This ‘Choice’ Thing Is Damned Inconvenient…

Health chiefs hope to stop Basildon and Thurrock heart patients seeking expensive treatment in London as they try to save £120million over the next five years.

South West Essex Primary Care Trust says it is having to spend millions of pounds more than necessary, because too many cardiac patients from the area are seeking treatment in the capital, where it costs 30 per cent more for treatment than locally.

Now, why would they do that? Are there no facilities at Basildon Hospital, perhaps?

This is despite the £60million Cardiothoracic Centre at Basildon Hospital being open for three years.

Oh, so that's not the problem then.

Since the Government introduced a choice system two years ago, NHS patients have the right to be treated anywhere in the country.

However, the trust believes it should be able to force patients to get treatment at Basildon.

Hmmm, now, why would they need to do this? Why the need to coerce their attendance?

After all, if choice is such a good thing, then surely they can find some way to tempt patients back? Maybe the comments will give us a clue:

perini, Leigh on Sea says...

“We are reminding our GPs, consultants and nurses to ensure their patients are fully informed about the first-class specialist services available much closer to home.'

So that'll be the high death rate, the CDiff and Legionnaires disease then! Is it any wonder people want to go to London??

Oh. Good point.

What Basildon needs to do is stop killing its patients.

One Law For Them...

Douglas Harris, 29, trawled through paedophile websites after working shifts as an orthopaedic surgeon at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

He's no gentleman either...

Harris denied the allegations when he went on trial last week, claiming he was at work when the pictures were downloaded and his girlfriend was responsible.

Nice!

Sheriff Annella Cowan deferred sentencing Harris until July 13 to allow for the preparation of background reports on the first-time offender.

Well, don't bother thinking too hard. It seems there's one law for the medical profession, and one for everyone else:

A psychiatrist who surfed the web to look at depraved pictures of youngsters is free to work with children again.

Dr Darryl Watts blamed stress and depression after he spent up to 30 hours a week on the internet looking at images of violence and indecent pictures of young girls.

So when sentencing comes up, I'd better not see anything about how he's been 'punished enough' or will face 'a harsh penalty from his professional organisation' either:

Watts was suspended for a year by the GMC and later banned from working with children.

But the Hereford-based doctor has successfully appealed for the restrictions to be lifted.

What does it take?

Replicated from here.

"Press One For St Peter..."

A cancer sufferer was told he could not book a hospital appointment - because records showed he was dead.

Alan Campbell rang a booking system phone line after becoming worried that the disease may have spread to his throat.

But when he tried to make an appointment with the NHS Choose and Book system, a telephone operator informed him their records showed him as 'deceased'.

Another case of ‘Computer says ‘No’..’, I suppose..?

'When I rang to take take the appointment I was told, 'Sorry, we can't give you an appointment, our records show you are deceased'.

'I said 'you're joking, I'm talking to you aren't I?' But they said 'you'll have to go back to your GP to get it sorted out'.'

So he did. Because we all know there’s not point in arguing with call centre staff, who are unable to deviate from their instructions.

Mr Campbell, who has also survived a stroke and a heart attack, contacted his doctor and was told the problem had been resolved - only to phone the Choose and Book system again to be told their records still showed he was dead.

D’oh!

NHS Blackburn with Darwen Teaching Care Trust Plus, in Lancashire, which is responsible for the phone service, has now apologised for the error.

Mr Campbell has been told he will contacted within 14 days to arrange an appointment with an oral and maxillofacial surgery specialist.

Within 14 days? How about NOW?

Janice Horrocks, executive director of Engagement Partnerships and Operational Development, said they were investigating the case, adding: 'We are sorry for the distress experienced by this patient.'

I love that ‘experienced by’… Nivcely swerved, Janice!

What she should have apologised for was the distress caused to Mr Campbell, of course.

And no statement from an NHS media flack would be complete without the obligatory the-system-does-work-honest! Statement:

'We would like to reassure patients that using the Choose and Book system, which allows you to choose the hospital, time and date of your appointment, remains the fastest route to getting the quickest and most convenient hospital appointment for the care that you need.'

Unless the NHS thinks you’re dead, that is.

NHS manager sacked following patient's death

A senior NHS official accused of trying to cover up an error that led to a patient's death has been sacked.

Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust has announced that Kate Levy has been dismissed following an inquiry that looked into the death of John Moore-Robinson. Mr Moore-Robinson died in 2006 after doctors at Stafford Hospital failed to spot that he had ruptured his spleen in a bike accident.

During an inquiry into standards of care across the Trust it emerged that its board secretary and head of legal services, Ms Levy, had asked a member of staff to cover up the mistake. Following a disciplinary hearing, Ms Levy has now been sacked...

Source: The Metro

False Economy

Narah Bate, 81, was recently diagnosed with a rare bone marrow cancer and given potentially life-prolonging drugs.

When she developed blisters in her throat and sores on her face, the professor treating her changed the prescription.

But that didn’t go down too well with NICE, who decided the new drugs were just too expensive.

But medicine rationing body the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) denied her the drug Imatinib saying it was too expensive and she would have to remain on hydroxycarbamide.

Still, it’s a harsh world, and we all have to make sacrifices, and this way the NHS saves money to…

Oh. Wait:

Audrey, 62, of Fleet, Hants, said: “The side-effects of this medication are so bad she had to stop taking it for a week to allow the blisters in her throat to heal. That meant a stay in hospital and a blood transfusion.

“Now she’s having a blood transfusion almost every week. That takes up a hospital bed, using staff time. They say that Imatinib is too expensive, but treating her this way must cost more.”

Indeed.

What’s that old saying about those who know the price of everything and the value of nothing?

Higher Scots NHS spend 'no benefit'

A report by a prominent think tank has questioned whether higher health spending in Scotland compared with England has made any difference... According to government figures, £200 per head more is spent on health in Scotland than in England...

However, when it comes to life expectancy, the report's authors said there was a "mysterious Scottish effect" which went beyond deprivation that made Scots sicker and more likely to die early. The report comes as figures showed spending on Scotland's health service had doubled in the past decade. Huge improvements have been made in death rates, particularly cancer, heart disease and strokes, but the rate of improvement is no more than other countries...

Source: BBC

Coma patient’s diamond necklace ‘went missing in hospital'

A patient is suing a hospital after her unique £50,000 diamond necklace vanished while she was in a coma. Psychologist Dr Valerie Stewart realised her 3.5 carat pendant was missing when she regained consciousness after six days.

The 65-year-old said the jewel, which was presented to her by the black community for her work in South Africa during apartheid, was 'irreplaceable'. 'If necessary I'm going to issue court proceedings. I'd rather have the necklace – it was the most precious thing I've ever had – but I'm not just letting it go,' said Ms Stewart.

X-rays prove she was wearing the chain when she was admitted to Yeovil District Hospital, in Somerset, following a fall at her home but it is missing in later scans...

Source: The Metro

NHS reliance on junior doctors hinders their training

Too many junior doctors are missing out on vital training and being left unsupervised, while consultants need to take more direct responsibility for "24/7 care", says a new report by Professor Sir John Temple.

Professor Temple's report, Time for Training - a review of the impact of the European Working Time Directive (EWTD) on the quality of training doctors, dentists, pharmacists and healthcare scientists - was commissioned by the former Labour government.

The review reveals that, despite an increase of more than 60% in consultant numbers over the past 10 years, hospitals remain too reliant on junior doctors to provide out-of-hours services. It found that young doctors could still receive high-quality teaching in a 48-hour week, but not if they continued to provide so much out-of-hours care.

Sir John recommended that the service needed to be redesigned so consultants worked more flexibly and were more "directly responsible" for patient care around the clock, leading to better quality of diagnosis, better decision making, and better patient outcomes and safety...

Source: Personnel Today

Broken Hip? Take Two Aspirin And Don't Call Us In The Morning...

A woman was left in excruciating pain for over a month after the medical services repeatedly failed to detect she had a broken hip.

And by 'failed to detect' we should probably read 'repeatedly ignored request by patient that all this being unable to stand up and walk without pain was a bit odd, don't you think, doctor?'

Lynne Snow claims she dialled 999 after a fall at home, and was attended by a paramedic:

"I said I'd like an ambulance to take me to Whipps Cross but he said they wouldn't give me an X-ray as he didn't think I'd done anything."

Very strange. Usually, a 'better safe than sorry' policy applies, doesn't it?

Mrs Snow found days after the incident she still couldn't walk or sit down properly and decided to call her GP.

But the doctor told her he wouldn't send her for an X-ray until she had been checked over by a physiotherapist who eventually arrived after a two-week delay.

Mrs Snow said: “She came out and was quite rude to me. She said: 'You're walking like a robot. Do you usually walk like that?'. She said I hadn't broken anything. I said to her about an X-ray and she said no.”

So Mrs Snow sought that fabled second opinion:

With the pain growing ever worse by the day, and over a month after her initial fall, Mrs Snow was eventually referred by a separate GP to St Margaret's Hospital, in Epping, for an X-ray. The X-ray confirmed her hip was broken.

Ooopsie!

Still, now they've realised their mistake, I bet they're falling over themselves (pun intended) to put it right and spare any further embarrassment?

Ah, well...

Mrs Snow's painful experience was not quite over yet, however, as she was initially told she would have to wait a further month for an operation.

She has now finally had that operation after a friend drove her to Princess Alexandra Hospital's A&E herself.

And we wonder why the NHS pays out so much money in claims...

Mixed Messages…

So, if you are a terminally-ill man with a ‘DNR’, the NHS will override that and attempt to keep you alive at all costs:

Hospital chiefs have apologised to the family of a terminally-ill grandfather who died in agony after staff tried to keep him alive against his wishes.

Arthur Johnson, 64, had signed 'do not resuscitate' forms instructing medics not to revive him if his heart stopped.

But after he was rushed to hospital, his relatives were horrified to find a full crash team fighting to keep him alive.

But on the other hand, if you are a young mother fighting cancer whose doctors have suggested a drug to prolong your life, it’s ‘Nope! Far too expensive’:

A mother fears she will not live to see her son's first day at school after NHS bosses refused to fund the only cancer drug that can help her.

Nikki Blunden, 37, who has breast cancer, says she has been handed a death sentence.

Is it me, or..?

Court told how ‘bungler surgeon’ butchered breasts

A surgeon left a cancer sufferer with uneven breasts and nipples after botching reconstructive surgery, a misconduct hearing was told. Dr David Jackson was alleged to have made a string of other medical blunders including leaving another woman with an asymmetric belly button after liposuction.

He was also said to have removed the wrong lump of breast tissue during another patient’s lumpectomy and failed to spot his error. He wrongly told the woman everything was fine before discharging her from hospital. In another case, he punctured a woman’s abdomen during a hernia repair, the GMC heard.

But the doctor may escape a full disciplinary hearing as he has applied to be struck off the register himself, claiming he is unwell. Jackson faces 75 allegations of inappropriate and incorrect treatment on a total of 16 patients across four hosp­itals in Kent between 1989 and 2007...

Source: The Metro

Hospital consultant sold dying patients drugs they could have got for free on the NHS

A hospital consultant who sold dying patients drugs that they could have received for free on the NHS has escaped being struck off. Cancer specialist Dr Suhail Baluch conned patients out of thousands of pounds for chemotherapy drugs a friend had bought on the internet.

He told two patients the life prolonging medication - called Tarceva - was only available privately and asked their relatives to write him cheques with the payee line left blank. They paid him a total of more than £6,000 for the lung and pancreatic cancer drugs...

Source: Daily Mail

Did rogue nurse kill 20? Incompetent bosses allowed 'matron' to drug patients and rule wards

An all-powerful nurse who may have murdered up to 20 patients with painkilling drugs was allowed to flout rules at will by incompetent hospital bosses, an official report revealed yesterday.

Anne Grigg-Booth intimidated colleagues and was 'effectively in charge of the hospital' during early hours when few doctors were about and target-obsessed managers had no idea what was going on.

The night nurse practitioner was charged with the murder of three elderly patients after illegally prescribing and injecting powerful painkilling drugs as if she was a qualified doctor.

But police believe she may have killed many more during her 25 years working at Airedale General Hospital in Keighley, West Yorkshire.

Grigg-Booth also faced an attempted murder charge and 13 counts of unlawfully administering poison to 12 other patients but was never brought to trial because she died from a drink and drugs overdose at her home in 2005 at the age of 52.

Management of the hospital was also condemned by the inquiry findings. A 'club culture' existed in the senior hospital ranks and protected authority figures such as Grigg-Booth from criticism.

The fear is that other members of the nursing staff may have been 'bullied' into adopting her bad habits and followed her instructions to give banned injections.

Grigg-Booth herself treated management 'with contempt' and was 'not subject to effective supervision'. Policies designed to act as safeguards were ignored and patients placed at risk as a result.

The nurse was suspended and police called in after a routine audit identified malpractice by Grigg-Booth in January 2003.

She was later charged with murdering June Driver, 67, Eva Blackburn, 75, and 96-year-old Annie Midgley. She was also accused of attempting to murder Michael Parker, 42.

However, police said these were 'specimen' offences and the extent of her total criminal behaviour could have been far greater.

Five years ago she was branded the 'Angel of Death' after being accused of being a hospital serial killer.

But the independent inquiry came to a very different conclusion.

The report concluded Grigg-Booth was 'not a Beverley Allitt' [the nurse who murdered four children in hospital in the early 1990s]. 'We think it is unlikely that she deliberately set out to harm patients,' the report stated.

But it added: 'She was utterly convinced of her own clinical prowess; we have no doubt that on occasions she went well beyond the boundaries of acceptable nursing practice at that time and beyond the boundaries of her own clinical understanding.'

She was recognised as a 'hard working, experienced and caring nurse who could be relied on in a crisis' yet she broke the law by prescribing 'opiates' herself without checking with doctors and broke hospital rules by giving the dangerous drugs 'intraveneously' and on the 'verbal orders' of doctors.

Although in some cases where patients died Grigg-Booth failed to complete the paperwork detailing her actions, the inquiry found she recorded most of what she did in charts and files, suggesting she was not intent of killing patients.

Night nurse practitioners were introduced to reduce the workload of junior doctors. Grigg-Booth was the most senior and powerful of the four NNPs at Airedale. All the NNPs, as well as other doctors and nurses, misunderstood the rules and believed they had greater authority in respect of the use of painkilling drugs than they actually did.

But Grigg-Booth believed she was in control of the rules after dark. Indeed, all junior doctors on induction days were given the booklet A Guide for Staff who Work at Night which was written by Grigg-Booth herself.

An indication of her attitude towards consulting doctors can be found in the booklet. It reads: 'There are many occasions when we "cross the fine line or grey area" between nursing and medical duties, but will only do so in the interests of effective patient care.'

The offences she was charged with occurred between 2000 and 2002. By July 2002 she had become an alcoholic, the report revealed.

She also rumoured to be addicted to painkilling drugs herself.

She frequently attended the casualty unit as a patient and told the nurses to have diamorphine ready. On one occasion she even injected herself and on another her husband, also a hospital nurse, pressurised medical staff into giving her medication.

The inquiry team found a ' combination of individual and systems failure.' Two other NNPs were disciplined and downgraded, another took early retirement, a manager was sacked and another manager resigned.

They refused to given an opinion as to whether Grigg-Booth would have been convicted by a jury had she not died. Eddie Kinsella, a member of the inquiry team, said Grigg-Booth 'shouldn't be demonised' for her actions as she 'reasonably believed' she was acting legally in the way she did her job, but there was 'confusion' about what senior nurses were allowed to do.

However, he added: 'We don't diminish the gravity of what took place.'

Source: DailyMail

Trust Fined £50k Over Disabled Patient Death

A hospital trust has been fined £50,000 after a disabled patient died when he got his head stuck in protective bed bars.

Kyle Flack, a quadriplegic who had cerebral palsy, died in October 2006 at Basildon University Hospital.

The hospital in Essex acknowledged that 20-year-old Mr Flack died following failures in its "systems and procedures".

Basildon NHS Trust was also ordered to pay £40,000 costs after a court heard how health and safety failings were a "significant cause" of the death.

"(The trust) accepts that its offending was a significant cause of this death. Management failed to lay down correct procedures.

The Trust earlier admitted breaching health and safety law by failing to ensure patients were not exposed to risk.

It followed a prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Prosecutor Pascal Bates said the hospital had failed to properly supervise Mr Flack, properly pass on information, train staff, assess risk and had not heeded warnings.

"(The trust) accepts that its offending was a significant cause of this death," Mr Bates told the judge. "Management failed to lay down correct procedures."

Gill Flack said the hospital had been the 'worst place' for her son

He said the offences amounted to a "serious" breach of duty and the hospital had fallen "markedly short" of the required standard.

Earlier this year, Mr Flack's mother Gill called for hospital bosses to be "held accountable".

Mrs Flack, of Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, said Basildon University Hospital had been the "worst place" for her son.

She described some care standards at the hospital as "absolute c***".

The hospital said standards had improved.

Six months ago a report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found poor hygiene and care standards at the hospital.

Source: Sky News

NHS is backing Weight Wins to pay dieters to shed weight

As regular visitors may have noticed, this is a 'scrap book' blog without any particular editorial line, and that this particular article is not actually death-related, but...

a) Can they not think of anything better to spend taxpayers' money on?
b) People get paid for losing weight and keeping it off for a period of time. There does not appear to be any liability to repay if they weight is later put back on. Can anybody see a loophole here?
c) 'Weight Wins' - sounds like a fakeprivatecompany to me.

Paying people to lose weight could be ‘the best single weapon in the war on obesity’, a study claims.

Dieters who earned money for hitting weight targets lost more than double that of dieters in a control group. The NHS-backed scheme, called Weight Wins, has now paid tens of thousands of pounds in ‘air miles for dieters’ in a bid to tackle obesity.
Cash is offered for every pound lost plus a 50 per cent ‘bonus’ if the weight stays off for several months. Participant choose how they want to lose weight and are given advice by NHS dieticians.

Rewards range from £80 to £3,000, depending upon the length of plan and how much weight needs to be lost. Some 745 dieters lost more than 6.3kg (1st) on average – more than double that of traditional dieters, who lost 2.4kg (5lb 4oz).

‘Long-term financial incentives could be the best single weapon in the war on obesity’, said Weight Wins founder Winton Rositer. The company makes money via a monthly fee levied on participants or sponsorship by their employer, insurer or local NHS trust. The latest results were independently audited by the University of Hertfordshire. At least a third of US companies said they offer, or plan to offer, financial incentives to help staff lose weight.

Source: The Metro

Dentist charged over stealing £1million in 'biggest ever' NHS fraud

A dentist has been charged with stealing £1million from the NHS in what is alleged to be one of the biggest frauds in the history of the health service. Dr Joyce Trail, 48, is accused of submitting up to 5,000 bogus patient invoices between 2006 and 2009 and has been suspended from her practice in the West Midlands.

She is charged with one count of obtaining a false money transfer by deception and three counts of fraud and is due to attend a committal hearing at Birmingham magistrates’ court a week on Friday. Dr Trail, who also runs a medical spa in Birmingham, denies any wrongdoing and has said that she intends to plead not guilty to all charges.

She has run her busy practice in Handsworth in the city for the past 12 years and also provides dental treatment at scores of old people’s homes. In 2008, she opened the city’s first medical spa next door to her practice, offering everything from Botox to ‘smile make-overs’. Proud of her community, Dr Trail has become well-known for her determination to help businesses prosper in the area where she grew up.

She was described her in 2006 as ‘an amazing individual who has given us a lot of help’ by the Community Contact Family Centre, which she supported. But she was suspended following a lengthy probe by the NHS Counter Fraud Team and West Midlands Police, which led to her arrest.

Source: The Metro.

Scandal of aborted IVF babies

DOZENS of young women are having abortions on the NHS after expensive IVF treatment because they have changed their minds about becoming a mother.

Some terminate pregnancies after splitting from their husband or boyfriend, others because they were pressured into starting a family. The phenomenon is worrying doctors and has triggered a backlash from family campaigners who accuse the women of treating babies like “designer goods”.

Data obtained from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority reveal that an average of 80 abortions are carried out in England Wales and Scotland each year following IVF treatment. Up to half of these involve prospective mothers aged 18-34.

These women — usually the healthiest — are the least likely to conceive babies with abnormalities, suggesting a “social” reason may have led to the decision.

Fertility specialists expressed shock at the figures. “I had no idea there were so many post-IVF abortions — and each one is a tragedy,” said Professor Bill Ledger, a member of the authority.

Source: The Times

Child's death would not matter, social services official tells undercover reporter

A senior social services official has said that it would not matter if a child was killed after their case was closed because it would not be the council's responsibility.

The remark was secretly recorded by a colleague as part of an undercover investigation into Britain's child protection system.

The findings have exposed numerous failings which, experts said, could be putting lives at risk.


Despite a shake-up of social services across the country in the wake of the death of Baby Peter Connelly, the recordings reveal a disturbing picture of Surrey social services.

The most serious findings show:

* social workers prepared to allow a child to sleep on a park bench;

* inexperienced staff assigned to complex jobs; and

* an admission from a social workers that child protection is "p*** poor".

In the most alarming insight, a manager in the department advises that it is important to close cases quickly so that social services will not be blamed if a child subsequently dies.

"If there's a Baby P on a closed case there will never, ever be a problem," she tells the reporter during a private conversation in council offices.

"If it's closed and we closed it with good reasons at the time and it's shown in the closing summary that the reasons were good, then it won't matter."

It was reported last November that Surrey had closed 500 children's social services cases, around one in ten of its total, in an attempt to focus on higher-priority cases. The council experienced a surge in referrals after news of the Baby P case broke in November 2008.

The manager, who does not realise her words are being recorded, adds: "The real problem is the case sitting at the back of your draw that isn't being dealt with, but is technically open to you.

"If one of those goes off on you, God help you. Those are awful."

Her comments follow a survey by the Association of Directors of Children's Services in April which found the number of children deemed at risk has increased by a third since the Baby P scandal.

The Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, to be shown tomorrow, singled out Surrey for investigation because there have been several known child deaths as a result of abuse or neglect in the county in the past five years.

The council's child protection arrangements were said to be "inadequate" by inspectors in 2008, but last year Ofsted found that the situation had improved.

In the programme, a reporter who had previously worked as a family support worker obtained a job at Surrey social services.

Even though he had not worked in a child protection unit for six years, he was given two highly-sensitive cases on his first day in the job without any training.

One case involved him visiting a home where a convicted murderer had regular access, and had recently been violent, to assess whether it was safe for a child to continue living there.

In addition, the undercover reporter was given work that government guidelines state should only be given to qualified social workers, not less-qualified family support workers.

Other colleagues told him that they had not been given proper training, and the manager of the unit described the induction procedures as "crap".

He was also advised to warn a 15 year-old-boy looking for somewhere to stay that social services would not be able to house him, even though they were legally bound to do so.

"If we don't have a placement we can't put him anywhere," a colleague was recorded saying.

"He can sleep on a park bench."

It took more than six weeks before the child was given a placement in a residential home, during which time the reporter was told the child had threatened to commit suicide.

Summing up his findings after the filming was completed, the undercover reporter expressed concern at what he had discovered and said that social workers have an "impossible job".

"What's emerging is there's an age group from 13 up to 16 that really get forgotten," he said.

"It's just depressing."

He added: "This is a national problem. These are our most vulnerable children and if we want to look after them in an adequate way we'll have to pay for it."

Joanna Nicolas, a child protection consultant and trainer with 15 years' experience, said last night that the findings of the investigation exposed the stark reality of the challenges faced by social services across the country.

"The public will find the programme shocking, but those of us on the ground have been saying for years that the system is at breaking point," she said.

"It's buckling and that means that children are left unprotected. It's not right that we have a system where young people are left effectively homeless and without support."

A spokesman for Surrey county council said: "Child protection is our top priority and we will examine the findings of this programme carefully."

The documentary, raising questions about what is being done to protect vulnerable children, follows a series of high-profile failings by social services.

Earlier this year, welfare officers at Birmingham council were criticised for failing to take seven-year-old Khyra Ishaq from her mother who starved her to death.

Lord Laming recommended a complete overhaul of child protection policies following the death of Victoria Climbie in 2000, who was also starved to death after social workers, police and the NHS failed to raise the alarm.

*Dispatches: Undercover Social Worker is broadcast tomorrow [MON] at 8pm on Channel 4

Source: Telegraph

Family of woman who died after 999 call blunder speak of heartbreak

The family of Bonnie Mason, woman who died after a 999 call was not given the correct priority, have spoken of their loss, and the hope changes will prevent the same mistake happening again.

Tom Mason kissed his wife Bonnie goodbye. Her life-support machine would soon be switched off. Less than 24 hours before, Mrs Mason had slipped on the steep stairs of their Suffolk home, leaving her with head injuries that were to prove fatal. As Tom, 37, returned home from Ipswich Hospital, broken with grief, his father, a doctor, felt helpless.

Blankly checking his emails, Dr Andrew Mason learned that his latest research paper - on improving the survival chances of patients with blocked airways - had been accepted for publication. It was the most grim of ironies - after falling more than 12 feet, Bonnie had lain unconscious, a partly obstructed airway restricting the vital flow of oxygen to her brain. By the time paramedics arrived - 38 minutes after her desperate husband had dialled 999 - Bonnie was already close to death, with fixed and dilated pupils. She never regained consciousness.

As the family struggled to come to terms with their loss, Dr Mason, an international expert in trauma airway management who had trained paramedics across East Anglia for more than a decade, was haunted by one simple question: why had the ambulance taken so long?

His long search for the truth has exposed critical risks in the 999 call-handling system used by 11 of England’s 12 ambulance services. Last week an inquest examined the part that software blunders played in Mrs Mason’s death. But no one knows how many lives may have been put at risk across the country because of dangers that have existed for more than a decade.

Source: Telegraph

Full public inquiry into Mid-Staffordshire hospital scandal to be announced

David Cameron is preparing to announce a full public inquiry into the Mid-Staffordshire hospital scandal.

The move is a victory for campaigners and The Sunday Telegraph, which has called for relatives of patients who died to be consulted on what went wrong.

Previous inquiries into the scandal have been denounced as whitewashes because they were not held in public.

Hundreds of patients died needlessly of appalling standards of care, exposed in a report from the Healthcare Commission, a watchdog, last March.

Targets on waiting times were blamed, as well as managers trying to clear debts in order to gain Foundation Trust status.

Campaigners have long been calling for a full inquiry into the failings and will welcome the decision to allow public hearings. The Prime Minister is expected to announce the move in the coming days

Source: Telegraph

Somerset mother barred from review into son's death

A mother is demanding the right to know exactly how her teenage son died, after she was barred from a "lessons learned" review by professionals.

Lynn Cox, 42, from Bridgwater in Somerset, says she feels she was "being judged" by not being allowed to attend the Child Death Review.

Joshua Cox, 13, suffered a fatal asthma attack in October 2009, after his new GP increased his medication dose.

Somerset Primary Care Trust said it could not comment on individual cases.

But it would say that having families present at a Child Death Review could inhibit professional discussion about what lessons could be learnt.

Mrs Cox is calling for a coroner's inquest to explain why his GP increased his medication dose without apparently consulting his specialist.

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Cancer patient forced by judge to have surgery

A cancer patient is to be forced to undergo life-saving treatment against her wishes after a landmark ruling by a judge.

Doctors will be allowed forcibly to sedate the 55-year-old woman in her home and take her to hospital for surgery. She could be forced to remain on a ward afterwards.

The case has sparked an intense ethical and legal debate. Experts questioned whether lawyers and doctors should be able to override the wishes of patients and whether force was ever justified in providing medical care.


Treatment was ordered by Sir Nicholas Wall, the President of the Family Division, in the Court of Protection, after surgeons at the woman's local hospital applied for permission to force the surgery on her. They argued that without it, advanced cancer of the uterus would kill her.

Sir Nicholas agreed because the woman, who has learning difficulties, was deemed incapable of making a rational decision about the operation.

She had previously agreed to surgery, only to change her mind and repeatedly refuse to turn up for medical appointments, claiming a phobia of hospitals and needles.

Source: Daily Telegraph

Midwife sliced off newborn baby's FINGER as she tried to cut the umbilical cord

A new mother was left ‘hysterical’ when a midwife sliced off her baby girl’s finger as she cut her umbilical cord.

Horrified Jasvir Kainth said she didn’t know if little Ishika would survive as there was ‘blood everywhere’ following the incident at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital.

The newborn had to be rushed 17 miles from the delivery room to another hospital to have the left digit sewn back on.
Bandaged: Ishika Kainth is now recovering at home after a midwife sliced off her finger while cutting her umbilical cord at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital

Ishika, who was born last Friday, will now be heavily bandaged for the first few weeks of her life until she recovers.

Jasvir, 28, of Wolverhampton, who had already been through a four-hour labour said: ‘The midwife was using really sharp scissors to cut the cord from the maternity pack, which we think were the wrong equipment.

‘When she cut the eight-inch cord she cut through the finger as well, but didn't even notice at first.

'My husband told her she'd cut the finger off and she replied, “No I haven't”, so I had to say to her, “Look at all the blood”.

'We were hysterical - we weren't even sure Ishika would make it through because there was blood everywhere.

'It has caused so much stress to both of us, because when the birth is normal otherwise like ours was then you just don't expect these things to happen.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1280819/Midwife-cutting-umbilical-cord-slices-newborn-babys-FINGER.html#ixzz0orME6VDZ

Source: Daily Mail

Woman died after doctors failed to spot toilet brush in her buttocks

A mother died after doctors repeatedly failed to spot a toilet brush handle embedded in her buttock.

Cindy Corton, 35, was left with the bizarre injury after a drunken fall in a friend's bathroom in 2005.

She was twice seen by hospital staff in the aftermath of the incident and an X-ray was carried out.

But an inquest heard it took Mrs Corton, of Sleaford, Lincolnshire, two years to convince doctors that the handle was lodged in flesh of her bottom.

By then what should have been a routine procedure to remove it had become much more dangerous.

After two unsuccessful operations in 2007, Mrs Corton underwent further, much riskier surgery and died from massive blood loss at Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre in June last year.

Recording a narrative verdict, coroner Stuart Fisher criticised Dr Killian Mbewe, who first examined Mrs Corton at Grantham hospital.

After the inquest, husband Peter Corton said: "Cindy got a very poor service from the NHS. I'm sure she would have got better treatment in foreign countries."

You know, I think he's got a point.

Source: Telegraph

Mum's death costs hospital £100,000

A hospital trust has been ordered to pay £100,000 after a mother who had just given birth died due to a mix-up between "identical-looking" drugs.

 

A nurse wrongly attached the epidural anaesthetic Bupivacaine to an intravenous drip attached to her arm instead of saline solution which she needed to help bring her blood pressure back up. Mrs Cabrera - who was a nurse at the same hospital - died within minutes from a heart attack caused by the toxic effects of Bupivacaine. The two drugs had "almost identical packaging" and her life could have been saved if the bags were kept in separate cupboards, the Health and Safety Executive said.

 

The Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was ordered to pay £75,000 in fines and £25,000 in costs by a judge at Bristol Crown Court. The Trust had pleaded guilty to an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act. Passing sentence, Mr Justice Clarke said: "No one could be unmoved by this tragedy. No one who knew what lay behind it could be untroubled at the systematic and individual fault which this inquiry revealed."

 

The midwife, who was suspended and is now retired, "could not have read the label carefully or possibly at all", he added, also citing the inadequate drugs storage as a factor in Mrs Cabrera's 2004 death. An inquest at Trowbridge, Wiltshire, two years ago ruled that Mrs Cabrera was unlawfully killed, also citing the "chaotic" drug storage.

 

Mrs Cabrera gave birth to son Zac at 8.14am on May 11 2004. She began to suffer a fit and at 10.27am she was certified dead.

 

Source: The Metro

Hospital Fined £100K Over Fatal Drugs Mix-Up

A hospital trust has been ordered to pay £100,000 after a mother who had just given birth died due to a mix-up with "identical-looking" drugs.

Mayra Cabrera, 30, died hours after giving birth to son Zac, who survived, at Great Western Hospital in Swindon, Wiltshire, in May 2004.

A nurse wrongly attached the epidural anaesthetic Bupivacaine to an intravenous drip attached to her arm instead of saline solution needed to bring her blood pressure back up.

Mrs Cabrera - who was a nurse at the same hospital - died within minutes from a heart attack caused by the toxic effects of Bupivacaine.

The two drugs had "almost identical packaging" and her life could have been saved if the bags were kept in separate cupboards, the Health and Safety Executive said.

The Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was ordered to pay £75,000 in fines and £25,000 in costs by a judge at Bristol Crown Court.

The Trust had pleaded guilty to an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Clarke said: "No one could be unmoved by this tragedy... (or) be untroubled at the systematic and individual fault which this inquiry revealed."

The midwife, who was suspended and is now retired, "could not have read the label carefully or possibly at all," he added.

He also cited the inadequate drugs storage as a factor in Mrs Cabrera's death.

An inquest at Trowbridge, Wiltshire, two years ago, ruled that Mrs Cabrera was unlawfully killed, also citing the "chaotic" drug storage.

Source: Sky News

West Midlands Health trust criticised over baby care

Emergency and neonatal intensive care at a West Midlands NHS trust has been criticised by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

An investigation began after the death of Sian Jones, 15, who died of peritonitis after staff at Birmingham's Heartlands Hospital failed to spot it.

There were two other unexplained deaths and a number of serious incidents involving children from 2007 to 2009.

Source: BBC

More than 200 patients sue Liverpool Women's Hospital

More than 200 patients are preparing to sue Liverpool Women's Hospital over the poor treatment they allege they received from a doctor.

Consultant urogynaecologist George Rowland is accused of performing inappropriate surgery for incontinence problems on hundreds of women.

Ian Cohen, of Goodman's solicitors, said the condition of many of the women became worse under Mr Rowlands' care.

Source: BBC

A Fellow Blogger has "fun" with the NHS bureaucrazy.

click the title

NHS Apology For £10,000 Hitler Questionnaire

An ambulance service has apologised for a survey asking staff to rate how "cool" Hitler was.

The survey was sent out to 4,000 employees at West Midlands Ambulance Service

West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) apologised for the survey, saying: "At the end of the day, Hitler galvanised a nation into doing something quite unusual."

"Dreadful atrocities took place off the back of that… the staff involved were not trying to cause any offence to anybody…with hindsight, it would have been better to have used a different example..."

In the NHS questionnaire staff were asked to rate how "cool" Hitler was

WMAS sent the questionnaire to 4,000 employees as part of a £10,000 study to identify good leadership.

Respondents were asked to rate how "cool" 10 famous leaders were on a scale of one to five.

Besides Hitler, the list included Gordon Brown, Richard Branson, Winston Churchill and Fabio Capello.

But health campaigner and former WMAS worker, Steve Jetley, was so incensed by the survey that he set up a website, www.howcoolishitler.net, condemning it.

On the site he says: "You may feel like many emergency ambulance crew members in the WMAS that the money would have been far better spent providing improved and more modern equipment (like pelvic splints instead of triangular bandages!), improved training or even replacing ageing ambulances with over 250,000 miles on the clock that are slow and unreliable."

Steve Jetley's website parodying the West Midlands Ambulance Service 'cool' survey

Incensed former employee Steve Jetley created a spoof NHS website

The project, called Making Leadership Cool: How Emerging Leaders Wish To Be Managed And Supported, is a year-long study being conducted by two members of staff at the ambulance service.

The aim was to identify the key characteristics of good leadership, to allow the organisation and the wider NHS to be more efficient and effective which, in turn, would have a direct and positive impact on improving patient care, WMAS said.

The questionnaire, sent out last month, had so far been completed by "several dozen" members of staff, the spokesman said. The funding for the project was provided by the West Midlands Strategic Health Authority, he added.

Source: Sky News

The patients 'bullied' into joining NHS database

The NHS is scaring patients into signing up to its controversial database - by claiming that those who refuse run the risk of receiving the wrong test results or the wrong drugs.

Dire warnings have been placed on the website of the agency in charge of the new IT system, saying that failure to sign up could lead to lost records and prescribing errors.

Patients are allowed to opt out of having their information stored on the database, which is designed to be accessible to all GPs, hospital consultants, nurses and other NHS staff.

It is intended to replace the current system, under which health records are written on paper files in GPs' offices and cannot easily be accessed by hospital staff.

But doctors' leaders have complained that the database makes it too hard to opt out, prompting the government to suspend the roll-out of the programme in some areas.

Now it has emerged the NHS is trying a different tactic to persuade patients to sign up - scaremongering.

On the website for the NHS Connecting for Health agency, visitors are warned that if they opt out of the computerised 'summary care record' scheme, they could suffer 'adverse consequences', including 'a delay or missed opportunity for correct treatment'.

It says: 'The NHS has significant problems now with lost records and test results and treatment and prescribing errors.'

Connecting for Health's strategy is controversial because it highlights the safety risks inherent in the current paper-based records system.

But critics argue that the dangers are not as high as the agency is suggesting.

On Sunday night, a Department of Health spokesman said the problem of lost records or mistreatment was not a major concern, prompting speculation that the Government was making the claim to frighten patients into joining the database.

Asked if there were 'significant problems' under the current system, the spokesman said: 'One misplaced record is one too many.'

Asked if there was a 'major problem' under the current system, he said: 'No'.

Dylan Sharpe, campaign director of Big Brother Watch, said: 'The whole handling of the summary care record system has been sneaky and underhand, with the government doing anything to prevent people from opting out of the system.

'If you value your privacy, ignore these false and misleading warnings and opt out.' More than 1.25million patients' records have already gone on to the database.

But fears about the security of highly personal health details, including sexual history, drug use, HIV status and mental illness, are driving a backlash.

A spokesman for the British Medical Association said: 'There are advantages to having a computerised records system because paper records can get lost.

'But other IT Government projects have been subject to problems so people are very worried about the way their data is used and who has access to it.'

Source: Daily Mail

Mother stabbed by crazed neighbour loses fight for life as attacker’s family tell how he pleaded to stay in hospital

Mr London had been referred by his GP to Watford General Hospital’s Acute Admissions Unit on April 29 after his mother became concerned when he repeatedly and inexplicably went missing over several weeks.
His family revealed that, in the hospital, he became fearful of an attempt to take a blood sample and struggled to stay when he was told he could leave the hospital.
Despite his pleas for medical assistance, Mr London was discharged – with an appointment to be assessed by a psychiatric team the following day.


Source Daily Mail

Man died after medics missed disease six times, inquest hears

A young father died in agony on Christmas Day after medics repeatedly mistook a fatal bowel infection for a groin strain, an inquest has heard.

Malcolm Drake, 23, died from Crohn's Disease and spent his final hours unable to move or eat. He had sought help six times in the days before he died, but GPs and two Accident and Emergency doctors had missed his condition. He was even refused an MRI scan three days before he died that would have shown up the condition, the hearing was told...

Mr Drake had first complained of abdominal pain in mid-November before the first of six visits to medics and physiotherapists in the 15 days before he died, during which time his right leg had swollen considerably and he was in such pain he couldn’t eat.

He saw a GP on December 10th, went to A&E on the 13th, another GP on the 17th and finally A&E again on the 22nd. In between, he had two bouts of physiotherapy.

The hearing was told that Dr Richard Aw, a junior doctor who saw him at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire’s Accident and Emergency department on December 22nd, did not refer to his previous recent visits which were on his medical records, nor make a written record of them when Mr Drake explained who he had seen.

Dr Aw had been employed as a GP locum and had only one year’s experience. He diagnosed Mr Drake as suffering from a groin strain “consistent with previous findings” and sent him home with a dose of painkillers. Dr Aw also claimed that despite ambulance staff apparently noting a 'palpable mass' in Mr Drake's right thigh on the way to A&E, he did not find any lump in the leg himself.

It emerged that Dr Aw had advised him against having an MRI. Giving evidence, he admitted that an MRI would have shown up the Crohn’s disease. Simon Fox, representing Miss Lindop and Mr Drake's family, told Dr Aw: "Had Mr Drake had the scan, it would've led to the diagnosis - Mr Drake had it exactly right didn't he?"

Dr Aw replied: "Yes."

The hearing continues.

Source: The Telegraph

Hampshire swine flu girl 'not given Tamiflu'

A teenager who died after contracting swine flu was not given the drug Tamiflu when she was admitted to hospital, an inquest has heard.

Madelynne Butcher, 18, of Southampton, Hampshire, was admitted to Southampton General Hospital on 2 July 2009. But it was 36 hours before tests revealed she had the H1N1 virus and she was given Tamiflu.

Coroner Catherine Mason at Leicester Town Hall recorded a verdict that Miss Butcher died from natural causes...

Source: BBC

Surgeon cut off testicle 'by mistake' at Bury hospital

A patient lost a testicle during an operation because the surgeon cut it off by mistake, a General Medical Council (GMC) hearing has been told.

Dr Sulieman Al Hourani was only supposed to cut out a cyst, but removed the whole right testicle instead. Dr Al Hourani was a locum surgeon at Fairfield General Hospital in Bury, Greater Manchester, at the time of the surgery in September 2007.

He is accused of misconduct and also of stealing medication. It is alleged the doctor, who is now practising in Jordan and was not present at the hearing, also injected himself with a drug meant for a patient.

Sarah Prichard, counsel for the GMC, said the mistake was made as a nurse helping the surgeon turned her back to get a stitch. When she turned around the testicle had been removed...

Source: BBC

NHS bars woman after she saw private doctor

A WOMAN has been denied an operation on the NHS after paying for a private consultation to deal with her severe back pain.

Jenny Whitehead, a breast cancer survivor, paid £250 for an appointment with the orthopaedic surgeon after being told she would have to wait five months to see him on the NHS. He told her he would add her to his NHS waiting list for surgery.

She was barred from the list, however, and sent back to her GP. She must now find at least £10,000 for private surgery, or wait until the autumn for the NHS operation to remove a cyst on her spine.

“When I paid £250 to see the specialist privately I had no idea I would be sacrificing my right to surgery on the NHS. I feel victimised,” she said.

The case will reopen the debate over NHS policy towards patients who pay for some of their care privately. Following a Sunday Times campaign in 2008, the government ordered the NHS to stop withdrawing care from patients who received additional private treatment or drugs. Cancer sufferers were being barred from further NHS treatment after buying potentially life-saving medicines not offered by the health service.

Whitehead’s case, which has shocked her local Labour MP, reveals that patients who go private in despair at long waiting lists still risk jeopardising their NHS treatment. Department of Health officials admit it remains official policy.

Whitehead, 64, a former museum assistant from Yorkshire who works as a volunteer at a hospice, went to her GP in December for back pain. Because of her breast cancer history, she was immediately offered an MRI scan to check the disease had not returned. It revealed a cyst on her spine, pressing against her sciatic nerve. Her GP referred her to a consultant at Airedale NHS hospital.

She was told the next available NHS appointment was in May, so she accepted the offer of a private slot to see him the following week.

“My husband and I are retired and don’t have a lot of money, but I am in intense pain and couldn’t face the thought of waiting months just for an initial consultation,” she said.

The specialist promised to add her to his NHS waiting list for surgery. After two months, however, hospital managers told her she had been barred from the waiting list because she had seen the surgeon privately. Now her only alternative to paying £10,000 privately is to go back to her GP, seek another referral to the same specialist, this time on the NHS, and face another 18-week wait.

“We will scratch together the money if we absolutely have to, but I feel it’s incredibly unfair,” said Whitehead. “I’ve paid full National Insurance contributions all my working life and feel I should get this operation on the NHS.”

Ann Cryer, who is standing down as Labour MP for Keighley, has written to the hospital urging it to reconsider. She told Whitehead that she had been “badly let down and ill advised”.

Bradford and Airedale NHS trust said it was looking into the case “as a matter of urgency” but added: “Anyone who chooses to pay for a private outpatient consultation cannot receive NHS treatment unless they are then referred on to an NHS pathway by their consultant.”


Source :Times Online

Girl’s cancer was wind, said doctor

A little girl’s leukaemia was misdiagnosed as trapped wind by a GP at a scandal-hit out-of-hours surgery, it emerged today.

Three-year-old Taylor Codling was taken to the weekend clinic by her father James when she turned yellow and her temperature hit 40ËšC (104ËšF). But after a two-minute check-up the doctor sent them to pick up a bottle of gripe water to ease her condition.

Taylor was no better two days later so she was taken to Ipswich Hospital where doctors diagnosed leukaemia. Mr Codling, from Hasketon, Suffolk, has now threatened to launch legal action against the service.

‘This mistake could have cost her her life,’ said the 32-year-old. ‘There is a big difference between having trapped wind and having leukaemia.’

The misdiagnosis was made by a foreign doctor working for Take Care Now – the same company which employed 67-year-old German locum Daniel Ubani. He accidentally killed 70-year-old patient David Gray, of Cambridgeshire, by giving him a lethal overdose of painkillers.

Last year TCN was stripped of its out-of-hours contract but the decision only came into effect from April 1 – a week after Taylor went to the surgery. Harmoni HS Ltd, which now runs the locum service for Suffolk, said the doctor in question had not worked for them since April 1.

Source: The Metro

NHS chiefs' pay rises 'double those of nurses'

Top managers in England's NHS trusts received average pay rises of nearly 7% in 2008-09, compared with less than 3% granted to nurses, a report says.

An Incomes Data Services report into boardroom pay at more than 380 trusts found chief executives earned seven times more than the average nurse. Senior managers in NHS trusts typically earned £147,500, the report said. The NHS Confederation said trusts needed top managers to help them through financial challenges...

Source: BBC

A Special Interview with Dr. Andrew Wakefield

Click post title to follow link to a transcript of a lengthy interview with Dr Andrew Wakefield, who was the one who claimed that letting your children have the MMR jab could cause autism.

'Pinkie' operation death 'could have been prevented'

The death of a man during a routine hospital operation on his little finger could have been avoided, according to an inquiry.

Gordon Ewing, 44, from Cambuslang, died while being treated at the Victoria Infirmary in Glasgow in May 2006. A fatal accident inquiry heard how he swelled up and turned bright red after being given too much oxygen. Sheriff Linda Ruxton said his death could have been prevented if anaesthetists had simply woken him up...

Source: BBC

NHS payout after mum misdiagnosed

The family of a young mother who died after doctors failed to diagnose her cancer has secured a six-figure pay-out from an NHS body.

Lavinia Bletchly, a 23-year-old mother of two, was sent home from hospital three times before she died of the aggressive cancer.

A High Court judge approved an out-of-court settlement with Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board, part of which will compensate her daughters Shaila, nine, and six-year-old Chloe.

Miss Bletchly, of Bridgend, south Wales, died from peritonitis and malignant non-Hodgkin lymphoma. A full-time textile design student at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff, she fell ill in May 2004 a few months after Chloe's birth.

Examinations during the next eight months ruled out gynaecological problems, but she continued to complain of pain in her abdomen and pelvis. In February 2005 an ultrasound revealed a cyst and an exploratory operation found fluid above the liver. Over the next three weeks she was admitted three times to the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend.

On one occasion her family said a senior consultant told her it was "all in her head" and that she should make way for urgent cases. In March 2005 a CT scan and further surgery found an extensive malignant tumour had encased her bowel and spread to her stomach. It is understood the family will receive about £350,000.

Source: The Metro

NHS turns injured toddler away due to computer shutdown

Herts and Essex Hospital turned away three-year-old Rafferty Searson because the computer system had been shut down before hospital closing time.

A toddler who was bleeding heavily from a cut to the face was refused treatment by hospital staff – because they had turned their computers off for the day. Three-year-old Rafferty Searson, who was covered in blood from a gash on his cheek, was turned away from the NHS hospital 15 minutes before closing time after a receptionist said he could not be logged on to the computer.

His nanny Kate Moss (?), who took him to Herts and Essex Hospital, said: ‘Two nurses who walked past just looked at me and when I asked for help one said “We have shut down all the systems there is nothing we can do”.’

Rafferty’s 35-year-old mother Hana, from Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, said: ‘It was a case of “Computer says no”. They were covered in blood and Kate was literally holding his face closed.’ Ms Moss drove Rafferty to a hospital 24km (15miles) away, where he received six stitches.

A spokeswoman for East and North Hertfordshire PCT said there was a ‘large number of people’ at the hospital, which only receives out patients and has a small accident and injury unit.

Source: The Metro

NHS managers rise to nearly 45,000

The number of managers in the NHS in England rose by nearly 12% last year, to almost 45,000.

During the same period, the number of qualified nurses increased by less than 2%. The NHS in England now employs just over 1.43 million people - an increase of 4.6% on the previous year. After a period of record growth, the Department of Health plans to make cuts of £4.35bn a year. It added managers were still a fraction of the workforce.

NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson said the NHS had enjoyed record investment over the last decade. But he said the NHS was entering a period of less growth, with the service "focused on improving quality and productivity to release efficiency savings that can be re-invested back into the service".

Source: BBC.

Hospital tells parents to drive burns girl 25 miles for treatment

WHEN five-year-old Madison Healy was rushed to hospital with third degree burns her parents expected her to be given urgent treatment.

Instead doctors at University Hospital sent her away naked with just a blanket to protect her from the cold. Her parents were told the youngster needed to see a burns specialist at Birmingham Children’s Hospital 25 miles away – and were told to drive her there themselves.

Bosses at University Hospital say they understand why Maddy’s parents were distressed but insist doctors made sure she was safe and stable before referring her. They say the burns were ‘relatively small’ and did not put Maddy in danger so the guidelines advised she be sent by car rather than ambulance.

But furious mum Alana Regan said: “It was very traumatic – I feared the delay might cause lasting damage.

Source: Coventry Telegraph.

Man left infertile after wrong testicle removed

A man was left infertile after surgeons botched an operation on his testicle.

Doctors at the West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds were tasked with removing the man's right epididymis - a coiled tube which carries sperm away from the testicles - but they removed the left one instead.

The man, who has not been named, had to undergo a second operation in January last year on his right testicle, which resulted in infertility.

Health bosses declined to comment on whether he has received any compensation.

Nigel Kee, interim chief operating officer at the hospital, said: "The safety of our patients is our number one priority. As such, we take any incidents which compromise safety extremely seriously.

"A thorough investigation into this case was carried out by an independent consultant, who advised us to introduce an additional hospital-wide policy giving clearer instructions on marking and verifying sites prior to surgery.

"We implemented this recommendation immediately.

"We have an overriding duty to protect the confidentiality of our patients. As such, we will not comment in any further detail on this case."

Source: The Independent

Leeds widow sent home from hospital in nightgown

The family of a widow from Leeds is demanding an apology after she was discharged from hospital in the middle of the night wearing just a nightgown.

 

Elsie Allanson, 74, was admitted to the city's St James' Hospital last month after suffering a suspected stroke. She was sent home in a taxi in freezing weather at 0200 GMT the next day. Her family had not been informed. Her daughter said the hospital should admit its mistake.

 

The NHS trust said it would be "inappropriate to comment"...

 

Source: BBC

Hospital failed to spot child had broken both arms

A toddler spent a night in agony after bungling doctors sent him home from hospital without realising he had broken both his wrists.

Three-year-old Regan Mercer was taken to a hospital's accident department by his mother after he hurt his arms falling downstairs at home. Doctors at Mayday Hospital in Croydon X-rayed only one arm, saying they did not like to expose children to too much radiation. Medical staff then put a plaster cast on his right arm and sent him home.

He was in so much pain during the night that his 33-year-old mother, Angela Doherty, took him back the next day when doctors realised their mistake. Hospital chiefs have launched an investigation...

Source: Evening Standard

Disabled woman who asked for help getting 200 yards from car park into hospital told 'dial 999'

Donatella Coppini, 42, suffers from a spinal condition which means she has to use sticks to walk. She was taken to A&E by her partner Nick Ault, 34, suffering from excruciating back pains but when the couple asked hospital staff to help her inside they were told to dial 999. The couple from Shoeburyness in Essex had to wait in the hospital car park until paramedics arrived to help them into Southend Hospital.

Mr Ault, who is his partner's full-time carer, said: "She was in the car and couldn't move. I asked if someone could get help and get her out of the car. They said they would have to call 999 to help them. So I had to dial 999 even though it was just 200 yards from A&E. It blows my mind, it's suppose to be a hospital. If someone fell over outside and cracked their head would they need to call 999? I think it's pathetic and unacceptable."

Source: The Daily Mail

Newborn baby given overdose of tuberculosis vaccine

The boy, who was born on February 5, was injected with 0.5mg of the BCG vaccine - 10 times the usual 0.05mg dose, lawyers for his family said.

A statement from law firm Irwin Mitchell said the boy is now being treated with help from the poisons agency and an expert in immunology at Sheffield Children's Hospital.

A spokesman for Scunthorpe General Hospital said it had launched a ''full investigation''...

Source: The Telegraph

Patients ‘treated in dirty storerooms'

HOSPITAL patients are being treated in mop cupboards and storerooms, it is revealed today. They are left in dirty conditions with no privacy, says a survey of nurses. Two out of three questioned claimed that patients in their hospitals were moved to "non-clinical" areas because of ward overcrowding.

 

And eight out of ten feared the growing use of cupboards and similar areas was putting safety at risk, said the Nursing Times poll of more than 900 nurses. It showed that some patients were left for days on trolleys in corridors. Workers claimed people were put in areas with no basic equipment, including oxygen, hand basins and emergency call bells. They were often ignored when drugs and food were being handed out...

 

A Department of Health spokesman said: "The vast majority of NHS patients experience good quality, safe care. We acknowledge there is more to do and we strive to make services even safer."

 

Source: The Soaraway Sun

Many NHS trusts 'give wrong data'

More than half of hospital trusts inspected last year provided the public with incorrect information on their performance and quality of care, it has been claimed.

 

Documents obtained by the BBC's Panorama programme show that of those hospital trusts inspected in 2008/09, just over 60% had provided inaccurate information to the Government regulator, a spokesman for the programme said.

 

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) uses this information, on criteria such as patient safety, care environment and public health, to give the trusts a rating - which is used by patients as a guide to their local hospital. However, the fact some hospital trusts have been wrongly assessing their own performance casts doubt on the accuracy of some of these ratings, the spokesman said...

 

Source: Press Association, via Yahoo.

Labour hid ugly truth about NHS

DAMNING reports on the state of the National Health Service, suppressed by the government, reveal how patients’ needs have been neglected.

They diagnose a blind pursuit of political and managerial targets as the root cause of a string of hospital scandals that have cost thousands of lives.

One report, based on the advice of almost 200 top managers and doctors, says hospitals ignored basic hygiene to cram in patients to meet waiting-time targets.

It says “several interviewees” cited the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells [NHS Trust in Kent where 269 deaths during 2005-6 were caused by infection with Clostridium difficile bacteria].

“Managers crowded in patients in order to meet waiting-time targets and, in the process, lost sight of the fundamental hygiene requirements for infection prevention,” the report stated.

There were subsequent failings at health trusts in Basildon in Essex, and Mid Staffordshire. Filthy wards and nurse shortages led to up to 1,200 deaths at Stafford hospital.

Lord Darzi, the former health minister, commissioned the three reports from international consultancies to assess the progress of the NHS as it approached its 60th anniversary in 2008. They have come to light after a freedom of information request.

One must wonder at the pointlessness of a Labour Lord commissioning reports if his own party then contrives to hide unfavourable conclusions.

Source: The Times

NICE says no to bone marrow disease drug

NICE has decided that azacitidine will not be available through the NHS

A drug for treating rare blood cancers will not be made available through the NHS in England and Wales.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has decided not to recommend azacitidine or Vidaza for treating myelodysplastic syndromes because it is too costly.

Cancer charities say they are angered and disappointed by the decision.

Around four in 100,000 people in the UK suffer from MDS - a debilitating bone marrow disease.

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) mean that the bone marrow does not produce enough of one or more types of blood cells.

Most MDS patients have to rely on frequent blood transfusions to manage anaemia and extreme fatigue.

The average survival of patients with MDS is about 20 months. Nearly a third of patients progress to acute myeloid leukaemia.

NICE says that the majority of patients with MDS receive the best care in current clinical practice.

Not a cure

Dr Carole Longson is health technology evaluation centre director at NICE. She said that azacitidine is not a cure for MDS but could potentially prolong the lives of people with these conditions by around nine months longer than standard treatment.

However she stated: "The Appraisal Committee concluded that relative to the benefits, the price the NHS is being asked to pay for azacitidine is still too high for it to be recommended as a cost effective use of NHS resources."

The manufacturer of the drug, Celgene UK, has announced that it plans to appeal NICE's draft guidance ruling.

According to the manufacturer's estimates, azacitidine costs approximately £45,000 per patient.

David Hall is an MDS patient. He is also chairman of the MDS UK Patient Support Group, which is supported by pharmaceutical companies, including Celgene.

He said the decision was a huge blow to MDS patients.

"A total of only 700 patients a year in England and Wales would require treatment with azacitidine so we do not believe that providing this life-extending treatment would make a huge impact on the NHS budget," he said.

Source BBC

Guilty plea after nurse's death at hospital in Swindon

A health trust has pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety regulations after a woman was given an epidural anaesthetic in her arm.

Mayra Cabrera died following her son's birth in 2004 after Bupivacaine was mistakenly connected to her arm at Swindon's Great Western Hospital.

Lyn Hill-Tout, chief executive of Great Western Hospitals NHS, entered a guilty plea before Swindon magistrates.

The case was committed to Swindon Crown Court to be heard at a later date.

The court was told how a nurse at the Great Western Hospital had made a fatal error on 11 May 2004.

Mrs Cabrera who had worked as a theatre nurse at GWH had gone through a relatively straightforward birth but required saline to help bring her blood pressure back up.

But a nurse attached the wrong bag of solution to a drip attached to her right arm.

Within minutes, Mrs Cabrera began to feel unwell - and then started to fit. She died soon after.

Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust - now the Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - had previously admitted liability.

An inquest into the 30-year-old's death in February 2008, ruled Mrs Cabrera was unlawfully killed.

Source BBC

Neglected by 'lazy' nurses, man, 22, dying of thirst rang the police to beg for water

A man of 22 died in agony of dehydration after three days in a leading teaching hospital.
Kane Gorny was so desperate for a drink that he rang police to beg for their help.
They arrived on the ward only to be told by doctors that everything was under control.
The next day his mother Rita Cronin found him delirious and he died within hours.
She said nurses had failed to give him vital drugs which controlled fluid levels in his body. 'He was totally dependent on the nurses to help him and they totally betrayed him.'


Source Daily Mail.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'Detectives from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command are investigating the death of Kane Gorny at St George's Hospital after this was referred to us by Westminster Coroner's Court.'
A spokesman for St George's Hospital said: 'We are extremely sorry about the death of Kane Gorny and understand the distress that this has caused to his family.
'A full investigation was carried out and new procedures introduced to ensure that such a case cannot happen in future.


Yeah right as if I believe them?

Hospital admits plaster error over toddler's broken leg

A toddler with a broken leg was sent home with a plaster on the wrong limb and then hospital staff implied it was his mother's fault for not spotting it.

The error was made when Bella Powell took 21-month-old son Rafe to Torbay Hospital after he fell from his high chair at his Brixham home.

On returning to get the error resolved, Mrs Powell was laughed at by staff and told she should have said something. The hospital has apologised for the mistake and the comments made by staff...

Source: BBC.

Hospital staff under 'pressure' to hit targets

Staff at a Nottingham hospital "bent rules" on recording patient waiting times due to "enormous pressure" to hit targets, a review has found.

Independent auditors were brought in to the Queen's Medical Centre after inaccurate reporting of waiting times over the past four years was uncovered. The hospital has to treat 98% of patients within four hours to meet government targets.

Auditors said patients were not put at risk. The report states: "Some staff described the enormous pressures they felt under to achieve the four-hour A&E target and deliver patient care at the same time."

The review of the department, which is one of the busiest in England, was sparked after a member of the hospital's medical staff noticed by chance that a patient's time in A&E had been inaccurately reported.

The audit found 1,889 records had been wrongly recorded since April 2008...

Source: BBC

Surgeon who removed baby's bladder guilty of misconduct

We'd mentioned this story before, but here's the outcome:

A surgeon who mistakenly removed a baby's bladder instead of a hernia has been found guilty of misconduct by the General Medical Council (GMC)... Pierina Kapur, 43, was supposed to take out a hernial sac but instead removed 90% of her bladder.

It's not clear to me whether the surgeon was actually punished in any way, all it says is "the panel does consider [her] misconduct to be sufficiently serious as to justify a finding of impairment in this case."

Source: BBC

Patient death charge hospital admits safety law breach

A hospital in Essex where a severely disabled man died has admitted breaching health and safety law.

 

Kyle Flack, 20, from Stanford-le-Hope, who had severe cerebral palsy, was found dead at Basildon University Hospital, on 12 October 2006. His head had become trapped in the rails around his bed, an inquest heard.

 

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) brought the prosecution, accusing the hospital of failing to ensure the patient's safety. Matthew Taylor, prosecuting on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), told magistrates Mr Flack died at the hospital, two days after being admitted with stomach problems...

 

Source: BBC

 

What is unclear is why Rab C Nesbitt is posing as the man's mother.

PARAMEDIC 'REFUSED TO SAVE 30-STONE DYING MAN'

A JURY yesterday heard the moment a paramedic allegedly refused to resuscitate a dying man then instructed a colleague to lie to cover his tracks.

 

A recording of a 999 call captured the disturbing sound of a 30-stone heart-attack victim collapsing in front of Karl Harris, who allegedly stopped a colleague going to his aid with the words: "Don't bother. There's no point." Experienced paramedic Harris then ordered his trainee crewmate: "Just say he was dead when we got here."

 

Harris, 45, from Brighton, East Sussex, sat impassively in the dock as the recording was played at Lewes Crown Court yesterday, where he denies perverting the course of justice. The jury was told that even though Harris broke guidelines by failing to try to save Barry Baker, 59, he narrowly avoided prosecution over his death because it was "highly unlikely" resuscitation would have saved him.

 

Harris and trainee Ben Stokes, 36, were dispatched to the former Jobcentre worker's home in Brighton in the early hours of November 29, 2008, after he dialled 999 suffering breathing difficulties, the court was told.Unknown to the pair, emergency operator Marilyn Benson stayed on the line and listened to events as they unfolded.

 

Harris has been suspended from his job with South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust. Mr Stokes was given a written warning and put on restrictive duties.

 

The case continues.

 

Source: Daily Express

Teenage dancer has leg amputated after doctors 'failed to spot cancer'

Shannon Corr, 15, repeatedly visited GPs for over two months complaining of agonising pains in her right knee and shin that left her struggling to walk.

But doctors told her she was suffering from a disease which usually affects teenage boys who play football and growing pains, advising her to go home and rest. After GPs refused to refer Shannon to hospital her mother Jeannetta Swift, 44, rushed her to A&E and pretended she had fallen over so she could be fully examined.

Doctors immediately spotted a problem, but by the time osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer, was diagnosed it had spread to her leg's soft tissue and they were forced to amputate...

Source: The Telegraph

From Canada: 'My heart, my choice,' Williams says, defending decision for U.S. heart surgery

An unapologetic Danny Williams says he was aware his trip to the United States for heart surgery earlier this month would spark outcry, but he concluded his personal health trumped any public fallout over the controversial decision.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Williams said he went to Miami to have a "minimally invasive" surgery for an ailment first detected nearly a year ago, based on the advice of his doctors.

"This was my heart, my choice and my health," Williams said late Monday from his condominium in Sarasota, Fla.

"I did not sign away my right to get the best possible health care for myself when I entered politics."

The 60-year-old Williams said doctors detected a heart murmur last spring and told him that one of his heart valves wasn't closing properly, creating a leakage.

He said he was told at the time that the problem was "moderate" and that he should come back for a checkup in six months.

Eight months later, in December, his doctors told him the problem had become severe and urged him to get his valve repaired immediately or risk heart failure, he said.

His doctors in Canada presented him with two options - a full or partial sternotomy, both of which would've required breaking bones, he said.

He said he spoke with and provided his medical information to a leading cardiac surgeon in New Jersey who is also from Newfoundland and Labrador. He advised him to seek treatment at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami.

That's where he was treated by Dr. Joseph Lamelas, a cardiac surgeon who has performed more than 8,000 open-heart surgeries.

Williams said Lamelas made an incision under his arm that didn't require any bone breakage.

"I wanted to get in, get out fast, get back to work in a short period of time," the premier said.

Williams said he didn't announce his departure south of the border because he didn't want to create "a media gong show," but added that criticism would've followed him had he chose to have surgery in Canada.

"I would've been criticized if I had stayed in Canada and had been perceived as jumping a line or a wait list. ... I accept that. That's public life," he said.

Source: Google News

Stafford Hospital deaths findings awaited

Further details are expected to emerge later about one of the worst scandals in the history of the NHS.
The Stafford Hospital independent inquiry is also due to report on what can be learned from the case.

Regulators said last year at least 400 more people had died at the hospital between 2005 and 2008 than would be expected, due to "appalling" care...

The hospital, which is run by the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust, had been climbing the NHS ratings ladder during the period in question and was even given elite foundation trust status.

Source: BBC

Paediatric surgeon Pierina Kapur mistakenly removed a baby’s bladder

A surgeon mistakenly removed a baby's bladder in an operation that means she will need a catheter for the rest of her life, a disciplinary hearing has been told.

Pierina Kapur, 43, a consultant paediatric surgeon, was scheduled to remove a hernial sac on a seven-week-old baby at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. But she mistook the child's bladder for the hernia, removing 90 per cent of it. It was only after the operation, when the child was admitted to the intensive care unit with acute kidney failure, that the full extent of the blunder was realised.

Miss Kapur appeared before the General Medical Council fitness-to-practise panel in Manchester. She has admitted that her role in the surgery was inadequate and fell below the standard expected of a consultant paediatrician, but denies misconduct...

Source: The Times

NHS hospitals ignore patient safety orders

Watchdog says failure by trusts to comply with alerts is 'unacceptable'.

Hospitals were accused tonight of putting patients' lives at unnecessary risk after research revealed they were failing to comply with NHS orders designed to prevent deaths from mistakes involving drugs, surgery or equipment.

Information released by the Department of Health after a freedom of information request showed that hospitals were not complying with safety alerts issued by the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA).

The NPSA's chairman, Lord Patel of Dunkeld, told the Guardian that the behaviour of the trusts was unacceptable and endangered the health of patients.

"It's not good enough," he said. "What's the point of us developing these alerts if they don't pay any attention to them? Alerts are produced to reduce risk and hopefully avoid many deaths, so not to implement them to me is alarming. If they aren't implemented then they run the risk of harm occurring and the danger will continue."

The findings were from a FOI request submitted by patient safety charity Action Against Medical Accidents (AvMA). It revealed that:

• 104 hospitals and other providers of NHS care in England have not confirmed they have implemented an NPSA alert issued in March 2007 to ensure that injectable medicines are used more safely – even though new systems are meant to be in place by March 2010. The alert came after 25 patients died and 28 others experienced serious harm in 18 months.

• 25 NHS organisations have not confirmed compliance with an NPSA safer-practice notice designed to reduce the risk of patients falling out of bed. It was issued after about 90 patients who rolled out of bed on to the floor in hospitals, mental health and learning disability units, fractured their neck or femur; 11 of them died.

• 81 hospitals and other care providers had not taken the "required actions" outlined in patient safety alerts covering opioid (painkilling) medicines. The alert was originally issued in July 2008 with a deadline of January 2009; the 81 had not complied by 29 December 2009.

• 10 NHS trusts have not said they have complied with a February 2005 alert on nasogastric feeding tubes, which can sometimes be wrongly placed into the lungs during insertion. Errors involving the feeding tubes caused at least 11 deaths before the alert came out, according to the NPSA...

Source: The Guardian.

Author's footnote: AFAIAA, that's the first time we've ever posted something from The Guardian. Is this because they don't show up on Google or because they don't like reporting this sort of thing?

Son sues hospital over mother’s death in botched surgery

The son of a woman who bled to death after a botched operation is suing the hospital which treated her.

Ray Swing's mother Jean, 86, suffered a haemorrhage at Kingston hospital following surgery to improve the blood supply to her ulcerated legs.

Mr Swing blames her death on “untrained” staff, who he claims failed to recognise his mother was seriously ill. The motor service manager is taking legal action against the hospital which admits there was an “unacceptable” lapse of care.

Mr Swing told the Standard: “They [the hospital] said this was a simple procedure — at no stage did they say it was dangerous. She bled to death.”

The mother of five from Putney died last July. An inquiry by the hospital revealed a catalogue of errors. A spokesman said staff were receiving training on how to document medical notes and on the proper use of observation charts. Chief executive Kate Grimes said they had apologised.

Source: Evening Standard

Patient dies in hospital after 'do not resuscitate' form is mistakenly put in his files

A patient who suffered a heart attack on a hospital ward died because clerical staff had mistakenly inserted a ‘Do Not Attempt Resuscitation’ form into his medical notes.

Peter Clarke was not treated by doctors after going into cardiac arrest as a nurse had spotted the form in his files and, even though it was blank and had not been filled in, told other ward staff he should not be revived. The blunder emerged at an inquest into the incident at Derby Hospitals NHS Trust, where bosses revealed staff had been ‘routinely’ placing the forms alongside medical records before they had been correctly signed and witnessed by senior doctors.

The errors go against the usual Trust policy on using the forms and mean the documents were inserted into files without the consent of patients. It has affected an unknown number of patients and it is not known how long the practice was going on...

Source: Daily Mail
Spotted by: JuliaM

Virus keeps wards closed at Royal Cornwall Hospital

Five wards at Royal Cornwall Hospital remain closed due to a vomiting bug.

Two other wards are affected at the hospital in Truro because of the norovirus outbreak but are not closed to new patients. Managers said outpatient appointments were not affected, although anyone who has been ill is asked to contact the hospital before going in.

Visiting restrictions are in place at Royal Cornwall, West Cornwall and St Michael's hospitals. People have been asked not to visit the hospitals unless it is to see a seriously-ill patient. Outpatient appointments are going ahead as normal and patients have been told to turn up provided they are not unwell or showing any symptoms themselves.

The symptoms of the infection include a sudden onset of nausea, followed by vomiting and diarrhoea. Norovirus is contagious from the moment a person begins to feel unwell until at least three days after symptoms have stopped.

Source: BBC

Hospital readmission rates increase

The number of patients readmitted as emergencies within 28 days of being discharged rose from 359,719 in 1998-1999 to 546,354 in 2007-08, the data showed.

Elderly patients made up a large proportion of those affected - with 159,134 over the age of 75 readmitted in 2007-8, compared to 94,283 in 1998-99. The Tories said the figures suggest patients are routinely being released before they are well enough. The party's health spokesman Andrew Lansley said a Conservative government would change NHS rules to stop hospitals being paid again for treating patients they recently discharged.

He said: "It's staggering that there has been such a huge increase in the number of patients having to be readmitted to hospital as emergencies almost as soon as they've been allowed home. It's also a deeply worrying sign that the quality of care in hospitals is being undermined. This raises real concerns that patients are routinely being discharged too soon. Hospitals should not have an incentive to discharge patients quickly and then get paid by the taxpayer a second when they have to be readmitted. I will ensure that through our payment for results approach, hospitals have to meet any costs arising from emergency readmissions themselves."

However, a Department of Health spokesman said: "Patients are only discharged from hospital if the clinicians involved consider it safe and in their best interests. Some patients might require readmission if their health deteriorates, but the numbers are small. Only about 5% of patients discharged from hospital are readmitted within seven days of their discharge. Rates of readmission can also be a sign of better care. More people with long term conditions are being offered the choice of being treated in the community, with readmission only if the condition worsens."

Source: The Metro