Fraying...

I went to the chemist today to collect a routine prescription: two very common items.  I had to queue for quite a while, as two harassed members of staff laboriously searched for items for people ahead of me.

When I finally made it to the counter, the pharmacist apologetically explained that they could only provide one of my medications, as they had not been able to get supplies of the other one (fortunately, I haven't quite run out of that one yet).  She looked so weary, and so apprehensive - perhaps she thought I was going to be angry. I smiled and asked her whether they were having many difficulties with supplies; the reply was instant - "Yes! All the time! And we've got staff shortages as well..." No wonder she looked weary.  She promised to re-order that second item; we'll see what happens.

My other related healthcare experience, at the beginning of this week, was at the dentist's. I was due to have a temporary crown replaced, and duly turned up for the appointment. But they had run out of the particular kind of dental cement needed; a promised delivery had not arrived. The dentist promised to phone and rebook the appointment as soon as new supplies arrived. To date, the practice hasn't phoned (despite the hopes they expressed that "it will probably only be a day or two").

This has all stuck in my mind because these little glitches are new, at least around here.  When Richard and I got texts in October, inviting us to get flu jabs, we weren't able to because the local GP practice hadn't received their expected supplies of vaccines.  We're now due for those (and Covid boosters) next week. Will all that materialise, or will there be more delays? I've never known medical or dental supplies to be a problem in the past.

This is a fairly gloomy Blip (and I haven't even got onto Cop26)... I guess I'm processing a growing sense of insecurity.  This week's media reports of the disastrous pressures on ambulance and emergency services are the raw edge of the more mundane and non-life-threatening changes that I've been noticing.

Brexit plus Covid, on top of 10+ years of an increasingly extreme right-wing government: those are the roots of the troubles. I know I need to get a grip, and regain a sense of what to do in response. Setting it all down here is a step on that road, I'm hoping.