The Daily Mail reports that patients are being struck off GPs' lists just for daring to make a complaint. The article is commenting on a report by Health Service Ombudsman Ann Abraham.
"In one case, an elderly woman and her husband were removed after she wrote to the practice manager to complain that receptionists did not answer the phone while she was trying to book an appointment for their seasonal flu jabs. In a telephone call the practice manager warned them he would ‘get you struck off for this’. Shortly afterwards they were removed from the surgery’s list."
So making a complaint is punishable by being removed from the doctor's list... I invite you to compare this mean-spirited injustice with the way that complaints are dealt with in the commercial world. If you were to complain to Sainsburys or Tesco or M & S, I think you could be pretty sure that the complaint would be investigated and that you would receive a prompt, polite response with a detailed explanation for what had gone wrong, together with thanks for drawing the matter to their attention, apology for your inconvenience and very probably a voucher as recompense. And you could be absolutely sure that you would not be threatened with being banned from their stores! Decent businesses use complaints to improve their service to the public. Not so the NHS.
GPs are, as near as dammit, unaccountable to the public who pay their bloated salaries. (UK doctors are the highest-paid in Europe.) Even extremely grave errors routinely incur neither censure nor penalty. - Read Can you trust your doctor? The non-accountability of doctors encourages arrogance and increasing careless professional negligence. - Here is my own dreadful experience of the NHS Complaints Procedures. Why do so many doctors give such poor service? - Because they can.
Our present government claims that it is seeking to provide greater patient choice. What nonsense! Patient choice in the UK is, as ever, Like it or Lump it!
Update, Wed 19th October 2011: also see today's Daily Mail follow-up article on this subject.
Showing posts with label NHS Complaints. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NHS Complaints. Show all posts
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Saturday, 27 August 2011
Hospitals still cover up poor standards and neglect and still give scant regard to complaints
UK hospitals still cover up poor standards and neglect and still give complaints scant regard. See this Telegraph report. I strongly suggest reading the comments beneath the report too. Unaccountability shames our health service and ensures that its many failings continue. I know from horrifying personal experience the cruel futility of complaining about NHS treatment.
Thursday, 2 December 2010
13% increase in written complaints about NHS and community services
The Patients Association reports a rise of over 13% in the number of written complaints about the NHS and community services, and Katherine Murphy, Chief Executive, deplores "stories of neglect, misdiagnosis and a distinct lack of care and compassion," and states that the number of complaints between 2008/9 to 2009/10 rose from 89,139 to 101,077, and that this is certainly a massive underestimate of the number of people who actually want to complain. She says, "We need a fundamental review of the complaints process. As a first step every person that makes a complaint should be asked to rate the response and that information should also be published. That will also enable us to pick up those Trusts making no effort to learn. At a time when the NHS is facing budget constraints, we want to make sure that the quality of care patients receive is not compromised and that staff and management become more open and more accepting of complaints and respond constructively when something goes wrong."
A previous Chair of the Patients Association told me years ago that she did not know of even one case of a complainant being satisfied with the response to their complaint. My own experience of the NHS Complaints Procedures is that the complainant is actually punished for making the complaint, and nothing at all is done to help the complainant or to prevent appalling treatment from happening again. Indeed, that the healthcare staff complained about are routinely protected from censure or sanction, ensures that poor treatment will be repeated.
A previous Chair of the Patients Association told me years ago that she did not know of even one case of a complainant being satisfied with the response to their complaint. My own experience of the NHS Complaints Procedures is that the complainant is actually punished for making the complaint, and nothing at all is done to help the complainant or to prevent appalling treatment from happening again. Indeed, that the healthcare staff complained about are routinely protected from censure or sanction, ensures that poor treatment will be repeated.
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Record Rise in Complaints about the NHS
BBC News reports a record increase in complaints about the NHS. As I have written several times in this blog, since nothing is ever done about NHS Complaints (see
Cruelty, Clinical Negligence and the Abuse of Power in the NHS,
Complaints in Hospitals,
NHS Complaints Procedures Exposed and
The politics of salt consumption and powerful vested interests)
it is almost inevitable that complaints will continue to increase. If you read the individual comments beneath the BBC report you will see further examples of the futility of making a complaint about the NHS. Doctors and dentists are a law unto themselves and consider themselves inviolate against complaints made by patients. I sincerely believe that they and the rest of the NHS do far, far, far more harm than good.
Cruelty, Clinical Negligence and the Abuse of Power in the NHS,
Complaints in Hospitals,
NHS Complaints Procedures Exposed and
The politics of salt consumption and powerful vested interests)
it is almost inevitable that complaints will continue to increase. If you read the individual comments beneath the BBC report you will see further examples of the futility of making a complaint about the NHS. Doctors and dentists are a law unto themselves and consider themselves inviolate against complaints made by patients. I sincerely believe that they and the rest of the NHS do far, far, far more harm than good.
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Six vulnerable patients died because of uncaring NHS
Health Service and Local Government Ombudsmen reports found that patients with learning difficulties were treated less favourably than others (surely they mean appallingly) and this resulted in "prolonged suffering and inappropriate care". Relatives who complained were effectively ignored.
Mencap, the respected learning disability charity, complained on behalf of the families of six vulnerable people who died in NHS or local authority care between 2003 and 2005, and an investigation was launched.
The Healthcare Commission itself was also criticised.
Mencap wrote about "Death By Indifference"
and here is today's article on the subject in the Telegraph
Mencap, the respected learning disability charity, complained on behalf of the families of six vulnerable people who died in NHS or local authority care between 2003 and 2005, and an investigation was launched.
The Healthcare Commission itself was also criticised.
Mencap wrote about "Death By Indifference"
and here is today's article on the subject in the Telegraph
Monday, 16 February 2009
More than 1,000 NHS operations are cancelled every week because of mistakes or avoidable shortages of equipment, according to figures.
Thousands of NHS operations cancelled because of blunders as complaints about standard of treatment rise
article in the Telegraph
Extract:
"At least 57,000 surgeries were postponed for non-clinical reasons in 2007/08, many of them because of blunders – including a lack of beds.
article in the Telegraph
Extract:
"At least 57,000 surgeries were postponed for non-clinical reasons in 2007/08, many of them because of blunders – including a lack of beds.
Among the excuses for cancellation were a hospital running out of shavers to prepare patients for surgery, a surgeon disappearing following a fire alarm and a patient's interpreter failing to show up. In one case medics forgot about a patient who had been left in a side room awaiting surgery.
The number of cancellations – a 10 per cent increase on last year – comes as a damning report claims the NHS is failing in basic aspects of care and is not responding to complaints effectively."
Monday, 7 April 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, 22 January 2008
Doctors 'must own up to blunders' says Steve Walker, chief executive of the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA)
Doctors 'must own up to blunders'
Extract from The Observer:
"Doctors have been told to own up and apologise if they make mistakes, in a bid to reduce the £613m in compensation paid each year to victims of blunders such as wrong diagnoses, botched surgery and delays during childbirth.
Extract from The Observer:
"Doctors have been told to own up and apologise if they make mistakes, in a bid to reduce the £613m in compensation paid each year to victims of blunders such as wrong diagnoses, botched surgery and delays during childbirth.
A new culture of honesty and openness should see such patients receive a personal apology from the doctor concerned and a detailed explanation of what went wrong, a senior official said.
Steve Walker, chief executive of the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA), said that patients and their families can feel hugely frustrated when hospitals are reluctant to acknowledge and explain cases of negligence. He believes that a more candid and speedy response could reduce the £613m paid out in damages each year. He made his comments in the week that Leslie Ash was awarded £5m in damages after contracting MSSA, a variant of the MRSA superbug.
Negligence lawyers say that the main reason a number of victims take legal action is to obtain more information.
'The message to doctors is: if you're aware of an error, or a shortfall in what's been delivered, you should feel free, indeed you should feel under an obligation, to tell your patients and to apologise and to explain, either verbally or in writing, even if the patient is likely to sue,' he told The Observer. 'The explanation bit is really important to many, many claimants. It doesn't matter if it heads off a claim or encourages a claim, people as human beings and patients are entitled to this and they should be getting it."
I think the culture of lying, evasion and cover-up of clinical negligence by doctors, along with collusion by the Department of Health and the Health Authorities, and partiality from the criminal justice system, has been allowed to go on too long for any meaningful change to come about without employing legal sanctions...)o: - And the uselessness of the GMC and similar bodies in protecting patient safety, rather than doctors' reputations, is well-known and notorious... - Routinely, when patients or their relatives complain about clinical negligence they are given further distress rather than a scrap of help or any sincere words of regret, apology or explanation.
Wednesday, 5 December 2007
Damning indictment of Britain's frequently lousy health service
NHS patients face humiliating treatment
From the Telegraph:
"Hospitals are still failing to treat people with dignity and respect as complaints reveal patients left unwashed, in soiled bedding and in humiliating open-backed gowns, the Healthcare Commission has said.
How to Lose weight!
Children and Obesity
Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection
See Sodium in foods and
Associated health conditions and
http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page
Wider implications of the flawed theory that excess calorie intake causes obesity
I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.
From the Telegraph:
"Hospitals are still failing to treat people with dignity and respect as complaints reveal patients left unwashed, in soiled bedding and in humiliating open-backed gowns, the Healthcare Commission has said.
A third of complaints about the NHS relate to dignity, respect and nutrition in hospitals, the commission's 2007 "state of healthcare" report found.
Mixed-sex wards are still a major problem, despite Labour's manifesto pledges in 1997 and 2001 to abolish them.
The report also said that one in five patients who wanted help with eating did not get it, and others complained that food or drink was placed out of reach.
Examples of complaints over dignity included a lack of regular baths or showers, gowns that failed to protect patients' modesty and curtains being opened while a patient is receiving intimate care.
The 136-page report also called for improvements in care for children, action on hospital superbugs, better service planning and promotion of patient safety.
The report said one in 10 hospitals in England did not meet standards on patient privacy and confidentiality.
Half of patients in mental health wards and almost three in five with learning disabilities were treated in mixed-sex accommodation.
A third of patients admitted to hospital as an emergency were sleeping in mixed-sex areas and 30 per cent of in-patients had to share bathroom or shower areas with the opposite sex."
Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and heart problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
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.)
http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html
http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html
How to Lose weight!
Children and Obesity
Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection
See Sodium in foods and
Associated health conditions and
http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page
Wider implications of the flawed theory that excess calorie intake causes obesity
I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.
Monday, 8 October 2007
Half the patients treated in NHS hospitals are dissatisfied with the standard of care but see no point in complaining.
Patients do not see point of complaining, survey finds - Guardian
Extracts from report published in The Guardian on Friday October 5, 2007:
"Half the patients treated in NHS hospitals are dissatisfied with the standard of care, a survey by the consumer organisation Which? reveals today. But it found few patients complain to NHS staff about inedible food, lack of cleanliness or poor organisation on the wards.
Among those who were dissatisfied, over a third thought raising an issue would not make any difference. Almost a quarter said nothing because they "expected their hospital stay to be like that" and 12% feared that a complaint would provoke reprisals and compromise their care.
Which? said doctors, managers and politicians interpreted the low level of complaints as evidence of patient satisfaction. But the survey suggested they were fooling themselves.
Nick Stace, of Which?, said: "We've identified a deadlock in the system that's led to a real complacency culture existing in the NHS. It's no surprise that problems with food, cleanliness and organisation of care crop up time and time again when the NHS isn't responding to patients' needs."
The survey of 1,000 recent inpatients found 17% were asked their views while in hospital. Only a quarter were happy with how their comments were handled. But a parallel survey of 250 staff found 99% wanted to hear about their patients' concerns and 64% said patients did not give enough feedback.
Mr Stace said: "The NHS needs a complete culture shift so that patients are encouraged to provide feedback throughout their time in hospital - and assured that their comments will make a difference."
He said Which? was launching a campaign calling on politicians and the NHS to "start listening"."
"The report quoted a patient with a broken jaw who could only drink through a straw, but was given a standard meal.
Another former patient reported: "One guy had bladder surgery and was struggling to walk. He asked a nurse for some water and she barked at him, 'Go get it for yourself. I'm not your mother.' ""
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!
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
Obesity in children: - http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/children.html
See Sodium in foods and
Associated health conditions and
http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page
http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations
I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.
Extracts from report published in The Guardian on Friday October 5, 2007:
"Half the patients treated in NHS hospitals are dissatisfied with the standard of care, a survey by the consumer organisation Which? reveals today. But it found few patients complain to NHS staff about inedible food, lack of cleanliness or poor organisation on the wards.
Among those who were dissatisfied, over a third thought raising an issue would not make any difference. Almost a quarter said nothing because they "expected their hospital stay to be like that" and 12% feared that a complaint would provoke reprisals and compromise their care.
Which? said doctors, managers and politicians interpreted the low level of complaints as evidence of patient satisfaction. But the survey suggested they were fooling themselves.
Nick Stace, of Which?, said: "We've identified a deadlock in the system that's led to a real complacency culture existing in the NHS. It's no surprise that problems with food, cleanliness and organisation of care crop up time and time again when the NHS isn't responding to patients' needs."
The survey of 1,000 recent inpatients found 17% were asked their views while in hospital. Only a quarter were happy with how their comments were handled. But a parallel survey of 250 staff found 99% wanted to hear about their patients' concerns and 64% said patients did not give enough feedback.
Mr Stace said: "The NHS needs a complete culture shift so that patients are encouraged to provide feedback throughout their time in hospital - and assured that their comments will make a difference."
He said Which? was launching a campaign calling on politicians and the NHS to "start listening"."
"The report quoted a patient with a broken jaw who could only drink through a straw, but was given a standard meal.
Another former patient reported: "One guy had bladder surgery and was struggling to walk. He asked a nurse for some water and she barked at him, 'Go get it for yourself. I'm not your mother.' ""
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!
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
Obesity in children: - http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/children.html
See Sodium in foods and
Associated health conditions and
http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page
http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations
I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.
Sunday, 15 July 2007
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:
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:
Monday, 12 March 2007
Mencap report on 'shocking' deaths sparks inquiry into NHS institutional discrimination in treatment of people with learning difficulties
Mencap report on 'shocking' deaths sparks inquiry
Extract:
"Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, has announced an independent inquiry into allegations that six patients died in NHS hospitals as a result of institutional discrimination.
Ms Hewitt said she had been "shocked" to hear details of the cases in a report from Mencap, the charity for people with learning disabilities, and promised the inquiry would be held "without delay".
The cases included a 43-year-old man who went without food for 26 days after suffering a stroke, a 26-year-old woman who was denied treatment for cancer because doctors thought she would be uncooperative and a 30-year-old man with a broken leg who developed pneumonia.
All the patients had severe learning disabilities and communication problems. Mencap said they shared common factors and called for an investigation into the "avoidable" deaths. It said there was "widespread ignorance and indifference" in the NHS to people with learning disabilities.
The report follows a 2004 inquiry by the charity, which exposed the unequal health care given to people with learning disabilities.
The new cases had exposed "underlying bad practice", the charity said. None of the NHS trusts was identified in the report because the complaints are still being investigated by the Healthcare Commission, the NHS inspectorate. Certain ones had been upheld and others referred back to the individual trusts, it said."
Extract:
"Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, has announced an independent inquiry into allegations that six patients died in NHS hospitals as a result of institutional discrimination.
Ms Hewitt said she had been "shocked" to hear details of the cases in a report from Mencap, the charity for people with learning disabilities, and promised the inquiry would be held "without delay".
The cases included a 43-year-old man who went without food for 26 days after suffering a stroke, a 26-year-old woman who was denied treatment for cancer because doctors thought she would be uncooperative and a 30-year-old man with a broken leg who developed pneumonia.
All the patients had severe learning disabilities and communication problems. Mencap said they shared common factors and called for an investigation into the "avoidable" deaths. It said there was "widespread ignorance and indifference" in the NHS to people with learning disabilities.
The report follows a 2004 inquiry by the charity, which exposed the unequal health care given to people with learning disabilities.
The new cases had exposed "underlying bad practice", the charity said. None of the NHS trusts was identified in the report because the complaints are still being investigated by the Healthcare Commission, the NHS inspectorate. Certain ones had been upheld and others referred back to the individual trusts, it said."
Wednesday, 28 February 2007
Healthcare Commission Report finds three in four British hospitals fail children. I find Healthcare Commission fails patients harmed by the NHS.
Report finds three in four hospitals fail children
Extracts:
"Three quarters of hospitals in England are failing to meet standards of quality and safety in the care they provide for children, a damning report has found.
The investigation by the Healthcare Commission, the health services regulator, today says that 70 per cent of 157 trusts scored only "fair" and five per cent scored "weak" when measured against national standards set by the Government, three years ago.
Only four per cent had services that were "excellent".
Nearly one hospital in five failed to provide sufficient emergency life support systems for children at night and, across the board, too few staff were trained in pain management of children.
Lack of training of staff, from nurses through to surgeons and anaesthetists, in communicating with children was a common criticism."
"The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said it was "dismayed" by the findings. "It starkly demonstrates that NHS hospitals have made poor progress in meeting the needs of children and young people," said Dr Patricia Hamilton, the college president.
It was unacceptable but "not surprising" that 75 per cent of hospitals were rated as fair or weak. She said: "Children's services have long been under-resourced and have not been given the priority they deserve.""
Well I suppose the Healthcare Commissions reports may do a bit of good. - A bit. - But what is overwhelmingly needed is some help and support for the individual victims of the NHS system, the victims of medical negligence, ignorance, incompetence and couldn't-care-lessness, all too common in this huge, badly run, employee-oriented, politically manipulated business in which patients get a lot of lip-service and fancy rhetoric from politicians and NHS bureaucrats but precious little real care. - If there were to be prompt and appropriately severe sanctions against personnel who treat patients badly, carelessly, negligently, incompetently - sometimes downright cruelly (which at present happens far too often - because they know they can get away with it) - then there would quickly be an improvement in service and consequent improvement in the nation's health, happiness and wellbeing.
Nothing gets done about the horror of the suffering endured by steroid victims; they continue to be given the wrong advice about their morbid obesity - which is the direct consequence of the medical profession's negligence and which could be lessened if they were to be clearly and directly told that calorie restriction is damaging and they must cut out all avoidable sodium from what they eat. - I feel this blog entry could be better worded but I am so tired and ill that I can't spare the energy to work on the wording or to add more points that cry out to be made. I know that my website and my blog have had many visitors from hospitals, medical centres, universities and other academic institutions from all over the world, visitors from the Houses of Parliament, the BBC, drug companies, etc. etc. and maybe some doctors are at last warning their patients to avoid eating salt while taking dangerous drugs like prednisolone, like HRT, etc, - but WHEN ARE EXISTING STEROID VICTIMS GOING TO BE TOLD THE TRUTH? - When Hell freezes over, I suspect, if the guilty can get away with it.
If and when sodium retention and salt sensitivity are finally, inescapably, recognised as the primary cause of obesity, then I feel confident that the cover-up position will be that it is caused partly by sodium retention, but mainly by over-eating, and the destructive calorie reduction advice will continue as an adjunct to the sodium advice....)o: - BUT THE CALORIE EXPLANATION WILL STILL NOT BE TRUE AND THE STEROID VICTIMS AND OTHER OVERWEIGHT PEOPLE WILL CONTINUE TO BE DAMAGED FURTHER BECAUSE THE SPIN CULTURE DEMANDS THAT POWERFUL PEOPLE BE PROTECTED FROM DAMAGE TO THEIR REPUTATIONS.
My emails to the Healthcare Commission did not even get to them because there are gatekeepers who protect them from unimportant messages like those of damaged citizens...
If anyone has the concern and the courage to want to help me in my mission, I can be emailed from my website.
Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
Extracts:
"Three quarters of hospitals in England are failing to meet standards of quality and safety in the care they provide for children, a damning report has found.
The investigation by the Healthcare Commission, the health services regulator, today says that 70 per cent of 157 trusts scored only "fair" and five per cent scored "weak" when measured against national standards set by the Government, three years ago.
Only four per cent had services that were "excellent".
Nearly one hospital in five failed to provide sufficient emergency life support systems for children at night and, across the board, too few staff were trained in pain management of children.
Lack of training of staff, from nurses through to surgeons and anaesthetists, in communicating with children was a common criticism."
"The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said it was "dismayed" by the findings. "It starkly demonstrates that NHS hospitals have made poor progress in meeting the needs of children and young people," said Dr Patricia Hamilton, the college president.
It was unacceptable but "not surprising" that 75 per cent of hospitals were rated as fair or weak. She said: "Children's services have long been under-resourced and have not been given the priority they deserve.""
Well I suppose the Healthcare Commissions reports may do a bit of good. - A bit. - But what is overwhelmingly needed is some help and support for the individual victims of the NHS system, the victims of medical negligence, ignorance, incompetence and couldn't-care-lessness, all too common in this huge, badly run, employee-oriented, politically manipulated business in which patients get a lot of lip-service and fancy rhetoric from politicians and NHS bureaucrats but precious little real care. - If there were to be prompt and appropriately severe sanctions against personnel who treat patients badly, carelessly, negligently, incompetently - sometimes downright cruelly (which at present happens far too often - because they know they can get away with it) - then there would quickly be an improvement in service and consequent improvement in the nation's health, happiness and wellbeing.
Nothing gets done about the horror of the suffering endured by steroid victims; they continue to be given the wrong advice about their morbid obesity - which is the direct consequence of the medical profession's negligence and which could be lessened if they were to be clearly and directly told that calorie restriction is damaging and they must cut out all avoidable sodium from what they eat. - I feel this blog entry could be better worded but I am so tired and ill that I can't spare the energy to work on the wording or to add more points that cry out to be made. I know that my website and my blog have had many visitors from hospitals, medical centres, universities and other academic institutions from all over the world, visitors from the Houses of Parliament, the BBC, drug companies, etc. etc. and maybe some doctors are at last warning their patients to avoid eating salt while taking dangerous drugs like prednisolone, like HRT, etc, - but WHEN ARE EXISTING STEROID VICTIMS GOING TO BE TOLD THE TRUTH? - When Hell freezes over, I suspect, if the guilty can get away with it.
If and when sodium retention and salt sensitivity are finally, inescapably, recognised as the primary cause of obesity, then I feel confident that the cover-up position will be that it is caused partly by sodium retention, but mainly by over-eating, and the destructive calorie reduction advice will continue as an adjunct to the sodium advice....)o: - BUT THE CALORIE EXPLANATION WILL STILL NOT BE TRUE AND THE STEROID VICTIMS AND OTHER OVERWEIGHT PEOPLE WILL CONTINUE TO BE DAMAGED FURTHER BECAUSE THE SPIN CULTURE DEMANDS THAT POWERFUL PEOPLE BE PROTECTED FROM DAMAGE TO THEIR REPUTATIONS.
My emails to the Healthcare Commission did not even get to them because there are gatekeepers who protect them from unimportant messages like those of damaged citizens...
Health professionals are even allowed to refuse to give evidence at the inquest into the death of a patient whose care was their responsibility and whose death resulted from their error! - see http://aboutsalt.blogspot.com/2007/02/police-to-review-case-of-fatal-calcium.html
Maybe one day I'll write in this blog about the way the 'caring professions' in the NHS destroyed my own health and happiness so needlessly and with such long, sustained cruelty - for years - in complete confidence that no-one would do anything at all about it! - Meanwhile I invite you to read about Andrea Carey's experience of the NHS and its 'aftercare' of patients in these two blog entries:
If anyone has the concern and the courage to want to help me in my mission, I can be emailed from my website.
Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
Thursday, 1 February 2007
Healthcare Commission reports NHS complaints show serious safety fears.
NHS complaints show serious safety fears
Extract:
"More than one in five complaints referred to the health watchdog involves serious concerns about patient safety in the NHS, according to a report out today.
Hospitals, family doctors and dentists all have lessons to learn from more than 16,000 complaints reflecting the “raw feelings of patients”, the Healthcare Commission said.
About 100,000 complaints are made against the health service every year and 8,000 are sent for the commission to review if a patient is dissatisfied with the outcome. The number of complaints sent have trebled since the watchdog took on the role in 2004. In the first report of its kind, the commission says that 22 per cent of complaints it had handled over two years were about safety, such as accidents, falls or children being given the wrong injections.
Others concerned the poor care of dying relatives, bereaved families being treated in an abrasive or unsympathetic manner, and patients being discharged at inappropriate times of day. Poor quality meals, inadequate nursing care and dirty wards were also high on the list of complaints.
The commission said that many concerns focused on the “basic elements of healthcare”. It is now publishing a list of the worst ten NHS trusts for dealing with complaints that should have been resolved at a local level. "
I suggest that people interested in how complaints are dealt with visit the http://www.avma.org.uk/index.asp website (Action against medical accidents). You'll need to register, I think, and log in, then click on 'Share experience' in the links on the left and go to the forums. - I suggest you will gain there a better and more insightful idea of the atrocious way many patients are treated in the NHS and you will see that, in the main, nothing at all is done about it!
See also The appalling way Andrea Carey has been treated by our "caring professions" and how NOTHING AT ALL has been done to help her! - The main purpose of a Complaints Procedure should be to take the complaint seriously and help the complainant as much as possible. - This is NOT what happens with the NHS complaints! Readers of this blog may like to write to the Healthcare Commission about Andrea Carey and try to get somebody to help her.
I see that Blair calls British doctors 'the best in Europe'
I don't share his opinion...)o:
Extract:
"More than one in five complaints referred to the health watchdog involves serious concerns about patient safety in the NHS, according to a report out today.
Hospitals, family doctors and dentists all have lessons to learn from more than 16,000 complaints reflecting the “raw feelings of patients”, the Healthcare Commission said.
About 100,000 complaints are made against the health service every year and 8,000 are sent for the commission to review if a patient is dissatisfied with the outcome. The number of complaints sent have trebled since the watchdog took on the role in 2004. In the first report of its kind, the commission says that 22 per cent of complaints it had handled over two years were about safety, such as accidents, falls or children being given the wrong injections.
Others concerned the poor care of dying relatives, bereaved families being treated in an abrasive or unsympathetic manner, and patients being discharged at inappropriate times of day. Poor quality meals, inadequate nursing care and dirty wards were also high on the list of complaints.
The commission said that many concerns focused on the “basic elements of healthcare”. It is now publishing a list of the worst ten NHS trusts for dealing with complaints that should have been resolved at a local level. "
I suggest that people interested in how complaints are dealt with visit the http://www.avma.org.uk/index.asp website (Action against medical accidents). You'll need to register, I think, and log in, then click on 'Share experience' in the links on the left and go to the forums. - I suggest you will gain there a better and more insightful idea of the atrocious way many patients are treated in the NHS and you will see that, in the main, nothing at all is done about it!
See also The appalling way Andrea Carey has been treated by our "caring professions" and how NOTHING AT ALL has been done to help her! - The main purpose of a Complaints Procedure should be to take the complaint seriously and help the complainant as much as possible. - This is NOT what happens with the NHS complaints! Readers of this blog may like to write to the Healthcare Commission about Andrea Carey and try to get somebody to help her.
I see that Blair calls British doctors 'the best in Europe'
I don't share his opinion...)o:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
