Jane and John visiting The Hayling View
Jane and John visiting The Hayling View

On quite warm and sunny day, with gale force winds expected and, after staying with us and enjoying breakfast together, Freda joined me, Di and the girls as Debbie and Della had riding lessons at Offord; Della having her very first time and doing well. We then checked out the Weald House nursing home which Freda and Diana agreed would be best for Mum and dad to spend some time together. On to Addenbrookes to find Freda’s daughter Jane and partner John with Dad before they took Freda back to Suffolk and I heard from who I believe was the surgeon responsible for Dad’s demise, Mr Campbell, who tried to justify (in)actions.

News of ‘a shambles’ in the London Ambulance Service as management lock out the ambulancemen totally, even though they are needed for emergency calls. British Aerospace and Rolls-Royce engineers strike in support of a four-hour cut and thus a 35-hour week. Thatcher is again isolated amongst Commonwealth leaders and freezes Child Benefit levels for the third year running.

I had a reasonable night considering the pressures and strains of yesterday and Freda slept all right as well. We had breakfast all together and then we left Daniel at home and took Debbie and Della horse-riding. It was Della’s first riding lesson and Freda and Di were there to see it. I ran alongside Minty had Della on board being tutored by Fiona Naylor. First, she sat astride and held onto the saddle as Minty walked. Then she held onto the reins and stopped the pony when asked. Then trotting etc and she ended up really enjoying the experience. Debbie also had a ride on Sunny and showed Freda how she could do it.

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We left Debbie there to ride for the day and I took Freda, Diana and Della to have lunch and then, leaving Della in the car, we went into Weald House to see the nursing home. We spent a long time looking around the place – the single, multiple and double rooms, bathroom lifts and toilets – and then longer still in the office talking about the aspects of care that were important to us. We ended up with a reasonable measure of understanding and Freda and Diana agreed that this was the place for them, at least for the time being: Mum and Dad get a chance to be together for a while, they are near enough to have visits home to us, and the home can care for Dad right up to the end. Mum will most probably not stay long with Dad and may well feel that the other inmates are poor, but it’s the best we can do. On then to Addenbrookes where we were late to meet Freda’s daughter – Jane and her boyfriend John at Dad’s bedside.  Dad was bright and sensible, and we offered him the chance to see Weald House before moving in, but he was happy to trust us. Now Freda is going back to Suffolk with Jane and John to see Mum and get her agreement to Weald House. Whilst at Addenbrookes, we saw Mr Campbell the surgeon who attempted to try and explain the procession of clinical events as he had seen them, but I felt this was no more him than trying to sell his conscience for an outcome of delay and inefficiency which cost my Dad his life.

A rather frantic time picking up Della and Debbie from Croxton and the riding stables and then home for a late evening. I sat and wrote up this last two days’ journal which had been quite traumatic for me. Both Freda and Diana are showing the strain and I have been the only one seeming to cope. There are many arrangements to make and I can only hope that I can manage them as it is going to get worse before it gets better. The news tonight is horrific: The London Ambulancemen have tried to work to rule but continue emergency accident cover, but the management have locked them out, though the crews have sat at the stations ready to answer calls. The police vans are trying to deal with the situation but, in London, 62 out of the 71 ambulance stations are inoperative and the police have attended 300 emergency calls. The Chief Ambulance Officer has described the position as ‘a shambles’ but still the government are insisting that the emergency cover is adequate. There is to be an engineering strikes at British Aerospace and Rolls-Royce in support of a four-hour cut to a 35-hour week. Rolls-Royce say the effect will be swift and very damaging. Mrs Thatcher has been involved in a public war of words with the Commonwealth leaders. Britain has been party to an overall communiqué and then had to issue a conflicting statement highly critical of its contents. Back home, the government has confirmed its plans to freeze child benefit for the third year running. Today was quite warm and sunny but gale force winds are due to return.