I have arranged to have my gas and leccy meters changed for the Smart
versions. As I don't have an isolator upstream of my consumer unit, I
thought it would be a good time to have one fitted, so enquired if that
could be done at the same time if I supplied and mounted a suitable
isolator in the cabinet.

The reply from my supplier astounded me - Their engineers are only
trained to swap the meters, they are not qualified to do anything else.
Swapping meters is likely the most dangerous job on a domestic
installation, with some very serious safety implications if they do get
it wrong.

They indicated they would need to engage another 'specialised engineer'
to do it, at a cost to me of £70. Good grief what is the world coming
to?

"Harry Bloomfield" wrote in message
...
I have arranged to have my gas and leccy meters changed for the Smart versions. As I
don't have an isolator upstream of my consumer unit, I thought it would be a good time
to have one fitted, so enquired if that could be done at the same time if I supplied and
mounted a suitable isolator in the cabinet.

The reply from my supplier astounded me - Their engineers are only trained to swap the
meters, they are not qualified to do anything else. Swapping meters is likely the most
dangerous job on a domestic installation, with some very serious safety implications if
they do get it wrong.

They indicated they would need to engage another 'specialised engineer' to do it, at a
cost to me of £70. Good grief what is the world coming to?

IMO its more likely its the call-centre staff who are bit confused.

The job is probably timed and costed at a fixed price for just the
meter swaps. And appointments are scheduled on that basis.

Despite the meter installers being fully qualified for any
additional work as might be required, (something the call
centre staff can't necessarily be expected to know) the schedule
only allows them a fixed time to do each job; so an additional
fitter/appointment will need to be booked.


michael adams

....

michael adams a écrit :
Despite the meter installers being fully qualified for any
additional work as might be required, (something the call
centre staff can't necessarily be expected to know) the schedule
only allows them a fixed time to do each job; so an additional
fitter/appointment will need to be booked.

No, the call centre staff made it clear that the guys they send out
were only trained and qualified for that one task of changing the
meter.

I seems I shall have to do my own tests for leaks and check terminal
screws are properly tightened.

In article ,
Harry Bloomfield writes:
I have arranged to have my gas and leccy meters changed for the Smart
versions. As I don't have an isolator upstream of my consumer unit, I
thought it would be a good time to have one fitted, so enquired if that
could be done at the same time if I supplied and mounted a suitable
isolator in the cabinet.

The reply from my supplier astounded me - Their engineers are only
trained to swap the meters, they are not qualified to do anything else.
Swapping meters is likely the most dangerous job on a domestic
installation, with some very serious safety implications if they do get
it wrong.

The smart meter installers are mostly trained by rote - they aren't
electricians or gas fitters. They wouldn't be able to get enough of
them fast enough for the programme, and within costs.

They indicated they would need to engage another 'specialised engineer'
to do it, at a cost to me of £70. Good grief what is the world coming
to?

£70 sounds quite low to me.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Andrew Gabriel a écrit :
The smart meter installers are mostly trained by rote - they aren't
electricians or gas fitters. They wouldn't be able to get enough of
them fast enough for the programme, and within costs.

That sounds as if I ought to be very, very concerned indeed. How do
they justify unskilled or at best semi-skilled people doing a job like
this?

Harry Bloomfield a écrit :
Andrew Gabriel a écrit :
The smart meter installers are mostly trained by rote - they aren't
electricians or gas fitters. They wouldn't be able to get enough of
them fast enough for the programme, and within costs.

That sounds as if I ought to be very, very concerned indeed. How do they
justify unskilled or at best semi-skilled people doing a job like this?

I am very sceptical and untrusting of many supposedly qualified people.

Around 3 years ago we had the boiler replaced with one of less Kw
output than the existing one. The guy who surveyed the job tried to
insist it would require a new higher capacity pipe which would need to
be run outside on the surface of the house, from the meter to the
boiler. I told him to recalulate the load on the pipework and if it
involved any new pipe, they could cancel the entire job.

New boiler fitted, no need for any additional pipework.

On 04/05/16 20:05, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Harry Bloomfield a écrit :
Andrew Gabriel a écrit :
The smart meter installers are mostly trained by rote - they aren't
electricians or gas fitters. They wouldn't be able to get enough of
them fast enough for the programme, and within costs.

That sounds as if I ought to be very, very concerned indeed. How do
they justify unskilled or at best semi-skilled people doing a job like
this?

I am very sceptical and untrusting of many supposedly qualified people.

Around 3 years ago we had the boiler replaced with one of less Kw output
than the existing one. The guy who surveyed the job tried to insist it
would require a new higher capacity pipe which would need to be run
outside on the surface of the house, from the meter to the boiler. I
told him to recalulate the load on the pipework and if it involved any
new pipe, they could cancel the entire job.

New boiler fitted, no need for any additional pipework.

Been told that boiler manufacturers can decline some warranty claims if
their boiler is found starved of gas, and fitters don't want to risk that.

(Allegedly)

--
Adrian C

Adrian Caspersz a écrit :
Been told that boiler manufacturers can decline some warranty claims if their
boiler is found starved of gas, and fitters don't want to risk that.

It is not, would not have been starved of gas - the existing pipework
was properly specified for the older boiler of 1.5x the output already.
I also checked the pipe size calculations myself.

Harry Bloomfield wrote in news:ngdfm9
:

Andrew Gabriel a écrit :
The smart meter installers are mostly trained by rote - they aren't
electricians or gas fitters. They wouldn't be able to get enough of
them fast enough for the programme, and within costs.

That sounds as if I ought to be very, very concerned indeed. How do
they justify unskilled or at best semi-skilled people doing a job like
this?

They are well trained to do what is expected of them. If it is outside a
spec then they will back off and get someone else. (Anyway - there might be
a "ping - **** it" in the Isolator you provided!!)

On 04/05/2016 19:43, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Andrew Gabriel a écrit :
The smart meter installers are mostly trained by rote - they aren't
electricians or gas fitters. They wouldn't be able to get enough of
them fast enough for the programme, and within costs.

That sounds as if I ought to be very, very concerned indeed. How do they
justify unskilled or at best semi-skilled people doing a job like this?

They're trained to do a specific job - and nothing else.

Happens in other industries. For example, you can be trained just to
take blood samples from patients - without requiring any medical
qualifications! I don't which is the more scary.
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

"Roger Mills" wrote in message
...
On 04/05/2016 19:43, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Andrew Gabriel a écrit :
The smart meter installers are mostly trained by rote - they aren't
electricians or gas fitters. They wouldn't be able to get enough of
them fast enough for the programme, and within costs.

That sounds as if I ought to be very, very concerned indeed. How do they
justify unskilled or at best semi-skilled people doing a job like this?

They're trained to do a specific job - and nothing else.

Happens in other industries. For example, you can be trained just to take
blood samples from patients - without requiring any medical
qualifications! I don't which is the more scary.

Nothing scary about being trained to just take blood samples,
particularly when someone who is fully medically qualified has
ordered the blood test that is the reason for the blood sample.

Nothing scary about someone being trained to just change an
electricity meter which is hardly rocket science.

On 04/05/2016 21:20, Roger Mills wrote:
On 04/05/2016 19:43, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Andrew Gabriel a écrit :
The smart meter installers are mostly trained by rote - they aren't
electricians or gas fitters. They wouldn't be able to get enough of
them fast enough for the programme, and within costs.

That sounds as if I ought to be very, very concerned indeed. How do they
justify unskilled or at best semi-skilled people doing a job like this?

They're trained to do a specific job - and nothing else.

Happens in other industries. For example, you can be trained just to
take blood samples from patients - without requiring any medical
qualifications! I don't which is the more scary.

doctors have more important things to do than take bloods. That's
what phlebotomists (bleeders) are for, and sometimes they have
got some nursing or auxiliary care experience anyway. Most
patients have decent and easy veins to access and it's really
quite easy. Kiddies can be challenging. If the patient had difficult
veins (inpatient or outpatient) then there were always more experienced
people around to assist.

I have taken more blood samples than I could ever count. St Richards
hospital didn't even employ bleeders to go round the wards in the
morning, so the haematology technicians did it. At St Bartholomews there
was a group of ladies who went around the wards first thing in the
morning then spent the rest of the day in outpatients. Any
difficult patients were sent up to the Haematology dept where the
technicians would have a second attempt and as a last resort, get one of
the same departments trainee medical haematologists to try.

On Thu, 5 May 2016 20:45:28 +0100, Andrew wrote:

doctors have more important things to do than take bloods. That's
what phlebotomists (bleeders) are for,

Quite I'd much rather have bloods taken by someone who is doing it
many times a day than some one who only does it occasionally. The
Practice Nurse takes bloods at our GP's, prefereably in the morning
so they leave on the transport around midday to reach the lab that
day.

If we had to be referred to a hospital with a lab, that would be a 50
to 70 mile round and 3 hours or so depending on the which hospital
and assuming use of own transport. Public transport would take most
of the day *and* require the appointment to be late morning/early
afternoon.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Wed, 04 May 2016 19:43:40 +0100, Harry Bloomfield wrote:

The smart meter installers are mostly trained by rote - they
aren't
electricians or gas fitters. They wouldn't be able to get enough
of
them fast enough for the programme, and within costs.

That sounds as if I ought to be very, very concerned indeed. How do
they justify unskilled or at best semi-skilled people doing a job like
this?

The electricity meter swap is a POP, pull fuse, remove cover from
meter terminals, release the tails, remove meter from board, position
and fix new meter to board, fix tails into terminals, replace cover,
replace fuse and apply seal. The terminal layout is standard and the
spacing only minimally different.

I think the spacing of the in/out pipes on a gas meter is standard
but not the height of that fixing from the base of the meter. So a
shorter meter ends up hanging on the pipes unless the shelf/bracket
is moved.

--
Cheers
Dave.

In message l.net,
Dave Liquorice writes
On Wed, 04 May 2016 19:43:40 +0100, Harry Bloomfield wrote:

The smart meter installers are mostly trained by rote - they
aren't
electricians or gas fitters. They wouldn't be able to get enough
of
them fast enough for the programme, and within costs.

That sounds as if I ought to be very, very concerned indeed. How do
they justify unskilled or at best semi-skilled people doing a job like
this?

The electricity meter swap is a POP, pull fuse, remove cover from
meter terminals, release the tails, remove meter from board, position
and fix new meter to board, fix tails into terminals, replace cover,
replace fuse and apply seal. The terminal layout is standard and the
spacing only minimally different.

Yes. A turbaned gentleman has just replaced one for me. This was not a
smart meter installation as SSE were determined to replace due to age
and I was concerned that their new technology might not suit our group
buying scheme.

I think the spacing of the in/out pipes on a gas meter is standard
but not the height of that fixing from the base of the meter. So a
shorter meter ends up hanging on the pipes unless the shelf/bracket
is moved.

There is an issue here in that the farm supply is from a medium pressure
main installed by Transco. BG were anxious to replace the meter (battery
life) but their terminations were not suitable. Two site meetings later
and they changed the battery!


--
Tim Lamb

On Wed, 4 May 2016 17:54:34 -0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:

In article ,
Harry Bloomfield writes:
I have arranged to have my gas and leccy meters changed for the Smart
versions. As I don't have an isolator upstream of my consumer unit, I
thought it would be a good time to have one fitted, so enquired if that
could be done at the same time if I supplied and mounted a suitable
isolator in the cabinet.

The reply from my supplier astounded me - Their engineers are only
trained to swap the meters, they are not qualified to do anything else.
Swapping meters is likely the most dangerous job on a domestic
installation, with some very serious safety implications if they do get
it wrong.

The smart meter installers are mostly trained by rote - they aren't
electricians or gas fitters. They wouldn't be able to get enough of
them fast enough for the programme, and within costs.

They indicated they would need to engage another 'specialised engineer'
to do it, at a cost to me of £70. Good grief what is the world coming
to?

£70 sounds quite low to me.

Wouldn't you need to be Gas Safe certified to change somebody's gas
meter?


--

Graham.

%Profound_observation%

On Thu, 05 May 2016 01:10:54 +0100, Graham. wrote:

Wouldn't you need to be Gas Safe certified to change somebody's gas
meter?

Yes, but I wouldn't be surprised if they have a class that only
allows the holder to change meters. Gas Safe is not just a bit of
paper allowing you to work on gas but lots of bits of paper each one
allowing you to work on different aspects of gas, domestic,
commercial, industrial, etc

--
Cheers
Dave.

In article l.net,
"Dave Liquorice" writes:
On Thu, 05 May 2016 01:10:54 +0100, Graham. wrote:

Wouldn't you need to be Gas Safe certified to change somebody's gas
meter?

Yes, but I wouldn't be surprised if they have a class that only
allows the holder to change meters. Gas Safe is not just a bit of
paper allowing you to work on gas but lots of bits of paper each one
allowing you to work on different aspects of gas, domestic,
commercial, industrial, etc

I have a recollection of Transco refusing to get their staff
registered (CORGI at the time), arguing it wasn't appropriate
training for supply side work. Government had no choice but to
give in, as it would otherwise leave no staff in the country
able to undertake any gas supply work, including emergency
fixes, from the date registration became mandatory.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 04/05/16 18:06, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
I have arranged to have my gas and leccy meters changed for the Smart
versions. As I don't have an isolator upstream of my consumer unit, I
thought it would be a good time to have one fitted, so enquired if that
could be done at the same time if I supplied and mounted a suitable
isolator in the cabinet.

The reply from my supplier astounded me - Their engineers are only
trained to swap the meters, they are not qualified to do anything else.

The guy that swapped my gas meter left us with a leak, after he had gone
away after relighting the boiler. It was a swap that left the new meter
hanging on the pipes, no secure wall/floor contact or screws.

We called Transco out for the emergency, they tightened the nuts which
fixed the leak, still left the meter floating in air, refused to relight
the boiler (for being a bit unserviced) and stuck a prohibition notice
on it.

We then called a gas engineer. He cleaned out the boiler jets,
pronounced that there was not enough air in the cupboard - could he
quote to fix that? (cupboard is far end from drafty garage door)

I ran down to B&Q, bought the cheapest no-name SDS drill there and
installed an airbrick (next to the drafty garage door) for a fraction of
the quote.

A while later, I got the meter installed properly to the wall.

Moral. None. But beware of complications ...


--
Adrian C

On Wed, 4 May 2016 19:37:41 +0100, Adrian Caspersz
wrote:

snip

We then called a gas engineer. He cleaned out the boiler jets,
pronounced that there was not enough air in the cupboard - could he
quote to fix that? (cupboard is far end from drafty garage door)

I ran down to B&Q, bought the cheapest no-name SDS drill there and
installed an airbrick (next to the drafty garage door) for a fraction of
the quote.

snip

I guess the idea might be that there should be 'fixed' ventilation as
you might seal the garage door up at some point?

Not that you couldn't cover some draughty airbrick as well ...

A bit like replacing draughty windows with hermitically sealed uPVC
and then having to fit a draughty airbrick or fixed open trickle vents
because you have an open / gas fire.

Cheers, T i m

On 04/05/2016 19:37, Adrian Caspersz wrote:
On 04/05/16 18:06, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
I have arranged to have my gas and leccy meters changed for the Smart
versions. As I don't have an isolator upstream of my consumer unit, I
thought it would be a good time to have one fitted, so enquired if that
could be done at the same time if I supplied and mounted a suitable
isolator in the cabinet.

The reply from my supplier astounded me - Their engineers are only
trained to swap the meters, they are not qualified to do anything else.

The guy that swapped my gas meter left us with a leak, after he had gone
away after relighting the boiler. It was a swap that left the new meter
hanging on the pipes, no secure wall/floor contact or screws.

We called Transco out for the emergency, they tightened the nuts which
fixed the leak, still left the meter floating in air, refused to relight
the boiler (for being a bit unserviced) and stuck a prohibition notice
on it.

Ha. Years ago (before Transco) my parents phoned about a gas leak, they
came and checked, no leak found, but they put prohibition notices on
both the front and back room fires (back also included the central
heating boiler) leaving no heating at all.

In both cases they claimed that a "non-combustibe" hearth was required
under the fire, despite both fires having integral metal bases and the
one in the back room having a second metal base, with all the boiler
controls inbetween the two.

They rapidly removed the prohibitions when it was pointed out that when
the system was installed by my father, they'd come out and tested and
inspected the installation and approved it.

They were called out twice more for the leak and still said there wasn't
one.

In the end we called them back for a fourth time - after using just soap
and water to find that their pipe to the meter was leaking!

SteveW

Competance????

Of people posting to UK.D-I-Y?

I was watching an old bit of telly and was appalled to see the caption
come up:

'Malay Peninsular'.

People simply can't spell any more.


--
Those who want slavery should have the grace to name it by its proper
name. They must face the full meaning of that which they are advocating
or condoning; the full, exact, specific meaning of collectivism, of its
logical implications, of the principles upon which it is based, and of
the ultimate consequences to which these principles will lead. They must
face it, then decide whether this is what they want or not.

Ayn Rand.

"Harry Bloomfield" wrote in message
...
I have arranged to have my gas and leccy meters changed for the Smart
versions. As I don't have an isolator upstream of my consumer unit, I
thought it would be a good time to have one fitted, so enquired if that
could be done at the same time if I supplied and mounted a suitable
isolator in the cabinet.

The reply from my supplier astounded me - Their engineers are only trained
to swap the meters, they are not qualified to do anything else. Swapping
meters is likely the most dangerous job on a domestic installation, with
some very serious safety implications if they do get it wrong.

They indicated they would need to engage another 'specialised engineer' to
do it, at a cost to me of £70. Good grief what is the world coming to?

IMO it's the sensible way to do the meter changers, only train them to
change
meters and have other more generally qualified people doing the rest.

Simo a écrit :
IMO it's the sensible way to do the meter changers, only train them to change
meters and have other more generally qualified people doing the rest.

Economic maybe, safe and sensible IMHO probably not. It works fine
until something goes wrong.

"Harry Bloomfield" wrote in message
...
Simo a écrit :
IMO it's the sensible way to do the meter changers, only train them to
change
meters and have other more generally qualified people doing the rest.

Economic maybe, safe and sensible IMHO probably not. It works fine until
something goes wrong.

Still makes much more sense to have a much smaller crew
of fully qualified people who the meter changers can call
on when something goes wrong than to train all the meter
changers so they can do everything that might ever happen.

On 04/05/2016 20:14, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Simo a écrit :
IMO it's the sensible way to do the meter changers, only train them to
change
meters and have other more generally qualified people doing the rest.

Economic maybe, safe and sensible IMHO probably not. It works fine until
something goes wrong.

All they do is pull the fuse, swap the meter, put the fuse back and
crimp on some new tags.

dennis@home a écrit :
On 04/05/2016 20:14, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Simo a écrit :
IMO it's the sensible way to do the meter changers, only train them to
change
meters and have other more generally qualified people doing the rest.

Economic maybe, safe and sensible IMHO probably not. It works fine until
something goes wrong.

All they do is pull the fuse, swap the meter, put the fuse back and crimp on
some new tags.

Yes, but I have known proper qualified engineers not manage to even do
that simple task correctly.

Harry Bloomfield wrote in
:

dennis@home a écrit :
On 04/05/2016 20:14, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Simo a écrit :
IMO it's the sensible way to do the meter changers, only train them
to change
meters and have other more generally qualified people doing the
rest.

Economic maybe, safe and sensible IMHO probably not. It works fine
until something goes wrong.

All they do is pull the fuse, swap the meter, put the fuse back and
crimp on some new tags.

Yes, but I have known proper qualified engineers not manage to even do
that simple task correctly.


IMHO "Skilled" people often do things that are beyond their level of
competence.
Corporate Responsibility requires personnel to be trained to undertake
tasks. Because someone did an apprenticeship 15 years ago is no longer
sufficient if an injury case comes to court.

On 04/05/2016 20:07, Simo wrote:


"Harry Bloomfield" wrote in message
...
I have arranged to have my gas and leccy meters changed for the Smart
versions. As I don't have an isolator upstream of my consumer unit, I
thought it would be a good time to have one fitted, so enquired if
that could be done at the same time if I supplied and mounted a
suitable isolator in the cabinet.

The reply from my supplier astounded me - Their engineers are only
trained to swap the meters, they are not qualified to do anything
else. Swapping meters is likely the most dangerous job on a domestic
installation, with some very serious safety implications if they do
get it wrong.

They indicated they would need to engage another 'specialised
engineer' to do it, at a cost to me of £70. Good grief what is the
world coming to?

IMO it's the sensible way to do the meter changers, only train them to
change
meters and have other more generally qualified people doing the rest.
Its called de-skilling and has occurred in many service industries.
Take a well defined routine job away from a generically trained
professional/technician/engineer and train someone with much lower
qualifications to just do the one job - much cheaper and can result in a
better job being done. You then need far fewer expensive generically
qualified people .
In the NHS taking routine blood samples used to be done by doctors even
consultants and is now done very efficiently by phlebotomists a "
clinical support worker" who does nothing else.
Those who have been Blood Donors for a long time have seen a similar
de-skilling of the staff involved and IMHO they do a much better job.

On 04/05/2016 21:02, Robert wrote:
On 04/05/2016 20:07, Simo wrote:


"Harry Bloomfield" wrote in message
...
I have arranged to have my gas and leccy meters changed for the Smart
versions. As I don't have an isolator upstream of my consumer unit, I
thought it would be a good time to have one fitted, so enquired if
that could be done at the same time if I supplied and mounted a
suitable isolator in the cabinet.

The reply from my supplier astounded me - Their engineers are only
trained to swap the meters, they are not qualified to do anything
else. Swapping meters is likely the most dangerous job on a domestic
installation, with some very serious safety implications if they do
get it wrong.

They indicated they would need to engage another 'specialised
engineer' to do it, at a cost to me of £70. Good grief what is the
world coming to?

IMO it's the sensible way to do the meter changers, only train them to
change
meters and have other more generally qualified people doing the rest.
Its called de-skilling and has occurred in many service industries.
Take a well defined routine job away from a generically trained
professional/technician/engineer and train someone with much lower
qualifications to just do the one job - much cheaper and can result in a
better job being done. You then need far fewer expensive generically
qualified people .
In the NHS taking routine blood samples used to be done by doctors even
consultants and is now done very efficiently by phlebotomists a "
clinical support worker" who does nothing else.

Which of course means that for my regular blood tests, I cannot have
them done at the local GPs (even by the Practice Nurse) and instead have
to go to the local hospital. That means being there by 06:30 if I don't
want a 2 hour or longer wait. As they don't open the outer door of the
corridor until 7:00, no-one can get a ticket from the dispenser and you
just have a load of tired people who pour in and then have no idea who
was first. I'm actually due to start work 15 miles away at 7:00 (at one
point is was 06:30 and 45 miles away) and am paid by the hour, so ending
up at the back of the queue and still having to wait for hours is more
than a little frustrating.

SteveW

"Steve Walker" wrote in message
...
On 04/05/2016 21:02, Robert wrote:
On 04/05/2016 20:07, Simo wrote:


"Harry Bloomfield" wrote in message
...
I have arranged to have my gas and leccy meters changed for the Smart
versions. As I don't have an isolator upstream of my consumer unit, I
thought it would be a good time to have one fitted, so enquired if
that could be done at the same time if I supplied and mounted a
suitable isolator in the cabinet.

The reply from my supplier astounded me - Their engineers are only
trained to swap the meters, they are not qualified to do anything
else. Swapping meters is likely the most dangerous job on a domestic
installation, with some very serious safety implications if they do
get it wrong.

They indicated they would need to engage another 'specialised
engineer' to do it, at a cost to me of £70. Good grief what is the
world coming to?

IMO it's the sensible way to do the meter changers, only train them to
change
meters and have other more generally qualified people doing the rest.
Its called de-skilling and has occurred in many service industries.
Take a well defined routine job away from a generically trained
professional/technician/engineer and train someone with much lower
qualifications to just do the one job - much cheaper and can result in a
better job being done. You then need far fewer expensive generically
qualified people .
In the NHS taking routine blood samples used to be done by doctors even
consultants and is now done very efficiently by phlebotomists a "
clinical support worker" who does nothing else.

Which of course means that for my regular blood tests, I cannot have them
done at the local GPs (even by the Practice Nurse)

We can and in fact some of the retirement villages etc even
have someone come around and do that in your own unit.
And some of the local GPs do it too.

and instead have to go to the local hospital. That means being there by
06:30 if I don't want a 2 hour or longer wait.

Ours don't have as long a wait as that, but I personally do show up
so I am first in line, essentially because I hate going without breakfast
and prefer to have the blood taken as early as possible and then go
home and have my usual breakfast.

As they don't open the outer door of the corridor until 7:00, no-one can
get a ticket from the dispenser and you just have a load of tired people
who pour in and then have no idea who was first.

Ours is much better organised. The place you wait has no door at all,
the shutter is to the counter where you flash your papers etc and the
door to where they actually take the blood is next to that. The ticket
dispenser is always available and they reload it before leaving in the
evening the night before so its always available before they start.

The other path group isnt in the hospital and isn't quite so well
organised. You have to wait outside but everyone keeps track of
who showed up when so you do get to get your blood taken in
the order in which you showed up.

I'm actually due to start work 15 miles away at 7:00 (at one point is was
06:30 and 45 miles away) and am paid by the hour, so ending up at the back
of the queue and still having to wait for hours is more than a little
frustrating.

On 05/05/2016 20:48, Steve Walker wrote:
Which of course means that for my regular blood tests, I cannot have
them done at the local GPs

New GP indicated. Ours has a specialist phlebotomist.

They called me on Tuesday, and I made an appointment for the next
morning. I arrived a few minutes early and was called straight in.

Wish I hadn't let her stick a blob of cotton wool on to my hairy arm
with strong tape though!

Andy

On Thu, 5 May 2016 21:42:31 +0100, Vir Campestris
wrote:

On 05/05/2016 20:48, Steve Walker wrote:
Which of course means that for my regular blood tests, I cannot have
them done at the local GPs

New GP indicated. Ours has a specialist phlebotomist.

Not so easy to change for many people who don't live in a densely
populated area .
Ours had a phlebotomist but withdrew her in her a cost cutting
exercise. They quickly did a partial reverse after protests that
older people in area without public transport were already relying on
Family, Friends,Volunteers to get them to the surgery let alone the
hospital about 15 miles away and employed one part time .
Tests were then done on if you really can't make it to the Hospital
then we may fit you in here basis.
Since then they have relented further and the service is available 5
mornings a week, all of Wednesday,and a monthly Saturday Morning,

G,Harman



They called me on Tuesday, and I made an appointment for the next
morning. I arrived a few minutes early and was called straight in.

On 05/05/2016 20:48, Steve Walker wrote:
That means being there by 06:30 if I don't want a 2 hour or longer wait.

It isn't the wait that is the problem for me. (It would just be a boring
inconvenience.) For quite a number of blood tests, time matters.

Our local hospital phlebotomy opens at 08:00 which, with luck, means a
draw just early enough. The GP appointments don't even start before 09:00.

Time wouldn't be quite such an issue if the medics even realised the
importance of time of draw. They don't. So they don't, actually can't,
make any allowance. Diagnosis, adjustments to medication, etc., can all
be affected because of this desperate ignorance. (Yes - there is
recognition of time for some tests.) Nor do they recognise that far more
tests are affected by fasting/not fasting than is ever acknowledged.

--
Rod

"polygonum" wrote in message
...
On 05/05/2016 20:48, Steve Walker wrote:
That means being there by 06:30 if I don't want a 2 hour or longer wait.

It isn't the wait that is the problem for me. (It would just be a boring
inconvenience.) For quite a number of blood tests, time matters.

Our local hospital phlebotomy opens at 08:00 which, with luck, means a
draw just early enough. The GP appointments don't even start before 09:00.

Time wouldn't be quite such an issue if the medics even realised the
importance of time of draw. They don't. So they don't, actually can't,
make any allowance. Diagnosis, adjustments to medication, etc., can all be
affected because of this desperate ignorance. (Yes - there is recognition
of time for some tests.) Nor do they recognise that far more tests are
affected by fasting/not fasting than is ever acknowledged.

My GP (receptionists) insist that if you have a fasting requirement
you*must* have your appointment before 9:30.

Why is it that I cannot be trusted to fast until 10:30 if I am told that I
have to? (Bearing in mind all the other things that they have to trust that
I do, or not, they they have no checks for)

tim

The reply from my supplier astounded me - Their engineers are only
trained to swap the meters, they are not qualified to do anything else.
Swapping meters is likely the most dangerous job on a domestic
installation, with some very serious safety implications if they do get
it wrong.



Seems reasonable to me. If it is not routine then don't do it will be their
training.

On 5/4/2016 6:06 PM, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
I have arranged to have my gas and leccy meters changed for the Smart
versions. As I don't have an isolator upstream of my consumer unit, I
thought it would be a good time to have one fitted, so enquired if that
could be done at the same time if I supplied and mounted a suitable
isolator in the cabinet.

The reply from my supplier astounded me - Their engineers are only
trained to swap the meters, they are not qualified to do anything else.
Swapping meters is likely the most dangerous job on a domestic
installation, with some very serious safety implications if they do get
it wrong.

They indicated they would need to engage another 'specialised engineer'
to do it, at a cost to me of £70. Good grief what is the world coming to?

Nothing dangerous about swapping meters. They will pull the supplier
fuse, swap the meter, and replace the security crimp on the fuse. The
most "skilled" part is doing the screws up correctly.

But I am not surprised they would want to charge for adding a supplied
isolator, this more or less doubles the work.

Personally, I manage without an isolator. The security wire on the main
fuse seems to have broken. It's always been like that, officer.

"newshound" wrote in message
news
On 5/4/2016 6:06 PM, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
I have arranged to have my gas and leccy meters changed for the Smart
versions. As I don't have an isolator upstream of my consumer unit, I
thought it would be a good time to have one fitted, so enquired if that
could be done at the same time if I supplied and mounted a suitable
isolator in the cabinet.

The reply from my supplier astounded me - Their engineers are only
trained to swap the meters, they are not qualified to do anything else.
Swapping meters is likely the most dangerous job on a domestic
installation, with some very serious safety implications if they do get
it wrong.

They indicated they would need to engage another 'specialised engineer'
to do it, at a cost to me of £70. Good grief what is the world coming to?

Nothing dangerous about swapping meters. They will pull the supplier fuse,
swap the meter, and replace the security crimp on the fuse. The most
"skilled" part is doing the screws up correctly.

But I am not surprised they would want to charge for adding a supplied
isolator, this more or less doubles the work.

Personally, I manage without an isolator. The security wire on the main
fuse seems to have broken. It's always been like that, officer.

Unlikely that it would still be like that after the meter swap.

"Rod Speed" wrote in message
...


"newshound" wrote in message
news
On 5/4/2016 6:06 PM, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
I have arranged to have my gas and leccy meters changed for the Smart
versions. As I don't have an isolator upstream of my consumer unit, I
thought it would be a good time to have one fitted, so enquired if that
could be done at the same time if I supplied and mounted a suitable
isolator in the cabinet.

The reply from my supplier astounded me - Their engineers are only
trained to swap the meters, they are not qualified to do anything else.
Swapping meters is likely the most dangerous job on a domestic
installation, with some very serious safety implications if they do get
it wrong.

They indicated they would need to engage another 'specialised engineer'
to do it, at a cost to me of £70. Good grief what is the world coming
to?

Nothing dangerous about swapping meters. They will pull the supplier
fuse, swap the meter, and replace the security crimp on the fuse. The
most "skilled" part is doing the screws up correctly.

But I am not surprised they would want to charge for adding a supplied
isolator, this more or less doubles the work.

Personally, I manage without an isolator. The security wire on the main
fuse seems to have broken. It's always been like that, officer.

Unlikely that it would still be like that after the meter swap.


So? Just cut it again.
--
Adam

"ARW" wrote in message
...
"Rod Speed" wrote in message
...


"newshound" wrote in message
news
On 5/4/2016 6:06 PM, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
I have arranged to have my gas and leccy meters changed for the Smart
versions. As I don't have an isolator upstream of my consumer unit, I
thought it would be a good time to have one fitted, so enquired if that
could be done at the same time if I supplied and mounted a suitable
isolator in the cabinet.

The reply from my supplier astounded me - Their engineers are only
trained to swap the meters, they are not qualified to do anything else.
Swapping meters is likely the most dangerous job on a domestic
installation, with some very serious safety implications if they do get
it wrong.

They indicated they would need to engage another 'specialised engineer'
to do it, at a cost to me of £70. Good grief what is the world coming
to?

Nothing dangerous about swapping meters. They will pull the supplier
fuse, swap the meter, and replace the security crimp on the fuse. The
most "skilled" part is doing the screws up correctly.

But I am not surprised they would want to charge for adding a supplied
isolator, this more or less doubles the work.

Personally, I manage without an isolator. The security wire on the main
fuse seems to have broken. It's always been like that, officer.

Unlikely that it would still be like that after the meter swap.


So? Just cut it again.

I meant that they aren't going to buy the story
that its always been cut after a meter change.