That double dose of Remicade™ really seems to be working. It has, as promised, knocked my Crohn’s back and I feel a lot better.
It feels like a fast-working dose of steroids, but without the side-effects.
I remember when I had a flare-up last November that my consultants were disappointed that I was put on steroids by the emergency doctor. They said I could have had more Remicade™, but I didn’t really understand how. Now I do.
What are the chances I can persuade my consultant in the UK to use the occasional double dose of Remicade™ when my symptoms flare up? Currently, I am more concerned about getting my next infusion booked in on time.
It has been pleasant to be treated in a health system where costs and budgets still seem to be less important that the quality of patient care. However, as I’ve said before, the new French president is very keen to change this.
One of the first skirmishes over cost-cutting has occurred recently in Caen. The hospital management introduced a reduction in the butter ration for patients’ meals from 15g to 10g.
This being Normandy, dairy products are a very sensitive issue.
The reaction from hospital staff and patients’ groups was swift and political – they denounced the attack on patients’ comfort whilst the director of the hospital was given over £400,000 of tax-payers’ money to upgrade his luxury house.
Although it worries me that the French government’s agenda is to run the health service as a business, it is heartening that serious protests are happening now over the first few job losses – and over cuts in butter rations.
The millions of people on the streets during the one-day general strikes earlier this year had the issue of cuts in the hospitals at the forefront of their minds. The French trade union movement have a habit of stopping unpopular government reforms.
In the UK, the symptoms of a market-driven NHS go further than butter rationing. People dying on trolleys in corridors, waiting lists, cancelled operations, post code lotteries and declining dental health are some of the realities that French doctors and health unions see just over the channel and which fuel the opposition to Sarkozy’s reform plans.
