NHS waiting times are tough - but the care is more than satisfactory
Public satisfaction with the NHS is at a record low of just 21 per cent across the UK, a survey has found. It has not been at such a minimal figure before.
At least many of those who were asked their opinion offered a degree of certainty. But for many other people the situation is not clear cut, there are pros and cons, and I certainly wouldn't be able to provide such a definitive response.
I had a day-case operation in February last year at the third attempt - it was twice postponed but that caused me no problem or difficulty and I had no complaints. In September I was in hospital for five days.
I had various appointments for tests and checks. I suppose I might have cost the health service £30,000 or more last year. That's a heck of a lot of money. I was still cycling up the hills to my home in Scorguie. But age takes its underlying toll regardless of how fit and able you feel and there are many of my vintage who are fully aware of that.
How many of us who have had frequent dealings with the NHS would be in the "very dissatisfied" category?
I was very glad to have my restorative operation. The care and treatment I received as a patient in Raigmore was excellent. Follow up checks and tests were diligent and reassuring.
Earlier this year I booked a holiday.
But a few weeks later a letter arrived telling me I had an appointment for a Raigmore CT scan on the day of my departure, a few hours after my plane was due to take off from Inverness.
I won't deny on a personal level the timing was unwelcome for the extra cost and disruption it would bring me.
But of rather greater note was the fact that the scan was scheduled for 11.40 on a Sunday morning. Under great pressure, frontline NHS staff are working round the clock to cope with the demand for their services.
And what demand there is. A quarter of the population of the Highlands comprises people of pension age and over. That's a truly daunting statistic, with so many at a stage in their lives when they are most likely to need treatment for health problems.
The last time I made a surgery appointment to see a doctor the waiting time was almost four weeks. But the well qualified and highly trained nurse practitioners were available on the same day.
So with regard to the actual treatment I've received from the NHS I'm in the "fully satisfied" category. In terms of waiting times and delays I suppose I'm among the many who are less than fully satisfied.
But I'm also acutely aware that I've cost the financially struggling NHS a bundle of money. There are so many older people in the same situation, and in any overall assessment of the performance of the health service that's a factor that just cannot be ignored.