Hospitals, supermarkets and thank yous

A couple of unrelated thank yous that reminded me why I'm doing this blog.

Twice over the last few weeks, when my head had been all caught up with our own problems, I was pulled out of myself by someone going out of their way to be helpful and I thought that's nice, but I was so wrapped up in myself that I forgot my own "mantra" of looking for positive and good and shining a light on them.

Luckily I was given an opportunity to go back and remedy my oversight so the first thank you is to Dawn and the help desk team at UCH.        

Anyone who has had to park at a hospital, or use a disabled Blue Badge at a hospital, will appreciate this story.

At the Royal Free, a wonderful hospital, they have a terrible parking problem and policy for disabled users.  The badge is for my car but for when I'm driving a member of the family, let's call them "Fred".  Now at the Royal Free you can have four hours free parking with a disabled badge and after that you have to pay.  But, this is where it becomes so difficult.  The actual person who is named on the badge, Fred in this instance, has to show him/herself at the desk to prove that I'm not abusing the badge.  

Now imagine you've got to be in hospital all day having, say a blood transfusion, the first or last thing you have to do now is attend a desk where you have to present yourself to prove you really are "ill".

Don't even get me on the part where you have to pay for the remaining hours and how difficult that is!  I suppose, while I'm doing this, I could give a thumbs down to the Parking Policy at the Royal Free.  Great hospital, bad policy.  May I suggest a little more trust?  Take a leaf out of UCH's book?

So, yes over now to UCH and our thanks and thumbs up; for those that don't know, UCH, UCLH and the Macmillan Cancer Center www.uclh.nhs.uk/ are all part of one of the major newer hospitals in the West End of London.  The Blue Badge parking scheme is a national scheme except in a couple of parts of London.  UCH is in one of those exclusion zones for the Blue Badge so I was very worried about how and if I would be able to park when taking Fred there.  I shouldn't have worried, UCH/UCLH have a totally different policy.

Their policy seems to be trust and assuming that if you're in hospital and are using a blue badge, you need it and to be at the hospital, so try to make it easier for you.

Enter Dawn, (and Wendy who was shy about having her picture taken).  I wasn't sure if I was taking Fred home the next day or the day after, depending on progress but whatever, I was going to be bringing Fred back the following week.  No problem; UCH gives you a pass for the time you need, a day, a couple of days, a week which you display with your Blue Badge in their own limited parking or on a couple of specially designated nearby streets.   So simple, so stress free but more importantly, for here, a big thank you to Dawn for making me smile and taking me out of my own head and a big thumbs up  

Now, my other thank you, has nothing to do with health, hospitals, or charities, which seems to have dominated this blog in recent months, whether my own or from guests.

This time to the lovely cashier, Irene, at a local Sainsbury's in Golders Green.  Irene

always has a smile for her customers and when the transaction has finished and the till prints out those multitude of bits of paper with offers, price matches, school vouchers and what not, Irene carefully goes through them and if there is something of worth to note, she makes sure she has pointed it out for you.

I asked Irene if I may take her picture, (I always ask first), but she declined thinking "it would look ugly".  I wish Irene could see the lovely smile all her customers see and realise how it is anything but ugly.  In any case, a big thank you and thumbs up to Irene.

I would add Irene is such a breath of fresh air in an otherwise not wonderful Sainsbury's - getting better but still a throw back to the nineties.  Management, take note, thanks.

That's it for now but as always, if you would like to send in a post to tell us something nice that happened or to say thank you to someone, just get in touch and we would have great pleasure in putting up your stories here.  Thanks.