Thursday, October 20, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
#NHS #SCANDAL : £14m bill for NHS chiefs on sickleave for as long as six months
'ALLOWED TO GO ON HOLIDAY WHILE OFF SICK' £14m bill for #NHS chiefs on #sickleave for as long as six months http://bit.ly/oDkCyQ
Monday, October 17, 2011
Children With Brain Tumours. How Can WE Help ? Article By David Harney
David Harney has a heart as big as our young friend Harry Moseley, David always thinking of others just like Harry did. xx
http://davidharney67.blogspot.com/#!/2011/10/child-with-brain-tumor.html
http://davidharney67.blogspot.com/#!/2011/10/child-with-brain-tumor.html
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
#NHS :A blog on #Stafford Hospital following evidence from A&E nurse Helene Donnelly.
I’m moving a little outside my ‘social care’ remit because I came across a link on Twitter from @shaunlintern (Health Correspondent for the Express and Star – the local newspaper covering the West Midlands, including Staffordshire) which linked to some of the evidence given at the The Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry (pdf) – in particular to the evidence of one of the nurses who worked there.
The document makes quite frightening reading and coming on the back of the report from the Care Quality Commission that nearly half of the staff in NHS hospitals are not able to manage the nutritional needs of older patients and 40% fail to deliver ‘dignified’ care (from The Guardian) it raises more than a few questions.
Having spent some time in my working life, dealing with hospital discharges, particularly for older people, I don’t think that this is remotely related to ‘uncaring’ staff or as a perception of ‘university educated’ nurses that the tabloids like to raise up from time to time. I have come across some of the most professional, thoughtful and hardworking nurses.
Indeed, if you look at the first link to the evidence of the nurse, Helene Donnelly, who gave evidence in the inquiry, you will see that what she describes is a management and systemic failure in the process of providing health care to patients. It is a top down malaise rather than bottom up ‘laziness’.
She tells of a culture of fear and bullying that took place at management levels and was covered up by falsifying processes to meet targets that had been set. The flight towards Foundation status cost lives and all those involved were complicit in the associated poor care, distress and yes, even deaths.
In paragraph 13 of the evidence she (Helene Donnelly) states that
Of course that comes as little consolation to those who have passed through the doors and passed away within the hospital during the drive towards Foundation status but I think that paragraph illuminates the management push within the hospital and the reign of terror affected on nurses and patients by their seniors. This is not about ‘ground level’ nursing support. It is about systemic and institutional abuse of both staff and patients by a use of power to mask real failings.
Donnelly went on to explain how she did make a statement in 2007 when she felt she had to ‘whistleblow’ and was told that a number of junior doctors told her it was ‘about time’ (paragraph 21).
She says
As Donnelly’s evidence (and it is worth reading in full) she continues to recount what happens until an inquiry was requested.
She sums up her evidence with ‘learning points’ and for me, some of the most crucial parts of the evidence come when she talks about targets
In paragraph 53 she says
Papers that blame frontline nurses for not spending time feeding patients need to look at the ways the wards are managed and the ways the hospital is managed as a whole.
For me, though the questions remain:-
Have we stopped caring about those older people (as those were the group who primarily died disproportionately in Stafford Hospital) so an increased death rate wasn’t noticed?
Would it have been a different case had the patient affected been younger and more vocal and more mindful of their own rights to receive good care?
Would more independent advocacy in general hospitals help?
And finally-
On the basis that the so-called ‘buck’ stops at the top, how on earth was Cynthia Bower. who was the Chief Executive of NHS West Midlands (which includes the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust in its remit) ever promoted to be Chief Executive of the Care Quality Commission – the organisation responsible for regulating care delivery in health and social care settings?
http://notsobigsociety.wordpress.com/about/
The document makes quite frightening reading and coming on the back of the report from the Care Quality Commission that nearly half of the staff in NHS hospitals are not able to manage the nutritional needs of older patients and 40% fail to deliver ‘dignified’ care (from The Guardian) it raises more than a few questions.
Having spent some time in my working life, dealing with hospital discharges, particularly for older people, I don’t think that this is remotely related to ‘uncaring’ staff or as a perception of ‘university educated’ nurses that the tabloids like to raise up from time to time. I have come across some of the most professional, thoughtful and hardworking nurses.
Indeed, if you look at the first link to the evidence of the nurse, Helene Donnelly, who gave evidence in the inquiry, you will see that what she describes is a management and systemic failure in the process of providing health care to patients. It is a top down malaise rather than bottom up ‘laziness’.
She tells of a culture of fear and bullying that took place at management levels and was covered up by falsifying processes to meet targets that had been set. The flight towards Foundation status cost lives and all those involved were complicit in the associated poor care, distress and yes, even deaths.
In paragraph 13 of the evidence she (Helene Donnelly) states that
‘’falsifying records seemed insane; if the department was seen to be meeting the targets, we would never be allowed to recruit more staff or buy additional equipment. If I ever raised this as an issue, I was told in no uncertain terms that, if we didn’t meet the targets, heads would roll and A&E would be closed, with all of us losing our jobs. I understood this point but I was equally concerned about the terrible effect that our actions were having on patient care. I did raise this with Sisters (names redacted) however their response was extremely aggresive, basically telling me that they were in charge and accusing me, and anyone else who agreed with me, of not being team players. Anyone who made trouble, as they saw it, was ostracised from the team and had to endure constant bitchy comments’.Donnelly goes on to explain how visits by Monitor to regulate the services were ‘explained away’ by telling them that there were ‘fed a line’ about it being a temporary situation and that when the coveted Foundation Status was acquired, there would be more money for more staff.
Of course that comes as little consolation to those who have passed through the doors and passed away within the hospital during the drive towards Foundation status but I think that paragraph illuminates the management push within the hospital and the reign of terror affected on nurses and patients by their seniors. This is not about ‘ground level’ nursing support. It is about systemic and institutional abuse of both staff and patients by a use of power to mask real failings.
Donnelly went on to explain how she did make a statement in 2007 when she felt she had to ‘whistleblow’ and was told that a number of junior doctors told her it was ‘about time’ (paragraph 21).
She says
‘I responded by suggesting that they speak out too, however I understood and respected the fact that they were worried about their jobs. At one point, a band of doctors.. wrote a joint statement. However they were later persuaded to retract this when a superior told them that it would not look good on their record, being junior doctors’.So again, this a top-down abuse of power in respect to the ethical and moral codes of caring for patients rather than a grass roots problem.
As Donnelly’s evidence (and it is worth reading in full) she continues to recount what happens until an inquiry was requested.
She sums up her evidence with ‘learning points’ and for me, some of the most crucial parts of the evidence come when she talks about targets
In paragraph 53 she says
‘In principle, I agree with the government targets.. but the system is being completely abused. Patients are still lying on trolleys for twelve hours, they are just doing it in a different room; a room not classed as A&E… having a fine as a deterrent means that the Hospital loses out financially, so has even less money for staff and also increases the fear factor for the staff. Managers are frightened of the people above them in Government and they put that fear factor onto departmental managers which then trickles all the way down’.For me, that sums up the problem that has been perpetuated in the health and social care systems. The targets and outcome measures in themselves are not problematic (in most cases!) but the push towards them that makes managers forget the small matters of personal care and attention to the experience of the hospital of the patient really do.
Papers that blame frontline nurses for not spending time feeding patients need to look at the ways the wards are managed and the ways the hospital is managed as a whole.
For me, though the questions remain:-
Have we stopped caring about those older people (as those were the group who primarily died disproportionately in Stafford Hospital) so an increased death rate wasn’t noticed?
Would it have been a different case had the patient affected been younger and more vocal and more mindful of their own rights to receive good care?
Would more independent advocacy in general hospitals help?
And finally-
On the basis that the so-called ‘buck’ stops at the top, how on earth was Cynthia Bower. who was the Chief Executive of NHS West Midlands (which includes the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust in its remit) ever promoted to be Chief Executive of the Care Quality Commission – the organisation responsible for regulating care delivery in health and social care settings?
http://notsobigsociety.wordpress.com/about/
Search For The Perfect Scrounger
Job Description :
Must have absolutely nothing wrong with them.
Must "claim" child has ADHD or similar when in fact we all know they are just "naughty" and it's really all down to "bad parenting".
Must drive BMW or better, all paid for under the motability scheme...read more
http://diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.com/2011/10/search-for-perfect-scrounger.html?spref=tw
Sunday, October 9, 2011
#NHS : Last Chance To STOP NHS Shake -Up
Polly Toynbee brilliantly summarises the situation we as citizens find ourselves in, as Lansley's health and social care bill railroads through parliament at breakneck speed, despite its complexity (This shocking NHS bill is without sense or mandate, 8 October).
Cameron intervenes in Libya in order to uphold the values of democracy, but the way this bill – designed to turn the NHS into a market, despite the evidence that healthcare is unsuitable for market mechanisms – has been managed is anything but democratic. That is why we are having to rely on the unelected House of Lords to throw this bill out.
We would ask your readers to lobby the Lords and ask them to support Lord Rea's amendment. As a former GP he, like Keep Our NHS Public, the BMA and the 400 doctors who wrote to the peers last week, believes the bill should be withdrawn and so has tabled an amendment "to decline to read the bill a second time". This would effectively stop the bill in this session and enable us all to have a real debate about the way our NHS should be organised.
It is not too late to do this. Lansley has told at least one peer privately that "the costs of the NHS going forward are unsustainable and the whole 'business model' of the NHS needs to be revised". We agree with the latter statement and believe that, as the health select committee suggested in 2010, commissioning has failed, and we should follow Scotland and Wales's example and abolish the purchaser/provider split introduced by Kenneth Clarke in 1990. Following Sunday's sit-down protest on Westminster bridge by UK Uncut, we hope the Lords will listen to the people and respond.
Wendy Savage
Co-chair,
• Your article (NHS will not fund some operations, patients told, 4 October) exemplifies our objections to the health bill that will change the NHS into a market-based system. As the NHS "saves" £5bn from its annual budget, it follows that as well as becoming more "efficient" it will provide fewer services – as the budget shrinks so do services provided.
Dr Ron Singer
President, Medical Practitioners' Union – the doctors' section of UniteKeep Our NHS Public
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/oct/09/last-chance-stop-nhs-shakeup
#NHS #blockthebridge : This shocking NHS bill is without sense or mandate
Under scrutiny … the health and social care bill reaches the House of Lords next week. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Westminster Bridge, joining parliament and St Thomas's hospital, will be blocked on Sunday at one o'clock by a UK Uncut sit-down protest against the NHS bill that reaches the House of Lords next week.
The Lords have the last chance to amend the health and social care bill's most egregious clauses. Despite its gigantic size, basic questions remain unanswered. The Tory MP and GP Sarah Wollaston once called it "a hand grenade thrown into the NHS" – and so it is proving. The Lords should be alarmed by the constitutional enormity of this largely unscrutinised bill for which there was no manifesto mandate.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/07/nhs-bill-no-mandate-lords?INTCMP=SRCH
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
#Cancer : #Pancreatic Cancer Cases Declining But Disease Is Often Deadly
In memory of Steve Jobs who died today from Pancreatic Cancer.
http://thedisclosureproject-steelmagnolia.blogspot.com/2011/10/stevejobs-cancer-and-suffering-is-no.html
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/style/pancreatic-cancer-cases-declining-but-disease-is-often-deadly-131268929.html
http://thedisclosureproject-steelmagnolia.blogspot.com/2011/10/stevejobs-cancer-and-suffering-is-no.html
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/style/pancreatic-cancer-cases-declining-but-disease-is-often-deadly-131268929.html
#HarryMoseley : Help Harry Help Others..
Harry, an amazing 11 year old who has become an inspiration to everyone on twitter. We ALL love you Harry xx
My name is Harry, I’m 11 years old and I have an incurable brain tumour. When my friend Robert Harley became very ill because of his brain tumour I set up my campaign Help Harry Help Others.
FOLLOW Harry on TWITTER : http://twitter.com/#!/harry_moseley
Quote:
I started making and selling bracelets in the hope that I would raise enough money for brain tumour research so that I could help get my friend better.
Robert was my inspiration and although he died just after I started my campaign, I am determined to continue in his memory. That’s why I’ve teamed up with Cancer Research UK to help them find a cure for brain tumours.
Robert was my inspiration and although he died just after I started my campaign, I am determined to continue in his memory. That’s why I’ve teamed up with Cancer Research UK to help them find a cure for brain tumours.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Saturday, October 1, 2011
#NHS : Ex MP 's War Monger Wife, Mrs. B-LIAR Stands To Gain From NHS Privatisation
The wife of the former Labour prime minister is one of the founders of a business planning to open private clinics in supermarkets.
Her choice of venture is likely to prove controversial among Labour supporters, who will today set out their opposition to greater private involvement in the health system.
Party members jeered at a mention of Tony Blair’s name earlier this week during Ed Miliband’s conference speech.
The company is thought to represent Mrs Blair’s first foray into commerce. It is approaching City financiers just as her husband’s business interests have come under renewed scrutiny.
Mrs Blair was thought to have concentrated on her legal career since he stood down as prime minister in 2007 but she now appears to be seeking to capitalise on Coalition plans to open parts of the NHS to more private sector involvement. ..read more
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/8795717/Cherie-Blair-stands-to-gain-from-NHS-privatisation.html
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