Roger Gambba-Jones

You know how you never take any notice of something until it actually affects you and then it seems to be everywhere; well I've had that experience at least twice in the last three years. 

The first ‘big' thing was when I was getting ready to leave the RAF after 38 years.  Knowing that few people seem to be keen to employ us old'uns (over 50s - 50 is not the new 40 when it comes to getting a job!), it seemed like becoming a driving instructor might be the answer, be your own boss, choose your hours, make good money, meet lots of different people, you've seen the adverts! 

Well, as soon as I started the training, every corner I turned whilst driving around Spalding, seemed to have a car with a driving school's name on it - how could a little place like Spalding have so many driving instructors in it? Where would my customers come from?  Of course, I hadn't allowed for the fact that Spalding was actually a test centre, so many of these cars were from places far and wide!  The point is, that until it affected me personally, I never gave all these driving school cars a second thought!

My most recent experience is to do with moving local services away from being local.  By coincidence, given my story above, local driving instructors are fighting the proposal to close the Spalding test centre.  Also, the local tax office is under threat of ‘rationalisation', ‘in order to provide a better service to the public'.  No doubt readers (are there any?) can think of two or three more local services that have disappeared over the years under the bull s..t excuse of improving services to the public.

Anyway, the piece of 'rationalisation' that has now effected me personally, is the location of specialist hospital treatment which, by yet another coincidence, was a story in Saturday's Telegraph.  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1939162/NHS-shake-up-to-axe-hospital-services.html

The story said, that plans ‘were in the pipeline' to close many local treatment centres and move them to centralised locations (it actually said regional centres, but I hate that word - ‘regional' that is, not centres!).  What pipeline? Its already happend!  I've been told that if I want my treatment (surgery for Prostate cancer) I will have to go to Lincoln, because the good old NHS decided, at some point in the past, to stop doing this surgery in Boston. 

My wife is disabled, but luckily is still able to drive.  However, her overall health makes a 90 mile round trip (everyday if she has her way, for up to 7 days) a daunting prospect.  I could of course go private and still have the operation in Boston at the Bostonian - same hospital, same surgeon, (possibly quicker?) just loads of money!  I knew I should have taken out that private medical insurance when I left the RAF!  So that's what they mean by patient choice - take it, leave it or go private! 

So, yet again, until it was me personally, the story in the Telegraph might not have registered - not very much anyway.  Just to prove the point, the same thing applied when I got my diagnosis (the day before the Easter break).  That night a crime drama on the television had a prisoner dying of - guess what?  The next day the newspaper had a story about some bloke who was appealing against a fine or penalty of some sorts based on the fact that he was suffering/dying from - guess what?  Bl..dy hell, its just like all those driving school cars!

Incidentally, if you're a man over the age of 50, go to your doctor and ask for a blood test to check your Prostate specific antigen - NOW!  That's all it takes and it could save your life (I hope it will mine!).