Wednesday, February 27, 2008|
Knee jerk problem solving and conflicting inter-departmental targets Where? The NHS.
Sarah is 55. "Go and see your doctor and tell him (tell him, note) to sign you off work so that you can get invalidity benefit."Naturally, I refused. I do not need directions from Alan Johnson. I know what my job is. I have no time for the work-shy. Sarah needs to be taught a lesson, so this is what I said to her: "It's idle benefit scrounging scum like you who are bringing this country to its knees. Why should the taxpayer featherbed idle malingerers like you? Stop whinging and get behind a till at Tesco. Do something with your life, you indolent sod. People like you make me sick."Oddly, that is not true. I signed her off work for six months, and I shall keep her signed off until she gets her transplant or reaches retirement age. This is a classic example of government hypocrisy. GPs are being blamed by Alan Johnson and the DOH for the high number of people drawing invalidly benefit but at the same time another branch of government is pressurising the unemployed, and their doctors, to get people onto invalidity benefit. It makes the unemployment figures look better. GPs will not act as government police officers. We act for our patients not for the government. I will not deliberately issue a fraudulent certificate, but I will always give the benefit of the doubt to my patient. And 'Renal failure, peritoneal dialysis & diabetes' in a 55 year old is unchallengeable on a certificate. Sarah will not be called for an independent medical. Sarah is ready, willing and able to work 'with limitations.' Who does get called for medicals? Often it is those with chronic mental illness which the inexperienced doctors who work for the benefits agencies do not have the skills or often the understanding of English to assess properly. It is so much easier to take benefits off a schizophrenic. Soon, of course, GPs will be gone. Patients such as Sarah will see some callous, protocol driven quacktitioner at the polyclinic who knows nothing of their previous life and will not hesitate to offer a "wellness" certificate. There will be a financial bonus for quacktitioners who hit government defined wellness certificate targets. I want no part of this health policing. By Dr John Crippen. [NHS Blog Doctor] 12:43:19 PM Comment on this Item |
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Scandal of patients left for hours outside A&E Hospitals were last night accused of keeping thousands of seriously ill patients in ambulance 'holding patterns' outside accident and emergency units to meet a government pledge that all patients are treated within four hours of admission.
Those affected by 'patient stacking' include people with broken limbs or those suffering fits or breathing problems. An Observer investigation has also found that some wait for up to five hours in ambulances because A&E units have refused to admit them until they can guarantee to treat them within the time limit. Apart from the danger posed to patients, the detaining of ambulances means vehicles and trained crew are not available to answer new 999 calls because they are being kept on hospital sites. |
Tuesday, January 22, 2008|
Clegg to outline vision for NHS - BBC News. |
Monday, January 21, 2008|
Steam-clean machine maker wins NHS deal - Financial Times. |
Tuesday, December 11, 2007|
One-person ambulance plan 'could risk lives' Plans to answer more emergency calls with one-person ambulance crews could put patients' lives at risk, according to critics. However the Government today defended the plans, saying that it would free up resources for other calls. Health Minister Ben Bradshaw said that sending a 'single responder' rather than a double-crewed ambulance would mean a quicker response time. He said: "Fast-response vehicles can often get to the scene faster than traditional ambulances and can provide assessment and care until a further response arrives." His comments came after reports that all but one of the ambulance trusts in England have submitted plans for greater use of 'solo responders' to help meet new response time targets.
By Gary Cleland
Last Updated: 9:30am GMT 11/12/2007 |
Thursday, December 6, 2007|
NHS staff strike in support of 'whistleblower' - Guardian Unlimited.
8:00:12 AM Comment on this Item |
Tuesday, December 4, 2007|
Advisers hit out on NHS cash - Financial Times.
8:13:46 AM Comment on this Item |
Friday, November 30, 2007|
The Need for Clean Hospitals. Our Unsanitary Hospitals - WSJ.com
What leads to infections? Some of it is a classic Lean "standardized work" issue: These infections are caused largely by unclean hands, inadequately cleaned equipment and contaminated clothing that allow bacteria to spread from patient to patient. In a study released in April, Boston University researchers examining 49 operating rooms at four New England hospitals found that more than half the objects that should have been disinfected were overlooked by cleaners. Why is this? Lack of training? Lack of clear standardized work? Lack of time to do their job properly? She then writes:
If we have lab capacity issues (that testing is done in a hospital lab), there is another opportunity for Lean, to improve flow and to free up capacity. The healthcare industry has smart people and the tools to fix all of these problems, we just need the leadership and the attention to be paid to these issues. The public needs to start standing up and demanding better. It's not just hospitals, either, it's doctor's offices, which get no inspection at all. McCaughey tells a story of a physician who was REUSING NEEDLES (yes, you read that right) with patients. Who in their right mind does that? The New York State Department of Health called Dr. Finkelstein's reuse of syringesI know I often write about not blaming people, but this is not an "error," it's a "violation," which involves choices that doctor is knowingly making. How can he not be held more accountable? The state "regulators" knew, in 2005, the doctor was doing this, but they wouldn't suspend his license. Yeah, the state sure is looking out for you in New York. (another article) It's mindboggling that we'll fire and punish people who make an inadvertant error, but we'll look the other way when a doctor is purposefully and intentionally doing something unsafe. They're having to test patients of his for Hep C and HIV because of his stupidity. Ok, enough of that tangent. Anyway, the WSJ piece is a good article if you have access to check it out. Rupert Murdoch is most likely going to make the WSJ a free ad supported website in the future, rather than relying on paid subscriptions. Subscribe via RSS | Lean Blog Main Page | Podcast | Message Board 7:41:01 AM Comment on this Item |
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More than 90,000 patients die and almost one million are harmed each year because of hospital blunders "Errors during surgery, misdiagnosis, falls, infections and complications are all to blame for the problems that contribute to the death and injury tolls in England each year. Surgeons performing an operation, hospital blunders 'kill 90,000 patients' Researchers found that between 8.7 per cent and 10 per cent of hospital stays involved such mistakes and up to a half were preventable".
So the other half are just a fact of life?? |
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Fears over NHS patients' records Patients' confidential medical records are regularly being accessed by people who have no right to them, research by the BBC has revealed.
Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that in the last year there have been several data security breaches. |
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NHS 'treats patients as illness'. A health watchdog says some NHS trusts in Wales treat patients as 'an illness not as a human being'. [BBC News | UK | UK Edition] |
