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The Company Officers
THE CLERK
Our Clerk, Kim Tyrrell, is the key company focus for most of you. In last year’s “The
Constructor” he wrote a piece about what he does for the Company. This year, he
has spent some time in dock being patched up so that he can continue with his
active lifestyle. Being “laid up” was not something he greatly looked forward to, so
the Editor asked him for his views on being “out of action” …
He writes “Those of you who have attended events throughout Graeme’s year as
Master would have seen me first limping with a stick at the Installation, absent entirely at the Livery
& Awards Dinner (deputised for with great style & skill by my predecessor Tim Nicholson) and back in
robes and performing my role as a somewhat malevolent bat at the Sir Christopher Wren Banquet.
This was because during the period from October2015 to June 2016 I was diagnosed with
osteoarthritis of the head of my left femur and thus entered into the process to have a new hip.
As a reader of this journal you might ask “What possible interest is this to me?” – well, going through
the process as an NHS patient I learnt a great deal, which might, if you are unlucky enough to need
the same sort of treatment, be of use to you.
Firstly, the thing to remember is that there is no such thing as a “National” Heath Service. All Trusts
have independent budgets and thus can do (within limits) what they want. Secondly, you can merge
the public and private sector for small cost to greatly accelerate your movement through the
system. My own experience was as follows:
Initially referred by GP for X Ray;
Referred by GP to Consultant – In the Portsmouth area via a clearing centre;
Clearing centre (after 2 weeks) allocated me to a Consultant;
The Consultant’s PA then tells me it will be 12-15 weeks to see the consultant and a
further 12-15 weeks to the procedure;
I then asked if consultant did private consultations, and was told no, but, helpfully, I was
given the number of one who did;
The private consultant was seen the next day, (at a cost of £150) and he told me about the
“Choose & Book” system (which is now called “E Booking”);
I Immediately called at the GP practice to ask to be referred by “choose and book” only to
be told “We (the practice) don’t like to do this”. As you can imagine, I told them that their
views were of little interest and they duly referred me as requested. (It is now your right to
choose the hospital you go to - E Booking will tell you how to do so even if your GP refuses
to refer you.)
The upshot was that I chose the Spire (a private hospital) as an NHS patient and had the
procedure in 10 weeks (the minimum under NICE guidelines). Spire have done all follow
ups since the procedure and the experience has been all one would hope for.”
Having submitted himself to the skills of the medical profession Kim was then
required to recuperate at home. However, he was back to his old form and in full
swing after 13 weeks for the Master’s Weekend in Edinburgh, where this picture was
taken of him, fighting fit and ready for action, on the quarterdeck of Her Majesty’s
Yacht Britannia, now moored in Leith Docks, and where we were very lucky to hold
our formal Dinner on the Saturday evening.
Autumn 2016 | The Journal of the Worshipful Company of Constructors | 17
