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26 votes
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Remnants of a legendary typeface have been rescued from the River Thames
43 votes -
Spending cuts are often false economies that end up costing society dearly
16 votes -
NHS is broken - also, did my Pa have a stroke?
Strap in folks, this is a fun one. Yesterday at around midday my almost 75 yr old Pa started feeling extremely fatigued, weak all over, hot and, in his words, very odd. He rang my sister who lives...
Strap in folks, this is a fun one.
Yesterday at around midday my almost 75 yr old Pa started feeling extremely fatigued, weak all over, hot and, in his words, very odd.
He rang my sister who lives 5 minutes away, she got there and immediately called an ambulance. They were there in sub 10 minutes and checked him over. He couldn't even walk in a straight line. They took his blood pressure and it benched 199/98. They said he had a possible stroke and needed to go to A&E (ER for my US friends). Not living more than 10 minutes from the local Medway Hospital (major hospital) they went there. It took 3 hours to get to being triaged. The time was 4:30pm when they're told that the closest Stroke clinic is Maidstone hospital, 40 minutes away at rush hour.
On the way out, they saw the paramedics that had been out to respond and they called ahead to Maidstone Hospital so he was on record. That did nothing. When he got there, it took another 2 hours for them to do another triage, then another 2 to do blood work. Then the stroke unit refused to take him stating that they didn't think it was a stroke. After politely arguing the case my sister had to remind them to do his blood pressure again. At this point it had come down a little. He is still really weak and couldn't hold a cuppa without spilling it.
Eventually they relented and did a CT scan. When they checked the results they said it wasn't a major stroke but could have been a posterial stroke which wouldn't show. They couldn't do anything else there and should go back to Medway. At this point it's midnight. At 1am, my sister is checking my dad back into Medway A&E. 1.5hrs later they're through reception and sitting in waiting room 3 with 29 other people. I headed down at 5am to relieve my sister. Between 5am and 11am they took his blood pressure twice and we waited in the waiting area with everyone, my usually fit and healthy dad in a wheelchair. He's exhausted, had no sleep and was genuinely scared, which he never is.
It took until 2pm to see a doctor and we had to put in an official complaint to the nurses liaison team about the handling to even get that far. An hour later and then he saw a consultant who gave him a thorough check.
Concerned, the doctor said he wants an MRI scan performed, but to do this he was being made an outpatient and sent home. He would get an appointment and come back in the next few days. Why? Because if they admitted him he would join the inpatient side and they have 1 MRI scanner. He may not have been seen for up to 2 weeks and would simply be taking up a bed. As an outpatient the team has 3 MRI scanners and he will be seen quicker, plus less likely to pick up an infection from the hospital. It took another hour and a half after this, plus chasing the team to get them to take bloods and remove his cannula so he could go home.
Sorry for the long read, but how backward and broken is this system?
They still don't know if it was a stroke or a brain degenerative issue, all we know is he is home, cannot look after himself or my disabled mother and the whole situation sucks.
34 votes -
Britain's Foreign Secretary David Cameron, in Kyiv, promises Ukraine aid for 'as long as it takes'
18 votes -
An extreme body modification website made nearly £300,000 showing its subscribers male castration
11 votes -
UK becomes first country to outlaw easily guessable default passwords on connected devices
37 votes -
Hundreds of Border Force officers begin four-day strike today
7 votes -
Ireland plans to send asylum seekers back to UK under emergency law
14 votes -
The world's oldest hat shop that fitted James Bond
4 votes -
UK asylum seekers will be deported to Rwanda
18 votes -
Critical psychiatry and the political backlash against disabilities: a closer look at James Davies
11 votes -
Lies, confections, distortions: how the right made London the most vilified place in Britain
9 votes -
Remembering the time Throbbing Gristle played at a private school
14 votes -
DEADLETTER - Mere Mortal (2024)
4 votes -
Are Free Software developers at risk? A potential threat to Free Software developers looms in the form of an ongoing lawsuit in the UK involving Bitcoin and its core developers.
27 votes -
How the 18th-century gay bar survived and thrived in a deadly environment
13 votes -
UK MPs back smoking ban for those born after 2009
13 votes -
Aberdeen have agreed a deal for Elfsborg head coach Jimmy Thelin to become their new manager this summer
1 vote -
Hilary Cass' NHS report is rife with debunked theories and falsehoods
30 votes -
New Brexit checks will cause food shortages in UK, importers warn
25 votes -
Wrexham secures promotion to League 1; second promotion in two years
10 votes -
A brief rundown of some of the flaws of the Cass review
14 votes -
The Yorkshire Pudding recipe battle royale
I don't think this one is uniquely British, but Yorkshire Puddings are one of my favourite Sunday Roast parts. There are probably 200 different ways to make them. I thought it would be a fun...
I don't think this one is uniquely British, but Yorkshire Puddings are one of my favourite Sunday Roast parts. There are probably 200 different ways to make them. I thought it would be a fun thread to post for the best recipes, if you're so inclined.
If you've never cooked or eaten one, do so, you're in for a treat. They go perfectly with veg and gravy.
My very basic recipe:
*200g plain flour
*3 eggs
*300ml whole milkPlace all in a mixer, whisk it for a solid 3 minutes. Chuck it in the fridge for 15 minutes in an easy pour jug.
Fire up the oven to 200C. Grab a 12 space muffin tin. I know, crazy me, eh!? A muffin tin for Yorkshire's!
Put 1/2 of a tea spoon of vegetable oil into each muffin section (spot the non-chef, not sure what they're called). Put it in the oven to get hot.
Once the oven is at temperature and the oil is bubbling, take out the muffin tin and put the mixture evenly into each section. Put it straight back into the oven and do NOT open the door again for 25 mins. At that point, they will be done. If you do open the door, they will fall flat.
That's it, perfect basic Yorkshires. Put them on your roast dinner and fill it with gravy.
Over to you good folk!
14 votes -
Cosmo Sheldrake - Stop The Music (2024)
17 votes -
How the Berlin Wall worked
13 votes -
Nobel Prize-winning phycisist Peter Higgs died at 94. About sixty years ago he proposed the Higgs Boson, an elememtary particle essential in describing mass in the Standard Model of particle physics.
28 votes -
Peter Higgs, physicist who proposed Higgs boson, dies aged 94
27 votes -
Botswana threatens to send 20,000 elephants to Germany
37 votes -
The Premier League’s era of vanity worship may be over but the future won’t be equal
6 votes -
England's defence of their European title got off to a frustrating start, with Sarina Wiegman's side held to a 1-1 draw by a resilient Sweden
3 votes -
Louis Rees-Zammit’s rugby-to-NFL dream edges closer but huge obstacles remain
2 votes -
UK law firm files letter of claim on behalf of Madagascar villagers over contamination allegedly from Rio Tinto mine
7 votes -
Frida Maanum will not join up with Norway for their Euro 2025 qualifiers after collapsing in the Continental Cup final, her club Arsenal have said
1 vote -
25th anniversary interview with RollerCoaster Tycoon’s creator, Chris Sawyer
38 votes -
Britain’s vast network of abandoned nuclear bunkers | Cold War UK
8 votes -
The fight for abortion pills – In the US, UK and around the world, the backlash against safe, at-home abortion medication is growing
26 votes -
Children predict the year 2000 (1966, video)
25 votes -
What happened when you visited a medieval inn?
11 votes -
‘Resist this’: outrage as BBC replace voice actor with AI voiceover
10 votes -
Cowboy launches all-road electric bike to attract riders beyond European city centers
6 votes -
Plans for regulator illustrate inherently political nature of football
4 votes -
Can a movie change the law? The 1961 film 'Victim' isn't just a tense thriller, it was crafted to serve as a stealthy challenge to a British law that criminalized the very existence of homosexuals.
12 votes -
Ex-England boss Sven-Göran Eriksson said it was "absolutely beautiful" to fulfil his dream of managing Liverpool
5 votes -
Borders book store | Bankrupt
9 votes -
Writer, woman, playwright, spy: Aphra Behn, author of Oroonoko was the first known woman to be paid for writing in English
8 votes -
The first ‘cyberflasher’ is convicted under England’s new law and gets more than five years in prison
25 votes -
Oldham England water quality improved by volunteers planting moss
19 votes -
When Virginia Woolf wrote about early women writers, she was unaware of or underestimated a few published Elizabethan women
8 votes -
Hidden giants: how the UK’s 500,000 redwoods put California in the shade
25 votes -
Melt rate of Greenland ice sheet can predict summer weather in Europe – location, extent and strength of recent freshwater events suggest unusually warm and dry summer
14 votes -
Children to no longer be prescribed puberty blockers, NHS England confirms
42 votes -
Transport for London’s AI Tube station experiment
11 votes -
Documentary ‘The Home Game’, about an Icelandic village's football team, has taken the top honour at the Glasgow Film Festival
6 votes -
Beyond the water flow rate: Water pressure and smart timers impact shower efficiency
12 votes -
The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin | Official trailer
24 votes -
First Light fusion startup breaks pressure record using giant ‘gun’ machine for projectile fusion attempts
13 votes -
Britain’s future is being compromised by the massive increase in long-term sickness among the working age population
9 votes -
The mystery social media account schooling US Congress on how to do its job
39 votes -
British pubs keep getting demolished and rebuilt
17 votes -
Grace Petrie - The House Always Wins (2024)
2 votes -
A campaign run by an anonymous entity to block international tax transparency initiatives
16 votes -
One in four school-starters in England and Wales not toilet-trained, say teachers
40 votes -
Salvage of the century: The lost WWII gold of HMS Edinburgh
10 votes -
Meet Robbie, the walking talking robot guide dog
11 votes -
UK academic’s Wikipedia project raises profile of women around the world
15 votes -
Erling Haaland remains both solution and problem for Manchester City
8 votes -
After George Galloway’s triumph in Rochdale, urgent questions loom for Keir Starmer – and the left, too
14 votes -
How a woman named “Steve” became one of Britain’s most celebrated IT pioneers, entrepreneurs, and philanthropists
13 votes -
World's fastest camera drone vs F1 car (ft. Max Verstappen)
34 votes -
Packages seized by the Royal Navy from a Faroese cargo ship bound for Denmark during the Napoleonic Wars opened – previously hidden away in the National Archives
9 votes -
Abolishing inheritance tax sent Stockholm's startup ecosystem soaring – tax cut could revive Britain's flagging economy
9 votes -
UK requesting comments for updating ebike power laws
9 votes -
Liberal visions and boring machines – The early history of the Channel Tunnel [the railway tunnel connecting the UK to France]
4 votes -
The Greenwich meridian's forgotten rival
4 votes -
Crooked House: Owners of wonky pub ordered to rebuild
22 votes -
UK's NHS faces legal action over contract with data firm Palantir
12 votes -
UK Conservative party suspends MP Lee Anderson over claims that Islamists have "got control" of London's Mayor Sadiq Kahn and the capital
12 votes -
How football made the working class
2 votes -
The Last Dinner Party - Prelude to Ecstasy (2024)
11 votes -
Erik ten Hag has denied that Rasmus Højlund's muscle injury will derail Manchester United's season – striker could miss up to five matches
4 votes -
What Texas can teach San Francisco and London about building houses: it’s not a housing crisis — it’s a planning crisis
13 votes -
London's BT Tower to be turned into a hotel after £275m sale
10 votes -
Why do the English love non-League football?
17 votes -
Yes Prime Minister, questionnaire design matters
10 votes -
Rickets, scurvy, measles and scabies are increasing in the UK alarming health experts
18 votes -
How beavers can fully revitalise a farm
5 votes -
BAFTA Film Awards: ‘Oppenheimer’ wins Best Film
19 votes -
Clive Owen breaks down his most iconic characters
5 votes -
Martin Ødegaard is stepping up at the right time for Arsenal's Premier League title race
3 votes -
Sven-Göran Eriksson has been confirmed as part of the Liverpool Legends management team for their upcoming match against Ajax Legends
4 votes -
Researchers reveal lost library of Charles Darwin for the first time
10 votes -
Rare genetic mutation allows woman to feel no pain
17 votes -
Served: Opening a restaurant inside a prison
5 votes -
Scottish company Gravitricity is using the Pyhäjärvi mine in Finland to build its first full-scale prototype gravity energy store
14 votes -
How Raspberry Pi 4s are made (factory tour)
13 votes -
Rasmus Højlund had his doubters after struggling to adapt, but he is now more considered in possession, and the goals are flowing for Manchester United
5 votes -
Denmark's Henrik Stiesdal and Andrew Garrad from the UK share engineering's QEPrize for contributions to the development of wind power
5 votes -
Northern Ireland elects Irish nationalist First Minister Michelle O'Neill
31 votes -
King Charles III diagnosed with cancer, postponing public duties
33 votes