18 July (Part 1) - Hip hurray! Life may soon return to normal
After a little less than ten weeks I don’t have to go to East Ham every
couple of days, four times in some a weeks. The 95 year old who broke her hip
and wrist is back home with Newham Social Services in attendance.
The Care Quality Commission may have rated Barts Health NHS Trust ‘Inadequate’
but the care, especially in their Rehabilitation Unit was superb as was the
accommodation. Unfortunately Newham’s Social Services appears to be a bit of a disaster zone
with staff at war with each other to the detriment of patients.
The Southeastern trains were often late, usually by only a few minutes, but just
enough to see the back end of a Stratford bound DLR disappear into the tunnel at Woolwich Arsenal.
Only
one SE train actually broke down. Its speedometer failed and apparently some
(presumably obscure EU) regulation says it is OK for the driver to crawl at low
speed to the Slade Green depot but not with passengers on board who suffered a 26 minute delay instead.
There is probably a law against it but I amused myself on journeys by
counting the number of overheard conversations (including telephone) between
Woolwich and East Ham and separately the number that were conducted in English.
The ratio only twice fell outside the 10-20% range. Two English out of 22 conversations and six out of 28.
My aunt has lived in the same house since 1941 after being bombed out of
Victoria Dock Road and she along with one other lady in her seventies is the
only resident in the street who is not of Indian appearance. Ironically she was
born there, Burma actually, and probably most of her neighbours are London born.
I had stocked my aunt’s cupboards and fridge with fresh food but it was barely
necessary, her neighbours were quick to spot her return and came around - even
from the next street - to offer help and bring around food. Fortunately my aunt likes curry and rice!
The ‘Indians’ certainly know how to look after the old folk but they make no secret of
wanting to buy the aunt’s house when she pegs it. They like to have family
living next door. Fortunately the 95 year old has no problems with their ideas.
So now my routine will change again. With luck, fewer trips across the river,
but it’s too early to know exactly how things will pan out.
All of which is by way of an apology for being behind with the correspondence
file. Some of the more time consuming issues are now many weeks old and
sometimes other things have to take precedence. And there are also times when I just need a rest from it all.