Millions spent on doctor 'gagging orders' by NHS, investigation finds

A combination of pay-offs and fear is preventing whistleblowers going public with criticisms over care, reports Nigel Morris

Hospital doctors who quit their jobs are being routinely forced to sign "gagging orders" despite legislation designed to protect NHS whistleblowers, it is revealed today.

Millions of pounds of taxpayers' money are being spent on contracts that deter doctors from speaking out about incompetence and mistakes in patient care.

Nearly 90 per cent of severance agreements hammered out between NHS trusts and departing doctors contain confidentiality clauses.

A joint investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and Channel 4 News has discovered that at least 170 doctors in England and Wales agreed such a settlement with the trust employing them – backed up by pay-offs totalling more than £3m.

Fifty-five of the 64 contracts supplied by the trusts to the investigation team contained gagging clauses. The agreements have to be approved by the Treasury. The bureau discovered that a further 19 NHS staff who decided to go to employment tribunals after blowing the whistle on hospital standards eventually settled before their allegations were made public.

The widespread use of "gagging orders" against senior NHS staff who could raise patient safety concerns will intensify the doubts over the protection given to whistleblowers.

Campaign groups claim that NHS managers sometimes resort to intimidatory tactics to deter medics from coming forward, while others that break cover can face years of expense and uncertainty before their cases reach court. The result, they say, is that doctors accept the gagging clauses in order to protect their careers and avoid legal wrangling.

Mike Parker, of the Royal College of Surgeons, said: "The trusts find something upon which they can influence this individual and hold them virtually to ransom, and say: 'You speak up and this will happen.' It's effectively a form of bullying, if you like, but we do hear about this sort of thing happening."

Using Freedom of Information (FoI) requests, it emerged that 71 NHS trusts had entered into these agreements with a total of 170 doctors, although the true figure could be higher, as many failed to respond.

Twenty-two of the agreements were signed at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.

Forty spent a total of just over £3m on the agreements. However, a further 31 trusts simply refused to disclose the size of the payments. Further FoI requests discovered that another 19 health whistleblowers decided to take their cases to court, but abandoned them after signing so-called compromise agreements with employers.

David Bowles, the former chairman of an NHS Trust, told Channel 4 that he believed their use was "endemic". "You shouldn't be at a position of needing a compromise agreement with a whistleblower. You should never get to that point in the first place. You should have listened to the concerns and you should have managed them in accordance with legislation and indeed the NHS's own published code."

Worries over gagging orders in the NHS were underlined by the recent disclosure that Kim Holt, a paediatrician, repeatedly raised the alarm about children's services at St Ann's Hospital in Haringey, north London, more than year before the death of Baby Peter in 2007. Her employer, Great Ormond Street Hospital, reportedly offered her £120,000 to stay silent but she refused. The hospital denied it was an attempt to gag her.

Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, has acknowledged that a scandal of care at Mid-Staffordshire hospital went undetected because whistleblowers' warnings went unheeded.

Whistleblowers gained full protection from dismissal or victimisation under the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA) of 1999, which was supported by unions and all political parties. It covers employees in both the public and private sectors.

It followed a succession of cases where whistleblowers had been ignored, including the problems at Bristol Royal Infirmary, where 29 babies and children died after heart surgery. In opposition, the Conservatives said they would give NHS staff the contractual right to report errors and failings to the health regulator without fear of reprisal.

Shonali Routray, a lawyer at the charity Public Concern at Work, stressed last night that the law protected whistleblowers even if they had signed confidentiality clauses.

But she added: "They have a real fear factor and discourage people from raising concerns. The worry is the person who has signed the agreement feels under pressure, or vulnerable, or do not understand their options."

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said last night: "The Health Secretary has made it clear that patient safety should be at the heart of the NHS and that the improvement of whistleblowing policies is a key part of this ... organisations across the NHS will also need to be clear that whistleblowing is not something that should be regarded as letting down your organisation."

Source: The Independant

NHS pays £250k for mistaken amputation

Crikey! Perhaps this poor guy would have been better served getting a neighbour to cut his toe off with a rusty saw.

A series of medical failures has lad to an NHS Trust paying £250,000 in damages after a patient was admitted to hospital with a toe infection and ended up having his leg amputated.

Former butcher Ian Watts said the Medway hospital’s failure to control his diabetes led to him losing half of his left leg after he was taken into hospital with pain in his toe in July 2004.

The hospital first decided to amputate his toe, but the pain in Watt’s left foot worsened and doctors said they would need to remove the leg below the knee.

Watts said medical staff neglected to control his blood sugar levels and had to revive him after he lost consciousness on the way to the operating theatre.

He also claimed that after the operation nurses nearly gave him the wrong medication because the hospital ward was in a “state of disarray”.

Watt’s condition was made worse when a pressure stocking was applied too tightly to his right leg causing a blood blister to develop.

After he was sent home an ulcer formed on his right foot and he was readmitted to hospital where he was told he would lose his right leg as well.

“I was extremely depressed and distraught at the treatment I had received,” said Watts. “I couldn’t face living without legs.”

But after seeking a second opinion, Watts underwent a nine-hour operation which saved his right leg.

Kashmir Uppal from Thompsons Solicitors said “Medway NHS Trust never admitted liability for what we consider to have been a series of failures that led to the loss of one leg and the near loss of the other,” adding that the Trust initially refused to settle the case out of court.

But a few months before the trial, Medway NHS Foundation Trust agreed to pay Watts £250,000 in compensation in an out-of-court settlement.

Source: Health and Safety at Work

Gearing Up For Withdrawal Of Goodwill?

Working to rule is the most favoured method of industrial action among the 5,185 nurses and midwives who took part in Nursing Times’ exclusive survey.

Asked what duties they would refuse to do as part of formal industrial action, 59 per cent of respondents said they would refuse to work unpaid overtime and 53 per cent said they would insist on leaving the ward or clinic for breaks - something nurses in practice are often unable to do.

Other targets for bolshy nurses may be ‘non-nursing duties’:

Just over half said they would refuse to carry out non-nursing duties such as cleaning and portering - another role nurses are frequently asked to do when workplaces are short staffed.

Of course, should this take place, patients are unlikely to notice the difference:

A report by the National Health Service has found that millions of patients suffer falls or malnutrition during their stay in hospital, according to the Daily Mail.

When you have to remind people exactly what their jobs are, you may well ask how they’d have the nerve to go on strike in the first place…

The report, entitled High Impact Actions for Nursing and Midwifery: The Essential Collection, concluded that many of the injuries could have been avoided and reminded staff of their duties.

Almost a quarter of patients are malnourished the report, which was sent to hospitals last month, found.

It admitted: "Most patients, carers, health care professionals, commissioners, senior managers and chief executives do not realise how common it is in the UK and so it goes unrecognised and untreated."

Elderly patients 'leaving NI hospitals malnourished'

Too many elderly people are leaving hospital malnourished, a charity has claimed.

Age Northern Ireland said older patients were being left hungry because they were unable to eat the food left on their hospital tray.

The charity said patients depended on families to both provide the food and feed it to them.

It said relatives were concerned patients were malnourished because food was not being pureed or cut up.

Duane Farrell from the charity said ensuring patients are properly looked after in hospital is more important than ever in the current economic climate.
Standards

"Under these conditions older people are going to spend longer in hospital, they're at risk of getting more infections and are going to need more medicine, so the economic reasons are argument enough," Mr Farrell said.

"We believe that hospital trusts need to be at the forefront of this, directors of nursing within those trusts need to be compiling information about how standards are being implemented and coming up with action plans."

Leandre Munroe, from Belfast, said her mother was sometimes unable to even reach her food tray.

"They can't bend over if they've just had surgery so the tray was just too far away.

"If it was closer, even then she couldn't cut it so you had to try and spoon feed, just to drink things she would need a straw," Ms Munroe added.

"Unless you were there to feed the person you were caring for, there wasn't enough staff to do that."

In a statement, the Department of Health said nutritional standards for patient food in hospitals was launched in 2007.

Since then trusts had adopted a screening tool to identify those patients who are at most risk, the department said.

Source: BBC

Schoolgirl, 15, had four heart attacks and died days after doctors sent her home and told her 'take paracetemol'

A frightened schoolgirl suffered multiple organ failure and four heart attacks just days after doctors sent her home with paracetamol and told her to take 'plenty of rest', an inquest heard.

Amy Carter, 15, begged doctors not to discharge her, telling them 'I'm dying' but medics assured her she would be fine. Two days later on Christmas Eve, Amy - who had not been able to eat for 19 days and weighed just six stone - was rushed into hospital and died hours later.

An inquest heard the teenager had developed a lethal combination of conditions never before seen in a patient. A post-mortem revealed Amy, from Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire, died from glandular fever and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome..."

Source: Daily Mail

Twin born after 23 week pregnancy becomes most premature baby to survive

A twin girl has become the youngest baby to be born prematurely and survive in Britain, it has been claimed.

Amelia Hope Burden was born before the 24-week legal limit for abortion when her mother was just 23 weeks and two days pregnant, the Daily Mail reported.

She was born weighing only 1lb 2oz ten days before her brother Arthur arrived at 1lb 4oz.


He was born in July after Amanda Staplehurst had been pregnant for 24 weeks.

She went to hospital complaining of stomach cramps only to be told that she was in labour.

Amelia Hope showed little sign of life but doctors were able to revive her.

Under law they are not obliged to do so unless they feel it is in the child’s best interest.

Miss Staplehurst, 30, from Bournemouth, told the Daily Mail: “Doctors said she had just a 10 per cent of chance of survival and we never thought she’d pull through.

“Then having delivered Amelia Hope, it was totally bizarre that for ten days I remained pregnant with Arthur. The doctors have told us they’ve never come across a case like it.”

The babies are being kept in incubators but are putting on weight and said to be developing well.

The twins’ survival will give weight to the campaign to have the abortion limit lowered.

Some campaigners would like to see it reduced to 20 weeks.

David Cameron, the Prime Minister, voted for a cut earlier this year and has said that an upper limit of 20 or 22 weeks would be “sensible”.

The previous British record for surviving premature twins was 24 weeks, the paper reported.

Source: The Telegraph

Updated: Baby born at 23 weeks dies because she was 'one week too early'

See Above.

A heartbroken mum who tried for five years to get pregnant told yesterday how a hospital let her premature baby die - because she was born one week too early.

Latisha Brown and husband Robert, 30, begged staff to put daughter Alexis in a special care incubator after she was born at home at 23 weeks. Alexis, who weighed 1lb 1oz and was 28cms long, was breathing, kicking and waving her arms when taken to hospital on June 26.

But a midwife at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital said there was nothing they could do. Alexis clung on to life for two hours without any medical help before she died. Guidelines say babies born less than 24 weeks into pregnancy should not be resuscitated.

Nursery nurse Latisha, 23, from Attleborough, Norfolk, said: "I can't understand why they just left her to die."

The hospital said: "There was no question of survival for such a premature baby."

Source: The Daily Mirror.

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Baby Peter GP suspended for year

A GP who saw Baby Peter eight days before his death has been suspended from working as a doctor for 12 months.

The General Medical Council had already ruled there were "serious failings" in Dr Jerome Ikwueke's care.

Peter, from north London, died aged 17 months in August 2007 after sustained abuse.

His mother Tracey Connelly, her boyfriend Stephen Barker and his brother Jason Owen were jailed last year for causing or allowing his death.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

You don't pose a risk of repeating this behaviour”

End Quote Dr Judith Worthington, GMC panel chairman

Dr Ikwueke, 63, who was the family's GP, had noted that the toddler was not his "usual happy self", seemed "withdrawn" and pulled away when he saw him for the last time on July 26 2007.

The GMC had said the GP breached his professional duty towards the child in not carrying out a full examination, making an urgent referral for further checks or sharing information with a health visitor or social workers.

But giving her judgement, panel chairman Dr Judith Worthington, said: "You don't pose a risk of repeating this behaviour and there's no evidence of deep-seated attitudinal or personality problems."

She also spoke of how Dr Ikwueke had shown remorse, and had taken "remedial action", such as attending a number of child protection courses and improving procedures at his surgery.

Dr Worthington said that, despite the serious breaches identified in Baby Peter's case, striking Dr Ikwueke off the medical register would not be "proportionate or in the public interest".

But she said the panel had decided it was necessary to suspend the GP for the maximum period of 12 months "in order to maintain public confidence in the profession and to declare and uphold proper standards of conduct and behaviour".

Patients of Dr Ikwueke had given written and verbal testimonies to the hearing in his support.
Face value

The GP saw Peter at his north London surgery at least 14 times in the months before his death.

The GMC panel ruled there were "serious" failings to prioritise the toddler's welfare in the doctor's care.

It said Dr Ikwueke should have considered the possibility of child abuse when he noticed Peter had bruises on his chest and head at an appointment on October 13 2006.

Instead he accepted a claim by the child's mother that he had fallen downstairs at "face value".

The GP also failed to mention these injuries when he referred Peter to hospital with further bruising two months later.

Dr Ikwueke, who qualified as a doctor in Nigeria and worked as a GP for nearly 20 years, denied misconduct.

Source: BBC

Out-of-hours GP firm had systematic failings, CQC says

I know we've mentioned this story before, but it just gets worse:

A company providing out-of-hours care in an area where a pensioner died after a painkiller overdose had "systematic" failings, the NHS regulator says.

David Gray, 70, from Manea, Cambridgeshire, was killed by Dr Daniel Ubani, a German medic working his first NHS shift for Take Care Now. The now-defunct firm was criticised for failing to act on previous cases and warnings on standards.

The Care Quality Commission said the whole NHS should learn lessons too. The death of Mr Gray in February 2008 after he was given 10 times the normal dose of diamorphine has focused national attention on weekend and night GP cover, which in many cases is provided by private firms.

The CQC criticised Take Care Now (TCN) for failing to investigate and learn from two previous cases of diamorphine overdoses prior to Mr Gray's death...

Source: BBC

Nurses thought anorexic teenager who died in their care 'was just sleeping'

An anorexic teenager under 24-hour hospital supervision died in bed - in front of nurses who thought she had just fallen asleep. Rachael Stubbs, 17,was on the highest level supervision and should have had her hands and neck in full view of nurses at all times at the private Cheadle Royal Hospital, in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, an inquest heard. A coroner is now writing to health bosses, saying observations 'were not carried out properly'.

The teenager went to bed face down and began to make heavy breathing noises 'like she was hyperventilating', on January 13, 2008. Nurses, who should have been within arm's reach of Rachael at all times, did not intervene and 15 minutes later the noises stopped, but they assumed she had fallen asleep. Nurses on the Meadows Unit dialled 999*; when they realised she was not breathing 10 minutes later

Stockport deputy coroner Joanne Kearsley said: 'I find from the evidence that the (level four) observations were not being carried out correctly. I accept that this was a particularly difficult time for the unit and the staff who have to deal with distressing and difficult patients and situations, but I fail to find any reason why the guidance was not followed. Perhaps of most concern was the fact that CPR was not commenced when Rachael was found. I would expect all staff to be reminded of the importance of this in an emergency situation.'

Source: Daily Mail

* WTF? Aren't nurses supposed to know CPR? Isn't that a bit like the fire brigade calling the fire brigade?

Nurses spend more time doing paperwork than looking after patients

Some nurses are spending more than half their time doing paperwork instead of looking after patients, according to new figures.

Statistics from one group of hospitals show senior sisters and charge nurses – who oversee all the patients and staff on a ward – spend as little as 44 per cent of their time with patients.

Managers at Cambridge University NHS Trust have handed senior sisters and charge nurses new contracts to ensure they spend at least 80 per cent of their time to caring for patients.

Chief nurse Karen Castille said: “The trust is piloting a scheme to free up sisters’ and charge nurses' time and trying to measure the impact of this.”

She told the Nursing Standard magazine the hospitals would be trying out the new contracts until the end of the year.

It comes amid growing concerns that nursing staff are being increasingly swamped by bureaucracy and target-chasing.

Dr Peter Carter, General Secretary of the RCN said: “Nurses enter the profession because they want to care for patients, and so measures that increase the amount of time they spend with patients are a good thing.

"However, it is often problems with resourcing that reduce the amount of time nurses spend with patients.

“It is vital that wards are sufficiently resourced so nurses can provide patients with the level of care they want and deserve.”

The Royal College of Nursing has repeatedly warned that nurses are being forced to spend too much time on paperwork.

Source: The Telegraph

Aylesbury and Wycombe MPs slam treatment after Stoke Mandeville Hospital death

FURIOUS MPs have slammed the "shocking" hospital treatment of a 77-year-old woman whose death came after nurses failed to give her medication for 36 hours. Health bosses said they were launching a 'detailed investigation' following an inquest into the death of Hughenden Valley resident Margaret Brown at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.

 

The inquest heard on Friday drugs to treat Mrs Brown were unavailable after staff at the hospital's pharmacy could not be contacted. Nurses' attempts to obtain the drugs was described as "haphazard" by coroner Richard Hulett, who recorded a verdict of misadventure.

 

Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust this week apologised to Mrs Brown's family and offered its "sincere condolences"...

 

Source: This is local London

Talented singer died 'after doctors blamed agonising headaches on pregnancy

A talented singer married to one of Britain's top songwriters died after her rare brain condition was repeatedly mistaken for pregnancy complications, her family claims.
One doctor said the headaches were caused by a slipped disc while another told her it was just a trapped nerve.
A third doctor said her migraines were hormone-related and one suggested they were being triggered by an addiction to painkillers.
When she finally had an MRI scan in March - three months after giving birth to daughter Sophia - doctors discovered she was suffering from Chiari malformation.
The condition - which affects one in 1,000 people - is a deformity at the base of the skull which crushes the brain stem into the spinal column causing a blockage of spinal fluid.
The mother-of-two underwent an operation on June 23 to relieve pressure on the brain stem but she died three days later of heart failure.


Source: Daily Mail

A new treatment is giving hope to MS sufferers such as Mark Walker. So why can’t he get it in Britain?

Mark Walker is what the NHS calls an “expert patient”. He’s someone who knows all there is to know about the disease that has shadowed his existence on and off, for nearly 20 years, forcing him to give up the high-flying job he adored, and curtailing an active life. Walker asks difficult questions of doctors, expects candid answers, and pursues new research doggedly.

Before our meeting at the pretty bungalow on the outskirts of Oxford where he lives with his wife, Natasha, he provided me with a detailed record of the onset of his multiple sclerosis (MS): from the first signs of a problem (double vision in December 1991) through putative diagnoses (myasthenia gravis and a brain tumour) and accumulating symptoms (numbness, balance and bladder problems) to definitive diagnosis in 2000. Each treatment tried and its result are documented meticulously, as you would expect from someone who qualified originally as a pharmacist.

Today, at 51, the former IBM management consultant has severely impaired mobility on his right side. He relies on a walking aid known as a Musmate and trekking poles. He knows what, in all probability, lies ahead – a life of increasing debilitation and limitation. It is this glimpse of the future that lies behind his decision – a “rational and considered one” – to go to Athens for tests and, possibly, treatment based on a controversial new theory about the cause of MS.

Walker is frustrated, however, that he must seek help abroad and, given that he lives close to two world-renowned MS centres at the John Radcliffe and the Nuffield hospitals, angry at the lack of support from MS experts here in exploring new approaches.

“Yes, I am desperate. Two years ago I was living in a three-storey townhouse in the centre of Oxford. Now, I’m living in a bungalow because I can’t do stairs very well. Ten years ago, I was managing a team of 20 people in Rome. Now, my life is all about managing my disease.

''In the 21st century, patients like me, who are well informed about their progressively disabling disease, should be allowed to choose private diagnostic tests and treatment for themselves. And health-care professionals should surely be helping patients’ freedom of choice.”

Source: The Telegraph

Sacked NHS whistleblower vindicated

Tribunal judge orders that radiology manager who reported senior doctors' misconduct be reinstated on her full salary

An NHS worker with an unblemished 27-year career was sacked after she blew the whistle on senior doctors who were moonlighting at a private hospital while being paid to diagnose NHS patients, an employment tribunal has heard.

Sharmila Chowdhury, 51, the radiology service manager at Ealing Hospital NHS Trust, repeatedly warned the hospital's most senior managers that doctors were dishonestly claiming thousands of pounds every month.

A Watford employment tribunal judge took the unusual step last week of ordering the trust to reinstate Ms Chowdhury's full salary and said: "I have no hesitation in saying that you are probably going to win."

The ruling will be a bitter blow for the trust, particularly as despite the seriousness of the allegations, it failed for two years to take any action against Miranda Harvie and Peter Schnatterback, the two doctors accused of fraud at the hearing.

Instead, Ms Chowdhury was suspended after a counter-allegation of fraud made against her by a junior whom she had reported for breaching patient safety. Radiographer Michael McWha made the allegation at the request of Dr Harvie, the tribunal heard. Ms Chowdhury was sacked for gross misconduct in June, eight months after her suspension.

This case is the latest to highlight the inadequate legal protection for whistleblowers who speak out about wrongdoing in the NHS. It also raises the uncomfortable question about the power yielded in the NHS by senior doctors. The onus is now on the trust to prove at next February's tribunal that Ms Chowdhury was guilty of fraud and not, as she claims, sacked because she was a whistleblower.

Speaking after the judgment, a tearful Ms Chowdhury expressed her relief after months of financial hardship. A widow with a teenage son, Ms Chowdhury has been forced to move back in with her elderly parents and rely on the goodwill of outraged lawyers. She told The Independent on Sunday: "I cannot believe what has happened to me. I was horrified and humiliated when escorted out of the building, and for a whole month, I had no idea why I was suspended. I was just doing my job. I thought the trust would want to know consultants were doing private work on NHS time. The public has a right to know what is happening with public money.

"This whole thing has completely changed me. I'm trying to stay positive but I loved my work, my department, and there are not many jobs out there. I hope the trust sees sense and tries to resolve the situation. If it hadn't been for Julie Morris at Russell Jones and Walker who took on my case for free, I would have lost everything I'd worked for all my life."

Source: The Independent

Jane Harrop, 30, dies after doctors tell her: You've only got a headache

Jane Harrop was told she ‘only had a migraine’. But ten days later, she was dead – after medics failed to diagnose what is believed to be Menigo-myeloncephalitis.

The care at Good Hope Hospital, Birmingham was ‘an absolute joke’, said Mrs Harrop’s husband, Dean, ‘The day before she died on February 19, Jane was rolling about on the floor screaming,’ added the builder from Selly Oak.

Hospital bosses have launched an inquiry into the 30-year-old carer’s treatment, and findings will be passed to a coroner. Lisa Dunn, Good Hope Hospital director, said: ‘We would again like to pass on our sincere condolences to the family.’

Source: The Metro.

Hospital trust pay-out for brain-damaged taxi driver

A taxi driver who suffered brain damage after a hospital scan was not properly interpreted has been awarded a multimillion-pound pay-out. Leslie Dye was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex, after he was stabbed in the neck by a customer in May 2003. Mr Dye, 57, suffered a cardiac arrest which left him seriously disabled and wholly dependent.

 

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust admitted liability. The trust has agreed to pay Mr Dye a lump sum of £850,000 plus index-linked periodic payments. Mr Dye is now cared for at the Jacob Centre, in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire.

 

At London's High Court earlier, Mr Justice Burnett said: "It is obvious that the consequences of the stabbing and the failures in medical care which followed had an absolutely devastating effect upon his life and on the lives of all those close to him."

 

A trust spokesman said: "Since the incident, the trust has worked hard to ensure the quality of its healthcare services improves and that nothing similar happens again. The trust has apologised to Mr Dye and his family for the quality of care he received at Princess Alexandra Hospital and wishes them all the best for the future."

 

Source: BBC

NHS trust 'deny' life-saving operation for 13-year-old epilepsy sufferer

"A mother is uprooting her family because she says her NHS trust has denied her seriously ill son a life-changing operation.

 

Sue Lomas is moving from Staffordshire in the hope another trust will fund a £14,000 operation to ease son Ryan's life-threatening epilepsy. The 13-year-old's fits are so violent he wears a helmet – but is still left with broken teeth and sometimes even a fractured eye socket.

 

Ms Lomas, 40, made a case for vagal nerve stimulation surgery – in which electric impulses control seizures – but she lost her second appeal to North Staffordshire PCT despite backing from consultants, politicians and carers. 'The NHS will give out things like boob jobs and gastric bands, so why won't they give my son a chance at happiness?' she asked. She is moving from her childhood home of Biddulph to Nottingham to continue her fight.

 

The trust said it refused the procedure because there was a chance Ryan would feel no benefit."

 

Source: The Metro

"I think we've relied on an assumption that doctors, when they come out of medical schools, are competent to prescribe."

A seven-month-old baby boy died after doctors gave him 12 times the correct amount of anti-epileptic drugs he should have received in 24 hours, an inquest heard.

A mistake? A single doctor's error compounded by tiredness and overwork?

Well, not really:

Medical staff involved in his care, including a consultant paediatrician, a specialist registrar and a senior house officer, were suspended from prescribing medicine and could still face disciplinary action.

'Could'? In any other profession, that would be a 'will'...

After Lucas's death, the senior registrar was forced to take two prescribing tests but failed both.

If that's the senior registrar, can you imagine what the juniors are like?

Major deficiencies in artificial feeding, inquiry finds

There are major deficiencies in the way hospitals provide artificial nutrition to sick babies and adults, an inquiry has found.

A national safety watchdog found problems in three quarters of the intravenous feeding it cases examined. Complications were avoidable in half the adult patients reviewed, it said. Premature babies meanwhile were not always given the sustenance they needed, and delays were rife, the report added.

The report from the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) looked at more than 1,000 cases of artificial - or parenteral - nutrition in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Liquid containing key nutrients pumped from a bag directly into a vein is given to patients who cannot digest food through the gut as a result of disease or surgery, or babies whose systems are not mature enough. A catalogue of problems were uncovered while reviewing questionnaires and case notes from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the "Mixed Bag" report found.

They included failure to ensure the catheter was inserted by a trained clinician under suitably sterile conditions, as well as lapses in monitoring and assessment...

Source: BBC

Kent bug scandal NHS boss awarded damages

The former boss of a Kent NHS trust where 90 people died in a superbug outbreak has been awarded more than £190,000 in damages.

Rose Gibb went to the Court of Appeal in a legal battle over her severance pay. She left her job days before a report into a clostridium difficile (C. diff) outbreak at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust was released...

The trust negotiated a £250,000 pay-off, but £175,000 was withheld. Ms Gibb left her £150,000-a-year chief executive post in October 200... The report concluded the infection was the main cause of death for 90 patients in 2007.

Source: BBC

'Voyeur' GP admits fondling staff and installing webcam in series of sex and alcohol-related complaints before GMC

A voyeuristic GP fondled his nurses and receptionists, installed a web cam in his surgery and watched porn on office computers, it was claimed yesterday.

Dr Ralph Vadas also turned up to work drunk and was caught pleasuring himself in the surgery kitchen, the General Medical Council was told.

The doctor has admitted putting his hand up a receptionist's jumper and telling her he was 'falling in love with her'.

Over four years between 2004 and 2008, Vadas watched porn on computers at the West Canford Health Medical Centre in Poole, Dorset. As part of this 'sexually motivated' behaviour he stockpiled images at the surgery in 2007, it is claimed.

Vadas now faces 60 charges relating to his sexual conduct and his alleged inadequate treatment of eight patients over 12 years.

Allegations relating to the GP's abuse of alcohol will be heard in private but the General Medical Council has heard the doctor 'was under the influence of alcohol on occasions' at the surgery between February and October 2007.

He had agreed to abstain completely from alcohol in September 2006 but lied to his supervisors about a drinking binge the following February.

Vadas has admitted that this conduct was inappropriate and dishonest.

The allegations of sexual touching refer to two nurses and two receptionists between August 2003 and 2007.

He has admitted touching a district nursing sister's buttocks 'without her consent' on August 26, 2003, but denies touching her hip. A further nurse claims the doctor touched her stomach 'without her consent'.

One receptionist reported that he touched her bottom and another said he put his hand up her jumper and said he was falling in love with her.

He has admitted installing a web cam in his surgery pointed towards the area where patients would sit, but denied masturbating in the surgery kitchen in April 2008.

It is further alleged his treatment of eight patients was 'inadequate' between 1996 and 2008.

On one occasion in March 2003, Vadas told a patient complaining of 'crushing pain' in his chest and trouble breathing to drive himself to hospital, it is claimed.

For the next four years he treated the man for angina without carrying out an adequate review of his medication, cholesterol level of blood pressure, it is said.

Vadas also prescribed his wife the powerful painkiller pethidine over nine years but did not attempt to wean her off it after she became addicted. Instead he prescribed morphine injections 'when it was not clinically indicated', the hearing was told.

When her husband queried whether she should drive while using morphine, Vadas told him it was up to him to decide if she was fit enough.

The GP denies any wrongdoing over his prescription of steroids to another patient over 12 years.

Another woman was prescribed the contraceptive pill for four years without annual reviews of her weight and blood pressure, it is claimed.

Vadas denies this conduct was inadequate.

A second woman was also prescribed an oral contraceptive which was 'contraindicated' and no reasons were recorded.

In February 2008 the doctor diagnosed a woman with iron deficient anaemia but failed to rule out bleeding as a cause of her problems, the GMC was told.

Vadas denies this was inadequate but admits failing to keep adequate records.

A further patient was prescribed a series of drugs for high cholesterol and high blood pressure but was not properly monitored, it is alleged. Vadas then failed to direct liver tests for a patient and review them every three months after prescribing antibiotics. He denies this conduct was inadequate.

After a series of complaints, the Hungarian doctor was excluded from the practice by the Bournemouth and Poole Primary Care Trust in 2008.

He was also suspended by the GMC pending investigation.

It is claimed the GP then accessed patient records during his suspension and rang up the practice manager to make threats.

Vadas is attending his central London hearing and denies that his fitness to practise is impaired by reason of misconduct or adverse physical and/or mental health.

Source: Daily Mail

Head Injury? Well, Maybe...But You've Had A Few Sherbets, Haven't You?

Following on from Dick Puddlecote's post yesterday, it seems alcohol + illness makes it hard to diagnose - particularly for those medics who have already made up their minds:

Confused and in distress, this man seems to be in need of medical attention.

But when this picture was taken, Arnold Siddall had just been dumped outside a hospital A&E department because staff thought he was drunk.

In fact he had suffered a fractured skull, but no one at the hospital read a form written by a paramedic which said the 47-year-old had hit his head on a pavement.

So he was turfed out, and eventually arrested. Whereupon, on suffering a fit, he was brought back to hospital. Too late.

Now a coroner has ruled that Mr Siddall could have survived had he been treated at once, rather than a full 14 hours after his fall.

His family released the poignant image of his final hours yesterday as they demanded assurances that no patient could ever be betrayed by the NHS in the same way.

Good luck with that!

The trust has paid his family a five-figure out-of-court settlement negotiated through solicitors Pannone and has apologised for Mr Siddall's treatment.

Anyone want to bet this won't happen again?

Doctor struck off after diagnosing alcohol withdrawal for patient who died of pneumonia

If you've ever thought it odd that your GP routinely asks about alcohol intake when you visit about a pain in your elbow, this should be rather more worrying.

A BUNGLING Midland doctor has been struck off after telling a seriously ill patient that he was just suffering from alcohol withdrawal – hours before he died from pneumonia.

Madumita Mitra made the wrong diagnosis during a house call in Great Barr, Birmingham.

The male patient had tell-tale signs of pneumonia including a painful cough and shortness of breath. But instead of sending him to hospital, the medic diagnosed alcohol withdrawal.

The patient died three hours later.

The panel ruled that her actions were so serious they had no choice but to remove her name from the medical register.

She had previously spoken on the phone to a friend of the ill man and had taken details of his medical history, including the fact that he was an alcoholic. When Dr Mitra arrived at the house she, “kept looking round as if looking for alcohol” the friend later said.

The examination lasted between five and seven minutes, but the GP did not check the patient’s chest properly.

While top medics continually harp on about the all-encompassing evil of alcohol, is it really that surprising when a gullible doctor such as this sees a demon which isn't there?

Source: Sunday Mercury

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