DWP re underpayment of my wife's pension, we sent 3 tracked and signed for letters with bundles of supporting evidence to them monthly about a year ago. Each signed for "COVID". Haven't ever received an acknowledgment / reply /explanation and frankly have given up for the meantime. So hope you have found a solution. Miles

I endorse Roger's suggestion but also engage the Minister responsible which I think is Victoria Atkins MP (please check). My wife used to work for a quasi governmental regulator and all hell was let loose when query or complaint came in from a Minister in particular. PS I agree with Nick about persevering on the 'phone and speaking calmly to an individual. Time-consuming but in the past I have found that this has been productive. Anything written/digital just disappears into an abyss and is lost for eternity.... Miles

Love that first one especially with the n/s wheel in mid-air. Pushing it! Miles

My policy was to eat, have a few drinks and then put in my earplugs. Soon fell a sleep for at least part of the journey. When awake again, stretched and walked regularly. Otherwise, just grit your teeth until you land... Miles

Hope you find a solution John. Been there - tried various adhesives without success - eventually had to buy a new drawer at eye-watering cost. On a related challenge if I may. The Velcro strips holding the boot liner in our Mitsubishi no longer adhere to the plastic interior panels. Supplier warned of this and I have tried various (carpet) double sided tapes without success. Any thoughts guys? Miles

Thanks. Our radiators are not in series. But that is about the only correct thing about our system which was installed about 35 years ago. Our local, longstanding and reputable heating engineers have probably been kept afloat by us in addressing the multiple issues with it. The fundamental problem is that the bore of pipe is simply too small for the size of the house and about 50% buried in walls. Everyone from engineers to receptionists in the company know about our unique system and examples from our house of how not to install a C. heating system are used by them when training their apprentices! One of the best was a series of hot pipes laid on top of a 10' RSJ so sucking out the heat. I certainly wouldn't be installing anything without consulating them! Miles

Very interesting. As my mother drifted into dementia, we used a lot of technology to monitor and support her. We installed Hive which gave my sister or me the ability to manage heating if my mother lost the plot, as she did sometimes. However, very much like the sound of the zoning function with the Honeywell system. Miles

You must be chuffed Hamish. Sure it was not just additional attendance but the benefit of last winter's upgrades and more experience. Now I have a longer legged 6, will try and double my attendance to support next season to...........2 events! Miles

Well done! Presence of the supporters club of Mike and me must have helped! Car sounded and looked great on the move. Sorry I missed the timed runs as I had to bail at 3.00 to get back to London at a reasonable hour but I did enjoy my time at Curborough. Miles

Or you could present Suzie with the 'present' of entries for her to several marathons next summer. Given her commitment to training she won't even notice that you and the TR have gone missing again!

Great stuff H. Looks as if you are really having fun this season. Miles

Back in the mad 90s that's what I would do. I would fly jumbos and occasionally Concorde, which was a real privilege. For two days I took only hand luggage in the form of an old family Globetrotter briefcase (very robust) with papers, laptop and phone. I took a spare shirt, underwear and socks and second tie in a clever pack called a Stuffed Shirt which also had small clip on wet bag. This also went in the briefcase. Brilliant bit of kit which I still have and use. On returning to Heathrow early morning, there were individual changing rooms and showers. They had a two way 'cupboard' in the door where you would hang your suit and while you were freshening up, it would be taken away and pressed ready for for the trip back to the office and a day at work. That was when BA was excellent and my first choice for any airline journey. Then around the Millennium, passengers became 'the enemy' and my boycott started. As you can imagine I had millions of airmiles which were supposedly for life but somehow were cancelled. So depressing that such a great company rapidly became and remains second rate. Miles

Nothing worse than losing your luggage - sincerely hope you retrieved it. Nor travelling BA by any chance? Great chance for a rant! Along with all their other anti-customer policies they are now specialising in not transferring luggage. There examples from this year alone. First, 10 of us travelling to Venice in January to ski in the Dolomites. Four sets of luggage did not arrive. Some passengers saw it actually being removed from the plane shortly before take off and were advise by the cabin staff that the plane was weight sensitive and it was being moved to the other side of of the hold (yeah, right). Three lots arrived on the evening flight that day. Last item arrived a week later the day before our departure. BA refused to pay the (substantial) wasted transfer costs. Second, my sister returned from Malta in May; her luggage didn't. Four weeks later it was dumped (literally) on the doorstep of a house in south London (my sister lives in Surrey). The house owner opened the unlocked front pocket, found the card with all my sister's contact details (this was beyond the wit of BA staff) and contacted her to collect. BA are still insisting the bag is still in Malta. Third, a month ago nephew and wife visited from Dublin but not their luggage. It was still in Dublin when they returned four days later. BA refusing to pay for the clothes and bag they had to waste time buying in London. I have avoided the scrummage of carry on bags for years. We now struggle with one or two bags with a couple of days worth of clothes to mitigate this additional risk of travelling BA. For completeness, we only travel BA where there is no alternative and have done so for years. Miles

Thank you for your restrained responses gentlemen! I still hold to my view that the left is more prone to discourage discussion about the shortcomings of the NHS. A perception no doubt as I do not have verifiable data so we will just have to differ on this. I am sorry that I do not have details of the recent report comparing patient outcomes (which must be a key objective) with expenditure in national health services. It was mentioned yesterday on the BBC or LBC a couple of time in their news reports which was why John's original posting resonated with me. Yes, we probably were fortunate to get access to the NHS in the past 6 months but therein lies a whole other issue particularly given GP's firm adherence to telephone consultations post pandemic. I actually think there is a role for telephone (and even video which our GPs will not do0 consultation but only if there is effective triaging when the initial call for an appointment is made (ie not by the receptionist) so that a telephone consultation with the GP is not wasted when it is clear it is a case for a physical consultation. The problems with the NHS obviously fall into the micro and the macro and the example above is obviously one of the micro inefficiencies. What has struck me over the past 6 months is just how many such avoidable micro inefficiencies have occurred. Happy to give examples but it may just look like sniping which I am not really doing. Having late in my career moved from a law firm where the profit motive inevitably drove efficiencies and a collective service culture to a non-profit regulator I do not underestimate the challenge in replicating those outcomes in a state funded entity. It takes exceptional leadership and high calibre managers. At the macro level I agree that the NHS has been underfunded by comparison with say Germany and France where I believe they invest more per capita than we do. They do so I think via John's more equitable mix of insurance and state funding. So I absolutely agree that it is possible to move away from a universal state funded system. Where I would disagree with John is that it is possible to achieve a state funded system that works before doing so. I personally do not think that is possible and I strongly suspect many professionals in the NHS would agree. So, the challenge is, how to bring this about without allegations of back door privatisation? Now, given the weather, I really must take the TR out for a run.. Miles

I hesitated to add two this topic partly out of regard for John's experience and commitment to the NHS but largely because any attempt to initiate any discussion about NHS is invariably attacked and stifled (particularly by those on the left of the political spectrum). It is a sacred cow and untouchable. Commentators accuse commentators of wanting to dismantle it and privatise all its services. No. Most people just want an efficient and effective service that puts the needs of patients at it heart. So today we have yet another report which states that we have the most expensive health system in europe with some of the poorest outcomes. In my view, herein lies the greatest obstacle to improving the NHS. Absolutely impossible to address shortcomings and changes unless one can at least start exposing and discussing areas for improvement (I am choosing my words carefully) in an objective and rational way. Unfortunately, both of my adult daughters have had involvement with the NHS over the past six months. "Yes...its pretty broken" is something of an understatement. I won't detail all of the incidents of incompetence and inefficiency, but some of it makes scenes from the TV programme 'This is going to hurt' look like models of rationality. But I will give an overview of one daughter's experience over six months of constant pain which impacted on her employment. After more than 40 hours of (wasted) NHS time (when she never saw the same doctor twice) we finally identified an appropriate consultant and consulted privately. An hour's considered and gently probing consultation followed by two days of self-applied tests and we had a definitive diagnosis, treatment plan and swift progress to a pain-free life. Best £350 I have spent on her. My other daughter's experience is very similar. We are again close to identifying a private consultant with the appropriate expertise and when we have done so, will do the same . No guarantee of success of course but confident that it will be a more constructive experience. So ironically, the state of the NHS is driving a move to greater use of private, self-funded medicine in any event. But this is not just the view of a disgruntled 'customer'. I have half a dozen friends who are consultants (and others who are GPs) in different disciplines in different hospitals in London and Yorkshire. They will now publicly assert that the system if completely f****d, something they would never have said 5-10 years ago. They are all pretty demoralised and frustrated that they find it harder and harder to what they are trained to do and love(d) doing. There is also increasing animosity between the hospitals staff and GPs, both being openly critical of others. Again, something I had not been aware of previously. But of course, we are not allowed to have a debate. Rant over and I will get my coat.... Miles

That's exactly what I have in my 3A from its rebuild by a PO - except not sorted by Mr Cox. I think I know what the solution is if I get tired of the distinctly two movement gear changes...! Miles

Hi Hamish Engine bay looking very purposeful these days and the car is sounding great. Wish my gearbox would permit such fast changes. Miles

Blimey Roger. Are you sure that’s not a drive in brothel!? Miles

Love those photos Phil and also 'wasting' time poring over OS maps. Those similarly smitten might enjoy this book... Miles