Good news for neighbour, and NHS chaos for husband

 My shopping yesterday came to £68.75, which I was very pleased with - it's the first time of shopping since 31 January, and is enough, along with what we already have in the freezers and larder, to last the rest of this month, hopefully.  So a very cheap shopping month, and the remainder of my shopping budget will be transferred to my savings account at the end of the month if I don't need to shop again.  I also stuck to the list....other than some pate husband sneaked into the trolley, and a half price quiche I got which will make a quick lunch with some salad for tomorrow and Saturday.

We did the neighbour's little bit of shopping, husband rang her bell, put the bag on the doorstep and stepped back when she opened the door.  She's just let us know via an excited email that she's now tested negative this morning, which is good news.

I'm going to Specsavers for my hearing test this morning, it will be interesting to see if my hearing has actually got worse, as I think it has.  If it has, then I'll have to get in touch with my GP for another referral to the NHS hearing clinic.  I'm going to Specsavers first, because it's far quicker to get an appointment that way, and their test is actually much more detailed than the NHS one.  If I do need new hearing aids, it'll have to be NHS ones though, much as I'd like the private ones - I just can't afford them.

Some readers may recall that towards the latter part of last year husband opted to change to Yeovil hospital instead of Taunton for his prostate problems, on the advice of Taunton who claimed that Yeovil had a shorter waiting list.....which we've subsequently found out isn't true at all.  Since then, he's had various letters and phone calls from Yeovil, during which it's become obvious that they are in complete disarray - the left hand doesn't seem to know what the right hand is doing, his notes either get lost or aren't put on computer, one consultant says one thing which is the opposite of what another says.  Last week husband had a letter giving an appointment for bladder tests - at South Petherton hospital, which is even further away than Yeovil.  Yesterday, he had another letter, giving him a telephone appointment with a consultant at Yeovil hospital - on the same day and almost the same time as the bladder tests at S.Peth.  He rang Yeovil to query it and tell them he couldn't be in two places at the same time......only for them to say they knew nothing about the bladder tests....it wasn't on their system!  As I said, one hand does not know what the other hand is doing.  The phone consultation has been rearranged for later in the month.  As a result of him transferring to Yeovil, it appears they are treating him as a new patient and going back to the beginning, doing all the same tests and consultations as he has already had - several times, over the past more than 2 years at Taunton hospital.  It's ridiculous, a resolution for his ongoing prostate problems is just getting further and further away......

Thanks for all the comments, seems we all agree that Boris really has gone bonkers.  It occurred to me also that if nobody has to self isolate from the end of the month if they've tested positive, then presumably people won't even bother getting tested - what's the point if it no longer matters if you are positive?  So you can just go out to work, shopping, socialising, whatever, and breathe your Covid germs over everyone (because you no longer have to wear a mask or wash your hands) and infect everyone around you.  Well, we will still continue testing every few days, wearing masks, using hand sanitiser when out and washing hands the minute we get back home.  But it's going to be more difficult - practically impossible I'd say - to avoid catching the virus from the end of the month.  Let's just hope that those of us who are still vulnerable (our vulnerability doesn't change!) and catch it, have a mild dose and don't end up in hospital.