Lord Crisp, the Dept of Health, NHS hospital errors and political pressures

If you wear rose-coloured spectacles or blinkers when viewing the NHS, and if you think governments give a toss about NHS patients in any capacity other than as voters, then read this recent Telegraph article, the content of which should be electrifying. It informs us that Lord Crisp "David Cameron's new health advisor attempted to cover up a hospital scandal in which nine women died giving birth." Furthermore, "When he was permanent secretary at the Department of Health (DoH), Lord Crisp put pressure on NHS regulators to wait until after a General Election to ban the hospital from carrying out caesarean sections." This evidence was given to a public enquiry by Sir Ian Kennedy, former chairman of the Healthcare Commission. I urge you to read the whole of the article and to be shocked by it, because until people other than the actual victims become informed and seek reform of the evil system that sustains the NHS's lack of concern for patient safety, nothing effective will be done to correct it.

Outrage at award of £190K damages to Rose Gibb, CEO of NHS hospital where 90 patients died during superbug outbreak in overcrowded, dirty wards.

See BBC News report. In my opinion, this woman should have received a prison sentence, rather than a huge payout.

In the wake of the Staffordshire Hospital scandal...

Who will be sacked in the wake of the Staffordshire Hospital scandal?
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"The scale of the failure at Staffordshire General Hospital almost defies belief. Dehydrated patients forced to drink water from flower vases, accident victims left untended for hours, clinical judgements being made by receptionists. To call this Third World treatment is an insult to the Third World.

This appalling, incompetent management has exacted a terrible price. Anything from 400 to 1200 patients may have died unnecessarily as a result of the neglect. Not since Harold Shipman was still in general practice have NHS patients been so dreadfully betrayed.

The independent Healthcare Commission was alerted to the scandal by the high mortality rates in what it calls an "early warning system". That was in March last year, three years after the hospital had descended into chaos and a month after it won foundation status. Some early warning system."

When NHS care goes badly wrong as in this dreadful case, there is always a cover-up; there are always lies told by those in charge and/or by health professionals protecting colleagues in the profession. When, years ago, I tried desperately, but unsuccessfully, to obtain urgent treatment that was being denied me purely to avoid having to admit the severity and the length of time of the negligence and agonising pain I had suffered and was suffering, I found to my cost that no-one in management gives a toss for the suffering of patients, and that for the overwhelming majority of health professionals their priorities are money, power, status and reputation, and that management and health professionals combine in closing ranks against the common enemy, viz. the patients they have harmed and the families of those patients. It was nonetheless a bit of a shock when I discovered that the NHS itself and the Department of Health and so many other agencies and ministers and MPs and other individuals all join in with the lies and evasions and there is literally no-one in the entire edifice of the Health Service to whom one can turn and be assured of getting help.

This sorry debacle was not discovered or winkled out by the Healthcare Commission. It is because of the monumental efforts and persistence of relatives of patients who suffered/died in this Hell of a hospital that the general public has come to know about it. There is, in practice, no protection from this sort of ghastly treatment. The routine of lies, obfuscation and whitewash ensures this, and even if some sort of action is eventually taken it is only after inordinate delay.

Those most responsible for the horrors endured by patients at this hospital should, in my opinion, be tried in the criminal court and sent to prison. This would encourage others in positions of power to have some care for the patients' welfare and treatment. - But as it is - and as it sadly will remain - instead of prison, the 'guilty' will most likely move on to other similar posts and yet again there will have been no appropriate sanctions against these crimes against humanity.

One million patients a year are put at risk by hospital blunders and near misses, official figures have revealed.

One million patients at risk in NHS, official figures find
article in the Telegraph

Extracts:

"However experts warned many more are being swept under the carpet as healthcare staff and managers fail to report incidents.

Data on the number of incidents relating to patient safety, the type and the level of harm occurring in each NHS organisation in England and Wales has been published for the first time."

"Anna Walker, Chief Executive of the Healthcare Commission, said: "We know that a significant gap exists between the number of incidents that are reported by the NHS and the number that happen in reality. We welcome the publication of information from individual NHS trusts and increases in reporting because they bring us closer to the true picture of safety and allow a critical and honest assessment of where improvements need to be made. This is a vital part of improving the safety of patients.""

To the best of my knowledge none of the massive amount of medical negligence I have myself experienced has ever been reported by staff, and my own attempts to report it and get anything done have been stonewalled and no action taken to improve the system or the health professionals' behaviour or performance. I was even threatened with libel action if I continued to complain about the appalling treatment I had received...)o:

Thousands of patients are the victims of medical errors that could have been avoided if safety were given a higher priority in the NHS

Thousands of NHS patients suffer avoidable medical errors, says Healthcare Commission
article in the Telegraph

Extract 1:

"The report said only half of NHS trusts comply with all safety standards and there has been little improvement.

Errors that have led to patients being harmed include incorrect diagnosis, wrong doses of medication, surgeons operating on the wrong part of the body and paperwork going missing.

The wide ranging report covers all aspects of healthcare in England and highlights a number of areas of significant improvement in the NHS, particularly around deaths from cancer and heart disease and huge reductions in waiting times.

Demand for healthcare has increased dramatically, the NHS has higher levels of funding than ever before, and the health of the nation is improving, the report said.

However, the last annual report before the Healthcare Commission is subsumed by the Care Quality Commission, the report focuses on patient safety and the lack of progress in the last five years.

The report said too few incidents are reported to the National Patient Safety Agency with particular problems in primary care where doctors and nurses report almost no errors although the majority of patient care is delivered by GPs."

"Dr Hamish Meldrum, Chairman of Council at the British Medical Association said: "The overall picture in this report is of major improvements to standards of care. We applaud the efforts of NHS staff in reducing the amount of time patients have to wait, and improving the quality of the care they receive.

Extract 2:

"Any errors are regrettable but there are millions of contacts between the NHS and patients every day. It is inevitable that, in a very small proportion of these, care falls below the highest standards. Doctors want to get rid of unacceptable variations in quality, but we need to be careful to analyse and learn from the causes of low performance rather than jumping to conclusions or simply adopting a blame culture."

Martin Fletcher, Chief Executive at the National Patient Safety Agency, said: “Good reporting is the cornerstone of patient safety. Safety cannot be improved without a range of valid reporting, analytical and investigative tools that identify the sources and causes of risk in a way that leads to preventative action. The National Reporting and Learning System has a vital role to play in supporting NHS organisations to identify risks to safe patient care. Patient safety needs to be everyone’s responsibility.”"

If you read the whole article you will see that the foolish Dr Meldrum's response is so glaringly at variance with the contents of the report as to be gross lies.

Couple the reluctance of doctors and hospital trusts to admit to errors and to report them, with the long-standing culture of cover-up by the medical profession as a whole, and add to that the widespread practice of further victimising the victims of medical negligence and you may begin to comprehend the vast scale of medical malpractice and avoidable suffering in this country. Then add further the difficulties of even getting a complaint acknowledged/received by the system: the Healthcare Commission has 'gatekeepers' who prevent Prof Sir Ian Kennedy and his fellow Commissioners from even seeing many of the complaints submitted by those who have suffered/are suffering from the mistakes/negligence of the system...

We are very badly served by the expensive, poorly performing NHS and our vastly overpaid doctors, and the NHS Complaints Procedures routinely add to the suffering of complainants/victims and are a national scandal.

The hospital trust at the centre of Britain's worst recorded hospital superbug outbreak which led to the death of 331 patients has escaped prosecution

Superbug hospital escapes criminal charges
Article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"Clostridium difficile contributed to the deaths of the patients over two-and-a-half years at three Kent hospitals a health watchdog report found.

Appalling standards of care, crowded wards, financial problems, a shortage of nurses and poor hygiene all led to the outbreak the Healthcare Commission found in a highly critical report in October.

However after studying that report, Kent Police and the Health and Safety Executive said there would be no charges over the deaths at hospitals run by the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Hospital Trust.

Assistant Chief Constable Allyn Thomas said: "Whilst the report makes for grim and at times distressing reading, our review has not identified any information that would indicate a need or duty to conduct a criminal investigation into the Trust at this time."

Relatives of those who died in the outbreak reacted angrily to the announcement.

Steve Stroud, whose 77-year-old stepmother Doreen Ford died in Maidstone Hospital said he was "disgusted" by the decision.

Mr Stroud, husband of former Bucks Fizz singer Cheryl Baker, said: "This is disgusting. Someone has got to be held to account over all these deaths and if it is not the hospital trust, then who the hell can it be?

"Someone really should have to carry the can over this... for no charges to be pressed is really disgusting. I can't believe it".

Baker, described the death of her mother-in-law as "legalised killing".

She said: "The Trust is to blame, I know that, everyone knows it and it makes my blood boil.

"Those patients didn't die by chance, they died because they contracted C diff at the Trust because of poor hygiene and care, so they are to blame, without a shadow of a doubt."

The Healthcare Commission had found the infection probably or definitely killed 90 people and was a factor in a further 241 deaths.

It also criticised the then chief executive of the trust, Rose Gibb, who left before the findings were published and is now reported to be fighting for a payout of several hundred thousand pounds.

But police said the report held no evidence that the deaths amounted to manslaughter."

Beggars belief, doesn't it?- All those deaths. All that suffering. All that sadness. - No-one held to account...

Without accountability there is less likelihood of improvement...

More than a quarter of health trusts in England are failing to meet basic hygiene standards, official figures show today.

NHS trusts fail to meet hygiene standards
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"The Healthcare Commission reports that no improvement has been made on a year ago.

In total, 103 out of 391 trusts admitted they did not achieve the minimum requirements, brought in by the Government to help combat the hospital superbugs, MRSA and Clostridium difficile.

Patients groups and politicians said that it was "shocking" that one in four still did not meet the standards, despite ministers' pledges to tackle cleanliness.

More than 8,000 deaths were related to MRSA and C. diff. The report shows that 26 per cent of trusts failed to keep facilities clean, did not have adequate infection control or follow guidelines on decontaminating reusable equipment.

Only 40 per cent of trusts claim to have met all the Governments standards, which include patient care and confidentiality as well as hygiene, a slight fall on last year."

More than three million NHS patients are still being admitted to mixed-sex wards each year despite repeated promises by ministers to end this.

Mixed-sex NHS wards for 3m patients

Extracts from the Telegraph:

"A study published by the Healthcare Commission has also found that hospitals were getting dirtier, fewer staff were always washing their hands before touching patients and a fifth of people who needed help with meals were still not getting it.

Its survey of 76,000 inpatients in England – the largest of its kind – measured hospitals on factors that included quality of care, dignity and respect, privacy, waiting times, complaints and quality and availability of information."

"Last year, almost 13 million people stayed at least one night in hospitals in England, meaning that up to 3.2 million were admitted to a mixed-sex ward.

Nearly a third of patients also reported having to use a bathroom shared with members of the opposite sex.

Medway NHS Trust in Kent was the worst in the country for mixed-sex wards, with a score of 54.83. The Cardio­thoracic Centre in Liverpool rated highest on 97.45.

Labour first promised to abolish mixed-sex wards in 2002 but after arguments over what constituted a ward or a sleeping area, Lord Darzi, the health minister and a practising surgeon, said single-sex wards were "an aspiration that cannot be met". "

Rising number of serious complaints about the NHS

Number of complaints against the NHS soars

Extract from the Telegraph:

"A growing number of NHS complaints are being upheld amid falling nursing standards and rushed GP appointments, according to a report published today.

The Healthcare Commission, the independent watchdog, investigated more than 10,000 cases last year. Complaints included cases of patients left in soiled bedding and allegations about rude nurses.

The commission upheld 20 per cent of complaints, more than twice as many as the previous year. Almost a third of complaints about hospitals involved lapses in basic nursing care.

Patients reported that they did not receive regular baths or showers and, in some cases, were left for hours in soiled bedding or clothes.

Nurses barged in on patients when they were changing and could be "abrupt" or "sharp" when speaking, making them feel like a nuisance, the watchdog found.

In some cases call bells were left out of reach and elderly patients were not given help with eating.

Patients also complained that they were given revealing hospital nightgowns to wear.

Charlotte Potter, from Help the Aged, said: "It is astounding that 30 per cent of complaints about hospitals concerned lapses in fundamental aspects of nursing care.

"Nutrition, privacy and dignity, and communication should not be optional extras. It is never acceptable to be left in soiled bedding."

Complaints over GPs included claims that they were too busy to spend enough time with patients.

More than 20 per cent of those who complained about GP service said that the diagnosis of their illness had been incorrect or delayed because of the lack of time. Most of these cases involved the eventual diagnosis of cancer.

Patients also complained that GPs withheld full information about their treatment because of fears that they "could not cope"."

Most patients rightly fear being 'punished' if they make a complaint - especially those without relatives to protect them from victimisation or bullying, so the number of complaints is very much an underestimate of the dissatisfaction felt.

NHS Trust hospital is warned about poor hygiene and infection control practice

NHS trust warned over hygiene breaches

Extract from the Telegraph:

"An NHS trust has been given a warning after inspectors found filthy commodes and bloodstains on a bed rail and wall.

The Healthcare Commission served Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust with an improvement notice over poor practice in tackling infection control.

Thick layers of dust and evidence of poor decontamination procedures for surgical equipment were also found by investigators.

The trust runs three hospitals in south London: the Princess Royal University Hospital, Orpington Hospital and Beckenham Hospital.

The commission carried out an unannounced inspection at the Princess Royal University Hospital on Jan 21 and 22.

It found that the trust was "failing in its duty to provide and maintain a clean and appropriate environment for health care".

Geoff Martin, of the campaign group Health Emergency, said: "Bromley Hospitals has one of the biggest debts anywhere in the country, of almost £100 million.

"They are cutting corners on cleaning because they have been effectively bankrupted by the cost of a PFI deal at the Princess Royal. This is the harsh reality of PFI coming home to roost.""

Women 'get worse heart treatment than men': medical sexism. - Women reporting the same symptoms as men are taken less seriously by doctors.

Extract from a Telegraph health article which appeared on 14th November 2007 but for which I can no longer find a link:

"Women with heart problems are less likely to receive as good treatment and examinations as men, a study has found.

Fewer female heart patients receive effective medication to improve their health and reduce their chances of dying from their condition, an analysis of data collected by the Healthcare Commission shows.

Women admitted to hospital with heart failure were also significantly less likely to have received the most effective tests to diagnose their condition."

This has long been known... - In 1973 researchers, Lennane and Lennane, wrote a seminal paper on medical sexism - about how when women reported physical symptoms of potentially serious health conditions they were less likely to be physically examined, tested and treated, than men reporting the same symptoms, because doctors had a stereotypical negative view of women patients and tended to regard women's symptoms as psychogenic, rather than physical. There have been many similar research research findings since then, and some medical schools have special elements - lectures from psychologists - in their courses to try to eliminate this sexism, which is so damaging to women patients. - Unfortunately the sexism continues...)o: - It is even present in this Healthcare Commission report itself! since they seem to want to lay the responsibility on the women patients, rather than on the doctors who are actually responsible: "Researchers, whose study is published in the journal Heart, are not sure why women with heart problems appear to be having a raw deal, but said part of the reason might be differences in the way they describe their symptoms to GPs."

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

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vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection
See Sodium in foods andhttp://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

More about the hospital hygiene problems, C Diff and MRSA...

The Big Question: Why can't we keep our hospitals clean and protect patients from infection? - Independent

Extract:

"Yesterday an investigation by the Healthcare Commission revealed an astonishing litany of failings at three hospitals in Kent run by the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust which allowed the lethal bug Clostridium Difficile to spread unchecked. Between 2004 and 2006 it infected more than 1,100 patients, directly causing the deaths of 90 and contributing to the deaths of 345. The commission found appalling standards, akin to a Third World health service, including beds crammed together, wards dirty and understaffed, and patients with urgent diarrhoea told to "go in the bed" because nurses were too busy to take them to the lavatory.

Is this just an isolated case?

Sadly not – though it is the worst to have come to light. Last year an investigation into a similar outbreak at Stoke Mandeville hospital, where 334 patients were infected and 33 died from C Difficile between 2003 and 2005, painted a very similar picture of a poorly run hospital operating under extreme pressure where doctors and managers had failed to heed warnings about the threat from the bug. Last July, the 900-bed Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS trust in north London became the first in the country to receive an official warning from the commission for putting patients at risk of infection. Serious breaches of the Hygiene Code, introduced in October 2006, which sets minimum standards for all trusts were found at the hospital.

But can we assume that hospitals are generally clean?

No. In June the Healthcare Commission reported that 99 NHS trusts admitted failing to meet minimum hygiene standards. That is one in four of the total in England. Worryingly, Barnet and Chase Farm was not among the 99. It had claimed it was meeting minimum standards but a spot check revealed poor provision of gels for cleaning hands, inconsistent and confusing messages to staff and inadequate isolation facilities. If other trusts are similarly deceived about their performance then hygiene problems may be even more widespread than the one in four figure suggests."

Complaints in hospitals are appallingly dealt with.

Watchdogs rail about lack of NHS office sense - Sunday Telegraph

Extracts:

"Complaints in hospitals are often appallingly dealt with because junior clerks fail to apply common sense, the Health Service Ombudsman has warned, writes Laura Donnelly.

Ann Abraham said that distressed patients and bereaved relatives were often left battling bureaucracy when "a bit of courage and common sense" was all it took to resolve simple issues.

Speaking ahead of publication of her annual report on the NHS, Miss Abraham said she was concerned that hospitals and GPs were not learning simple lessons raised in countless reports.

Latest figures show the total number of complaints rose to 138,000 by 2006, a rise of 5,000 on the previous year. Meanwhile, 8,000 unresolved cases were passed to the NHS inspectorate, the Healthcare Commission - more than twice the number it expected when it took on the role three years ago. On top of this, hundreds of complaints are going to the ombudsman's office, with latest figures due out on Thursday.

Both watchdogs expressed concern that NHS staff are not dealing with complaints properly."

"Marcia Fry, the head of operational development at the Healthcare Commission said that its current audit of hospital complaints suggested more than a quarter of trusts made little effort to ensure that patients did not suffer worse treatment if they complained.

The results of the audit, due out in September, will show that in 27 per cent of cases, it was not clear that patients who raised complaints would not be discriminated against.

Miss Fry said that staff needed clear information on patients' rights and training to ensure they were not "inadvertently discriminating" against those making complaints."

It seems odd to focus on 'inadvertent' discrimination against those making complaints, when there is such massive intentional discrimination against complainants...)o:

Chase Farm hospital in Enfield, north London, flagrantly breach hygiene regulations re MRSA and Clostridium difficile.

Health inspectors find hospital in breach of hygiene code - Guardian

Extract:

"Health inspectors intervened last night to protect patients at an NHS hospital after they discovered it was in flagrant breach of hygiene regulations.

The Healthcare Commission served an improvement notice on Chase Farm hospital in Enfield, north London, after a spot check found staff were breaking the rules for combating the superbugs MRSA and Clostridium difficile. It was the first use of a new legal power to enforce the hygiene code introduced in October to stop the spread of healthcare-linked infections.

The commission found no excuse for the lapses at the hospital, which is one of two large units run by Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS trust. It noted that the trust board recently signed a self-assessment declaring its hospitals to be in full compliance with the code.

During unannounced visits, inspectors found a catalogue of defects."


Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
How to Lose weight!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free...(o:

1.5m people were wrongly told they risk heart disease

1.5m wrongly told they risk heart disease - Guardian

Extract:

"Thousands of people have been wrongly told they are in danger of developing life-threatening heart diseases because of flaws in the way doctors routinely calculate the risk, according to a study of more than a million people published today.

Current estimates of the number at risk of cardiovascular diseases are 1.5 million too high, the report says, suggesting the anti-cholesterol drugs statins are massively and needlessly over-prescribed, inflating the £2bn annual bill to the NHS.

The study in the British Medical Journal made a series of other significant discoveries. It found that white middle-aged men have a lower risk of heart disease than previously thought and women from poorer backgrounds have a significantly higher risk. It also found one in three women in their 60s are at risk of heart disease, a figure previously thought to be one in four.

Concern over the misdiagnosis of heart disease will be compounded by a separate study due today from the Healthcare Commission. It will raise concern over the way the 300 healthcare trusts in England and Wales are monitoring the problem. A third of them were unable to provide details of the treatment being given to patients.

The HC said the number reported as having heart failure was 140,000 fewer than expected. While it is unsure whether the shortfall is a statistical blip, the study from the BMJ highlights how many thousands of people will probably be given the wrong treatment anyway."

I have written before about the overprescribing of statins...)o: - Click on the statins tab at the end of this blog entry to see those entries.

The safest, most reliable, way to reduce your risk of heart disease is to reduce your intake of salt and salty food. This will also reduce excess weight, lower high blood pressure/hypertension and lower high cholesterol levels and improve health in a multitude of other ways too. - See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
How to Lose weight!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html

and http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free...(o:

Dirty NHS hospitals will be pressed to improve.

Superbug ultimatum to dirty hospitals - Telegraph

Extract:

"Hospitals will be served with "improvement notices" if they fail to tackle MRSA and Clostridium difficile, the health watchdog announced today.

Experts from the Healthcare Commission will make "spot checks" on 120 NHS trusts in England over the next year.

Those that are not up to scratch could be served with an improvement notice or be put in special measures.

The crackdown comes after figures showed that C.diff is still on the rise.

Health Protection Agency statistics released in April identified 55,681 cases of the potentially fatal bug in patients aged 65 and over in England in 2006. That figure was up eight per cent on reported cases in 2005."


Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Scores of NHS hospitals across England are failing to protect patients' dignity and to meet basic standards of cleanliness and care, Commission warns.

Hospitals let down by the basics in patient survey - Guardian

There's a lot more detail in the full article.

Extract:

"Scores of NHS hospitals across England are failing to protect patients' dignity and to meet basic standards of cleanliness and care, the government's health watchdog warned today in its annual check of conditions on the wards.

The Healthcare Commission found 30% of inpatients have to share bathrooms or shower areas with the opposite sex, in spite of government guidance that the practice is upsetting, particularly to women.

It identified a handful of trusts where most patients have to wash in mixed-sex facilities, which rarely exist in public buildings outside the health service and which ministers claimed to have eradicated. At St Mary's teaching hospital in central London, 59% of patients shared mixed-sex bathrooms.

The commission's huge survey of 80,000 inpatients' experiences also found that 20% of people who could not eat without assistance said they did get enough help. This rose to 42% at Queen Mary's hospital in Sidcup.

The report found 30 trusts where at least 20% of patients said the quality of meals was poor, rising to 32% at Queen Mary's Sidcup and at North Middlesex hospital in Edmonton, north London.

Across England, 15% of inpatients said it took staff more than five minutes to respond to an emergency call button, rising to 39% at Queen Mary's Sidcup."


Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Fewer than half of NHS staff would be happy to be a patient in their own hospital. - A pretty damning indictment...

Staff wouldn't be treated at their own hospital - Telegraph

Extract:

"Fewer than half of NHS staff members would be happy to be a patient at their own hospital, according to an official survey by the health service regulator.

More than a quarter, 27 per cent, said they disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement: "I would be happy with the standards of care provided if I was a patient in my trust".

Only 34 per cent said they would be happy to be treated, five per cent would be "very" happy with the prospect and 33 per cent could not decide.

The survey of 128,000 NHS staff in 326 trusts in England responded to the questionnaire from the Healthcare Commission, seeking information on how working conditions and the NHS could be improved.

Asked if their trusts put patients as the "top priority", fewer than half agreed and more than a quarter (26 per cent) said patients were not the top priority."

I have pointed out previously in this blog that patients are not a priority in the NHS, but for the staff actually to agree with me on this is surely a damning indictment...)o:

Further extract:

"In the fight against hospital super bugs little changed over a year. Nearly a third, 31 per cent, said hot water, soap, hand towels or alcohol rub were not always available, compared with 32 per cent a year before."

Not much progress there then...)o:

Further extract:

"The organisation NHS Employers said staff had a "positive" view of working in the NHS but there were improvements to be made.

"In comparison with many organisations, satisfaction with the NHS as an employer is still good, but we need to work hard locally and nationally to make sure the NHS remains a place people want to work," said Alastair Henderson, the deputy director."

The main aim should be satisfaction with the NHS by the PATIENTS! - But they are increasingly fearful of going into hospital because of poor hygiene and inadequate cleaning, apart from the many other deficiencies in the service.

Healthcare Commission found 55% of mental care inpatients have to share sleeping accommodation or bathrooms with members of the opposite sex.

Census reveals wide extent of mixed sex psychiatric wards

Extract:

"Health inspectors will today publish conclusive evidence that the government's claim to have ended the scandal of mixed-sex psychiatric wards in the NHS was false, or at best misleading. In a census of all mental health establishments in England and Wales, the Healthcare Commission found 55% of inpatients have to share sleeping accommodation or bathrooms with members of the opposite sex.

Last year ministers rejected a report from the National Patient Safety Agency that recorded at least 19 rapes of mental health patients in England, and more than 100 other improper sexual incidents in psychiatric units in the previous two years.

Lord Warner, then health minister, said the allegations of rape were unsubstantiated. He told peers in July that 99% of NHS trusts providing mental health services met "single-sex objectives" that were set out in 2000, requiring all mental health units to provide totally separate sleeping, toilet and bathing accommodation for men and women. Lord Warner said mixed sex wards were an exception that might apply to "a very small number of patients, when admitted as an emergency".

But the census - conducted by the commission and government-funded mental health agencies - found only 45% of the 32,000 inpatients in NHS or private sector psychiatric wards on March 31 last year had the benefit of single-sex accommodation."

Complaining about NHS treatment adds further difficulties for complainants. - Susan Hodges and Richard Murphy lost their baby at birth.

'Why could no one tell us why our son died at birth?'

Extract:

"Nearly two years after their baby son Oliver died soon after he was born, Susan Hodges and Richard Murphy are still waiting to have questions answered. They have found their dealings with one of London's flagship NHS trusts perplexing and frustrating. Straightforward questions about what went so terribly wrong in the crucial minutes leading up to his birth have gone unanswered.

However, their experience of hitting a 'complaints brick wall' is not uncommon. More than 100,000 complaints were received by the NHS last year, with an increasing proportion going to independent panels because of dissatisfaction with the responses from hospital trusts or primary care trusts.

Despite government promises to overhaul the complaints system, the issue has now fallen even further down the list of priorities. The plan is to create a single system for dealing with complaints about both healthcare and social care, but instead of introducing reforms quickly, the government has embarked on a new consultation, which will begin in April. Officials have said there is no plan to introduce new reforms until 2009. By then, another 200,000 people will have been caught up in the complaints system."

"The campaign group Action Against Medical Accidents (AvMA) has been calling for years for reform of NHS complaints procedures to be speeded up. Peter Walsh, its chief executive, said: 'Far too many people are trapped in a system which is unwieldy and slow, and very often insensitive to their needs. Our view is that however complicated the complaint, no trust should take more than six months to fully investigate and respond to the individuals.'"

The Healthcare Commission should be remedying this situation, which has been going on for as long as there have been complaints about NHS care, i.e. for decades. It is a national scandal.