My wife, an early 1940s born old Northlander (Buenos Aires) no less, needed no memory jogging to be able to arrange her own DEXA (bone density) scan last week, which was recommended by her consultant back surgeon, who referred her to our local NHS hospital for the scan as the none of the local private hospitals have the facility to perform this.

She discovered that the waiting time for the scan is 4-6 weeks at the NHS hospital, and that is after first collecting a form for completion and returning it to the hospital - more like 6-8 weeks! They then apparently notify you of the appointment time by letter - oh yes?? How can they possibly know my wife's diary???

My wife took no more than 10 minutes to find a private hospital in London that can perform the DEXA scan and made an appointment for 4 days later. Having had the scan in the morning, she saw her consultant back surgeon in the afternoon.........with a report of the scan provided in duplicate by the private hospital - The London Independent, and was admitted to our local private hospital 2 days later for a Lumbar Epidural.

Memory jogging???