Bereaved mother's campaign against medical guidelines that allow premature babies to die22 weeks good, 2 days less bad.
A mother who watched her premature baby die when doctors refused to help him has condemned medical guidelines which said he should not be saved.
Sarah Capewell gave birth to a baby son when she was 21 weeks and 5 days into her pregnancy. Her pleas to doctors and midwives to admit the newborn to a special care baby unit were rejected.
Staff at James Paget Hospital, in Gorleston, Norfolk, told her that if her son Jayden had been born two days later, at 22 weeks, they would have tried to help him.
Instead, Miss Capewell, who had previously suffered five miscarriages, says she was told the child had "no right" to life, by doctors, who refused to even see the baby, which lived for almost two hours without any support.
Medical guidance for NHS hospitals says the low chance of survival for babies born below 23 weeks means they should not be given interventions which could cause suffering.
Miss Capewell says her increasingly desperate pleas to assist her baby were met with a brusque response from doctors, who said she should consider the labour as a miscarriage, rather than a birth.
When she implored a paediatrician: "You have got to help" he responded: "No we don't".
After asking doctors to consider his human right to life, she claims she was told: "He hasn't got a human right, he is a foetus".
At least 100 patients are dying or suffering serious harm each year after healthcare workers give them the wrong medication. The number of alerts relating to errors or “near-misses” in the supply or prescription of medicines has more than doubled in two years, the National Patient Safety Agency said.Source: The Times
More than 86,000 incidents regarding medication were reported in 2007, compared with 64,678 in 2006 and 36,335 in 2005. The figures, for England and Wales, show that in 96 per cent of cases the incidents caused “no or low harm”, but at least 100 were known to have resulted in serious harm or death.
Workload pressures, long hours, fatigue and reduced staff levels have contributed to errors, but the “serious consequences” of failing to administer, prescribe or dispense medicines correctly are still not well recognised in the NHS though they can be fatal, the report said.
The figures — based on voluntary reporting by hospitals, clinics and GPs — are thought to be a vast underestimate of the number of errors. Professor David Cousins, a senior pharmacist at the agency, said it was well known that only about 10 per cent of incidents were reported in most voluntary systems. This suggests that there were as many as 860,000 errors or near-misses involving medicines in 2007.
A doctor who gave a patient six times* the proper dose of a painkiller has told a General Medical Council panel he "bitterly regrets the error." Dr Michael Stevenson, 57, of Cumbria, said he thought he had given a 59-year-old builder 5mg of diamorphine in 2005, but had actually administered 35mg. The panel heard the man stopped breathing and needed an antidote.Well, apart from the woman you killed in the same year, of course.
In 2007, the 57-year-old GP admitted manslaughter after accidentally giving a female patient a fatal overdose.
He was given a suspended jail sentence for the mistake which killed Marjorie Wright, of Workington, in January 2005...
"Clearly I bitterly regret the error. I go over it in my mind and try to find an explanation. It has had a big effect on me. I have never ever made an error of that magnitude in my life."
Two reports are to detail NHS failings over the handling of a schizophrenic killer who killed two more people after release from a secure hospital.Source: BBC
Peter Bryan, 39, of east London, killed a friend and ate parts of his brain in 2004 - two years after being released from Rampton, in Nottinghamshire. He then went on to kill a patient after being sent to Broadmoor, in Berkshire.
The reports will look at how the risk he posed was assessed and the levels of security under which he was held.
Bryan was first sent to Rampton secure hospital in 1994 after beating 20-year-old shop assistant Nisha Sheth to death with a hammer in a clothes shop in Chelsea, south-west London. In 2002 he was released after applying to a mental health tribunal and allowed to live as a care in the community out-patient...
Researchers have claimed the food provided in prisons is better than in NHS hospitals.Oh, the irony.
Experts from Bournemouth University examined the quality of food offered to prisoners and NHS patients.
They say people in hospital are losing out on nutrition because they are not being helped with eating or having their diet monitored.
A Department of Health spokesman said most patients were "satisfied with the food they receive in hospitals".
Moan, who worked with Richard Setlow, a biophysicist at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York state, said vitamin D deficiency could be lethal. Research links it with heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and reduced immunity.
Their research says: “Cold climates and high latitudes would speed up the need for skin lightening. Agricultural food was an insufficient source of vitamin D, and solar radiation was too low to produce enough vitamin D in dark skin.”
A Bristol man is taking Weston General Hospital to court, claiming an operation on his knee was botched by Scandinavian doctors. Terry Heath, from Lockleaze, underwent knee replacement surgery at the hospital in 2004 but had to be operated on again at Southmead Hospital a year later to correct mistakes that were made during the initial operation.Source: This Is Bristol
Surgeons were drafted in from Sweden, Denmark and Finland between 2003 and 2006 as part of a £3-million scheme to reduce waiting lists for hip and knee replacement patients across the Bristol area and beyond. Issues were raised about the quality of the work carried out by some of the Scandinavian surgeons back in 2004 when Welsh consultant, David Shewring, sent letters to his patients claiming that overseas doctors employed by Weston Area Health Trust might not be skilled enough to carry out operations...
In May the Evening Post reported that more than a third of patients who were operated on by Scandinavian surgeons in Weston- super-Mare had an unsatisfactory result, and that lawyers were considering at least six cases.
Weston Area Health Trust , which runs the hospital, is conducting a review into the us of the overseas surgeons, which is likely to be completed later in the year. A spokeswoman said she was unable to comment on the matter due to the legal proceedings.
The Vaccine May Be More Dangerous Than Swine Flu
By Dr Russell Blaylock
http://socioecohistory.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/dr-russell-blaylock-
vaccine-may-be-more-dangerous-than-swine-flu/
"...Novartis, the second contender, also has an agreement with WHO for a pandemic vaccine. Novartis appears to have won the contract, since their vaccine is near completion. What is terrifying is that these pandemic vaccines contain ingredients, called immune adjuvants that a number of studies have shown cause devastating autoimmune disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and lupus.
Animal studies using this adjuvant have found them to be deadly. A study using 14 guinea pigs found that when they were injected with the special adjuvant, only one animal survived. A repeat of the study found the same deadly outcome.
So, what is this deadly ingredient? It is called squalene, a type of oil. The Chiron company, maker of the deadly anthrax vaccine, makes an adjuvant called MF-59 which contains two main ingredients of concern-squalene and gp120. A number of studies have shown that squalene can trigger all of the above-mentioned autoimmune diseases when injected.
The MF-59 adjuvant has been used in several vaccines. These vaccines, including tetanus and diphtheria, are the same vaccines frequently associated with adverse reactions.
I reviewed a number of studies on this adjuvant and found something quite interesting. Several studies done on human test subjects found MF-59 to be a very safe immune adjuvant. But when I checked to see who did these studies, I found-to no surprise-that they were done by the Novartis Pharmaceutical Company and Chiron Pharmaceutical Company, which have merged. They were all published in "prestigious" medical journals. Also, to no surprise, a great number of studies done by independent laboratories and research institutions all found a strong link between MF-59 and autoimmune diseases.
Squalene in vaccines has been strongly linked to the Gulf War Syndrome. On August 1991, Anthony Principi, Secretary of Veterans Affairs admitted that soldiers vaccinated with the anthrax vaccine from 1990 to 1991 had an increased risk of 200 percent in developing the deadly disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig's disease. The soldiers also suffered from a number of debilitating and life-shortening diseases, such as polyarteritis nodosa, multiple sclerosis (MS), lupus, transverse myelitis (a neurological disorder caused by inflammation of the spinal cord), endocarditis (inflammation of the heart's inner lining), optic neuritis with blindness and glomerulonephritis (a type of kidney disease).
The second ingredient, and one that greatly concerns me, is called gp120, a glycoprotein. Researchers found when it was mixed with squalene, the glycoprotein became strongly antigenic - that is, it produced a powerful and prolonged immune response to the vaccination. In fact, their studies show that with each dose, the intense immune reaction lasts over a year.
Now for the shocker-the glycoprotein-gp120, a major component of MF-59 vaccine adjuvant, is the same protein fragment isolated from HIV - the virus that is responsible for the rapid dementia seen in AIDS patients.
Studies have shown that when gp120 is taken up by the microglia cells in the brain, it causes intense inflammation and makes the brain subject to excitotoxic damage-a process called immunoexcitotoxicity. This is also the cause of the MS and optic neuritis associated with vaccines that contain MF-59.
So, how would the gp120 get into the brain? Studies of other immune adjuvants using careful tracer techniques have shown that they routinely enter the brain following vaccination. What most people do not know, even the doctors who recommend the vaccines, is that most such studies by pharmaceutical companies observe the patients for only one to two weeks following vaccination-these types of reactions may take months or even years to manifest.
It is obvious that the vaccine manufacturers stand to make billions of dollars in profits from this WHO/government-promoted pandemic. Novartis, the maker of the new pandemic vaccine, recently announced that they would not give free vaccines to impoverished nations-everybody pays.
One must keep in mind that once the vaccine is injected, there is little you can do to protect yourself-at least by conventional medicine. It will mean a lifetime of crippling illness and early death.
There are much safer ways to protect oneself from this flu virus, such as higher doses of vitamin D3, selective immune enhancement using supplements, and a good diet." End of excerpt by Dr. Blaylock.
NHS nurses will be criticised today for their cruel and demeaning treatment of more than a dozen elderly patients.Source: The Times
A report published by the Patients Association, a health watchdog, records 16 incidents of people left lying in their own faeces and urine, having call bells taken away from them and being left without food or drink.
One former nurse told of the substandard care she received as a patient, describing her experience as “scary”.
The Patients Association said one hospital had threatened it with legal action if it chose to publish the material, but added that there was a “striking similarity between many of the cases — nearly all of them centre on concerns over basic nursing and domiciliary care.”
In the last six years, the Patients Association claims hundreds of thousands have suffered from poor standards of nursing, often with 'neglectful, demeaning, painful and sometimes downright cruel' treatment.Source: The Daily Telegraph
The charity has disclosed a horrifying catalogue of elderly people left in pain, in soiled bed clothes, denied adequate food and drink, and suffering from repeatedly cancelled operations, missed diagnoses and dismissive staff. The Patients Association said the dossier proves that while the scale of the scandal at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust - where up to 1,200 people died through failings in urgent care - was a one off, there are repeated examples they have uncovered of the same appalling standards throughout the NHS.
While the criticisms cover all aspects of hospital care, the treatment and attitude of nurses stands out as a repeated theme across almost all of the cases. They have called on Government and the Care Quality Commission to conduct an urgent review of standards of basic hospital care and to enforce stricter supervision and regulation.
Claire Rayner, President of the Patients Association and a former nurse, said:“For far too long now, the Patients Association has been receiving calls on our helpline from people wanting to talk about the dreadful, neglectful, demeaning, painful and sometimes downright cruel treatment their elderly relatives had experienced at the hands of NHS nurses. I am sickened by what has happened to some part of my profession of which I was so proud. These bad, cruel nurses may be - probably are - a tiny proportion of the nursing work force, but even if they are only one or two percent of the whole they should be identified and struck off the Register.”
Man collapses with ruptured appendix... three weeks after NHS doctors 'took it out'Is it too much to ask that NHS surgeons should be qualified to know how to cut out an appendix? It is, after all, considered routine these days.
After weeks of excruciating pain, Mark Wattson was understandably relieved to have his appendix taken out.
Doctors told him the operation was a success and he was sent home.
But only a month later the 35-year-old collapsed in agony and had to be taken back to Great Western Hospital in Swindon by ambulance.
To his shock, surgeons from the same team told him that not only was his appendix still inside him, but it had ruptured - a potentially fatal complication.
In a second operation it was finally removed, leaving Mr Wattson fearing another organ might have been taken out during the first procedure.
A spokesman for Great Western Hospital confirmed that a representative had met Mr Wattson and that an investigation had been started.Don't we just #welovethenhs
He was unable to confirm what, if anything, was removed in the first operation.
Paul Gearing, deputy general manager for general surgery at Great Western Hospital NHS Trust, said: 'We are unable to comment on individual cases.Stock reply.
'However, we would like to apologise if Mr Wattson felt dissatisfied with the care he received at Great Western Hospital.'Would he like to take part in our client satisfaction survey? Here's a questionnaire.
David Waterhouse was 'bumped down' the list several times because there was a lack of surgeons able to perform the operation on him at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, East Sussex.Source: Daily Telegraph
The mortgage adviser was allowed to 'slowly deteriorate' in his bed to a state which could have killed him because only two theatres rather than the normal three were open. Instead other cases were dealt with as priorities while Mr Waterhouse - who is now at home following his ordeal earlier this month - lay in bed with crippling pains.
His wife Rebecca, 43, has criticised the care her husband received at the hospital when he was admitted on Saturday, August 8. She said: "It was unacceptable - he was put at risk - an appendicitis is a serious condition that could change at any time. The longer he was waiting to have his operation, the longer he was risking the appendix rupturing."
She added there should be no difference between weekend and weekday rotas as "people get sick all the time". She said: ""We are in no way complaining about the treatment itself but I think it would be a good idea to open up an extra operating theatre so people don't have to suffer. After all people get sick all the time - not just on weekends."
Surgeons finally operated on Mr Waterhouse on Monday - almost three days after he was first admitted...
Tens of thousands of clinical samples were wrongly labelled when they arrived at NHS pathology laboratories, an investigation has found.Source: The Metro
A further 11,712 specimens were incorrectly labelled by lab staff, according to information reportedly obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. The survey of every NHS trust, of which 120 replied, found 365,608 specimens were mislabelled before they arrived at laboratories.
More4 News, who obtained the information, also reported 46 cases had been recorded where mislabelling was found to be related to delays in patients' treatment and even deaths...
An ambulance service has apologised to the family of a Nottingham man who was refused transport to hospital shortly before dying from a heart attack.Source: BBC
Brenda Brewster called the emergency services when her husband Charles, 72, lay on the kitchen floor of their home in Bulwell after collapsing. But an East Midlands Ambulance Service (Emas) operator told her the call did not warrant a "high priority" response. Mr Brewster died last November while waiting for paramedics to arrive.
Emas has admitted the call should have been given a higher priority...
Our schools do a very poor job of teaching critical thinking skills, but they do a fantastic job of churning out the next generation of illiterate wage slaves. And this, of course, is entirely the point. That's why you can't even call public schools a "failure" -- because they are actually quite good at what they're designed to do: Train people to be mind slaves who get along in society without asking too many questions.
The truth is that even really smart people are mind slaves, too, because you don't get through the world of academia by asking lots of questions. You survive academia by conforming. You get through medical school by swallowing whatever you're told and shutting down that part of your brain that used to ask skeptical questions. People who ask too many questions get flunked out.
Thus, all the people who become the top doctors, academics and leaders in our nation are, by definition, conformists. That's how they are so easily fooled by the disinformation campaigns waged by Big Pharma, the FDA and the medical journals. And that's how they end up with a double-doctorate degree in physics while chowing down a greasy, genetically-modified cheeseburger in the other.
A senior policeman's wife died 'in terrible circumstances' from Legionnaires' disease after her symptoms were twice 'mistaken' for swine flu.Source: The Daily Mail
Carol Rowe, 46 was told she had swine flu by an ambulance crew who 'refused' to take her to hospital twice after emergency calls. Her furious husband, Detective Inspector Kevin Rowe of Thames Valley Police, said she died in 'terrible circumstances' after paramedics told the mother-of-two she was 'panicking'. Mrs Rowe, who had lung problems after suffering from TB three years ago, as well as asthma, rang for an ambulance after feeling severely unwell.
Det Insp Row, 46, from Thatcham, Berkshire, said that on the first visit the ambulance service made a diagnosis of swine flu and refused to take her to hospital. They returned two days later and again did not take her to hospital. After becoming increasingly more ill, a doctor told one of her children to call an ambulance with an oxygen supply and take her to hospital. Mrs Rowe was put on a life support machine at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading but died four days later...
There has been a fall in the number of death certificates mentioning MRSA or Clostridium difficile (C diff) as a contributory factor in why someone died, figures showed today. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the number of death certificates mentioning C diff fell by 29% between 2007 and 2008, to 5,931.... ah, I see...
This is the first year that mentions on a death certificate have fallen since records began in 1999.Source: The Metro
A poll has found that almost one in three nurses do not want the swine flu jab over fears about its safety and a perception that the flu is mild.This article may seem o/t, but it does raise interesting questions - if the jab is nigh harmless, why don't the nurses want it, and, if it does prevent swine 'flu, shouldn't the NHS be employing people who are prepared to minimise risks to patients, many of whom will be suffering from 'underlying health disorders'?
The poll of almost 1,500 readers of the Nursing Times found that many would reject the vaccine. The jab is to be given to people in high-risk groups, such as those with asthma or diabetes, as well as health workers like GPs and nurses.
Some 91% of those who responded to the survey described themselves as frontline nurses. When asked if they would have the vaccine, 30% of those surveyed said 'no', while 37% said 'yes' and 33% said 'maybe'.
Of those who said they would refuse the jab, 60% said their main reason was concern about the safety of the vaccine. A further 31% said they did not consider the risks to their health from swine flu to be great enough, while 9% thought they would not be able to take time off work to get immunised.
One nurse said: "I would not be willing to put myself at risk of, as yet, unknown long-term effects to facilitate a short-term solution." Another who had not made up their mind whether to have the jab, said: "I have had the seasonal flu vaccination three times and on each occasion was very poorly for several days afterwards. It can give you flu-like symptoms, which in my case were bad enough to put me in my bed."
Professor David Salisbury, the Department of Health's director of immunisation said: "They have a duty to themselves, they are at risk. They have a duty to their patients not to infect their patients and they have a duty to their families."
The survey comes after health chiefs said doctors should watch out for cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome when the vaccine is introduced in October. The syndrome, which affects around 1,500 people a year in the UK, attacks the nervous system and can result in temporary paralysis.
Post-mortem examinations have been suspended at Wales' biggest hospital after inspectors found major problems.Source: BBC
The Human Tissue Authority (HTA) highlighted problems in procedures, facilities and equipment at University Hospital of Wales (UHW) in Cardiff. The HTA said it did not take such action lightly, and Conservatives called it an "extreme step".
Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust set up an urgent inquiry and said it would take immediate action on recommendations. The examinations will now take place at other facilities.
The examinations at UHW's mortuary were halted last Thursday after its licence was suspended by the HTA. The HTA said two licences were suspended after an inspection last month showed poor compliance with regulatory standards.
Director of regulation Sandy Mather said: "The nature of mortuary work means that should something go wrong, it has the potential to cause significant distress to those involved. It is therefore essential that establishments comply with HTA regulatory requirements. We have been in dialogue with the chief executive and other senior members of staff at the hospital since the inspection and we are confident they understand the serious nature of this action. We do not take regulatory action of this seriousness lightly, but feel, in this case, action is in the public interest."
Jan Williams, who became the trust chief executive in July, said: "I am disappointed to come in and find myself in receipt of the HTA report. It highlights serious shortcomings in the operating policies and procedures, premises, facilities and equipment in place in the UHW mortuary. I accept fully the report's findings and recommendations and have taken immediate action to ensure that we address the concerns raised swiftly so that our licence suspension can be lifted as soon as possible.
"In addition, I have set up an urgent inquiry into the circumstances that led to the HTA decision, to be conducted by Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW). I will also implement HIW's recommendations once they become available. I am also working closely with the HTA team to ensure our return to full compliance with the HTA standards. I want to assure people that I take this matter seriously and understand that any discussion of mortuary and post-mortem facilities can cause distress, particularly to people who are recently bereaved."
A woman gave birth on the pavement outside the Leicester Royal Infirmary after being told to make her own way to the hospital when she went into labour.Source: BBC
Carmen Blake, 27, who lives about 100 metres from the hospital, was told to walk rather than have an ambulance. A passer-by helped deliver the healthy baby girl, named Mariah, before paramedics made it to the scene. A hospital spokesman said they wanted people to be happy with their care and they would investigate any complaint.
Ms Blake, who has three other children, gave birth on 2 August. She said: "They should have sent an ambulance, knowing that the more children you have the quicker the labour is*. But I was sent no-one and was told to walk over - by myself. Now I would like to have an apology from the hospital and an acknowledgement of how traumatic the experience was for me."
She also thanked the passer-by, a physiotherapist who she described as "fantastic", for her help.
A spokesperson from Leicester's Hospitals said: "Of course it's disappointing that Ms Blake was not happy with the advice and care she received and we will investigate any complaint we receive. We are pleased that both Ms Blake and her daughter are well and healthy.**"
A woman who was told she had swine flu ended up in hospital with a serious leg infection.Source: Eastwood & Kimberley Advertiser.
Anne Smith, 48, of Wagstaff Lane, Jacksdale, initially thought she had swine flu and rang the national helpline which issued her with Tamiflu drugs to treat it. She also saw her GP who said he thought she had the virus. But Ms Smith and her family were concerned the diagnosis was wrong as she has a heart condition and they wanted her to see a GP again because her leg was beginning to swell.
So four days later she went to a walk-in health centre in Nottingham and explained what had happened. But she was turned away because the centre thought she was infected with swine flu.
Ms Smith's son, David, said: "Her leg was four times its normal size and the man at the desk just said, 'Go home'. I find it so hard to believe that in this day and age someone can go to a medical centre where you are supposed to trust people and they can treat you like that."
Worried David, 26, eventually took his mum to King's Mill Hospital in Sutton- in-Ashfield which diagnosed cellulitis, caused by poor circulation due to the heart condition. He claimed doctors said if it had been 24 hours later the infection might have killed her because it was spreading.
"If it had gone to her heart it would have given her septicaemia and with her heart being the way it is, who knows what would have happened. I was trying to explain to them on the phone that she had a heart problem and many of the symptoms he was reading out she suffered with anyway. I said I think someone really needs to see her. People with serious underlying problems should not just be diagnosed over the phone. It seems madness to me. We are not talking about GPs – just people checking off a list of symptoms. How can someone who is not a qualified GP talk to someone with serious problems and prescribe them Tamiflu? It's a good idea to do something about the pandemic, but more people are going to die from serious underlying problems being misdiagnosed."
A spokesperson for the walk-in centre said flu symptoms were assessed by a nurse who checked whether patients needed emergency care. If they did, they were put in an isolated area to wait for an ambulance and if they did not they were advised to go home and ring their GP.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health said: "You should contact your doctor direct rather than using the National Pandemic Flu Service if you have a serious underlying illness. "The questions asked by the National Pandemic Flu Service (NPFS) to determine whether a person has swine flu have been agreed by a range of clinicians and specialist UK Royal Colleges."
Ms Smith is in hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.
AN on-line petition against phone diagnosis has been launched by the family of a teenager who died after being wrongly told she had swine flu.Source: Daily Post North Wales
The funeral takes place today of 16-year-old Charlotte Hartey from Quinta, near Oswestry, who died on July 31 at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
She had tonsillitis, but her symptoms had been diagnosed as swine flu.
Her father, Karl, says over-the-phone diagnosis must stop before others suffer similar tragedies...
A woman diagnosed with swine flu died of meningitis just days later, an inquest heard today.This is the second case: we reported this story last week.
Jasvir Kaur Gill, 48, started suffering from a sore throat and vomiting.
She was given a telephone diagnosis of Swine Flu and told to take Tamiflu, but just 12 hours later the mother-of-three from Leicester had collapsed and was taken to hospital. An inquest opening at the city's Town Hall today heard she died of meningococcal septicaemia - blood poisoning caused by the same bacteria that causes meningitis - four days later.
Today her 25-year-old son Sukhvinder Gill called for doctors to consider other illnesses than Swine Flu when making diagnoses.
At the hearing today, Mr Gill told Leicester City Coroner Catherine Mason that his mother started complaining of a sore throat during the evening of Saturday, August 1.
She then vomited repeatedly through the night, prompting her husband to call NHS Direct at 5am on Sunday.
An inspection has revealed the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) is putting patients at risk of infection with dirty vehicles and poor training.Source: BBC
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) looked at 22 ambulances and found nine were "in a very poor condition with visible dirt". The other 13 were not cleaned to a good standard and one was so unclean it was taken out of service, the CQC said. The ambulance service said it took the report "extremely seriously".
The NWAS covers the Cumbria, Lancashire, Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire areas. Inspectors found most staff were unaware of the ambulance service policy on cleanliness...
Infection controls are under way after a patient died and two other people were seriously ill with Legionnaires' disease, a hospital trust said.Source: The Metro
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust said an elderly patient had developed the disease while at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.
Health officials are already undertaking an inquiry after a former guest at a Pontin's holiday camp in Blackpool, Lancashire, was diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease. The woman is seriously ill in hospital in Birmingham.
The disease is caught by individuals inhaling water droplets which carry the Legionella bacterium. Legionella naturally occurs in the environment.
The Trust said staff at the hospital had begun disinfecting shower and bath fittings. It added showers, baths and water births had been temporarily suspended and the hospital's entire water system flushed as a precaution.
One case was admitted to the William Harvey Hospital from the community already ill with Legionella infection. The person had not been a recent in-patient, but had visited the hospital for an out-patient appointment during the previous two weeks.
The Trust said a patient with no known connection to the William Harvey Hospital died after being admitted to the Kent and Canterbury Hospital already ill with the Legionella infection.
The National Health Service follows every known rule that guarantees failure in the business world, a new report claims.Time for a change, then. Over to you, Department of Health.
It claimed that NHS organisations remain "isolated and risk averse, consumed with internal processes, bureaucracy, and conforming to the latest Government initiative".
This came at the expense of "focusing squarely on the end-goal of providing high quality care to the patient".
A top-down target culture was to blame. It said: "Targets have ruled the roost, pushing organisations to the edge, often to the neglect of patient care."
A target to treat patients within four hours has meant that patients are held in ambulances, or admitted unnecessarily.
A Department of Health spokesman said: "National targets have led to huge improvements in the care patients receive."Translation: La la la, we're not listening.
Health bosses are investigating whether a two-year-old girl who died from suspected meningitis was wrongly diagnosed with swine flu.Source: The Metro
The parents of Georgia Keeling from Norwich claim paramedics "diagnosed her before even looking at her" and gave Tamiflu before her condition worsened and she died in hospital. News of her death comes after it emerged at least one call centre for the Government's National Flu Pandemic Service for England was employing 16-year-olds, sparking concern about the inexperience of staff.
The parents of Georgia, died at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital on Tuesday, said they were twice told her symptoms sounded like swine flu before she was finally taken to hospital. Their local health centre first said Georgia probably had swine flu and advised them to call the swine flu helpline which said she had only one of the symptoms and suggested that they should call NHS Direct.
NHS Direct then advised them to take the little girl to hospital only if her temperature rose above 40 degrees C but, an hour later, Georgia's condition worsened and her mother called an ambulance. A paramedic who arrived first said it sounded like Georgia had swine flu and so the ambulance would not come out.
Georgia's mother Tasha Keeling was given Calpol and Tamiflu and told to put Georgia to bed, the girl's father, Paul Sewell, 21, said. An hour later, her worried mother called for an ambulance again and Georgia was taken to hospital where she died.
A hospital spokesman said the suspected cause of death was meningitis. Sources said the investigation into the little girl's death would look into all aspects of her care - including the possibility that she may have been wrongly diagnosed as having swine flu.
MP John Pugh has welcomed an NHS inquiry into the death of a baby boy from Sefton.Source: Formby Times
The Regional Health Authority has decided to look into the circumstances surrounding the death of four-day-old Oskar Klosowski after he was driven past his nearest hospital in Southport on to Ormskirk in search of vital treatment.
The investigation will also cover the understanding and application of emergency procedures by hospital and ambulance authorities and will be separate from the Coroner's inquiry.
Dr Pugh said: “This is a welcome move as Sefton NHS is independent of the hospital and the ambulance service. When I spoke with the Regional Health Authority they made it clear they too wanted this independence.There is a paramount need to ensure that patient safety and only patient safety determines and shapes decisions at any time of the day or night. Sefton NHS must have access to all tapes of telephone calls and logs made on the night.
"I will be asking the inquiry to establish whether the A&E department in Southport have to up to date training and skills in infant resuscitation. The hospital is obliged to ensure this and must be capable of stabilising any child that arrives, however they get there. The public need to know that these important skills are there in Southport. There can be no turning away of children from Southport hospital where lives may be at stake and everyone within and without the NHS has to get that message.If the inquiry establishes that loud and clear it will have done us all a service.”
Pressure has been mounting to bring back the children’s A&E department at Southport hospital following the death of baby Oskar. Children’s services were moved from Southport to Ormskirk hospital in June 2003 in a shake-up aimed at improving hospital care. Shortly afterwards, adult services were moved from Ormskirk to Southport.
Camberwell's KCH, one of London's biggest hospitals, is found to be in breach of Government regulations protecting against superbugs and is criticised by inspectors from the Care Quality Commission.Source: The London Paper
ONE of London’s biggest hospitals has been placed under close scrutiny after inspectors discovered soiled mattresses, dirty commodes, mouldy cupboards and other failures to protect against superbugs.
On two surprise visits earlier this year, King's College Hospital in south London was found to be in breach of Government regulations to protect patients, workers and others against deadly infections such as antibiotic-resistant MRSA and Clostridium difficile.
Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission released a damning report which reveals basic hygiene practices were not being followed. They wrote: “None of the staff interviewed in the four wards inspected had been trained on how to clean and check mattresses or commodes. We found some commodes soiled with body fluids and soiled mattresses. We found other dirty equipment used for patients’ care in storerooms that we were told had been cleaned.”
The report also criticises dusty and cluttered store cupboards, bathrooms with peeling paint, dirty taps, overflows and shower seats, and storage units with mould on the wall. Bed areas that should have been cleaned still had items left by previous patients in lockers and bedside tables.
Derek Butler, chair of campaigning group MRSA Action UK said: “This is dreadful. There is no excuse for hospitals not to be clean. It’s not rocket science. It’s about the simplest things. Mattresses should not be stained at all. This is a breach of the law, and if King's College Hospital consistently breaks the rules then I would like to see the management removed.”
Although it has powers to prosecute or fine the hospital, the CQC has put it under “close scrutiny” and will inspect it regularly.
The 950-bed hospital, which serves 700,000 people in Lambeth and Southwark, broke six measures in new regulations to reduce healthcare-associated infection, which it has had to comply with since 1 April this year.
Great Ormond Street, University College and Chelsea & Westminster hospitals were also inspected with no breaches. Ealing Hospital was in breach of one regulation because of stained mattresses.
King's College Hospital has submitted an action plan to the CQC. Its chief executive, Tim Smart, said: “We support the CQC inspection process, and we are using it as a means of focusing the organisation on delivering ever better quality of care. Our patients deserve the best care in a safe and clean environment, and all our staff are committed to taking hygiene and infection control very seriously.”
In 2006 the trust paid £45,000 to the family of Grace Nwamala Nkemdilim, 31, who died at King's College Hospital after contracting MRSA in 2001. It has recently cut levels of MRSA infections, which remain just above average, and C diff infections, which are below average.
A baby boy has died from a suspected salt overdose thought to have been caused by an error with a hospital saline drip.Source: Daily Mail
The tiny child, who was born prematurely, fought for his life for three days after being discovered by nurses with soaring sodium levels and severe dehydration. He had been on a saline drip and a coroner will now investigate the possibility he had been receiving an unsuitable dosage...
The boy died on July 7, three days after the problem was discovered by staff at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham. Nottinghamshire Police said a coroner's investigation would be held and there will be an inquest. Detectives will not carry out any separate inquiries.
Dr Stephen Fowlie, of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "We offer our deepest condolences to the family. We are supporting the family in this difficult time and keeping them fully informed of our investigations into the loss of their baby. We apologise for any shortcomings in our care of their child."
An overdose of salt can lead to hypernatraemia, more commonly known as acute dehydration. Adults can usually react to early symptoms, such as thirst, but infants can slip into a coma before it is detected.
THEY told Phil Collins he had cancer and only six months to live. So he quit his job, cashed in his pension and spent £18,000 in what he thought were the last months of his life.Source: Daily Express
But they were wrong. And now Phil, 61, is suing the NHS after his tumour turned out to be a harmless abscess.
He left work and spent the payout after doctors said he had inoperable gallbladder and liver cancer. After being told he was dying, he also arranged his own funeral, bought his wife Isabel a car and made financial plans for her after his death.
But when he went back to hospital further checks showed that the growth on his liver was in effect harmless. The former lorry driver, from Yetminster, Dorset, said yesterday that the cancer drugs that he was given had ruined his health.
"I was a fit man and I was a keen motorcyclist," he said. "I still had a lot of working life left in me. Now I cannot do anything. I am an absolute wreck. I feel I am just generally shutting down, I am blown up like a balloon, I cannot eat, I cannot keep anything down."
He first went to see doctors at Dorset County Hospital in April 2007 suffering weight loss, anaemia and a loss of appetite. A scan showed an abnormal gallbladder which was diagnosed as advanced cancer. Phil was advised to quit his job and Isabel, 62, also stopped working as a part-time cleaner to care for her husband.
A DAD-OF-TWO, left facing a lifetime of acute disability by hospital blunders after he broke his back in a road smash, is in line for multi-million-pound compensation following a High Court hearing.Source: Newham Recorder.
Michael Spence was 24 when he released his seat belt to turn round and retrieve his 18-month-old son's dummy just as his long-term partner, Angela Naveda, slammed into the car in front, the court was told. The ex-carpenter, now 29, of Hamfrith Road, Stratford, was hurled backwards into the windscreen.
His injuries from the April 2005 accident in High Road, Chadwell Heath, have left him partially paralysed from the waste [sic] down and suffering from depression and severe panic attacks.
The High Court case centred on his treatment at King George Hospital in Goodmayes. On Thursday, Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust accepted they must pay 80 per cent of his damages, which have yet to be finally assessed. The rest will be paid by Miss Naveda's car insurers. Mr Spence's solicitor, Kevin Grealis, confirmed outside the court that his client could expect £2-3 million, mainly to cover accommodation, lost earnings and the cost of care.
A committee of MPs has called for urgent action on patient safety in the NHS. The Health Committee said services “are not safe enough yet.” Chairman of the Committee, Kevin Barron MP, said:Failure by the DH? Quelle surprise.
"Reviews of patients’ case notes indicates that in the NHS and in other healthcare systems as many as 10% of patients admitted to hospital suffer some form of harm, much of which is avoidable.
Tens of thousands of patients suffer unnecessary harm each year and there is a huge cost to the NHS in consequence.
Judging the overall effectiveness of patient safety policy is made difficult because of the failure by the Department of Health (DH) to collect adequate data."
The committee said that harmed patients and their families or carers are entitled to receive information, an explanation, an apology and an undertaking that the harm will not be repeated.One must wonder what the DH have been spending their time and money on which would preclude both reducing errors, and working to cut the £100m per annum spent on lawyers suing the NHS. The incredible amount of advertising in all forms of the media, placed by the DH, might give you a clue.
“Too often, however, this does not occur.
Harmed patients are currently forced to endure often lengthy and distressing litigation to obtain justice and compensation.
At the same time, NHS organisations are obliged to spend considerable sums on legal costs and are encouraged to be defensive when harm occurs.
Three years ago, Parliament passed the legislation which enabled the DH to introduce an NHS Redress Scheme, which would change this situation, removing the need for litigation in many cases.
However, the DH still has not implemented the Redress Scheme and has no timetable for doing so, which we find appalling.”
Live crash victim pronounced deadExtra training? One would have thought that one of the prime skills every single ambulance crewman/woman should possess is to be able to ascertain if someone is dead or alive ...
Two ambulance crew members called to a road crash in Norfolk have been disciplined after pronouncing a man dead while he was still breathing.
An ambulance service manager said the crew had covered Artur Palchimowicz, 22, with a tarpaulin.
A policeman lifted it and realised the injured man was still breathing.
Mr Palchimowicz, from Diss, died in hospital after the crash near Norwich in December, the East of England Ambulance Service spokeswoman said.
She said both members of the ambulance crew were suspended and given extra training before returning to work.
Basic changes recommended after a cancer drug slip-up that killed a teenage boy have yet to be implemented, eight years after he died, MPs say.Source: BBC
The House of Commons Health Committee warns targets "too often" come before patient safety and highlights inaction on measures which could save lives. Wayne Jowett died in 2001 after drugs were injected in his spine not a vein. Changes to spinal needles to stop the same mistake happening again were drawn up, but have yet to be introduced.
"It is totally unacceptable that an identified and simple solution to a catastrophic problem should take so long to be put into practical use," the health committee wrote in their 100-page report on patient safety failings. The MPs also suggested that a fear of litigation and a "blame culture" was preventing healthcare workers from being open when mistakes occurred. The committee heard from one mother who said doctors continually changed their story about why her daughter had bled to death on the operating table.
The committee said it was appalled at the failure to introduce the NHS Redress Scheme, designed to encourage openness by removing the threat of lengthy and costly litigation, three years after parliament passed the necessary legislation. As well as the distress it causes to patient and family, medical harm - from errors in medication to patients falling out of beds without bars - may be costing the NHS billions each year, according to estimates collected by the committee. This sum includes millions paid out by the NHS Litigation Authority to settle clinical negligence claims, and potentially similar amounts to reverse the damage caused by medication errors.
But despite the costs, the Health Committee's annual report said there were NHS boards across the country who had simply "never considered patient safety at all"...
Actress Mollie Sugden has died at the age of 86, her agent has said.
She died at the Royal Surrey Hospital after a long illness.
