Ouch! I thought only I had evenings like that.

Fingers, toes, eyes and ears crossed for you and the Mrs.

I would have thought suspected appendicitis would have warranted an ambulance call out.

Medical Emergency material in my book.

I'm not sure if the system is different in Eire but the out of hours GP service in UK is dire.

I had a really bad lung infection after splitting up from my ex and the guy on the phone (who hardly spoke a word of English) kept telling me to pull myself together and stop worrying my mother as coughing was good for me.

We are talking me on all fours gasping between rapid fire coughing.

Another GP recommended anti-depressants saying I was depressed because of the break up and only had Laryngitis.

It was only when I managed (with my mother's help) to drag myself over to my late father's GP that he got me sent to A&E where they rushed me straight in with near fatal Pneumonia.

My mother was diagnosed with Phlebitis when a painful hard raised area appeared on the back of her leg and she was sent home with some skin ointment.

This lasted for about a month until she sheepishly asked me to run a finger over the bump only it wasn't a bump anymore, it was razor sharp.

When they pulled the inch long medical needle fragment out of her they had the nerve to ask her how she had managed to get it in there (she had a operation to remove a vein two years previously and the thing had been slowly rolling down her leg after being left inside).

I love our national health service but some of the people working in it need stringing up not striking off.