Enthousiasm!

It's been a little while. But after beating a major cold and a busy couple of weeks at work I finally have some time to make a post again.
About three weeks ago Karen and James came by. They are a nurse and a GP from Cornwall and super enthousiast about setting up something in their local area. Something that resembles Buurtzorg.

James, Jos and Karen busy talking

It were two great days! I took both Karen and James with me to do my rounds through the community. I showed them how Buurtzorg works and explained how the Dutch health care system works. Luckily they didn't have much trouble grasping the lack of an NHS like system and they made many comparisons to how they work in the UK. It was very nice and refreshing to see how much time and effort they had spend into preparing the trip. James even greeted me in dutch!

James and myself watching the Rollatorloop

The first day we spend visiting a couple of clients, and most of the afternoon we spend questioning one another and answering each others questions. I also managed to get a little bit of Karin's time to get her to explain a little about Buurtzorg T, the new mental health division Buurtzorg started in June.

 The second day I had a couple of clients planned as well, but most of those cancelled which left us with little clients to visit sadly. But that's just how it is. And the clients we did visit on both days did show very well what kind of clients we generally visit and how we work there.

A view of the finish line at the Rollatorloop

And, as we all had had a night to think about the information of the day before, we had plenty of new questions for each other.

The second day they also spoke with Jos and I hope they got many of their questions to him answered. He also gave us a lift to the Rollatorloop as well. This race for elderly people who use walking frames or other similar tools to walk has been organized by a nurse from Buurtzorg. One of her clients had been complaining there was very little competitions once you get a little older, and the nurse came up with this idea together with the client. It's been very successful and it was very fun to watch and be part of. For the first time it had been organized in the old Olympic stadium and that really added to the atmosphere. The joy on the face of the people coming over the finish line was amazing!

After that we went back to my team's office and they gave the team and myself a fantastic thank you card and they also gave me a brilliant sculpture of their local lighthouse, made out of a natural uncommon stone. It got a nice pretty spot with the rest of my statues!

The last day Karen and James were in the Netherlands I wasn't there. They visited another team, one somewhat more rural then Amsterdam. From what I gathered they had an awesome day there as well, and the nurse that took them with her really enjoyed doing so.

All in all I think it was a very successful visit, organized and prepared very well from both my end as well as their end. I really loved doing it, and though it was exhausting it was also fantastic to do!

I have also expressed my wishes of moving to England to them, and being willing to help them set up as I know Buurtzorg and they know the English system and the NHS very well. Karen said she'd love to work with me, so hopefully something will come from this. However, some funding needs to be gotten first. They have talked to a local MP, so hopefully that will yield some results.

And in the mean time I'm looking into starting on my drivers license again. It will be a shame all the savings money will be gone once more, but I suppose being able to drive will have it's merits too, maybe not so much where we live now, but in England it would certainly help.