Fridays Bad For Surgery

The capacity for our fellow men to be blind to the obvious never ceases to amaze. Tonight we hear on the news that " Latest reports show patients who have surgery on a Friday are more likely to die or suffer complications. " And people are surprised by this.
Nobody who has ever been to one of our hospitals will be. Consultants clock off at 5pm, and don't work weekends. That's a fact in most of our hospitals. It was certainly true where I live. Turn up at a Bank Holiday or find yourself bed-bound over Christmas and you can expect to wait days to see the guy in charge. My lad had to take  strong steroids for three unnecessary extra days because no one could give the order to stop.
Not all hospitals are the same. Some, like St Marks in London, are centres of excellence where the skill and compassion exceeds anything you will fine anywhere. We have cause to be very grateful to the dedicated staff there.
We were lucky. Plenty are not and that does not surprise me one bit.
PS If you like what I write please buy Devil Deal by Liz Freeman, £1.53 on Amazon UK, $2.99 on Amazon.com. It's a thriller that rockets along but more than that, half the proceeds will go to Crohn's and Colitis UK.  Many thanks.

Sassy Granny Tells Teachers Kiss My A...

A sassy granny who sang "Kiss my ass!" on Britain's Got Talent has got a lot of knickers in a twist.  A primary school teacher is asking why that was allowed before the 9pm watershed. What! Did she see seventy-one-year old Sandra Broadbent strut her stuff? She was fantastic!
Decked out in  tight pants, funky hairdo and boots she looked ten years younger. Her voice was spot on -  no wobbly warbling, she belted it out! The woman was  totally knockout.

She taught the  whole nation a valuable lesson, including all the kids who were captivated by her. No matter what your age, if you have something great to give then give it, with gusto and attitude! Sandra made the average telly-bound teenager look  past it. Primary school teachers  struggle to get their kids motivated. Sandra is a  huge role model for making the most of everything you have.  Prissy teachers have missed the point again.

Young Love's Lost Dream

Do love letters exist any more?  Reading about an excited young woman looking forward to "a heavenly spanking!" while her besotted  man fantasises about her pretty knickers and promises "We won't have a ripping time."
I bet they did. I bet they set the bed alight! Do our young lovers get the same thrill of anticipation? Hooking up for casual sex, do they get anything like the same explosion of pent-up desire their parents delighted in? Makes you wonder.
Lorraine Ferguson came across 300 love letters her parents wrote to each other.He was a dashing surgeon - but married to a wife who had found someone else. His new love, a young nurse, was the passion of his life. He did what they all did then, back in 1942 -  fixed up to be caught with another woman so he could be divorced.
Behind it all is the need to wait, to imagine and dream, until the moment they could finally be together. Do our kids still get that? Have to hope so. Read about Mrs Ferguson's parents at withlovefromgraz.blogspot.co.uk

Top Of The Cops

Sherlock Holmes eat your heart out! We've got a sharp-eyed sleuth who quietly goes about his daily business getting the bad guys without fame or fortune. His name is Andy Pope and he's a hero.
Community Support Officer Andy has very sharp eyes. He also has an amazing memory for detail, so he spotted the mole on scumbag Hamza Islam's face and nicked him pronto. He took this low-life off the streets so that he couldn't fix up to burgle anyone else's home.
Hamza pestered a woman for a date and when she finally said agreed, just to shut him up, he left her window open and told his mate to steal her TV and laptop whille she was out. Nice guy!
Andy has so far identified more than 130 wanted people from CCTV stills and pics. He works for West Midlands Police and he is a one-man crime busting machine. Top of the Cops !

Britain's Top Newspaper Awards Devil Deal

Thrilled today to find that Britain's biggest selling newspaper The Sun has awarded my book Devil Deal ebook of the week! It's reviewed by Charles Rae, here's what he says: "What would you do if a stranger offered you a £1m loan with the proviso  you pay it back in a year or forfeit your life? That's Tom Strange's dilemma. He is facing his 30th birthday with no job, girlfriend or future when he is made the offer.
"Does he go on a spending spree and hope to pay it back or leave well alone? The pace is fast and the twists keep you guessing as Tom takes it to the wire."
Couldn't have put it better myself Charles and many thanks to the Sun for their excellent award. Devil Deal by Liz Freeman costs £1. 53 on Amazon and all of your reviews will be appreciated, so let me know what you think.

Feel It In The Guts

Guts are not glamourous. Fascinating though. When they hung, drawn and quartered people it was the drawing that pulled in the crowds. Something about all those yards of glistening coils that sent shivers down their backs.
There's about 22 yards of it. Amazing where it all goes. Not something we worry about, past the odd pain in the gut. Hardly merits a mention. We shy away, bowels being what they are.
When it all goes wrong we stay silent, often for too long. We need to change all that. We need to see our marvelous intestines for what they are - an incredible piece of kit that sorts the wheat from the - er chaff - and keeps our motors running.
Did you know that different parts of the gut take out different nutrients? You find out when you have an illeostomy - that's when your gut pokes out into a bag quite high up. Then you are unable to use most of the 22 yards and the result is a knife edge existence.
Get it wrong and you are off to hospital, for at the very least a drip and worst a big injection of calcium before  paralysis claims you and you die. My son faced that. Now I am trying to raise funds into Crohn's and Colitis, two things that affect the gut, often quite badly.  Most Crohn's sufferers have surgery. You can help. Just download Devil Deal by Liz Freeman onto your Kindle or through the free Amazon app to your phone and I will give half the £1.53 cost to Crohn's and Colitis UK. It's a fun summer read - and there is no mention of guts. We will keep them to ourselves.

Looking After Their Own In Dhaka

Execute the owner and jail the hero is the news that's coming out of Bangladesh. Someone has to take the blame for the building collapse that left more than 500 dead and more than 150  still missing, not to mention the injured.
So the owner who ran away could be facing the death penalty, while the engineer who said the place was unsafe is facing charges. Abdur Khan protested when three extra floors were added to the five story construction. He said it wasn't safe, but the Mayor and others thought otherwise and the workers were forced to go back in. Poor pay means they can't afford not to.
Primark and Matalan have said they will support families devastated by this tragedy. They will hopefully do more than that. They will protect their interests by checking working conditions and insisting that the buildings meet proper regulations. They will send in their own inspectors to make sure. They will do it so  that they do not fork out again. Only money shouts so loudly.

Fair Trial For Rape ?

Getting queasy about all these celebrities being accused of rape. Coronation Street's Bill Roache is the latest. He was a looker in his day and 46 years ago he was on all our screens in the nation's most popular soap.
A woman now claims he assaulted her when she was 15. So the police have arrested  and charged him with two counts of rape. This is very serious stuff. It is also difficult to prove rape when the evidence is new, must be practically impossible this late in the day.
Who gains here? Will this 61-year-old woman feel better if she has her day in court? It could be harrowing, a man's reputation will be fought over. Yet she may consider it is worth it.
Does there need to be a time limit on bringing these accusations? I think 20 years would be fair. That gives a young person time to grow up and discover if she wants to go ahead with this. There is also a chance that memories will be fresh.
As it is, anyone with a grudge can bring an ancient allegation into the glare of the spotlight and none of us can be sure that justice will be done.