A mammoth undertaking

When I first started going to Worcester to get my bag changed, the chemotherapy patients had their own waiting room deep inside the suite that treats both haematology and chemotherapy patients. The two groups of patients both checked in with a single receptionist, and then the haematology patients waited in the main waiting room, whose chairs were arranged in widely spaced rows facing each other — so people could chat if they wanted to. There was a television in the corner of the room, to entertain those who didn’t want to read or chat.

The chemotherapy patients’ waiting room was quite a bit smaller, and its walls were lined with chairs, leaving a gap in the middle for a table that usually held a basket full of biscuits, and some more magazines. The atmosphere tended most weeks to be very convivial. We would all ask each other how we were getting on, receiving congratulations or sympathy dependent on our answers. In the corner was a kettle, and tea- and coffee-making facilities. For something that had the prospect of being so grim as receiving chemotherapy, it was really quite a happy place.

Two weeks ago, that all changed. In an effort to increase the size of the treatment area, our waiting room was converted into a haematology treatment room, all the chairs were moved from our waiting room into the main one, and in order to squeeze them all in, the chairs were rearranged into tightly spaced rows, all facing the receptionist, as though she were on a stage. In fact, that was exactly how she felt about it, and has since lowered her chair so that she doesn’t feel stared at by all the waiting patients. I do feel sorry for her.

But most of all, I feel sorry for all the patients. Being in rows, all facing the same way has removed all sense of conviviality. It’s really hard for people to talk to each other, and if you feel the need to get up and wander around, perhaps to ease an aching back, it’s now a lot more difficult. It seems such a shame to have thrown away all the benefits that the old arrangement had. I can see that there are clinical and financial benefits in having a larger treatment area, but all the same, it’s really tough on those of us who have lost out. And I include the haematology patients in that group too.

Although our National Health Service gives us medical care that is free at the point of use, and I am extremely impressed with the medical staff both their behaviour and their attitude, there can come the occasional time when resource limitations really bite. This is definitely one of those times.