Health & Safety Gone Mad

Leaving the tent at Lambhill Stables early, before buildings were unlocked, my first quite urgent visit was to the toilet at Lidl about a mile away. My iPhone needed charging and I told the care home that at my mothers’ care home there had never been a problem and that the one time that I had asked in Herbert’s room permission was granted as if a special favour on that occasion. It was at this care home permitted with a brand new device with proof of purchase but otherwise the particular phone would need to be checked out by an engineer as not being a Health and Safety risk.

In the evening visit to see Herbert, with windows in both bedroom and en suite toilet opened to their maximum (one foot at the bottom with hinge at the top?), the bedroom temperature was at 26.1 C and routine staff could not lower this. (My own efforts to save the planet have the thermostat in the living room set to 12 C).

Before I could see Herbert in his bed, two people were needed to sort him out, but neither realised that I would not have a good seat near his bed (because the one I had used had broken and more were on order). There was a heavy armchair which I could have ricked my back trying to move). Seeing Herbert’s free walking aid (a seated zimmer frame?) and guessing that my weight might be in the region of half that of Herbert’s, I moved the light frame to the ideal position next to Herbert and took the risk of sitting on it. Of course this was more than frowned upon because this was Herbert’s. What would have happened if I had fallen from it? It was my pleasure to state that after not falling in my 100 mile cycle yesterday this was somewhat unlikely. A suitable chair was quickly provided from another room.

Several attempts to leave the unit with the electronically operated door gave a changing signal from red to green but the door failed to open with the usual push. The summoned carer had to give it quite a shove to let me out. Health and safety issue?

Finally, on attempting to sign out, I saw that this had been done already in error, giving me a few minutes instead of much longer. On being told it didn’t matter and happened quite often but that I could score it out and write the correct time of departure, it left me looking forward more than ever to my tent.