One step behind

Almost two weeks ago, I finally went for an MRI scan on my injured shoulder, but I was advised that it would be a month or so before the orthopaedic specialist got the results of my scan. So here we are, closing in on 4 months since I hurt myself and we still don't even have a diagnosis, let alone a course of treatment.

The situation in my shoulder continues to deteriorate, and my GP - powerless to do anything else - has continued to up my painkillers until I find myself on the swallowing end of stuff some of my classmates at drama school would have given a body part to get their hands on.

The thing that troubles me is that, by the time my consultant gets to see the results and decide on a course of treatment, he will be making this decision based upon information that is a month old.

I can't help drawing a parallel with my dentist. Let's say I have decay in one of my teeth. Let's say, too, that this decay is spreading rapidly. Imagine if my dentist x-rayed my tooth and then, a month later, looked at the x-ray and prepared a filling for the hole in the x-ray, rather than the hole in my tooth at that point.

Ludicrous!

How do things work in your organisation? Is there so much red tape involved in getting a learning solution off the ground that, by the time you implement it, the need it addresses has changed or disappeared?

Talk about a waste of resources!