Déjà vu

This item was sent to me by a friend and I am posting it because it bears an uncanny resemblance to “M”s treatment.

From the Manchester Evening news:-The whole thing:

A HOSPITAL has paid out £50,000 to the family of a mother-of-six who died after a string of failings by medics.

Karen Bambrough, 42, should have had urgent surgery when she was admitted to Tameside Hospital with a severe blockage in her abdomen.

When she did not receive the treatment her condition worsened.

She died in 6 January 2005 after her intestines ruptured and medics did not attempt to resuscitate her.

Despite admitting that these failings caused Mrs Bambrough additional 'pain and suffering', Tameside hospital said that she would have died anyway.

Her widower Chris Bambrough, from Ashton under Lyne, said he had accepted a £50,000 settlement because he had 'given up' after a stressful legal battle lasting almost five years.

Mr Bambrough, now a single father of six, said: “This isn't about the money. I just want people to know what happened at Tameside. I don’t want this to happen to someone else.

“After five years I just wanted it all to be over. The hospital has caused me so much stress. They have done nothing but drag out the case, and refuse to admit they neglected to save Karen's life.”

No apology

Mr Bambrough said he was angry that after five years he still hadn’t received an apology.
“Karen was such a wonderful mother to our children,” he said. “She was my everything since we were 15 years old. And the hospital just wrote her off.”

Mr Bambrough’s lawyer, Janet Johnson, a partner at Simpson Millar, said: “Coming to terms with the loss of a wife or a mother is difficult enough in itself without the added strain of having to fight tooth and nail for justice.

“The last five years have been both stressful and emotionally draining for the Bambrough family.

“Although you cannot put a price on a human life, surely £50,000 is nowhere near enough for such a massive loss.”

Tameside hospital declined to comment on the case but confirmed the £50,000 settlement.

“M” was left with a blocked bowel, the hospital dragged out my complaint for three years, they also said “she would have died anyway”, and I was given no apology regarding her treatment.

Unlike Mr Bambrough I didn’t sue for damages because I wanted to leave the door open regarding Human Rights, but like Mr Bambrough I just want people to know what happened, and I don’t want this to happen to someone else.

Sadly no one wanted to know.

But it seems that it has, it also seems that there is a “system” in place by CEOs of hospitals to use a script agreed between them to defer, deny and outwait relatives who are at the most vulnerable point in their lives, if there is such a system in use it can only be described as callous and uncaring (which was also denied by the Chairman of the ‘Hospital’ “M” was in).

After Christmas I am going to set up a blog to collate all the “NHS horror stories” -NHS Horror Stories and I need readers to send in an abridged version of the treatment given to their relatives.

The data will then be sent to MPs, Hospital CEOs and the media, so spread the word and submit your stories, I know it will be painful but maybe we can stop this happening again and discover if there is a script being used by the NHS to deter us from complaining.


Angus

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The hidden stories of the NHS

After my get together in Fareham yesterday with the ladies from The Gosport War Memorial Hospital cover up and tomsanguish/ NHS palliative care Sheffield I did a bit of Google-ing and came up with about 67,900 hits for NHS horror stories.

The thing that struck me during the “meeting” was how much alike we were, we had all been dumped on by the NHS complaints system from a great height, our relatives had all been subjected to third world country treatment before they died, and we had all been lied to, misinformed and treated badly by the “Senior Management”.

But the point that hit home mostly was that we all felt alone when setting out on the long and winding road that passes for a “Complaints System” in our health service.

We all had our horror stories, we were all “damaged” by the complaints system, we were all frustrated and angry, but in a way we are all still alone.

Media coverage is good for the cases that pertain to hundreds of patients dying, but for the relatives of a single death the media do not really want to know, there is not enough mileage in it for them, I know because I sent “M”s ‘story’ to them all, papers, TV and radio and not one replied or showed any interest.

Even my “campaign” to bring together people who have been badly let down by The NHS wasn’t a runaway success, and from the meeting came the feeling that there is a lack of impetus by relative to get involved, whether it is because people don’t want to “rock the boat” or that it is too painful to keep going over the death of a loved one I don’t know.

But if only half of the Google results on ‘NHS horror stories” are true there are some 30,000 people out there who, if they got together could make a significant difference to the complaints system, there are many bloggers out there who bite the bullet and try to change things, but if there were a central site where those 30,000 people could post their experiences and 30,000 stories were sent to the media and the Government maybe, just maybe the ‘powers that be’ would finally take notice of bereaved relatives.

It is just an idea I am toying with, but what is needed is the backing from those relatives, and the strength to let the country know what is really happening to patients, I would be happy to start a new blog and call it “NHS-the real story” or something along those lines, all ideas welcome.

If you are interested contact me at angusdei@live.co.uk and perhaps together we can make a difference.

Angus

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Burnham Bollocks

Health secretary Andy Burnham addressed NHS chief executives last week, and he used the opportunity to outline a five-year plan for the NHS. He described it as upbeat, gritty and realistic given the consequences of the downturn.

It contains the usual platitudes and “pie in the sky” promises:

“First, we will improve the payment system so that it rewards quality and puts patients first. A growing proportion of hospital’s income will be linked to patient satisfaction, rising to 10% of their payments over time. This is a symbolic shift towards the people-centred service I want to see, a service which at times thinks about how things look through the eyes of the patient their family. Poor or unsafe care will not be tolerated - and payments will be withdrawn if care does not meet minimum standards.”

“Second, we will provide more choice for patients, giving them the ability to register with a GP wherever they choose by abolishing practice boundaries, an option of seeing a doctor in the evenings and weekends in every area, and more access to services - like chemotherapy and dialysis - at home or in the community”.



And no word of scrapping the over paid, arrogant Foundation trusts:

“Fifth, we will provide more freedom for hospitals. The best NHS foundation trusts will be free to work across a wider area. We will encourage high-performing foundation trusts based in one area to provide both acute and community services in other areas, if the PCTs in those areas want to commission from them. And we want to see more integrated provision across the entire patient pathway. We open the possibility of acute trust providing GP services, if safeguards can be found.”

Burnham finished by offering chief executives one of his trademark deals: “As we go through this change, we will support them and empower them to make the changes we need. I will explore whether we can maintain frontline employment across a locality or region - in return for flexibility, mobility and sustained pay restraint.”

The parting message - play ball or face cuts.


But who will suffer? It won’t be the chief executives, or the Director of Nursing, or the HR director, or the Estates director, or any of the other directors or boards, it will be the patients, cutting funding to hospital that do not perform well is not the answer, the answer is to sack the overpaid underworked management and put in place a system that actually makes patient treatment a priority rather than Kudos for the £150,000+ CEOs and medical directors.

The full report can be downloaded Here.


Angus

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Clean hospitals-whose responsibility?

The NHS is going from bad to worse, despite all the hype about better treatment, the billions poured into the NHS has not helped patients, or it seems Doctors.

Doctors and nurses at one of the country's top children's hospitals have been asked to help clean wards in their free time, according to the British Medical Association.

Staff, including consultants and managers at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, were reportedly asked to do the work outside normal working hours.

It is thought the suggestion was made to ensure the hospital impressed inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) who visited Alder Hey.

Unions criticised the move and said cleanliness should be sufficiently resourced without seeking volunteers.

Dr Jaswinder Bamrah, of the British Medical Association, said: ''Doctors and nurses have been asked to volunteer to clean the hospital and I just do not think it is right.

"They are over-using a highly skilled workforce to do what they are not trained to do.

"They need to look at the issue of who is paid to do the cleaning and sort it out.

"This step takes doctors and nurses away from patient care - the time spent cleaning would be better spent providing care for patients.

"This has been an ongoing problem for Alder Hey and it is very important to make sure the hospital is cleaned properly by those paid to do it - otherwise all sorts of problems car arise, like MRSA or C difficile spreading."

Paul Summers, Unison's regional organiser, said although it was a voluntary request some employees felt pressure to comply.

"It was not compulsory but I have heard some people did feel bullied into helping out," he said.

Louise Shepherd, chief executive at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust said CQC inspectors were impressed by the way staff rallied round after the unannounced visit.

She said: ''We believe, along with all our staff, that maintaining high standards of cleanliness in a healthcare environment is everyone's responsibility and have very much welcomed those many staff who have volunteered from every service and department to support this initiative.

What a load of Bullshit, the responsibility for cleaning the hospital rests with the overpaid, overmanned management who should ensure that there are enough trained cleaners.

If they cannot employ enough cleaners let them get on their hands and knees and do a bit of scrubbing, Doctors and Nurses are far too valuable a resource, whereas the management is not.

Angus

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A plethora of news

There seems to be so much “health” news about today I thought I would use the “snippets” format today.

I see that “Sir” Liam Donaldson is to retire in May next year, probably just before the election as it is always wiser to hedge one’s bets.

“Sir” Liam of course will be remembered for his smoking in public places ban, which has been a success, apart that is from destroying the Pub trade.

He has recently called for England to adopt an opt out system of organ donation, where people are presumed to have consented to donation unless they registered their objections in advance.

Sir Liam, 60, intended to retire from the post earlier this year but agreed to stay on when the swine flu pandemic emerged.

He will stand down in May unless the swine flu pandemic worsens.

A replacement will be announced in due course, a spokesman for the Department of Health said.

He was also the mastermind of the shake-up of junior doctors' training and there were calls for his resignation following the chaos of its introduction.

He will join the ranks of the ex-knobs which includes “Lord” Ara Darzi, who managed to make “quality of treatment” for patients a byword for spend billions and get thousands of managers, clinics that are failing and.....

A hospital has been accused by a coroner of "gross negligence" after a 10-year-old boy died following a seven hour wait for an ambulance.

Kieran Howard, from Fordcombe, Kent, was taken to three hospitals after emergency staff failed to diagnose the severity of his condition, Southwark Coroner's Court heard.

Doctors were aware there was potentially a problem with the child's brain, but the boy sill had to wait 12 hours to receive a scan which would have allowed a diagnosis and meant life-saving surgery could have gone ahead.

Coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox said there was a "four hour window of opportunity" after the boy's eyes had become fixed and dilated to perform surgery which likely would have saved his life.

She described the Pembury doctors failures to check his eyes as "gross negligence" and "neglect".

And: A two-year-old boy died after paramedics failed to notice the severity of an injury to his head, an inquest heard.

Lewis Urmson-Brown banged his head on the ground whilst in his father's arms after he stumbled walking on a playground near their home in Runcorn, Cheshire.

Lewis's mother, Michelle Urmson, 39, collapsed in court after describing how her son seemed floppy and pale after returning from the park with her partner Chris Brown.

After Lewis died both parents were arrested and questioned on suspicion of murder only to be exonerated by police when the full facts emerged.

The couple, who have two other children, told Warrington Coroner's Court how they called an ambulance after the fall and waited anxiously for Lewis to be examined on June 19 last year.
But when two paramedics arrived they decided within minutes his injuries were superficial and hospital treatment was not needed.

Eight hours later Mrs Urmson woke to find Lewis unconscious and frothing at the mouth.

An ambulance crew rushed him to Warrington General Hospital where doctors tried in vain to resuscitate him and he died a short while later.

Or even: A three-year-old boy died of tonsillitis because of a 'gross failure' by an out-of-ours GP service, an inquest heard.

Joseph Seevaraj, died after his parents phoned their local service to insist a doctor visit their son, who was suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea complications arising from the bug.

But they were told to wait for the medication to work during the 11pm call after the lad had been prescribed antibiotics when advised to go to hospital two days earlier.

He was found dead by his mum and dad Nicola and Jean at their home in Hove, East Sussex, the next morning on January 20 this year.

Brighton and Hove Coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley described errors made in his treatment as "total and complete" at a hearing on Thursday.

The coroner said: "He needed basic medical attention. The failure to provide it was gross failure. I am satisfied there is a clear connection between this gross failure and his death."

How about this: Cancer sufferers living in the most deprived parts of England are up to five per cent less likely to beat the disease, official figures show.

A report from the Office for National Statistics reveals that patients in the 62 worst off areas in the country had a lower chance of survival five years after diagnosis than those in more affluent communities.

The largest difference was seen in women suffering from bladder cancer.

And this: Britain spends less on medicines than similar countries making it the 'poor man of Europe', a report has said.

Britain spends less than half that of Greece, Portugal and Spain on medicines, the report from the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry, the trade association for companies making prescription drugs said.

As a proportion of gross domestic product Britain spends one per cent on medicines, compared with 2.32 per cent in Greece, 2.17 per cent in Portugal and two per cent in France.

And finally this: Junior doctors could be swapped for nurses as hospitals face losing money for medical training, in a shake-up ordered by the Department of Health.

Patients could be put at risk as a review of the way junior doctors' salaries are paid could mean hospitals are forced to employ fewer doctors and rely more on nurses and other professionals, medical leaders warned.

Currently the Department of Health pays for the doctor's time spent training to be a consultant or GP and the hospital trust pays for their time treating patients.

But payments vary with some training posts being paid for entirely out of central funds and others being split 50:50 between the Department of Health and the trust where the doctor works.

Proposals to make the system fairer will see some hospitals lose substantial amounts of money, leading to warnings they may be forced to employ fewer junior doctors and replace them with nurses instead.

Officials said the Department of Health spends £1.6 billion a year on training junior doctors and dentists in England and this will not change.

It comes as the NHS is having to find efficiency savings of between £15 billion and £20 billion over three years as the large budget increases come to an end and the government seeks to reduce the national debt.

I could go on, but I am getting depressed by all this and may have to go off and slash my wrists if I carry on, plus the fact that I wouldn’t give the “powers that be” the pleasure.


Angus

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Having a laugh

Following the unsurprising news that the NHS is a prime target for thefts, amid reports that criminals see the service as an "easy target".

Among the items snatched have been ambulance satellite navigation systems, patients' belongings and hospital equipment and laptops.

The NHS Security Management Service believes the health service is vulnerable because large parts of its estate have to be open to the public.

It wants to see if extra measures need to be put in place to improve security.

Figures show there have been 57 "high-value claims" - those worth more than £20,000 - over the past five years.

In recent months, there have been several reports of ambulances being raided for medical equipment, while London's St George's Hospital had laptops containing data from 20,000 patients snatched last year.

One of the problems is that the public is free to come and go in many NHS sites and this leaves them vulnerable, the experts say.

In fact, some large hospitals can see as many as 8,000 visitors a day.

And now security chiefs have asked every trust in England to give them details of thefts to see what can be learned.

Here is a story from my local “Foundation Trust”-Grimly Dark back in April; Nitrous oxide canisters have been taken from Haslemere Hospital and Frimley Park Hospital this month.

Surrey Police has urged young people to beware of using the chemical as a recreational drug.

A spokesman for the force said regular misuse of the gas could cause serious long-term health problems.

In extreme circumstances, inhaling the gas could lead to suffocation or a temporary loss of motor function, he added.

The theft from Haslemere Hospital in Church Lane occurred between 10 and 11 April when two containers labelled with the word "Entonox", were stolen from an outbuilding.

Another canister was stolen from Frimley Park Hospital in Portsmouth Road in the early hours of 15 April by three men.

A security guard disturbed thieves trying to break into an outside storeroom at Frimley Park on 18 April.

Supt Johnny Johncox, from Surrey Police, said: "All our local health care trusts have been warned of these recent thefts and have stepped up their security measures accordingly.

"It is imperative that anyone using this substance, or who knows someone who is doing so, is aware of the serious implications it could have on their health."

Jill Abethell, who is overseeing the investigation for the security service, said: "We have decided to look at theft as we believe it is a real problem.

"I think like any organisation open to the public there is that risk something can be stolen.

"We have heard of ambulances having sat-navs and equipment stolen out the back while crews treat people on the street and laptops going from hospitals.”

"We want to find out more so we can look to see if measures can be taken to protect property."

She accepted there was a limit to how much could be done to make public places, such as hospitals, more secure but said security codes on doors or more surveillance might help.

Jonathan Fox, of the Association of Professional Ambulance Personnel, said: "Most people will find it astonishing that people can take things like this.

"But I am afraid it does happen. In many ways the NHS is an easy target. But in the case of ambulances, every time there is a theft that vehicle has to be taken off the road and that means patients are put at risk."

Old news sadly, I was told that the income from car parking was used to boost security, but it seems that isn’t working, personally I would like to see the safety of patients put first, but “things” have always been more valuable than people.

Angus


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Go slow saves lives-you think

From the research centre of the bleedin obvious:

UK cities should have more 20mph speed zones, as they have cut road injuries by over 40% in London, a study claims.

In particular the number of children killed or seriously injured has been halved over the past 15 years, the British Medical Journal reported.

The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine study estimates 20mph zones have the potential to prevent up to 700 casualties in London alone.

At 20mph, it is estimated only one in 40 pedestrians is killed in a crash.

This compares with a one in five chance for someone hit at 30mph.

It has probably been ten years since I drove in London, and then the average speed was about 12 MPH, in my home town the max speed that can be attained is about 10MPH because of the humps, road width restrictions traffic and buses.

We all know that driving slower is safer for pedestrians, especially those pedestrians that think (or rather don’t think) that they can leap into the road with impunity, is there really a need for “research” into this subject?

No matter how many 20 MPH signs there are you cannot take account of the idiots who would drive at 35 or 40 in those zones, or take account of children that do not know how to cross a road properly.

Shouldn’t the money wasted on this type of investigation be used to educate pedestrians and drivers to the real dangers of driving a two ton weapon, or stepping in front of one?


Angus

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Depressed? Go to your Jobcentre

The latest spiffing idea to come from the Dept of Witless Pillocks (DWP) is to base a mental health co-coordinator in every Jobcentre, to “help people with conditions such as depression to find and stay in work.”

Ministers announced a new vision for mental health services that aims to reduce the £40 billion cost to the economy of conditions that are often “shrouded in mystery, stigma or simply forgotten”. Advice lines for small businesses will also offer employers direct access to occupational health professionals in nine pilot schemes.

The Government said that there would be no new money to support its New Horizons strategy, insisting that at least £5 million in funding could be found out of existing budgets.

The plans, published jointly by the Departments for Health and for Work and Pensions, follow a review led by Rachel Perkins, a specialist on mental health issues, on how to improve support for an estimated one million people who are off work or unemployed with mental health problems.

Up to 15 per cent of the population suffers from clinical anxiety or depression at any one time, but the plans also cover the knock-on effects of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

The new co-coordinators will be based in every Jobcentre Plus district at a cost of £1 million to improve job opportunities for people who may feel stigmatised or apprehensive of returning to work. A two-year pilot for the occupational health phone lines will cost a further £4 million. A pilot scheme to meet the costs of temporary staff when workers with mental health problems need to take time off have also been agreed by ministers.

Is this a chicken and egg conundrum? Does being out of work make people depressed, or does being in work make people depressed?

Will a Mental health coordinator make depressed people feel better, or is a way to refer them on to non existent therapists, for non existent treatment, or is it just a way to re categorize the depressed as “fit for work” so that they will have to take up the training schemes for non existent jobs?

Back to the chicken and egg; the Gov has caused the unemployment which causes people to be depressed, which will be “treated” by Mental health coordinators, which will stigmatise them even more, which will make them even more depressed, which will make finding a job even harder because how many employers will hire people with “mental health problems” which will depress them even more.......................ad infinitum.

Take a look at the picture.....does he seem depressed to you?

Angus

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Robbie Powell-One step nearer Justice

Since I stopped writing for a certain blog site some months ago, I have not featured Robbie Powell and his death some nineteen years ago at the hands of inept, so called “Doctors” who covered up by altering his medical records and lying to save their own skins, you can read Robbie’s “story” here.

Or the GMC who have used their rules to stop an investigation into those “Doctors”, which isn’t surprising because the general attitude of the ‘Medical Regulator’ is to treat the public as “non people” who have the gall to complain about treatment by some doctors who manage to kill patients and walk away.

So today I am going to correct my error, and I apologise to Will Powell and his family for not continuing the battle.

It looks like after almost twenty years of fighting for his son, Robbie’s case is nearer justice for him; a public inquiry into the death of a 10-year-old boy from a treatable condition moved a step closer today.

On his last day in office, it was revealed that First Minister Rhodri Morgan was minded to call an inquiry into the death of Robbie Powell.

The issue of the inquiry and its terms of reference will be decided by Mr Morgan's successor in the New Year.

Robbie died 19 years ago after doctors failed to detect he had Addison's disease, a chronic but treatable condition affecting the adrenal glands.

The charity, Action against Medical Accidents, recently abandoned a judicial review into a decision by the General Medical Council (GMC) not to investigate the case after an application for protected costs was dismissed.

Robbie's father William, of Ystradgynlais in the Swansea Valley, asked the GMC to investigate in 2003.

In 2004 an inquest jury returned a verdict of natural causes, aggravated by neglect.

The inquest heard Robbie was seen by a series of doctors in the months before his death in April 1990, but none diagnosed his condition. It was only discovered after a post-mortem examination was carried out.

A Welsh Assembly Government spokeswoman said: "The First Minister has indicated to Mr Powell on a number of occasions in previous correspondence that he felt unable to reach the point at which a final conclusion to his request for a public inquiry could be reached whilst there were outstanding issues being actively considered by other bodies.

"Following recent developments in the case relating to the GMC, the First Minister decided that he was now able to advise Mr Powell how he was minded to proceed.

"The First Minister has written to Mr Powell and the other parties affected to say that he is minded to set up an inquiry.

"This letter starts a consultative process which will end on January 25, 2010, and which will inform further decisions by the First Minister's successor on the issue of an inquiry and its detailed terms of reference."

Let’s hope that the “powers that be” finally get off their arses and give Robbie and his family an end to the interminable denials, lies and self serving interest that has prevented Justice for this young boy.

Good luck Will.


Angus

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OH Dear, we are F####d!!!!

Following the 2008 Darzi Report, High Quality Care for All, NICE has been tasked with developing independent, evidence-based standards for the NHS. These NICE quality standards will act as a final distillation of clinical best practice and will clarify what high quality care looks like in relation to clinical effectiveness, patient safety and patient experience.

Derived from the best available evidence, and produced collaboratively with the NHS and social care, the standards will provide a set of specific concise quality statements that act as markers of high quality, cost effective care across a pathway or clinical area.

NICE quality standards are intended to provide a clear description of what a high quality service would look like, enabling organisations to improve quality and achieve excellence. The standards will bring clarity to matters of quality by providing patients and the public, health and social care professionals, commissioners and service providers with definitions of high quality care. They will have the potential to be harnessed for a range of different uses both locally and nationally.

NICE Quality Standards are currently being developed for Stroke, Dementia, VTE Prevention and Neonatal Care and we estimate publication in April 2010. A consultation period for the first draft on stroke and dementia standards will run from 30th November 2009 to 4th January 2010. Individuals and organisations with an interest in these areas are invited to comment on the provisional standards via the NICE website:

http://www.nice.org.uk/aboutnice/qualitystandards/qualitystandards.jsp. We are also keen to test the practical aspects of the statements of quality and measures in the field: how implementable they are, the validity of their content and whether there may be any unforeseen consequences as a result of putting them into practice. Details of how you can get involved in Field Testing are also available on the NICE website.

So what is The CQC there for then?


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Our Caring Government

Seriously ill cancer patients are being forced to undergo ''cruel'' back-to-work interviews despite the fact they should be exempt, charities warned today.

Those who are terminally ill or undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy are being threatened with benefit cuts if they do not attend the meetings, according to Macmillan Cancer Support and Citizens Advice.

The ''fit for work'' interviews are for people seeking the employment and support allowance (ESA), which replaced incapacity benefit and income support in October 2008.

The drive behind ESA is to focus on what people can do rather than what they cannot do, as a means of getting them back to work.

However, cancer sufferers undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy or who are terminally ill are automatically exempt from the interviews.

Today, Macmillan and Citizens Advice condemned the ESA process, saying it was ''failing seriously ill and disabled people''.

Macmillan's benefits helpline has taken more than 600 calls about the issue since May.

A joint report - Failed by the System - found evidence of cancer patients with just months to live being told they had to undergo medical examinations and be questioned.

Others having radiotherapy and people in hospital have also been refused ESA when they should automatically get it, the study found.

It also noted examples of people with cancer being told they are fit for work even when they are suffering from long-term effects of the disease.

The charities said poor knowledge of ESA rules among Jobcentre Plus and Department for Work and Pensions medical staff is resulting in claims being handled badly.

Poor administration systems and a lack of understanding about cancer are fuelling the problem, they said.

Mike Hobday, head of campaigns at Macmillan, said: ''It's cruel and completely unacceptable that people who are terminally ill or going through gruelling treatment are being made to jump through hoops to get money they should receive automatically.

''The safeguards to protect cancer patients clearly aren't working, and the ESA system is riddled with problems.

''The Department for Work and Pensions must address these issues without delay to make sure people living with cancer are spared unnecessary distress and financial hardship.''

Lizzie Iron, head of welfare policy at Citizens Advice, said: ''Citizens Advice Bureaux are reporting significant evidence of a range of problems with delivery of the ESA system, which are causing real hardship to the most vulnerable when things go wrong.

''People claiming ESA are frequently seriously ill with urgent needs.''

It’s bloody hard enough for those who are fit and over a certain age to find work, let alone the terminally ill, yet another instance of knobs at the Dept of Witless Pillocks (DWP) showing how much they care.


Angus

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Nice for NIHCE in Nice

A friend sent me this link, it seems that Quality and Safety Healthcare is holding an international forum on the 20th to the 23rd of April 2010.

“The 2010 International Forum comes to the city of Nice, located on the French Riviera in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Blessed by a temperate climate and exceptional sunshine, Nice attracts visitors from around the world. Set on the coast with stunning hilltop villages that dot the surrounding countryside, Nice offers lovely seaside promenades, numerous museums and amazing architecture.”

“In view of the current economic climate, the main focus for the 2010 Forum is on "Improving quality, reducing costs". There are more than 80 sessions across four days, from Tuesday 20 April to Friday 23 April. To help you get the best of out the Forum, these sessions are organised into content areas or "streams". You can choose to either register for sessions individually, by day, or follow a specific stream over a few days.

On the first day of the Forum, Tuesday 20 April, there will be four full day mini-courses running concurrently with a full day event, the Global Patient Safety Summit.”


2010 Confirmed keynote and headline speakers include:

Don Berwick, MD, FRCP, President and CEO, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)

Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School. International expert in innovation and leadership, author of “The Change Masters”

Hans Rosling, Professor of International Health at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. Founder of Médecins Sans Frontières in Sweden

Uwe Reinhardt, James Madison Professor of Political Economy, Princeton University, leading health policy expert for various bodies including the World Bank

Sir Michael Rawlins, Chairman, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence

Laurent Degos, MD, PhD, is Chairman of the Board of the French National Authority for Health (Haute Autorité de Santé, HAS)

Brent James, Chief Quality Officer & Executive Director, Institute for Health Care Delivery Research, Intermountain Healthcare

Bernard Crump, CEO, NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, England

Brenda Zimmerman, Professor of Strategic Management, Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto.

Emily Friedman, Assistant Professor, School of Public Health, Boston University and Independent Health Policy and Ethics Analyst

Improving quality, reducing costs

In view of current economic climate, this is the Forum's overarching theme. View the conference format and the Forum's six programme streams.

Fees for the ‘event’ are:

Attendance

Early Bird* fee Standard fee You save

4 days, including either full day mini-course or Global Patient Safety Summit

£1,244 £1,396 £152


3 days, including either full day mini-course or Global Patient Safety Summit
£897 £1014 £117


3 days general conference
£837 £954 £117


2 days, including either full day mini-course or Global Patient Safety Summit
-
£823
-
2 days general conference
-
£763
-
1 day, either full day mini-course or Global Patient Safety Summit
-
£441
-
1 day general conference
-
£382
-


Or if you are in a group the fees are:

Attendance

4 days group, including full day mini-course or Global Patient Safety Summit
Fee (per delegate) You save
£1,330 £66



3 days group, including full day mini-course or Global Patient Safety Summit
£948 £66

3 days general conference
£889 £65


So a “nice” little holiday for the biggest knob at “NIHCE” and the CEO of the Institute of Innovation and Improvement, England, who will be “speaking” at our expense and in our time.

Not to mention of course all the NHS Trust CEOs that will be attending at our expense and in our time.

In this digital age what are all these “experts” doing flying into Nice at a huge cost to the public and a huge cost to the environment when video conferencing is widely available?

Let’s hope that they enjoy the “temperate climate and exceptional sunshine, Nice attracts visitors from around the world. Set on the coast with stunning hilltop villages that dot the surrounding countryside, Nice offers lovely seaside promenades, numerous museums and amazing architecture.”

While there are thousands of patients dying needlessly in our hospitals and wards are understaffed of Nurses.

Jealous? Bloody right, maybe they could invite me speak at their conference about the piss poor attitude of the senior management and even more piss poor treatment doled out by ‘Foundation trusts’.

But then that would be upsetting the applecart wouldn’t it, because these types of Numptys don’t really want to know the truth.

Maybe I should renew my passport just in case.

Angus

Angus Dei on all and sundry

AnglishLit

Angus Dei politico

Sports injuries-golf, the dangers of playing a round

Sorry, but I couldn't resist.

Angus

Angus Dei on all and sundry

AnglishLit

Angus Dei politico

Cancer survival rates: best and worst trusts

New Department of Health figures show wide disparities in cancer survival rates across primary care trusts in England.


Here are the PCTs with the best and worst records for dealing with common types of cancer, in terms of the proportion of patients who are still alive one year after diagnosis:

Breast cancer

Worst
Tower Hamlets (89.3pc)
Hillingdon (89.5)
Barking and Dagenham (90.2)
Hastings and Rother (90.3)
West Hertfordshire (90.6)


Best

Torbay Care Trust (99.0)
Darlington (97.9)
Stockport (97.6)
Warrington (97.6)
Western Cheshire (97.6)




Colorectal cancer

Worst

Hastings and Rother (57.8)
Waltham Forest (57.9)
Tameside and Glossop (61.5)
Derby City (62.6)
Enfield (62.6)


Best

Telford and Wrekin (80.0)
City and Hackney (77.5)
Shropshire County (77.0)
Peterborough (76.7)
Plymouth Teaching (76.6)



Lung cancer

Worst

Herefordshire (15.4)
Milton Keynes (17.5)
Blackpool (18.3)
East and North Hertfordshire (20.3)
Hartlepool (21.1)


Best

Kensington and Chelsea (43.7)
Hammersmith and Fulham (35.3)
Richmond and Twickenham (35.2)
Islington (34.8)
South Birmingham (34.6)



You pays your money and takes your choice.


Angus

Angus Dei on all and sundry

AnglishLit

Angus Dei politico