So - we went off for George's cardiology appointment. And very impressive it all was too...to set the scene, you have to know what we were used to. We would arrive at Southampton General, where invariably we would have a fair bit of trouble finding a parking space. Once there, we would make our way through the very busy hospital to the paediatric cardiology department - which was standard issue NHS (dis)comfort. But you don't mind that the place could do with being spruced up, because you know this is one of the best in the country in terms of care. We would wait a while, then a nurse would come and take George into a room to be weighed and measured. He'd come back and we'd wait again and eventually another nurse would take him to another room and do his ECG. This was followed by more waiting, until we would be taken off for the ultrasound. After this, only one more wait before we would see a doctor (not the consultant) who had usually never seen George before. This would all take several hours, and more than once, Andrew had to give up and go back to the office.
Now. You will all know that I am a fan of the NHS (although not blind to its shortcomings). So making this comparison is not very comfortable for me. But..... We turned up at North Shore Private Hospital (not as private patients - this is just where the consultant holds his clinics). We park with ease (having asked the concierge at the door where the parking was, and having declined the opportunity to have valet parking. Oh my god) We have a drink and something to eat in the cafe as we are a bit early. We make our way to the consulting rooms through quiet corridors furnished with comfy sofas, and arrive at Mr. Gary Sholler's suite. We are 10 mins early as advised. I have written off the day, and told school not to expect George to return. We fill in a form, and at exactly 1.30pm - the time of our appointment - we go in AND SEE THE CONSULTANT. Apparently you always see the consultant. Not only that - but HE DOES THE ULTRASOUND HIMSELF! He is even apparently capable of, and willing to, weigh and measure our son. And twenty minutes later we are on our way home.
Before you get too excited, before we left I wrote a cheque for $375 - of which we will get all but around $100 back under their Medicare system.
I'm not going to comment any further - it's too painful. But I would make the point that the system is good, but not free. My last prescription was $80. This will last a month and includes contraception which isn't free here. That cost is already subsidised, and the exchange rate is currently about 2.3. You do the maths. What I always said about the NHS is that we can have a much better service, but it will cost you. And consulants would have to start playing the game (and I don't mean golf).
So what other news? Well - Anna had her first netball match and they won 6 - 1. It was a good game and Anna played well. I failed to get any pictures of her with the ball - no one holds on to it long do they? - but she was right in the game. George finally plucked up the courage to go out in the kayak, had a great time, and has been out quite a few times since. He has two friends coming for a sleepover tomorrow and they are planning adventures on the lagoon. It's great to see the children having fun outdoors.
George has also finally overcome his shyness enough to make friends with the boy across the road, which means he is much happier and spending less time on the playstation. We have also recruited his older sister as a babysitter, which is great, as she won't need driving home!
And more George news - his first cricket match of the season is tomorrow, and he has attended his firsr training session at which be bowled someone out. The coach was very pleased with him. And guess who the coach for the Collaroy Plateau Thunders is? It's Andrew! Cool eh? It's great that Andrew is getting involved in things locally in this way, and also lovely for George. He's so proud of his dad!
Highlight of this week though has to be the JHSAA (the group of schools to which St Lukes is affiliated) Music Festival, at Sydney Town Hall. Anna sang in the St Lukes Primary Choir and the Combined Choir (about 200 children from all the schools) and the standard was phenomenal. I filmed some of it (although we were told not to...) and I'm going to try to put in on here. If not, I'll put it on YouTube and provide a link.
Finally, I thought you might like an update on the duck situation. Our white duck, to whom we had become so attached, seems to have lost interest in us, although I know he/she is still around on the other side of the lake. However, we do have some interlopers who we think might have told her to push off. They are a menage a trois of mallards (2 male and 1 female) who have taken up residence in the garden, and are brazen in their attempts to get in the house. As they have been in and crapped all over the floor (I cannot begin to describe to you what this smelt like), they are not particularly welcome, but if they produce any cute little fluffy yellow ducklings, I'll let you know.
Till next time...
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