Outsourcing, why not?

I celebrated the Eucharist at St John's this morning with eight others. Curiously the CofE calendar today celebrates the memory of Deaconess Elizabeth Ferard, founder of the Deaconess Community of St Andrew, which pioneered Anglican women's public ministry in the 19th century. The Church in Wales on the other hand celebrates St Elizabeth of Russia, a German noblewoman who became an Orthodox nun,  serving the poor and was martyred by the Bolsheviks in 1918. Very different women both called Elizabeth. I wonder if our own Queen, with her own very strong sense of public ministry and duty, grew up learning about either or both of them?

One of the St John's regulars had hip replacement surgery yesterday, after an eighteen month wait. She's an NHS patient but the job was outsourced to a private hospital in the Vale, so great is the demand I guess. When, I wonder, will the same facility be made available to shorten the queue of people with taxing ailments needing minor surgery? My condition went from acute to chronic during the long wait for treatment last autumn. I believe delays in the inevitably long course of treatment since then are hindering healing. 

I thought I had a clinic appointment booked for today, but there was nothing in my diary, so I went to the clinic after lunch to enquire, but the place was closed, the staff being out in the field, I guess. So, I went over to St David's hospital where our local Community Nursing teams are managed from and asked the nurse manager there to check if I'd missed one today or had one to come I'd forgotten to add into my diary. There was nothing entered, so I booked one tomorrow morning there and then. 

Frankly, I'm not as organised or focused as I need to be this week, perhaps because the changing wound condition is having a destabilising impact on routine. Last weekend's setback has repeated itself after a few quiet 'normal' days. The wound closes, then breaks open again unexpectedly. I have written this afternoon to Mrs Cornish the surgeon again to express my concern about this. I suspect increasingly that the over-granulation will have to be dealt with surgically, as chemical remedies are not working.