Take Your Medicine Like Good Boys And Girls!

The government has more than 30 million swine flu vaccines left over after responding to the outbreak of the swine flu pandemic last year.

Hmmm, what to do, what to do....

I know! *snaps fingers*

Combining immunisation against the flu with the swine flu vaccine would prevent people from being able to turn down the swine flu jab without also missing out on the usual protection against winter flu viruses.

Capital idea! If they won't take their medicine, Nanny NHS will hold their nose until they do!

She said: "By March this year, that vaccine had been given out 5.5million times and there have been no reported cases of narcolepsy in Britain. There is very little change to the seasonal flu vaccination which will still protect against a large number of flu viruses. It is simply that the swine flu vaccine has been added. People will be notified of this when they receive their invitation letters to get the jab so it won't be a surprise."

This sort of breathtaking audacity still comes as a surprise, love, even to me....

Bogus NHS dentist with fake qualifications earned £230,000 over nine years

A bogus dentist with no qualifications managed to fool her employers at NHS hospitals for nine years before being discovered.

Vinisha Sharma used a fake degree certificate to register with the General Dental Council (GDC) and was employed by seven different hospitals where she operated on patients under supervision.

Despite having been investigated by the GDC in 2003, her deception was only discovered after a colleague raised concerns about her skills and knowledge of the job, prompting the Council to take another look at the case.

Sharma, who claimed she had a Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) degree in India, earned roughly £230,000 as a senior house officer on annual contracts over the period.

The 37-year-old said that she had studied at the Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Amritsar, but the university had no record of her ever attending or graduating.

Such was her self-delusion that she even had the letters BDS – Bachelor of Dental Surgery – as part of her personalised Mercedes numberplate.

Source: DailyMail

.Doctors ‘ping-ponged’ Clementine Nicholson, 17, dying of meningitis

A student at one of Britain’s top independent schools was ‘lost’ for hours by hospital doctors as she lay dying of meningitis-related blood poisoning, an inquest heard.

Clementine Nicholson collapsed in agony at £24,000-a-year Rugby School in Warwickshire. The 17-year-old eventually died of meningococcal septicaemia, blood poisoning caused by the same type of bacteria that causes meningitis, on May 6, 2009.

An inquest heard the condition, which causes severe joint pain and fever, needs to be treated within six hours. But Dr Patodi, who was treating her at Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry, sent Miss Nicholson for an unnecessary CT scan and then took a 30-minute break.

She was then ‘ping-ponged’ between two wards before eventually being sent to intensive care...

Source: The Metro.

Mum left with surgical pin sticking out of her elbow

Mum Mary Goodswen has been left in agony after a two-inch surgical pin slid out of her elbow following an operation.

To make matters worse for the 59-year-old mum of four, medics have told her she’ll have to wait a whole month before the problem is put right. In the meantime, doctors suggested that a cork is placed over the spike to stop it injuring someone.

Doctors inserted metal pins in Mrs Goodswen’s arm after it was left badly broken by a brutal street attack close to her home in Bromford, Birmingham. The operation at Heartlands Hospital to correct the broken bone seemed to have been a success – but two days later, one of the pins burst through the skin, to Mrs Goodswen’s horror.

She told the Sunday Mercury: ‘This has made my life hell. I can’t sleep at night and I’m in constant pain. With the pole jutting out of my elbow, I could be a danger to my boyfriend or other people. The pain was indescribable when it ripped through my flesh.’

Source; The Metro

Girl’s fatal tumour mistaken for ‘growing pains’

Courtney Runciman, 11, died on her first day of secondary school after waking up paralysed and doctors discovering a tumour running up her spine.

Tragic Courtney had complained of back and neck ache over the summer holidays, but a doctor was convinced they were merely the result of growing pains. Courtney enjoyed her first day at Blatchington Mill School in Hove and took part in activities with all the other children

The following morning, though, she woke up unable to move her legs. She was rushed to London's King's College Hospital where scans revealed a tumour running from the base of her spine to just below the neck. Her condition worsened considerably after emergency surgery and her parents took the heartbreaking decision to turn off her life support machine...

Source: The Metro

Mother-of-three given just months to live after bungling doctors missed her cancer 20 times

A mother-of-three has been given just months to live after doctors failed to diagnose her cancer during 20 examinations. Catherine Watkins was failed repeatedly by medical staff in Southend, Essex, despite losing two stone and being in so much pain she could barely move.

 

The 55-year-old started suffering severe abdominal pain in December and has been rushed to the A&E department of Southend Hospital four times in the past nine months. Doctors insisted Mrs Watkins, who also suffers from diabetes, simply had gallstones and refused to give her a CT scan.

 

Last month the foster carer was finally given a scan after her daughter forcefully argued her case.  Medical staff then discovered Catherine had advanced liver and pancreatic cancer...

 

Source: Daily Mail.

Father-of-four left disabled after blundering NHS fails to remove brain tumour which grew to the size of a lemon for four years

A father-of-four was left permanently disabled after doctors failed to diagnose a brain tumour which grew to the size of a large lemon for four years.

Former church minister Adrian Underwood was told he was suffering from migraines when he first complained of severe headaches and weakness on his left side.

But though a CT brain scan later revealed a tumour on the right-hand side of his brain, it was left untreated because a senior consultant failed to check the results.

Today the 42-year-old received a substantial out of court settlement after Nottingham University Hospitals NHS trust admitted liability - nearly a decade later.


Read more: Daily Wail

NHS fails to remove brain tumour which grew to the size of a lemon for four years

A father-of-four was left permanently disabled after doctors failed to diagnose a brain tumour which grew to the size of a large lemon for four years.

Former church minister Adrian Underwood was told he was suffering from migraines when he first complained of severe headaches and weakness on his left side. But though a CT brain scan later revealed a tumour on the right-hand side of his brain, it was left untreated because a senior consultant failed to check the results.
Today the 42-year-old received a substantial out of court settlement after Nottingham University Hospitals NHS trust admitted liability - nearly a decade later...

Source: Daily Mail.

Eleven Doctors missed cancer diagnosis Now 43 year has only weeks to live

A mother-of-three has been given weeks to live after ten hospital doctors and her own GP allegedly missed tell-tale signs of cancer.

Distraught Angela Skeffington said blundering medics continually misdiagnosed her stomach cancer as period pains, depression and even indigestion.

She also claims one A&E doctor told her to 'eat more bananas' during her continued cries for help, which went on for five months.

The 43-year-old has now been told her cancer is so advanced that doctors cannot operate - meaning she is likely to miss the birth of her sixth grandchild.

The terminally-ill grandmother of five said she was treated like a 'nuisance' after making cries for help with medics at Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham and her own GP since April.


Editorial comment Im 40 and I feel like a teenager, This woman is 43 and has 5 grandchildren? The mind boggles at how fecund the population is.

Source Daily Wail

Mother of three given weeks to live after cancer was missed by ELEVEN doctors

Distraught Angela Skeffington said blundering medics continually misdiagnosed her stomach cancer as period pains, depression and even indigestion.

She also claims one A&E doctor told her to 'eat more bananas' during her continued cries for help, which went on for five months. The 43-year-old has now been told her cancer is so advanced that doctors cannot operate - meaning she is likely to miss the birth of her sixth grandchild.

The terminally-ill grandmother of five said she was treated like a 'nuisance' after making cries for help with medics at Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham and her own GP since April. She said was suffering with severe stabbing pains to the stomach, blood in her vomit and stools, plus a loss of appetite. Mrs Skeffington claimed she was not given a specialist CT scan until a week ago, when the killer disease was finally discovered.

Her stomach cancer has now spread to her liver and lymph nodes, and she has been told there was little hope of recovery.
Medical records show she was seen by ten doctors during 12 visits to Heartlands Hospital A&E, but suffered repeated misdiagnoses including anorexia, depression and indigestion.

Source: Daily Mail

Busy A&E doctors fail to spot broken bones in children

Children and babies are at risk because overstretched hospital doctors are failing to spot breaks and fractures, it was claimed today.

The number of cases where there has been a delay in diagnosing children's bone injuries, or where breaks have been missed altogether, has risen by nearly a third in two years, according to new figures. The findings raise serious concerns about how under-fives are dealt with in understaffed casualty departments. Patient groups claim NHS cutbacks are partly to blame, along with a national shortage of paediatricians.

The Patients Association said: “It's really important that when children are admitted to A&E they are seen by the most appropriate and skilled individuals. If there is a shortage of specialist paediatricians, then clinical need must outweigh cost.”

The National Patient Safety Agency health watchdog received 19 reports from NHS trusts last year of missed fractures in young children, compared with 14 from 2008 to 2009.

In London, a total of nine blunders at seven hospitals was recorded in the past two years. But the agency says this is likely to be an underestimate as it is not compulsory for trusts to report such incidents...

Source: The Evening Standard

NWA*

Wearing hoodies and baseball caps, and festooned with 'bling' jewellery, they are doing their best to look like American rappers.

Sadly, the fact that they are middle-aged British nurses is all too apparent.

Well, it's crazy, sure, but what they get up to in their own time is no business of...

Oh:

This is how one health care trust has decided to spend public money - by producing an £1,800 rap video about how to clean your hands.

It is available to watch on NHS Milton Keynes Primary Care Trust's own channel on the YouTube website. It can also be bought in DVD form for £25.

Must be selling like hot cakes, I bet?

Yet in the month the DVD has been available, not a single copy has been sold.

Shocker...

* Nurses With Attitude

Superbug hits baby ward at University College Hospital

One of four premature babies infected with a bacteria at a London hospital died from the bug, it has been revealed.

The babies were infected at the University College London Hospital neonatal unit with the so-called "gram-negative" bacteria.
The infection killed one of the babies while two of the others died of other causes. One baby has survived.

The hospital has not said when the baby died, but the bug hit the ward in July. The babies were among 15 at the unit found to be carrying several types of bacteria, of whom 13 had bacteria resistant to treatment. Of those, nine were carrying the bacteria on their skin and four were found to have it in their blood streams...

Source: BBC.

"Hospital put plaster cast on child's wrong arm"

Hospital staff at Southampton General have issued an apology after medics plastered the wrong arm of a two-year old. Toddler, Honey Wight, chipped a bone in her left elbow after she jumped off a slide. However, for reasons unknown, medical staff in A and E plastered Honey's right arm.

 

The youngster's mum, Ms Wight, told the Southern Daily Echo; "I was so angry. I just couldn't believe it." The twenty-nine year old continued; "The nurse was there and it said 'left elbow' but she put it on the right arm. It is just crazy."

 

Ms Wight, who realised the medical mishap the next day, having put her daughter straight to bed after her eventful time, returned to Southampton hospital the next day where the mistake was rectified.

 

Dr Michael Marsh, medical director at the hospital, said: "We are deeply sorry to Honey and her family. Incidents like this are extremely rare and we will be carrying out a full investigation into how it happened."

 

Source: The Metro

Doctors missed Francis McConville's broken back

Francis McConville was released after doctors failed to see he had broken his back in three places, his family claim. Francis McConville's shoulder was X-rayed after he had a fit and he was given a sling.

 

Three broken vertebrae were apparently spotted nearly three weeks later after the 39-year-old of South Ockendon, Essex, had another scan. Basildon Hospital's care was 'horrendous', said mother Frances.

 

The patient's concerns would be addressed at his next appointment, said the hospital.

 

Source: The Metro

‘Superdad’ Dave Brown delivers baby after hospital rejects mum in labour

A 'superdad' delivered his baby after his partner was turned away from hospital twice in 24 hours. Dave Brown also gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to his newborn girl after girlfriend Emma Habens had been told she was not about to give birth. Mr Brown, 42, said he followed tips he had seen on television programmes to help deliver Maisie safely.

 

Miss Habens says hospital staff told her the day before her daughter was born that a birth was not imminent, even though her waters had broken. The 30-year-old went into labour the next morning and returned to the maternity unit. 'They said to me, "Go home, take two paracetemol and have a lie down",' said Miss Habens. 'We went home and, a few hours later, I was lying down when it just happened.'

 

Mr Brown then called an ambulance and said his adrenalin kicked in when the birth was about to begin. 'I kept telling Emma, "Keep breathing," but I didn't know that's what I was supposed to say – I'd just seen them say it on telly*,' he added, 'When she [Maisie] came out she was blue. I blew into her mouth and she started coughing and screaming.' The ambulance then took the family, of Newbury, Berkshire, to hospital.

 

'Dave was amazing. He was a superdad,' said Miss Habens.

 

Sandra Housten, head of midwifery at North Hampshire Hospital in Basingstoke, said: 'Every effort is made to ensure women are assessed and able to spend the early part of labour at home and then deliver safely in hospital. 'But some babies do arrive quickly once labour starts.'

 

Source: The Metro

 

* Call me a sentimental old fool, but I find that bit very touching.

 

Cumbria cancer cases detected by review

Eight women who were given the all-clear for breast cancer are now being treated for the disease after a review of the screening service in Cumbria.

In July, North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust announced breast screening was being temporarily halted for a major review to be carried out. It involved 1,600 women who had had further tests following routine mammograms since April 2007.

The trust has apologised for any distress caused. It decided to have the review when data showed that among women who were called for a second screening, cancer was detected in fewer cases than would be expected...

 

Source: BBC

Damages for boy who lost right eye

The parents of a boy whose right eye had to be surgically removed after a two-month delay in diagnosing his cancer have received a substantial damages settlement.

 

The undisclosed five-figure sum, which will be put into a trust to meet the future needs of three-year-old Harvey Dellar, was approved by a judge at Birmingham County Court. In a statement issued after the brief hearing, Harvey's mother, Caroline Haywood, said she believed her son may not have lost his eye if he had been diagnosed sooner...

 

Source: Press Association/Yahoo

‘It's like they thought, she's got dementia, she's dying, why do we need to do anything?’

Dora Duggan, 81, who was terminally ill and suffering from dementia, was moved from her ward to a room which was full of boxes and was being used for storage at the time.

The hospital also left a bag full of tablets within her grasp, prevented more than two members of her family visiting her bedside at the same time and did not put a wristband on her during her four day stay in hospital.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you…the caring profession.

Nottingham University Hospitals Trust has now apologised ‘unreservedly’ for the great-grandmother’s treatment which they admit was ‘not acceptable’.

No s***, Sherlock.

Mrs Young, 46, a civil servant, said: ‘They treated her like an animal and shut her in a room that wasn’t even sterile.

‘I don’t believe they wheeled the bed in along with all her other stuff – there wasn’t room and there were only three nurses on that night.

‘She was supposed to be on oxygen, so I’ve no idea how they’d have got that in.’

She added: ‘The nurses hadn’t even written on the notes that night that she’d been moved into the cupboard. They added that later on - after I’d made a complaint.’

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