bridge too far

When my children were born, my mother's very close friend made each of them a teddy. She then 'unmade' them, washed the outsides and re-stuffed them many years later. My grandchildren now play with those bears

Only yesterday, Gordon Brown told the petrol retailers to reduce their prices to reflect the drop in oil prices. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7662918.stm

I didn't think a worker could be made redundant if the post was going to be filled by someone else? People can only be made redundant if the job won't exist anymore, surely? It might be worth speaking to your Union, if you're a member, or to Citizen's Advice Bureau. Someone on here (DSM?) is quite an expert in HR matters IIRC.

Beeleaf? Honeyleaf? Pollenlettuce?

Croker sculling oars?

The market ticker on the BBC Business page doesn't work for the FTSE although it does for the Dow, Nasdaq etc. Could be volume or maybe the market is suspended :shock:

I believe I can fly

Probably just as well, with your broken nose and all that.

You know me - always making the first move

Unoriginal but still funneh

Our 'Arry is soon to be officially a bell-end! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/7661861.stm You heard it here first

Every year (can't remember what time of year) we used to have to take our back gate off its hinges to free up the hedgehog that had got stuck underneath it. We never knew if it was the same hedgehog or whether it was a genetic predisposition of hedgehogs in our area. We should have tagged them to find out I guess :smt102

You're right - 15 minutes would be no problem if I was attending there for myself (assuming I lived near Fareham) but even a 15 minute drive stresses my 83 year old blind, diabetic mother who suffers from leukaemia. She is ALWAYS sick when we get back home because of the stress. At her leukaemia clinic there are always four consultants on duty. And most people who attend do so every two / three months. It would be very easy to have one consultant hold the clinic at, say, Fareham; one at, say, Havant etc. It would cut down on the awful parking problems at QA too. And that's for a fairly rare illness. In January, I have to take her to QA one day for the eye clinic (and the parking / waiting area / waiting time is dire for that clinic) and then take her back the next day for the leukaemia clinic. They can't arrange both clinic visits in one day. So we'll have two days of stress related illness to manage. There are hundreds of eye patients attending QA. It would be so much more convenient for the patients (many of whom can't take themselves to the clinic because of poor sight) to hold outreach clinics. It is, in fact, an NHS objective to deliver chronic disease management clinics in local health centres for the convenience of the patients. It's the consultants and doctors who object.

I don't THINK they have shares (although there's no easy way of finding that out) but I do know that said pharmaceutical companies spend thousands 'entertaining' consultants in exotic locations. It was a fact at the hospital I used to work at that it was difficult to see a consultant in January because they were all at conferences held at ski resorts. A coincidence I expect I doubt the government pays out bonuses for prescriptions. In fact, the NHS drugs buying agency has worked very hard to successfully challenge drugs pricing, delivering a saving for the taxpayer.

Sorry Nick - just got back from a fine Italian I have no idea is the simple answer. I don't audit government spending, only local government and NHS contracts. I'll see what I can find out. It should be in the Public Accounts committee reports, I would have thought.

A stronger depilatory cream is required here IMO.

I saw excerpts from the most recent debate. He seems very creepy. He reminds me of the little old paedophile bloke in South Park, the way he pronounces 'S'.

Sweet I grant you :smt045

I've just noticed it's OBS's birthday today! He's 30 - I thought he was about 16 :shock:

I didn't know Geography teachers were common :shock:

But it has to be crisp, right?

Lots of little *****s though I cannot believe this filter will not allow the work 'pr1ck' :shock:

Further to your astute observation, have you also observed that geography teachers favour beards and graduate geography teachers wear their university gowns? Thereby, extrapolating these known facts to a logical conclusion - all extreme christians (ECs) are also extreme muslims (EMs).

I meant even more local than that. Renal is a very discrete, high tech specialty and that would demand visits to an acute hospital, I think. But for things like diabetes, ophthalmology, haematolgy etc. there's no reason at all why patients shouldn't be seen much, much closer to where they live. Oh yes there is - the consultants won't travel! I remember when we were planning the new hospital at Oxford, it was suggested that outreach Eye clinics were established at community hospitals. One Ophthalmologist said 'there's no way I'm going to Didcot - it's a re-creation of Hell there'. He may have a point but Didcot is all of 12 miles from Oxford - not a journey to the other side of the world FFS.

I can beat your recent experience Ponty! Yesterday, I had a 90 minute drive to my mother's house and then a 15 minute drive to QAH in Portsmouth. We then had to wait from my mother's appointment time (10.30) until 11.45 to see the consultant. He spent maybe 10 minutes tops talking to her and prescribing another batch of drugs for her. We then had another 15 minute drive to her house and I then had a 90 minute drive home. When, oh when, will these 'god-like' (in their eyes anyway) consultants begin to travel to local clinics to see their patients? My mother is ALWAYS physically sick after these visits because of anxiety and stress (at 83, blind and unable to walk). She HAS to attend the clinic to get the prescription for the very expensive drugs she has but it would be so much kinder to hold outreach clinics in the community hospitals.