Patient
Protect is an organisation dedicated to the prevention of neglect and
incompetence in our National Health Service, and to the elimination of the
secrecy which allows these problems to flourish. "Sunlight is the best
disinfectant"¹
Last
updated 27 December 2012.
Please
contact info@patientprotect.org or
call 01227 713661 or fax 01227 711426 for more information or to report neglect
in the
If
your relative is being neglected, then complain effectively
NOW!
You are visitor number
Why do we need Patient Protect?
· How rationing actually works
· How to protect yourselves from
rationing
Brief
descriptions of other organisations, and Links.
Personal accounts of abuse
in our hospitals.
If you know of cases of abuse,
tell us now.
Why do we need Patient Protect?
Most
patients enter hospital with the belief that they will be treated by competent
staff, and that they will receive whatever treatment they need in order to
achieve a successful outcome. The
Patients’ Charter, recently abolished by this Government, actually stated
that these beliefs amounted to a right, presumably protected by the Government.
The
reality, however, is there is not enough money in the pot to allow everyone to
get the treatment they need, and rationing is here to stay. Although most hospital staff are caring decent people, many can and do work beyond their
level of competence, free from accountability, with their mistakes and
identities hidden from the public.
Most
rationing in our hospitals also goes on in secret. The elderly are
usually the targets, although anyone who can be labelled as an unproductive
member of society is at risk. As well as working to stop this
discrimination, Patient Protect aims to make patients aware of what is
happening. After all, secret rationing can only survive if it is kept
secret.
Although
the initial focus of this site was on NHS Hospitals, it is now clear that the
problems we see are common to all areas of the health care system, both NHS and
Private. For more details of the state of the private sector, check the
article "Private Hospitals
can damage your health". At present it seems that
hospitalisation is safest as a private patient in an NHS hospital.
1)Why the young, the elderly and the disabled are
targeted for rationing.
The
first thing to understand is that the new "NHS Trust Hospital" is
really nothing more than a commercial business, run by business managers whose
chief responsibility is to work within the budget set by the government.
The
managers know that there is not enough money to allow all the patients to get
the treatment they need (and which they were promised under the Patients'
Charter) but they also know that to fail in their duty to provide proper
treatment can lead to huge awards of damages in the courts.
The
solution to this problem is to exploit the method the courts use to decide what
the level of damages should be. If the hospital negligently kills a 30
year old family breadwinner, they can end up compensating the family for the
loss of future earnings - this can be millions of pounds. Similarly,
killing a mum with three young kids can lead to big payments for hiring cook,
nanny, housekeeper plus compensation for any income she may have had.
Negligently
killing a young child, an elderly person or someone disabled, however, is
virtually free of these risks, for the simple reason that there is hardly ever
any dependency requiring compensation. Of course, families can and do
complain bitterly, but 'toughing out' a complaint is cheap, as is the eventual
issuing of an apology.
Government,
of course, knows what is going on, but chooses to do nothing. Please read Watch out, you old chickens! for why.
2)
How rationing works at the level of the ward.
Compared
with wards for younger adult patients, wards for the elderly are affected in
three ways by rationing:
i)
reduction in quality and quantity of staff
ii)
reduction in quality and quantity of equipment
iii)
tighter controls on what treatments can actually be
carried out, regardless of how necessary they are.
A
phenomenon known as "supply driven demand"
then operates as staff learn not to ask for things they know they will not
get. Why do staff, whose primary duty is to put
the interests of the patient first, accept these restrictions?
First,
many of the staff who find these restrictions
intolerable either avoid working on the wards for the elderly or quit
altogether.
Second,
of the staff who remain, some do care , but feel
powerless to do anything. All nurses know that if they complain, or stand
up for the patients, they are going to face hardship and sooner or later get
fired; all nurses know the story of nurse
Pink. Doctors also know that 'troublemakers' and 'whistleblowers' do
not get good references or promotions and may, like Dr
Bolsin have to leave the country to find work. A recent survey in The British Medical Journal
found that a quarter of staff in an (unnamed) NHS Trust reported that they had
been subjected to bullying in the previous year.
Third,
some staff simply do not appear to care. Staff guilty
of awful cruelty and neglect can avoid a guilty conscience by using 'techniques of neutralisation'.
Examples of these techniques in use include:
"The
funding cuts aren't my fault" (denial of responsibility)
"She
was going to die anyway" (denial of victim)
"The
resources are better used on someone else" (appeal to higher loyalty)
Fourth,
some staff have ended up callous and heartless.
Although they would not be tolerated on other wards, management allow them to
remain on the elderly wards, presumably because they can be relied on never to
stand up for the elderly patients.
3) How rationing works at the level of the
patient.
It
can be summed up as 'Lambs to the Slaughter'. Most patients and relatives
will not realise (and will certainly not be told) that they are not getting a
pressure relief mattress, even after they have developed bed sores; they
naturally believe that the 'Nil by Mouth' sign over the bed is there for the
patient's benefit (in some cases, no staff will admit to putting the sign there
in the first place); 'Do not resuscitate' orders
written in the notes frequently come to light only after the patient has
died. Even if the relatives or patients do realise what is happening, it
is often too late to reverse the damage. Patients, their relatives and their
friends usually lack the experience and assertiveness to get past a skilful
gatekeeper.
Secret
rationing of treatment is bad enough, but there is worse. Although some
patients may die promptly following withdrawal of treatment, others are
stronger and threaten to linger on. These 'bed-blockers' often receive a
helping hand with, for example, overdoses of diamorphine or diuretics.
Diamorphine (heroin) is fast and effective, especially in someone unused to the
drug and already weak. First it induces coma, followed by respiratory
depression, and death. For the hospital, this has the advantage of having
the patient slip away quickly and quietly without any fuss. Diuretics
cause dehydration, and although the result is ultimately the same as with
diamorphine the patient may survive, conscious, for up to a week even with the
imposition of a 'Nil by mouth' regimen. Relatives who do not know the signs
of dehydration may be tricked into believing that the rapid deterioration is
due simply to the underlying illness.
How to protect yourselves from rationing.
1)
Prevention
Staff are likely to be
more diligent and much less willing to participate in rationing and abuse if
they know they can be identified later. Always keep a notebook and pen
handy, and keep them visible.
Ask
at the nurses' desk which nurses are responsible for hydration, nutrition and
pain control. Write these names down as you get them. These names
should be clearly stated in the Nursing Care Plan.
Write
down the name of the person you are talking to.
Ask
for the name of the consultant responsible for the patient, and also ask for
the name of the doctor who will be responsible for the day to day management of
the case.
If
you ask all these reasonable questions in a friendly manner, you can expect
straightforward civil answers. If you feel you are getting fobbed off
with excuses like 'it's confidential' or 'too busy' or 'you don't need to know'
then do not get upset. Simply go to (or phone) the Customer Services
Officer and ask them to find out for you (don't forget to ask for their
name). Explain that it is important that you know who is responsible for
what in order that communication can be improved and problems can be avoided.
If this does not work then send written complaints (see next section).
2)
How to stop existing problems.
The
first step is to recognise that rationing and neglect are taking place.
Dehydration, bed sores and a general lack of attention from qualified staff
(e.g. soiled bedding, call button out of reach, regular observations not being
done) are all reasons to suspect neglect. Are the staff
reluctant to show you the patient's records and discuss the drugs being
used? Is Diamorphine PRN on the prescription chart? Is a DNR order
in the notes without your knowledge? Are you told that the Consultant/Doctor/Surgeon
is too busy to see you?
If
you feel that the patient is deteriorating rapidly and their treatment seems to
be the cause, rather than the cure, then step two is to complain
effectively. Rationing and neglect are top-down processes, so
*
Complain
by fax/email to the Chief Executive of the Health Authority responsible for the
hospital (phone the local Community Health Council for his name, fax and phone
numbers) and
*
Copy
this by fax/email to the Chief Executive of the hospital and Consultant
responsible for your relative's care.
*
Immediately
follow up with a call to their secretaries and confirm receipt of the
fax. Stress to them that you will take things further if nothing is
done. Ask for their name, write it down together
with the time of the conversation. Send faxed copies to the other
organisations (see below). Keep fax receipts.
* Keep records of all significant events - keep
a diary with names of staff, what they do/do not do, etc, record conversations
(use recording walkman, dictaphone, mp3 recorder, mobile phone etc), photograph
evidence of neglect.
*
If
the situation does not improve rapidly, demand to see the Consultant and demand
an immediate transfer for your relative.
*
The
following is a suggested outline - contact us if you can suggest any
improvements. Please cut and paste to your word processor:
[Name
and address of CEO of Health Authority]
Dear
[Name of CEO]
I
have reason to believe my relative [Patient's name], [Date of Birth], [Hospital
Record Number] is not being treated at [Name of Hospital] in accordance with
Article 2 of the Human Rights Act .
My
main concerns are: (e.g. lack of treatment, attitude of staff, unhygienic
conditions, patient lying in excrement, bed sores, dehydration, inappropriate
use of diamorphine, etc)
1)
( write main concerns )
2)
3)
I
require an urgent review of [Patient's name] and if this does not improve the situation , I would like to request a transfer to a
different unit. Staff in this hospital have been
negligent in the care of [Patient's name]. Their names are
1)
Dr [Name]
2)
Nurse [Name]
3)
etc
I
enclose an extract of my diary of the events leading up to my dissatisfaction .
Failure
of your health authority to improve the standard of care immediately will
result in litigation on the grounds of negligence. In addition
, if my relative, [Patient's name], dies , you will be liable for
manslaughter in addition to knowingly being in breach of the Human Rights Act .
I
look forward to an immediate review . My telephone
number is xxxxxxxxxx. The telephone number of the ward where [Patient's
name] is located is xxxxxxxxxx .
Yours
sincerely ,
[Your Name]
[Date
and Time]
cc
The Chief Executive of the [Name of hospital]
cc
[Name of Consultant responsible for your relative's care]
cc
Department of Health
cc
Mr David Hinchcliffe, Chairman, Parliamentary Committee on Health
cc
[name of local MP], MP
cc
Editor [Name of local newspaper]
cc
[Name and Firm of your solicitor]
cc
Dossier to European Court of Human Rights
You
can find the name of your M.P. and a contact address at http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/
In
the meantime, visit your relative and stay constantly, take pictures and tape
any conversations. Note down everything in detail. That is the key .
Dehydration
can cause death in as little as three days, so it is important to spot it
early. The first effect of dehydration is a sensation of thirst, so
complaints about feeling thirsty should be taken seriously. The
depression, confusion and delusions which follow as the dehydration deepens are
also important signs which are often assumed by relatives to be part of some natural
downhill progression. One useful test for serious dehydration is to
gently pinch some loose skin between thumb and forefinger. Dehydrated
skin stays 'pinched' whereas normal skin returns to its original shape (try
this on yourself first!). Other effects of
dehydration include dry mouth and throat and shortness of breath (in turn
making speech and swallowing difficult), deafness, swollen tongue, constipation
and pneumonia. Dehydration weakens skin, and once the patient is too weak
to move, bed sores can quickly develop.
Bed Sores (also known as
pressure sores, decubitus ulcers) develop as a result of lying in the same
position for too long. Constant pressure on the same spot reduces the flow of
blood to the extent that the skin dies. If the pressure continues the
area and depth of the tissue necrosis increases. Necrotic (dead) tissue
quickly becomes infected and this infection can spread to the blood. Poor
nutrition and hydration increase the risk of bed sores. The risk of bed
sore development should always be assessed and reassessed frequently, and staff
who fail to do this or who fail to act appropriately to an assessment are
clearly negligent. Make sure you get to see if the patient's back and
heels look healthy. Staff should routinely conduct an objective pressure
sore risk assessment, such as the Waterlow pressure sore 'Risk Score'.
The assessment is very simple to do yourself; just get a copy of the form,
print it and then fill it in. If the patient appears to be at risk, ask a
senior nurse if she agrees with your score. The Waterlow website has useful
information on both prevention (you can buy a download ‘Pressure Sore
Prevention Manual’) and treatment.
Diamorphine, otherwise
known as Heroin, is usually used in palliative care and heart attack patients.
It is injected subcutaneously (under the skin) or intravenously (through a
vein). Placing it through a vein makes the drug act faster. Its effects are
multiple. Used usually for pain relief, it can also depress respiration thus
decreasing your drive to breathe. It also relieves anxiety e.g. in heart attack
patients. It is a drug that is useful in heart failure enabling the load of the
heart to be less thus relieving the problems of the failing heart coping with a
large amount of blood.
It
can be prescribed as a PRN (dose) which means as "as much as
necessary"(necessary for what?). Being a controlled drug, it has to be
signed for two people when giving it. Usual doses are 2.5-5mg. It may be placed
in a syringe pump, usually in palliative care, (e.g. for terminal cancer
patients) to relieve pain and distress. Diamorphine is contraindicated in people
with respiratory conditions because it may cause respiratory arrest.
How
incompetence is concealed.
This
section is in preparation. If you need information on this section, please
email me at info@patientprotect.org or phone me at 01227 713661 (or +44 1227
713661 from outside the
How to protect yourselves from
incompetence.
This
section is in preparation. If you need information on this section, please
email me at info@patientprotect.org or phone me at 01227 713661 (or +44 1227
713661 from outside the
Complaints
and the NHS
The
original purpose of this website was to help to prevent the elderly and other
vulnerable groups from becoming victims of secret rationing. Sadly most
feedback to this site is to report first hand experience of cruelty and neglect
in our hospitals. Most people report being stonewalled by hospital staff
handling their complaint, and remain dissatisfied with the explanations they
have received. What follows in this section is a very brief survey of your
options.
Hospital
(or GP) Records - Patients, and relatives of deceased patients, are entitled to
see and receive an explanation of the original records and/or have photocopies
of the originals supplied at cost. The Access to Health Records Act 1990 gives
you a right of access to health records of a deceased relative from 1 November
1991. The Data Protection Act 1998 , which
repealed most of the 1990 Act, allows living patients to access their own
records, paper and computerised, with no limit to how far back you can
go.
The
fees involved are modest and are limited by statute, but if you have difficulty
finding the money, please give me a quick call. Please note, that
radiographs (x-rays) are very expensive to copy, and it may be better to leave
a request for copies of these out of the initial enquiry unless they are
central to your complaint. Instead, ask for a list of any X-rays and
scans held by the hospital, and ask them to include dates, views and name of
doctor requesting them.
Hospitals
can usually supply explanatory notes and an application form on request, but
you can cut and paste the sample letter below. The holder of the health
record has a period of 40 days from the date of your application within which
to provide the copies requested. Make sure that you enclose evidence as
to your identity with your application - the 40 days only starts when they are
satisfied as to your identity. There are a limited number of reasons for
withholding access to records, but these will rarely apply. Please
contact me if you need help organising or understanding your copies of the
health records.
[Your Address]
[Date]
Dear
Sir/Madam
Re:
[Patient's name], deceased, dob [date of birth]
I
wish to apply for copies of any records you hold for the above patient. I am
the next-of-kin of [Patient's Name], and this application is made under S3(1)(f) of the Access to Health Records Act (1990).
[Patient's Name] was a patient of yours in [year(s)]
I
understand that a fee will be payable to cover the cost of making the copies
and postage. In view of the high cost of copying radiographs and other images,
please do not copy these, but instead provide me with a complete list (including
dates, views, name of Doctor requesting them) of what, if any, you are holding.
Please
contact me at the above address if you require payment in advance.
Yours
sincerely
[Your Name]
NHS
Complaints Procedure - Most
complainants find these procedures a complete waste of time. The Local
Investigation of the complaint usually exceeds all time limits, results in
nothing new being revealed, and merely provides the staff with an opportunity
to discover what evidence you have against them. According to a recent
study by the Public Law Project: "The overwhelming feelings that that
complainants were left with, following attempts at local resolution in these
cases, were that issues had been covered up, staff had been protected, and that
no one was prepared to take responsibility" ( Section 2.53, Cause for
Complaint? An evaluation of the effectiveness of the NHS
complaints procedure). Independent review is far from independent
(mine was denied by the Acting Chairman of the Trust) and when a review is
granted the evidence is often presented in a biased way or even tampered
with. The Ombudsman's staff seem to spend most
of their time presenting excuses for not holding an investigation. It is
important to note that attempting to reason with administrators at each of
these levels is very time consuming, and care must be taken not to exceed the
three year limitation period for Civil Litigation, after which civil actions
are normally barred. NHS procedures are not available if you have stated,
in a letter or orally, that you intend to take legal action. A critique
of the NHS Complaints Procedure prepared by SIN also suggests that the whole
procedure is a complete waste of time.
Complaints
to the UKCC about poor nursing standards are also likely to be a waste of time
- please see the review of the state of the UKCC, copied from the NHS-Exposed
site.
The
following three subsections are in preparation. If you need information on
these sections, please email me at info@patientprotect.org or phone me at 01227
713661 (or +44 1227 713661 from outside the
Civil Litigation - The new
website http://www.medicalclaims.co.uk/ is free and provides information on clinical
negligence claims.
Criminal
Prosecution
-
Inquest - One of the
most common ploys used by coroners trying to avoid an inquest is to say that
they are satisfied that death was due to natural causes. The cause of death
is usually written by the hospital's own pathologist, who is hardly likely to
want to draw attention to dehydration, diamorphine or negligence as being
significant factors in causing death. A recent court case has made the
'natural causes' excuse for not holding an inquest much less tenable. The
judges in this case made it very clear that if the patient suffered from a
condition which, if not monitored and treated in a routine way will result in
death, and, for whatever reason, the monitoring and treatment is omitted, then
the coroner must hold an inquest unless he can say that there are no grounds
for suspecting that the omission was an effective cause of death.
*
Newspaper and other Reports
*
House of Commons Health Select Committee and Legislation
*
Meetings
*
Newspapers on the Web
Newspaper
and other Reports:
BBC
Website, 25 May 2004
Abused
pensioner's body to be exhumed - An order has been obtained by police to remove
the body of William Pettener, 95, who was a resident at a private nursing home
in Porthmadog in Gwynedd. A member of staff at the Bodawen nursing home has
been suspended following allegations made by several members of staff
concerning abuse by a fellow worker at the home. Members of staff alleged
that a colleague used verbal abuse against them and both verbal and physical
abuse against residents. The retired engineer, from Ormskirk, died at the home
on 12 April, with the cause of death given as bronchopneumonia. It is thought
the exhumation will take place next week.
Shamed
social services say ?sorry? for
neglect - Social Services chiefs have apologised to the son of a pensioner who
died through neglect. Frail Mary Sharpe, 86, died after developing a
pressure sore on her back. She was discharged from
Now
Social Services chiefs have been forced to make a full apology to her angry son who has been fighting for justice since his mum’s
death. He alleges he only discovered the bedsore when it became infected and
began to smell. Geoffrey claimed: ?I walked through
the door and was appalled to find the flesh around the wound had begun to rot
and was exposing the spine. I was furious. She was unable to walk, talk, or
swallow and had little movement. She was literally on her deathbed but was even
robbed of dignity there.?
Ananova,
19 May 2004
Nurses
found guilty of killing patient by neglect - Two nurses have been found guilty
of killing an elderly patient at a nursing home. Dennis Latham, 33, from
Blackburn, Lancashire and Barbara Campbell, 62, from
Latham
was the nursing services manager at the home at the time of the death.
Mrs
Dennis died in July 1999 from septicaemia resulting from pressure sores the
"size of a fist" that developed while she was a resident at
The
Daily Telegraph, 13 May 2004
Care
is being jeopardised and hospital resources squandered in a Government drive to
bring down waiting lists before the next election, NHS doctors warned
yesterday.
Orthopaedic
surgeons are concerned that an initiative to employ overseas doctors in special
private centres could lead to inferior and sometimes "botched"
operations.
They
say the move will end up costing the taxpayer more because the NHS will have to
correct poor surgery and replace hip and knee implants sooner than normal.
Their
concerns follow an NHS inquiry into an unnamed South African doctor employed by
a private company. The surgeon, who worked at the
John
Timperley, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the Princess Elizabeth Orthopaedic
Centre,
Independent,
13 May 2004
Incompetent
student nurses are being allowed to qualify because hospital examiners are too
reluctant to fail them, an industry report warned yesterday.
The
Nursing And Midwifery Council, which regulates the
profession, strongly criticised senior nurse mentors who assess trainees on the
wards for passing sub-standard students as fit to practice. Patients may
be put at risk because mentors are "failing to fail" students who, in
some cases, have repeatedly had concerns raised about their ability to perform
clinical tasks, the report said.
Andy
McGovern, a mentor at
The
Guardian, 13 May 2004.
Hospital
Meal Times to be Sacrosanct- the government has told NHS hospitals to return to
the values of Florence Nightingale by introducing strict mealtime discipline on
the wards to ensure that patients eat their food.
Health
ministers want nurses to adopt procedures trialled at King's College hospital in
"We
saw patients were not being prepared for meals, not in a comfortable position
and with food left out of reach. Food was placed on the table next to bottles
of urine and vomit bowls. It was awful. Patients would be eating when someone
was taking blood at the next bed or putting a patient on a commode."
She
said the contracting out of catering over the last 10 years may have
contributed to the downgrading of meal times. Recent NHS research found that
40% of people coming into hospital were malnourished and of those 70% became
further malnourished during their stay in hospital.
Her
response was to introduce a "protected mealtime", setting aside two
hours from noon for eating and rest. Doctors were told to keep away unless
there was an emergency and visitors were discouraged unless they came to help
the patient eat. The diagnostic department which used to do all inpatient tests
during lunchtime has rescheduled to take only outpatients then.
Daily
Telegraph, 29 April 2004
Nurse
'tried to kill elderly to free beds' - A ward sister tried to murder four of
her elderly patients in a ruthless drive to free hospital beds, a court was
told yesterday. Barbara Salisbury, 47, crossed the line between
"humane nursing and callous dispatch", it was claimed. She gave
a 76-year-old man an excess of diamorphine, telling him as she did so:
"Give in. It's time to go." On another occasion she instructed
a nurse treating a 92-year-old: "Lay him flat. With any luck his lungs
will fill with water and he'll die." She justified her administering
of diamorphine to an 88-year-old woman at
Robin
Spencer, QC, prosecuting at Chester Crown Court, said: "Barbara Salisbury
arrogated to herself the right to decide when patients should die, and
attempted by her actions to shorten what remained of their lives.
"If she thought a patient had no hope of recovery she didn't want to have
to wait too long. If a patient could be made well enough she would aim for
that. If not, she would hasten death. "One way or another, she
wanted these patients off her ward."
Mr
Spencer alleged that
The
Sunday Times, 25 April 2004
How
extra spending failed to improve the public services - confidential research
prepared for senior ministers and aides showed that, although the government
had pumped billions of extra taxpayers? money into the
public sector, large amounts had apparently been wasted.
Since
Labour was elected in 1997, total public spending has risen almost 50% to £459
billion. But the research found the taxpayer, hit by a series of stealth taxes,
had not received value for money. Much of the cash had been swallowed up by an
inefficient bureaucracy and inflation-busting pay rises for civil servants.
The
revelations, contained in cabinet committee minutes leaked to The Sunday Times,
may have lasting consequences for Blair and Labour come the general election,
which is expected next year. The reports showed public sector productivity ? the key measure of
efficiency ? has ?fallen steadily? since
1997. According to official data never previously released, efficiency has
dropped 10% over the past seven years. In health and education, the key
election battlegrounds, it has slumped by between 15% and 20%. In the past, the
government has only ever admitted to a 3% fall in productivity since the 1997
election.
In
basic terms, this means the extra money being spent on the public sector is not
being adequately reflected in better services. Economists found that the massive ?inputs? into the public
sector were not being matched by enhanced ?outputs? in
the form of better schools, hospitals and police forces. Experts calculate the
slump in productivity means Labour is wasting £20 billion a year
? equivalent to almost 6p on the basic rate of
income tax.
The
government is also expected to be forced to admit that it will not meet its
pledge to employ 7,500 more NHS consultants by the end of this year. It claims
to have met the target for GPs but professional bodies say many new GPs are
part-timers. The Audit Commission reported last week that, despite the billions
ploughed into the NHS, hospital trusts now had a cumulative debt of £500m.
Times,
April 24 2004
GMC
ignored surgeon warning - the future of the General Medical Council (GMC) was
back under the spotlight yesterday after the disclosure that it could have
acted against a disgraced gynaecologist ten years before he was struck off.
Police
warned the GMC in 1988 that Richard Neale was already banned from working in
Correspondence
has now emerged, however, that shows that the GMC was consulted about Mr Neale
by North Yorkshire Police in 1988, when a decision to take no action against
him was made by Lord Walton, who was the council’s president.
All
GMC papers relating to the episode have been destroyed, but a file found by the
police was handed to a government inquiry into the NHS's handling of the Neale
case. Its findings are expected to be announced this year. The GMC
admitted it was warned about Mr Neale by Canadian medical authorities in 1985.
It blamed administrative blunders for its failure to act when he arrived in
It
issued an unreserved apology yesterday. Its chief executive, Finlay Scott,
described the council’s conduct in 1988 as “extraordinary and
inexplicable”. An official added: “A situation like this could not arise
again.”
Guardian,
10 March 2004
Doctors
violated disabled boy's rights - The human rights of a severely disabled boy
and his mother were violated when doctors who thought he was dying overrode his
mother's objections and gave him diamorphine to ease his death, the European
court of human rights ruled yesterday.
The
unanimous ruling by seven judges in
The
court awarded David Glass, who survived and is now 18, and his mother, Carol,
pounds 7,000 in damages and pounds 10,500 in costs for a breach of article 8 of
the European convention on human rights, the right to respect for private life.
The
judges said: "The court considered that the decision to impose treatment
on David in defiance of his mother's objections gave rise to an interference
with his right to respect for his private life, and in particular his right to
physical integrity."
A
"do not resuscitate" (DNR) order was put in his notes without telling
his mother.
David's
condition deteriorated and doctors recommended diamorphine, which depresses
breathing, to relieve his distress. Ms Glass did not agree that he was dying.
She asked to take David home if he was dying, but a police officer summoned by
the doctors advised her that if she attempted to remove him, she would be
arrested. David was given diamorphine and his condition deteriorated. His
family demanded it be stopped, but a doctor said this was possible only if they
agreed not to resuscitate him.
Relatives
tried to revive him and a fight broke out in which doctors and police officers
were injured. While the fight was going on, Ms Glass successfully resuscitated
David. His condition improved and he returned home. Three family members were
later jailed for violent disorder and causing actual bodily harm.
Ms
Glass took her case to
Guardian,
11 February , 2004
Relatives
demand prosecutions for hospital abuse - Relatives have today rejected a
trust's 'unreserved apology' and demanded prosecutions following an internal
inquiry that found vulnerable older people were assaulted by its mental health
staff.
Norma
Chatt, whose 81-year-old mother spent more than a year on Rowan ward at
Withington hospital in Greater Manchester, said today: “I want the people
responsible brought to justice, that is what all the
relatives want. What use is an apology nearly two years later?" She
claimed her mother, who has Alzheimer's disease, suffered six black eyes while
on the ward. She said: "When all the relatives got together and compared
what had been going on it was awful. There were reports of patients being
scalded, not being fed and having soap put in their mouths."
The
call for prosecutions comes a day after a report into the inquiry by the mental
health trust, which was responding to a damning inspection last year of care
standards on the ward by the Commission for Health Improvement (Chi). Chi
inspectors found poor management and supervision and low staffing levels.
The
inquiry report revealed patients with dementia, schizophrenia and depression on
Rowan ward were kicked, slapped and beaten by staff. It concluded standards of
nursing care were outdated, doctors failed to report patients injuries, systems
to detect abuse were poor and there was a culture of "intimidation and
even fear" among staff on the ward.
However
the report failed to single out who was to blame for the injuries and concluded
they were "unattributable".
Greater
Sunday
Times, 08 February 2004
Coroner
seeks inquiry into ?mass euthanasia? at hospital - A Coroner is demanding a public inquiry into
claims that 11 hospital patients were deliberately starved to death. He
believes that it could be
There
is now increasing concern across
The
allegations first surfaced after Jayne Drew, a healthcare assistant, alerted
the hospital managers after the deaths of Simon Smith, 74, and Arthur Boddice,
81, in the summer of 1997. Families of fellow patients at the hospital
claimed that some staff had become so upset at seeing elderly people being
starved that they had taken it upon themselves to feed them secretly. One
relative has described how it was distressing to see his father go without
food. Andrew Hughson said his 75- year-old father, also called Andrew, would
vainly stretch his hand towards meals being delivered to other patients. ?We kept being told that feeding him would be bad for his general
health, and he was too frail to tell us otherwise,? he
said. Simon Smith’s son Michael said ?At the
time we thought my father’s treatment was consistent with what you would
expect. Now it appears he was not being fed. We all want to know the precise
causes of these deaths and we still haven’t had an answer.?
Ann
Alexander, the solicitor acting for the bereaved families, said it was unfair
that top QCs and junior counsel were being provided out of public funds to
represent the health authority, medical and nursing staff at the inquest while
no legal representation was being provided for the families.
Police
are also investigating the unexpected deaths of 62 patients ?
all pensioners ? who had been
admitted for postoperative rehabilitation at the Gosport War Memorial hospital
in Hampshire. In
CHI
Press Release, 22 January 2004
CHI
gives evidence to Health Select Committee on the abuse of older people - The
plight of older people who are abused while receiving NHS services was
highlighted before a Government inquiry today.
"Some
older people are among our most vulnerable citizens and that makes it possible
for them to become victims of abuse. It must be a matter of extreme concern
that even when we would expect them to be safe in the care of the NHS, some
older people are still at risk," said Commission for Health Improvement
(CHI) chairman Dame Deirdre Hine.
"We
know that most NHS staff are caring and committed and give sensitive care to
older people. However, caring for older people is a demanding and complex job,
especially if the patients are showing challenging behaviour. If staff don’t get the full support, training and supervision
that they need, then this can result in some older patients being abused. That
abuse can take the form of physical abuse, but also emotional abuse, neglect or
inappropriate restraint and sedation".
"Our
findings so far show that older people’s services are generally given low
priority in comparison with other services. We believe that the standard of
care of older people nationally is worrying and what is more, the NHS doesn’t
seem to be learning because the same issues keep coming up again and
again," said Dame Deirdre.
"Despite
the best efforts of many staff, we are seeing too many cases where older people
are not getting the care they need and this is unacceptable. We are delighted
the Health Select Committee is holding this inquiry and we hope the resulting
report will lead to action to help ensure a greater focus on older people’s
services," said Dame Deirdre.
Friday, 16
January 2004
Cancer
ward nurse arrested after patient's suspicious death - Murder squad detectives have arrested a nurse in connection
with the death of a pensioner and are investigating the cases of other patients
who were treated on the same cancer ward. The 25-year-old was arrested on
suspicion of administering a noxious substance at Hull Royal Infirmary.
Wednesday, 24
December 2003
Patient
challenges doctors for right to live - Aman with a degenerative brain condition
has launched an unprecedented human rights challenge to guidance for doctors which he believes could allow them to end his life by
legally sanctioned euthanasia.
Leslie
Burke, who has cerebellar ataxia, is mounting a right-to-life challenge to
General Medical Council guidelines on withholding and withdrawing
life-prolonging treatment which spell out when doctors can stop artificial
feeding and let a patient die.
'Our
gran died after long wait on trolley' - an 86-year-old woman died of a brain
haemorrhage after being left for eight hours on a hospital trolley.
Her
family claim they were told she was suffering from a simple chest infection.
Dorothy Atkinson's relatives say they were told by Leeds Infirmary that she was
"fine" and were urged "not to worry." But hours later tests showed the great great grandmother was
suffering from a brain tumour and was bleeding heavily. Two days later she was
dead.
The
retired hospital worker was taken to LGI after collapsing at her nursing home
in Pudsey on Thursday, December 11. She was admitted to hospital just after
5am. Soon afterwards her family telephoned the hospital to check on her. They
say they were told she was "fine" but was suffering from a chest
infection.
But
when they arrived at the hospital at around 1pm that day, they say they found
her lying on a trolley in the corridor, unable to move and covered in her own
vomit.
Her
son, Peter, said she was eventually moved to a bed but only after the family
"caused a scene." On the Friday she was taken for tests and a CT
brain scan revealed she had a tumour and was suffering a major haemorrhage.
Daily
Mail, 17 July 2003
NHS
targets ?cost lives" - Patients are being left to
die by hospitals forced to meet ?meaningless" targets rather than give
proper care, it was claimed yesterday (16/07/03). Liberal Democrat health
spokesman Dr Evan Harris claimed the latest NHS star ratings showed only how
well hospitals could hit targets and fill in spreadsheets. He said, ?Star
ratings divert the attention of doctors and nurses and force hundreds of
managers to spend their time collecting information, not improving patient
care."
The
Guardian, 18 December 2003
Mental
health patients 'neglected' - Chronic staff shortages in NHS mental health
trusts in
The
Commission for Health Improvement said mental health remained "the poor
relation of the NHS", four years after ministers pledged to make it a
priority.
Its
inspectors found that "significant national shortages of psychiatrists and
nurses are having a major impact on clinical leadership and quality of patient
care".
Mental
health trusts commonly relied on excessive numbers of agency staff who did not
have the skills needed to cope with a violent incident, the commission said.
This left permanent staff working long hours and feeling unsafe.
Patients
were also concerned about their exposure to violence from other patients. Bed
shortages led to inappropriate mixes of patients with different needs. Staff
struggled to stop illicit drugs and alcohol.
The
Daily Telegraph, 04 December 2003
IVF
mother was killed by negligence of hospital staff - medical negligence by her
own hospital colleagues led to the death of a doctor just hours after the birth
of the twins for which she had yearned.
A
verdict of "medical misadventure to which neglect contributed" was
recorded at an inquest into the death of Dr Sandyha Senanayake, who gave birth
to a boy and a girl at the hospital where she worked, only to die shortly
afterwards of internal bleeding.
30,000
nurses desert the NHS
RECORD
numbers of nurses are quitting amid growing concern about the continuing staff
crisis in the Health Service. The number who left the
The
exodus of 30,200 nurses almost cancelled out 31,700 new recruits, many from
overseas. In the previous year, 18,700 nurses left the profession.
The
Royal College of Nursing said it feared the loss of experienced nurses heralded
a 'demographic timebomb' with increasing numbers of NHS staff becoming eligible
for early retirement.
Daily Mail. 02 December
2003
Life-saving
treatment 'denied to over-70s' with breast cancer'
THOUSANDS
of older women are being denied surgery for their breast cancer because of
their age, a cancer surgeon will claim today.
Ian
Fentiman, professor of surgical oncology at Guy's and
Instead
of surgery, many women over 70 were only given the standard breast cancer drug,
tamoxifen - but in many cases without the test which would show whether the
drug was likely to work for them or not, he says.
Prof
Fentiman, an eminent cancer surgeon, is speaking at a debate today run by
Cancer Research
"This
practice is very widespread. Across the nation it must run into thousands.
The
Daily Telegraph, 29 October 2003
June
18, 2003
'Ignored'
surgeon's fury at death of patient, 85 - Staff at a hospital with one of the
highest death rates in the country are alleged to have allowed an elderly women
to die against the specific instructions of her surgeon.
David
Shields said that he was overruled behind his back by anaesthetic staff at
The
woman’s family have complained to the hospital and called for an independent
inquiry. In March, the independent Dr Foster guide to hospitals said that
Oldchurch had one of the highest mortality rates for emergency admissions. It
awarded it one star out of a possible ten.
The
hospital denies the allegations and said that an internal inquiry had found
that the patient should not have been operated on because she was suffering
from a number of pre-existing medical conditions.
Mr
Shields, who was working as a locum at the hospital, resigned, saying that he
was appalled at the management of patients there. He added that the woman’s
care had been his responsibility, not that of the anaesthetists who run the
high dependency unit, where the patient was being treated.
?I am not prepared to accept
responsibility for the death of patients under my care when treatment is either
not given or withdrawn by others without my consent,? he
said.
He
has won support from SOS NHS Patients in Need, which represents the families of
patients whom it believes die unnecessarily in hospitals. ?This
highlights the fact that so many doctors are prepared to write off someone just
because they are elderly,? Julia Quenzler, a spokeswoman, said.
The
affair began when the 85-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital on April
19 with an apparent obstruction of the bowel. She was taken to the high
dependency unit and operated on by Mr Shields. His instructions had been that
in the event of cardiac arrest she should be resuscitated. The next day, he
said, he saw her twice and she appeared stable. But on his ward round the
following morning he was told she had died and from the medical notes
discovered that a decision had been made by the anaesthetic staff not to
resuscitate her.
A
report prepared by another surgeon, Shukri Sami, said the death was caused by
heart disease and failure, with no evidence that a medical intervention had
caused the death. Mr Sami blamed a ?lack of
communication? between the surgical and anaesthetic
teams for confusion over resuscitation.
Mr
Shields resigned immediately. He was suspended from operating and caring for
his patients. ?Accordingly, the person who drew the
trust’s attention to the problem has been removed, instead of the problem being
addressed,? he said. ?So much
for the Government’s charter for whistleblowers.?
The
hospital said that the order not to resuscitate had been entirely appropriate
in this case, and claimed that it had been agreed by Mr Shields, who had
subsequently changed his mind. A spokeswoman said an inquiry had found Mr
Shields should not have operated on the patient because she was not in a suitable
medical position. She said the surgeon had then tried to influence the woman’s
family, who had agreed that she should not be resuscitated, to change their
minds after the event.
Mr
Shields denies all these claims. He also strongly denies the trusts's claim
that he had been in favour of a DNR order. ?The form
was actually signed by the anaesthetic senior house officer, who certainly knew
my view,? he said.
Mark
Rees, chief executive of
?We have met with the patient’s
daughter and would wish to make it clear that they are understandably unhappy
with the management of their relative’s care. However the decision made by the
clinician after discussion with the family to implement the ?do
not resuscitate? policy was in our opinion clinically
correct.?
June
18, 2003
Nurse
'tried to kill five patients'
By
Russell Jenkins
POLICE
have charged a hospital nursing sister with the attempted murder of five
elderly patients who later died.
Barbara
Salisbury, 47, who worked at
It
is understood that the inquiry, led by Detective Chief Inspector Adrian Wright,
has centred on medication administered to patients while under her care on a
general ward.
Detectives
began their investigation in May 2002 after colleagues raised concerns in
relation to a ?number of issues? over
her treatment of four men and one woman in the NHS hospital who later died. It
is understood that detectives looked at many other cases as part of their
inquiry.
Mrs
Salisbury went on holiday in June last year for two weeks and returned to
discover that she was suspended from duty. She has remained off work on full
pay since.
She
lived with her family in
The
brief hearing before magistrates was told that Mrs Salisbury had been charged
with the attempted murder of five patients between May 1999 and April last
year.
She
is alleged to have attempted to murder James Byrne, 76, on or around May 18,
1999, Reuben Thompson, 81, between February 22 and March 14, 2002, Frances Mary
Taylor, 88, on March 21, 2002, Frank Owen, 92, on March 31, 2002, and Bertram
Madeley, 76, on April 28, 2002. All five have since died.
Mrs
Salisbury was released on conditional bail to reappear next week. An order was
made by magistrates banning the publication of her address.
Any
members of the public with queries should contact a hotline, 01270 612 132, he
said.
Michael
Mackey, the nurse’s lawyer, said that she would fight the charges. ?All I can say is that these charges will be strenuously
denied and this will be contested,? he said. ?She has been conditionally bailed and was due to appear at
Chester Crown Court on Tuesday.?
Shipman
experts aid inquiry into hospital deaths
An
expert in the use of the heroin-based painkiller diamorphine is to be appointed
by police conducting an investigation into the deaths of more than 50 elderly
patients at a community hospital. Relations allege that the drug, used by
Harold Shipman to kill many of his patients, was overprescribed at the
The
Times 07/11/02; p.3
Police
investigate deaths of 30 elderly patients
Police
are investigating the hospital care of up to 30 elderly patients after
relatives complained that they may have died from overdoses of powerful
painkillers. The families have hired the solicitor who represented many of the
relatives in the Shipman case to put the argument for a full public inquiry
into the deaths. All of the patients who died were admitted to
The
Times 05/11/02; p.5
July
2000
Telegraph,
15 July 2000
Jail
for relatives in hospital fight over boy - A judge yesterday jailed three
relatives of a severely disabled boy after violence broke out around the
hospital bed of David Glass, then 12, as an uncle and two aunts fought with two
paediatricians trying to administer diamorphine, which his relatives claimed
would have killed him. After the confrontation at St Mary's Hospital,
Complaints
by the family that both doctors should be accused of attempted murder were
investigated by Hampshire police but the Crown Prosecution Service decided
there was insufficient evidence to charge them.
June
2000
Telegraph,
6 June 2000
Sick
boy's relatives 'attacked doctors' - A hospital ward erupted into violence when
the family of a seriously ill child turned on doctors who were "trying to
kill" the boy, a court was told yesterday. Alastair Malcolm, for the
prosecution, told the court that the doctors had given David diamorphine as a
painkiller and to help him breathe but the family ordered that the dose be
reduced and accused them of trying to hasten the child's death. Raymond
Davis, 43, Julie Hodgson, 37, and Diane Wild, 42, all of
Times,
5 June 2000
Consultant
is suspended over organ disposal - hospital consultant pathologist, Geoffrey
Hulman, has been suspended following allegations about the disposal of dead
babies' organs.
Mortuary
workers at the King's Mill Centre in Sutton in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire
claimed they were ordered to throw babies' brains and hearts into rubbish sacks
for incineration as well as the vital organs of adults. They said that
they had been ordered to clear them out soon after guidelines relating to organ
disposal were published by the Royal College of Pathologists in March. The
guidelines advised hospitals to search records to see if organs had been kept
without relatives' permission. They also alleged that in some cases they
had been told to destroy evidence of identity. John Watkinson, chief
executive of the King's Mill Centre
for Health Care Services, said that
following post-mortem examinations the disposal of tissues as clinical waste
was "normal practice"
May
2000
April
2000
Sunday
Telegraph, 30 April 2000
Doctors
leaving young disabled to die - Seriously disabled children and young people
are being left to die because doctors have deemed there quality of life so poor
that they do not merit being kept alive. Hospitals and care homes are
increasingly placing secret DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) orders in their notes which effectively means they are "written
off". In recent weeks, concern has grown about the withholding of
treatment from the elderly. Now patients' groups are worried that a
similar policy is being applied to the young disabled.
Mother
demands inquiry into delays at son's death - Although
25-year-old Stephen Hill had spina bifida and was paralysed from the
waist down, he was a keen football supporter who led an active life and
attended college in Bedfordshire near his residential home. In 1995 he
complained of neck pains and headaches and, when he became breathless, a nurse
was called. She arrived 10 minutes later and felt a faint pulse but agreed, as
she later admitted in an inquiry statement, that she did not resuscitate him
for three minutes "because of his physical disabilities and the suddenness
of his death". The nurse was cleared of negligence in an inquiry by
Staffordshire Social Services but Stephen's mother, Ann Hill, is making an official complaint to the local authority
ombudsman. She cannot discover if a Do Not Resuscitate notice was added
to her son's notes because she has not been allowed access. Mrs Hill believes
that her son could have been saved. She says: "Although Stephen had spina
bifida he enjoyed life and went to college. He should not have been treated in
this way. I believe vulnerable people are in danger." Mrs
Hill, who lives at
Toni
Hunt, 22, a mother of two, who suffered a brain stem stroke, had a DNR order
put on her notes at the
Daily
Mail, 28 April 2000
Written
off by doctors, the 100 elderly patients - Campaigners for the elderly have
compiled a shocking dossier of 100 cases where doctors have failed to tell
hospital patients that they have been deemed not worth trying to
resuscitate. These cases, where 'Do not resuscitate' amounts to 'Do not
treat' are believed by leading geriatric care expert, Professor Ebrahim, to be
the tip of the iceberg. He went on to say that disrespect of the elderly
was rife among hospital doctors. A spokesman for the charity Age Concern
said "the Government must launch an immediate, independent public inquiry
into the scandal ... given the growing body of evidence we are astonished that
the Government is not doing anything to address these concerns". A
Department of Health spokesman said "...the
NHS is about saving and prolonging life...".
Guardian,
28 April 2000
Call
to outlaw medical ageism - Doctors regularly issue "do not resuscitate"
orders for patients without their or their
families' knowledge, according to a professor of social medicine who is calling
for ageism to be outlawed in the NHS. Professor Shah Ebrahim from
Times,
22 April 2000
Relatives
try to halt 'mercy killings' - A group of bereaved relatives
claims that the Government has failed to uphold its statutory duty to protect
vulnerable elderly patients from doctors who deliberately withhold intravenous
fluids to hasten death. This practice, admitted by doctors and nurses to
be widespread, is said to have received tacit approval in many hospitals in
order to relieve pressure on NHS beds. The group's legal action will use
the Human Rights Act 1998 to challenge the BMA's guidelines allowing starvation
and dehydration of certain groups of the elderly even when they are not
terminally ill.
Sunday
Times, 16 April 2000
Paramedic
tells of hospital leaving pensioners to die - Ambulance paramedic, David Moore
of Nottingham, has described how his team resuscitate and rush elderly patients
to hospital, only to find that they are left to die on arrival, without even
receiving a full medical assessment. His claim highlights growing
concern that hospitals across the country are hastening the deaths of elderly
patients by withdrawing food and fluids, mistreating them or leaving them
untreated. "Doctors are just writing these people off. Often
the patients are not even particularly old. You get people in their
sixties and seventies being left on trolleys to die. We try our absolute
hardest to revive these people, but when you get them to hospital they are
greeted with indifference. It's terrible."
Independent,
16 April 2000
Fifty
elderly on NHS dossier of death - Damning evidence that hospitals are routinely
designating elderly patients as "not for resuscitation" without
consent has emerged as a leading charity prepared to hand over a dossier to a
government investigation. Age Concern said that the 50 "do not
resuscitate" cases which were reported to them in the course of just two
days were the "tip of an iceberg".
A
spokesman for Age Concern said "Not for resuscitation" orders rarely
become apparent because case notes are not easily available and the orders are
often written in coded language known only to hospital staff."
A
spokesman for the Department of Health said "We will not tolerate any
discrimination on the grounds of age...".
Daily
Mail, 14 April 2000
Fury
over hospital OAP's left to die by doctors - The Health Secretary, Alan
Milburn, has ordered an urgent inquiry into why hospitals are being allowed to
'write off' the lives of elderly patients. Milburn was said to be
"appalled to discover" that doctors regularly put 'do not resuscitate'
orders in patients' notes without their knowledge or consent. He branded
the practice as "unacceptable" following the case of cancer sufferer
Jill Baker, 67, whose secret 'do not resuscitate' order was written by a junior
doctor who had not even examined her. Mrs Baker is now in remission and
at home.
Campaigners
claimed that 'do not resuscitate' orders were only one of a host of methods
used by doctors to ensure the premature death of elderly patients who require
costly, time-consuming treatment. Other methods include withdrawal of
food and fluids and the use of lethal doses of painkillers such as diamorphine
(heroin). Dr Michael Wilkes, chairman of the BMA's ethics committee, said
"Doctors are not deliberately withdrawing care from elderly patients on
the grounds of age or resources". Age Concern said, however, that
they hear of several cases each month of elderly patients being written off
this way because of a doctor's decision. Sam Ahmedzai, professor of
palliative care at the
There
are currently five separate inquiries involving the police into involuntary
euthanasia in hospitals.
House
of Commons Hansard Written Answers, 3 Apr 2000
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will initiate an
inquiry into age discrimination against elderly patients in the NHS. ( Speaker: Mr. Paul Marsden)
Mr.
Hutton: Discrimination on the grounds of age within the National Health Service
is completely unacceptable. Action is and will be taken to challenge and
correct any such unfair practices. The task now is to get on with ensuring this
delivers the improvements we intend, so that eliminating discrimination and
promoting fair access are firmly embedded as mainstream business for the NHS.
The
provision of first class care on the NHS is our priority and later this year we
will be publishing the National Service Framework (NSF) for Older People. This,
for the first time, will set national standards for the care of older people,
driving up quality and reducing the variations. The NSF will include
performance measures for monitoring progress. The development of the NSF has
involved many groups, including service users and carers, and has included the
issue of access to services.
We
have no plans however to set up any inquiry. Equal opportunities and work
against discrimination must be embedded in our total way of working, rather
than being treated as a separate and one-off activity.
Sunday
Times, 2 April 2000
Elderly
are helped to die to clear beds, claims doctor - The callous treatment of the
elderly in NHS hospitals has been exposed by a doctor who claims elderly
patients are denied life-saving treatment, are grossly neglected and are given
drugs which hasten death.
Rita
Pal, a junior doctor, said: "I have
witnessed doctors who want to keep beds clear by withdrawing treatment or
actively assisting in death to the point where it becomes involuntary
euthanasia." She also spoke of critically ill patients whose lives were
cut short after being given ?unnecessary" doses
of diamorphine.
In
one case she was so convinced a dose of diamorphine she had been ordered to
give would be fatal that she injected it into the patient's mattress. When
another doctor saw that the patient was alive the next day, he said: "Oh,
she is still alive - didn't you start her on diamorphine?" The patient,
suffering from pneumonia, later recovered and left hospital.
In
another case, a senior doctor ordered the medication to be withdrawn from an
89-year-old stroke victim who was critically ill and could not speak because he
had a plastic tube down his throat. "This man was actually conscious
and could hear us," said Pal. "The doctor said, 'We
need the bed - stop all his medication'. He obviously didn't think he was going
to live. I thought: we are killing someone because we want the beds. Pal
disobeyed the doctor and gave the patient drugs to help him breathe. He was
transferred to another unit, but later died.
Dr
Michael Irwin, vice-chairman of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, said:
"My main concern is that diamorphine is being used without consulting
patients or talking to relatives. "That is
involuntary euthanasia and although we know it happens, we don't know the
extent - there are probably thousands of cases each year."
Pal
is now studying to be a barrister. "I have lost faith in medicine,"
she said. "There is a code of silence and it's the hardest thing to stand
up and say something."
March
2000
Sunday
Times, 12 March 2000
Revealed:
cruelty of staff in NHS hospitals - Shocking inhumanity, negligence and
criminality are everyday features of the National Health Service, an undercover
investigation at Whipps Cross and Colindale Hospitals has revealed. Members of
the parliamentary all-party select committee on health expressed dismay at the
revelations.
The
physical condition of some patients and the lack of care was
striking. One man on Bracken ward at Whipps Cross had fluid seeping from open
sores on his lower leg. His toenails were gnarled and overgrown and clearly had
not been clipped in months. On the same ward an elderly woman pleaded to be
taken home. She had soiled herself, but her cries of "please clean me
up" were ignored.
Another
patient on Peace ward was confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak or
communicate because of her condition, she had soiled herself. However, when
nurses transferred her to a bedside chair, they made no effort to clean her and
she was left in her own excrement for more than an hour.
It
was clear that nurses struggled to cope in the face of severe staff shortages.
But there was also a culture of neglect. Some had open contempt for their
patients.
One
old lady in Colindale complained of abusive treatment by nurses and said:
"I've been here for weeks now and the treatment is terrible. But nobody
knows what goes on here and I doubt people ever will. Who is there to hear
us?"
Sunday
Times, 12 March 2000
Editorial:
Hospitals that sicken- Hospitals are stressful places at the best of times.
Patients require constant attention and medical emergencies are part of the
daily routine. Staff shortages and the growing demand for hospital beds have
increased over the years and ministers face a
recurring crisis. The latest figures show that nearly 1.2m people are waiting
for what they hope will be the best possible treatment in a caring environment.
Tragically, that can no longer be taken for granted, as the incidents witnessed
by our reporter at two
They
point to an appalling degree of indifference and disregard for the basic rights
of patients and confirm our worst fears about declining standards in the
National Health Service. We are entitled to expect, however, that no hospital
allows its standards of care to fall below an acceptable minimum, that patients
are not humiliated and that staff do not exploit the vulnerability of those
they are committed to serve. Once the culture of neglect takes over, the
nightmare of abuse is not far behind.
The
lack of respect for the elderly is especially worrying. More people than
ever are living into their seventies and beyond in reasonably good health. But
The
government has made great play of its determination to make the NHS fit for the
world's fifth-largest economy. No amount of extra cash will achieve that without
better hospital management, a caring staff and respect for patients.
February
2000
The
Times, 3 February 2000
Casualty
bosses ordered 'cover-up' - Hospitals rigged the results of a nation-wide
survey of casualty waiting times by pressuring nurses to "hide"
patients, according to the Royal College of Nursing.
Following
an annual survey organised by the Association of Community Health Councils, the
RCN had reports that many hospitals were covering up their problems. The RCN
received phone calls from nurses in more than 18 casualty units complaining
that they had been asked to move patients for the purposes of the inspection.
"A couple of them were in tears, they were so distressed," Mrs
Wilkinson said. "They have been struggling with long waits for patients
for so long, but all of a sudden on Monday the senior management arrived to
tell them they could not be made to look bad." Nurses, speaking in
confidence, reported being forced to move patients to the wrong ward or rushing
patients home, while one hospital opened an empty ward
over the weekend to provide temporary relief to casualty.
Donna
Covey, the director of the Association of Community Health Councils, said that
she was very disappointed. "This is yet another example of the cover-up
culture that exists in parts of the health service," she said.
December
1999
Sunday
Times, 19 December 1999
Blunders
by doctors kill 40,000 a year - Medical error is the third most frequent cause
of death in
The
study shows that one in 14 patients suffers some kind of adverse event such as
diagnostic error, operation mistake or drug reaction. Charles Vincent, head of
the clinical risk unit at University College London, who is leading the study,
has pioneered efforts to examine the extent of clinical errors in
Anne
Rogers is the victim of one of these mistakes in
Bill
Twist, 42, from
Graham
Neale, former professor of clinical medicine at Trinity College Dublin, who is
a leading expert on medical risk management, said: "In
Every year in Britain 156,000 people die
from cancer and 140,000 from heart disease. Somebody
suffering a full cardiac arrest has a 30% chance of survival in the American
city of
Telegraph,
10 December 1999
Doctors
angered by Tory's anti-euthanasia Bill - The row over allegations that elderly
patients were left to die in NHS hospitals continued yesterday as Ann
Winterton, the Tory MP, unveiled plans to introduce an
all-party Private Member's Bill next month that would prevent doctors intentionally
bringing about the death of patients, either by deliberate acts or their
failure to take steps to keep people alive.
Mrs
Winterton's Medical Treatment (Prevention of
Euthanasia) Bill stands a good chance of making progress. However, her
allegation that "euthanasia by another name" was being practised by
some doctors infuriated the British Medical Association.
Mrs
Winterton said the law had been undermined by guidance drawn up by the BMA this
year on withholding and withdrawing life-prolonging treatment in special cases,
such as patients in a persistent vegetative state. However, the BMA insisted
that its guidance was intended to help doctors make compassionate decisions
about treatment at the end of life, for patients with no prospect of recovery.
Telegraph,
6 December 1999
Elderly
Patients 'left starving to death in NHS' - Elderly patients are dying because
of an unspoken policy of "involuntary euthanasia" designed to relieve
pressure on the National Health Service, said Dr Adrian Treloar, consultant and
senior lecturer in geriatrics at Greenwich Hospital. Sir John Grimley
Evans, professor of clinical geratology at
'People
are just being written off by the system' - The testimony of powerless adults
who have watched their parents die in hospital wards in pain, discomfort and
without dignity is compelling evidence of age discrimination in the NHS.
These shocking accounts could be dismissed as anecdote, or exceptional cases,
were it not for the experiences reported by
doctors. These are backed by research carried out by physicians and
various relevant charities. Dr. Mike Pearson, spokesman of the British
Thoracic Society, said "People are just being written off. There is
a difference between a person's biological age and their chronological
age. If you are young biologically, you will do just as well from
intensive care whether you are 60 or 80".
They
are the forgotten patients, treated as subhuman - Gillian Rooney describes the
geriatric ward at the
Sunday
Times, 5 December 1999
Doctor
'forced' to take child organs - Dick Van Velzen, the pathologist at the
centre of the row over the removal of organs from dead children has claimed
that he was pressured into taking hundreds of hearts and lungs out to augment
collections at Liverpool's Alder Hey hospital. "They had body parts that
had been there for decades. I repeatedly expressed concerns about it, but they
were brushed aside by the management." He went on to say "I
knew it was ethically improper and I told them so. I told them they should get
specific parental consent for what they were doing, but the hospital ethics
committee decided that wasn't necessary ."
Van Velzen has kept a 7in-high pile of documents detailing numerous requests to
hospital managers for action to end the organ scandal. He insisted:
"I will come to
Times,
4 December 1999
Organs
'outrage' triggers inquiry. Alan Milburn, the Health Secretary, ordered
an inquiry yesterday into complaints from parents that Alder Hey Children's
Hospital in
November
1999
Times,
23 November 1999
Children
'put at risk to protect health funding - Stephen Bolsin, the whistle-blower who
exposed the
Woman's
Hour, BBC Radio, 22 November 1999
Co-Director
of S.I.N.( Sufferers of Iatrogenic Neglect ), Mrs.
Gillian Bean, took part in a discussion with Mr. Alan Bedford, Chief Executive
of East Sussex, Brighton & Hove Health Authority on the subject of the
present NHS Complaints Procedure. Mr. Bedford, who is on the Committee set up
in January 1999 by the Secretary of State for Health to review the NHS
Complaints System, seemed unaware of the inadequacies of the NHS Complaints
System, despite the fact that Mr. Frank Dobson, former Secretary for Health,
after oral evidence was heard at the Health Service Select Committee said
publicly: "The present system of protecting patients is a bit of a
shambles". For more details please read the open letter recently
sent by SIN to Mr. Stephen Thornton, Chief Executive, Confederation
of NHS
Times,
19 November 1999
Family
to sue over fatal operation - A mother of two who died when a routine operation
went wrong at the Kings Mill Centre in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire
which has been the subject of a number of allegations of poor standards of
treatment in recent years. Mrs Herbert's husband and daughters said yesterday
that they would sue for compensation after the coroner said he was satisfied
that the cause of death was related to the original operation.
Times,
18 November 1999
Hospital
staff shortages 'are killing the old' - The National Confidential Enquiry into
Perioperative Deaths (Cepod) has found that elderly people are dying after
operations because of hospital staff shortages, poor training, and dangerous
negligence. A fifth of those who died were put at risk because emergency
surgery was delayed by hospital mismanagement. Despite the vulnerability
of the patients, they were mostly operated on by inexperienced doctors."
An increasingly elderly population does require urgent improvement of skills in
this area," said John Williams, chairman of Cepod "At present there
is a grave shortage of trained staff who can provide the best care."
The report focused on the 1,428 people aged over 90 who died within a month
after operations last year, although Dr Williams said the same dangers were
likely to apply to those over 70.
Times,
16 November 1999
Stressed
doctors 'hate' their patients - Research at the University of Northumbria has found
that stress causes two fifths of doctors to become aggressive or violent
towards their patients, with 2 per cent admitting to killing someone through
negligent care and 8 per cent to making "serious mistakes", although
they did not lead to death. Doctors blamed the failings on the levels of
pressure they faced in order to pay for the economies that they say have been
made by the Government in the health service. Two thirds of doctors report using alcohol to cope with stress and one
third of junior doctors suffered from serious stress-related disorders, such as
depression or alcoholism.
Sunday
Times, 7 November 1999
GPs
caught in £80m 'ghost' patient fraud - some doctors' lists have up to 5% bogus
patients (about 3 million nationally). Ghost patients can be created either when people move to other GPs' practices or die and
their names are not removed, or by doctors who intentionally invent names.
This
is just part of the fraud and mismanagement that is costing the health service
up to £2 billion a year, and diverting resources away from necessary treatments
in hospitals. Other scams include:
Top
hospital trust executives fraudulently awarding themselves extra salary and
bonuses worth tens of thousands of pounds.
Hospital
consultants claiming full or nearly full NHS salaries while much of their time
is spent working in the private sector, some earning £1m a year on top of their
NHS pay.
Doctors'
leaders confirmed last week the problem of "inflated" GPs' lists, but
the health department said last week that it could not comment on the problem
because it had not yet "formally received" the report compiled by the
Audit Commission.
Sunday
Telegraph, 7 November 1999
Doctors
will be sacked in NHS standards drive - Alan Milburn, the Health Secretary,
will be setting doctors national standards, with regular inspections backed up
by the threat of the sack for the first time in NHS history. Health
authorities will get powers to suspend poor performers following scandals such
as the deaths of the
October
1999
Observer,
24 October 1999
Doctors
'blacklist' dissatisfied patients- NHS closes ranks against sick who dare to
complain about their treatment. Patients are being blacklisted by doctors and
sometimes struck off by their GPs for daring to complain about their treatment
under the NHS. Many believe that it is pointless and perhaps even dangerous to
use the medical complaints system, described by the former Health Secretary,
Frank Dobson, as 'a shambles', because it is so heavily weighted against them.
This is set to change when a forthcoming report from the Health Select
Committee condemns the NHS complaints system and recommends reforms that would
make the procedure independent, and seen to be so. 'It is certainly true that
patients are blacklisted by consultants and GPs,' said David Hinchcliffe,
chairman of the Select Committee. Now a group of patients have formed a
campaign group to fight back. They are called SIN: Sufferers of Iatrogenic
Neglect. 'Iatrogenic means being damaged by medical intervention,' explains
co-founder Gillian Bean. 'It is not snappy, but then neither is
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and people know what that means.' SIN knows of 40
cases where patients claim they have suffered on two counts: through human
error and because they have complained and now are blacklisted. 'There is a
"not in my back yard" attitude because doctors are frightened of
being brought in to a case that often involves very senior members of their
specialist discipline,' alleged Bean.
Times,
24 October 1999
Women's
breasts removed in cancer diagnosis error - A sample 2,000 out of 75,000 people
originally tested for suspected cancerous growths revealed at least half a
dozen women may have had breasts removed or been given toxic drug treatment
after being wrongly diagnosed. A male patient appears to have undergone
treatment for non-existent bowel cancer. The cases were discovered during
a review of screening results made between 1990 and 1995 at the
Times,
21 October 1999
Records
of 70 dead patients sought- Northallerton Community Health Council acted,
following complaints of injury by over 100 former patients of consultant
gynaecologist Richard Neale. Police are also investigating the deaths of
three of Neale's patients following his departure from The Friarage Hospital,
Telegraph,
13 October 1999
Patients
unhappy at handling of cases against GPs- The
Consumers' Association found that most patients who complain about their
doctors to the General Medical Council are dissatisfied, feel that they have
been treated unfairly and feel the GMC acts more in the interests of doctors
than patients.
Which?
found that 82 per cent were dissatisfied with the
process, 79 per cent with the way their complaint was handled, 77 per cent with
the support they received and 63 per cent with the way they were kept
informed. Patients usually complained about standards of care, rudeness
and poor attitude among doctors, and found it unfair that they were not allowed
to see the doctor's response to their complaint.
Charlotte
Gann, editor of Health Which?, said yesterday:
"We are left asking the question whether self-regulation of the medical
profession is working in the interests of patients". Complaints to
the GMC have trebled since 1993 to 3,000 a year, but the GMC rejected 88 per
cent of all cases.
British
Medical Journal, Editorial, 9 October 1999
Stumbling
into rationing - A national debate on values is needed to sustain the
NHS. While some countries tackle a problem like the rationing of health
care head on - admitting the problem at the highest level, analysing it,
declaring their values, and beginning to work on a just, transparent solution -
the British deny the problem and nibble at its edges. Surely we can do
better. This government, like the last, avoids the word rationing, but it
knows that not everything can be done for everybody. So it has
constructed machinery with Orwellian names - health improvement plans and the
National Centre for Clinical Excellence (NICE) - to do some of the inevitable
job of denying access to effective interventions... If the government wants to
sustain the NHS then it needs to engage the public... That engagement might
also lead to more resources being put into the NHS.
September
1999
Times,
30 September 1999
The
bereaved daughter of a woman admitted to hospital with a leg ulcer wants her
body to be exhumed after a leading expert concluded that she was the victim of involuntary
euthanasia. Aged 86, Olwen Gibbings had been heavily dosed with a heroin-based
painkiller that can hasten death, and her medical notes were marked "not
for resuscitation". "We were told by an independent medical expert
that she could have been treated, but no treatment was given. She was not
terminally ill. She died from respiratory failure, the result of an opiate
overdose. I want her body to be exhumed so hair-shaft tests can be carried out
to determine the level of diamorphine in her." The medical expert who
assessed the case for the police was a colleague of the doctor at the centre of
the allegations; the Crown Prosecution Service then ruled that there is
insufficient evidence to prosecute. Within hours of admission, Mrs
Gibbings slipped into unconsciousness and was gasping for breath. Her death, on
November 6, 1996, was analysed by Michael Irwin, vice-chairman of the Voluntary
Euthanasia Society and chairman of Doctors for Assisted Dying, after her
daughter, Olwyn Bowen, sent him the papers. Dr Irwin, who supports euthanasia
by consent only, said: "I believe that involuntary euthanasia was
performed on Mrs Gibbings. Involuntary euthanasia can be defined as ending
someone's life who could consent but does not. Such an
action is indistinguishable from criminal homicide. Cardiff Royal Infirmary
issued a death certificate listing septicaemia as the principal cause of death.
Mr Bowen said: "The only thing my mother-in-law was guilty of was being
86. She was written off."
Sunday
Mirror, 26 September 1999
A
couple who have spent 10 years and almost all their money fighting to find out
the truth about their son's tragic death have finally won a review of the case.
Detectives have re-opened inquiries and the new Welsh Assembly is under
pressure to hold a full inquiry. A parliamentary
committee already taking evidence has heard that doctors failed to carry out
proper tests, or find out what was wrong, and later resorted to falsifying
medical records. In a note to police in April, 1996, Prof Charles Brook of the
Guardian,
22 September 1999
Researchers
at the Public Law Project heavily criticised the NHS complaints procedure,
saying that there was a lack of impartiality, complainants did not get a fair
hearing, and complaints against GPs disappeared into "a black hole”.
Researchers were most concerned over cases that raised serious questions about
doctors' or nurses' performance, conduct or competence.
A
copy of this Public Law Project report may be obtained by sending an A4 size
envelope (stamps = £1.05p) to:
Henrietta Wallace
Public Law Project
Room E608
Mallet Street
Times,
19 September 1999
Student
nurses at Tolworth hospital in Surbiton,
Times,
2 September 1999
Police
are investigating deaths of over 30 elderly patients at the
January
1999
BMA
16 Jan 1999
Police
and health officials are investigating at least 50 deaths of patients around
The
inquiries centre on hospitals in
A
former nurse triggered the investigation in
Charges
could also follow the death of an 81 year old woman in a
Doctor
and Hospital Doctor, 7 January 1999
Patients
are suffering and some have died as a result of rationing and being denied
hospital care in the NHS, doctors have claimed. Of 3,000 doctors
surveyed, 20% know patients who have suffered harm and over 5% know of patients
who had died as a result of rationing. Ministers claim rationing is not
necessary in the NHS but doctors claim rationing is inevitable.
July
1997
Sunday
Telegraph, 6 July 1997
A
Doctor's Right to Lie - In an astonishing Judgement
last week, the
House
of Commons Health Select Committee and Legislation
The Committee heard evidence on Elder Abuse in January 2004. The uncorrected minutes include evidence from CHI on
elder abuse within the NHS.
The
Committee sat during the summer of 1999 and considered the subject of
Procedures related to Adverse Clinical Incidents and Outcomes in Medical Care
(i.e. Complaints). Minutes of these meetings are available online at the
following address:
http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm/cmhealth.htm
A
response by the Department of Health to the Report of the Health Select
Committee (1998-99 session) on Procedures Related to
Adverse Clinical Incidents and Outcomes in Medical Care was published sometime
in April 2000. No fanfare, and it was not easy to find (surprise
surprise).
SIN
have written a critique of the NHS Complaints Procedure entitled " The Emperor Has No Clothes" which can be found on
the Bristol Inquiry website at:
http://www.bristol-inquiry.org.uk/brisphase2_Responses.htm.
Will
Powell, of the Bereaved Parents Group, has prepared a press release covering
self regulation and its problems, and issued a press release concerning the DOH
response
http://www.patientprotect.org/Powell.html
The
Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998
The
most far-reaching whistleblower protection law in the world is now on the
statute book. For information on how this new law offers protection to
Whistleblowers, please see an extract from the
resource pack produced by Public Concern at Work, which includes a summary of
the Act. Public Concern at Work are an independent charity and leading
authority on public interest whistleblowing and was closely involved in setting
the scope and detail of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998. The Act
is still regarded by many, however, as being unacceptably weak. Please check
the website at Freedom to Care for further details.
Meetings
The
listing of events and meetings maintained by the King's Fund is excellent, and
is at the following address:
http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/eventlist/default.htm
If
there are any other events you would like to announce, please let me know by
email at info@patientprotect.org and I will include them here.
Newspapers
on the Web
Several
newspapers are archived and accessible through the web. Registration is
sometimes required, but this is usually free, and needs to be done the first
time you visit. There is a lot of variation in what can be done.
For example, the Times allows you to retrieve back
issues by date (so you have to know the date of the piece you are looking for);
the Telegraph allows you to search its database for key words. I have
found the following addresses useful - if you know of any more, please let me
know:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/Times/frontpage.html?999
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Brief descriptions of other organisations, and Links.
Listed
here are organisations you are likely to come across. They range from the
excellent to the completely useless.
Action
on Elder Abuse
Age
Concern
ALERT
APROP
(Action for the Proper Regulation of Private Hospitals)
AVMA
(Action for Victims of Medical Accidents)
Bereaved
Parents Group
British
Geriatrics Society
British
Medical Association
Campaign
Against Hysterectomy and Unnecessary Operations on
Women
Charter88
Constructive
Dialogue for Clinical Accountability
CROP
(Citizens' Rights for Older People)
David
Glass Home Page
First
Do No Harm
Freedom
to Care
General
Medical Council
Health
Service Commissioner, (The Ombudsman)
HealthWatch
Help
the Aged
The
Informed Parent (support/info for vaccination)
Inquest
King's
Fund
Ledward
Victims Group
Medical
Accidents
Medical
Ethics
Medical
Litigation
MRSASUPPORT
NHS-Exposed
NHSEXPOSE
NHS
Codes of Practice
Patients'
Association
Patient
Information Leaflets
Patient
Public
Concern at Work
Relatives'
Association
Self
Help
SIN
(Sufferers of Iatrogenic Neglect)
UKCC
(... for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting)
VES
(Voluntary Euthanasia Society)
Action
on Elder Abuse
Astral
House
Tel:
0181 6792628
Fax:
0181 6794074
0808
8088141 (response line 10.00h -16.30h, weekdays)
Email:
aea@ace.org.uk
Website:
http://www.elderabuse.org/
Action
on Elder Abuse (AEA) exists to raise awareness of elder abuse by promoting
research, collecting and disseminating information and encouraging widespread
education about the prevention of harm to older. We run a confidential
helpline, Elder Abuse Response, which provides information and emotional
support for those involved when an older person is abused. Anyone can telephone
0808 8088141 each weekday between 10am and 4.30pm. There is a response in
English, Welsh, Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi.
We
define elder abuse as: A single or repeated act or lack of appropriate
action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of
trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person.
************************************************
Age
Concern (The National Council on Ageing, Age Concern
Astral
House
Tel:
0181 6798000
Fax:
0181 6796069
************************************************
ALERT.
The
ALERT Carers' Group
Tel:
0171 7302800
Fax:
0171 7300710
The
ALERT Carers' Group was started by six women who are or have been carers for
family members with a long term illness or disability, and who believe it is
inhumane to end patients' lives by starvation and dehydration. Members of
the group met in hospitals with their relatives, or came together through
ALERT, which is opposed to any actions which are intended to end the lives of
patients. They are campaigning for a new law to protect patients who
cannot speak for themselves, and to prevent families being put under pressure
to agree to withdrawal of food and fluids for financial reasons.
************************************************
APROP
(Action for the Proper Regulation of Private Hospitals)
Weybridge
Email:
aprop@littleton.prestel.co.uk
APROP
is a campaigning group. Dissatisfied patients and relatives should contact
APROP at the above address. A website on private hospitals is planned.
************************************************
AVMA
(Action for Victims of Medical Accidents)
Action
for Victims of Medical Accidents (registered charity 299123)
Croydon
CRO
1YB
Phone:
020 8686 8333
website:
www.avma.org.uk
email:
admin@avma.org.uk
************************************************
Bereaved
Parents Group
c/o Chris and Lyn Askew
202A
Woodford
Green
Tel:
0181 5050117
Email:
chris.askew@btinternet.com
Marilyn
Haslewood and Geoffrey Nichol Tel: 0132 2410006
Chris
Treleaven Tel: 0191 4880540
Whickham
NE16
5YL
Art
and Vicky McConnell Tel: 01235 523484
Abingdon
OX14
5EE
"A
doctor has no legal duty under the law to tell parents the truth when a child
dies".
This
group was set up in 1997 when bereaved parents amalgamated to campaign for
accountability within the health service. Our aim is to obtain changes in
the NHS Complaints System which ensure that when a child dies as a result of
neglect or of negligent action there will be a mechanism which ensures a full
and independent enquiry.
************************************************
British
Geriatrics Society
Regent's
Park
Tel:
0171 9354004
Fax:
0171 2240454
************************************************
British
Medical Association
************************************************
Campaign
Against Hysterectomy and Unnecessary Operations on
Women
c/o Sandra Simkin
Tel:
01483 715435
Fax:
01483 722446
Email:
sandra@cah-sspr.fsnet.co.uk
The
Campaign was founded in 1995 to focus attention on unnecessary hysterectomies,
caesarean sections and breast surgery performed on women in this country, and
with the aim of achieving a Women's Medical Protection Act in Parliament to
protect women's sexual organs from unnecessary removal.
We
believe that the medical profession is out of control and has hidden behind
'clinical judgement' for years to prevent the outright abuse which has been the
standard of treatment. Women are literally being robbed of their wombs and
ovaries for no reason at all, unless simply to justify the funding and
existence of doctors. Ninety percent too many hysterectomies are being
performed in the
of hysterectomy in the
The
National Childbirth Trust and AIMS (Action for the Improvement of Maternity
Services) has been campaigning for years against the high and unnecessary
incidence of caesarean sections in the
Through
all of these procedures women are being frightened into having major surgery on
a 'what if' basis. The vast majority of these women are not ill in the true
sense of the word - they are simply suffering the temporary effects of hormonal
imbalance. Unfortunately there is no such thing as INFORMED CONSENT in this country. Doctors tell you lies
and give you false statistics in
order to encourage
you to accept their desired course for you. Many of the operations are procured
to provided training opportunities for junior doctors
- the President of the RCOG admitted as much to me at a private meeting.
************************************************
Charter88
18A
Tel:
020 8880 6088
Fax:
020 8880 6089
Website:http://www.charter88.org.uk/democracy/index.html
Email:
info@charter88.org.uk
Charter88
supports no political party. It is an independent organisation that has over
80,000 supporters that believe there is a better way to run this country.
Charter88 believes that people should have as much say as possible about how
they are governed and the choices made for them.
************************************************
Constructive
Dialogue for Clinical Accountability
BS8
2HS
Tel:
0117 9732925
Fax:
0117 9149025
Email:
101636.1720@compuserve.com
CDCA
has arisen out of the four years constructive research and investigation
undertaken into the state of paediatric cardiac surgery at the Bristol Royal
Infirmary and the
CDCA
has been set up as a national lobbying group.
Its
aims are simple and straightforward as follows:-
1)
To lobby for an independent medical inspectorate
2)
To debate the use of clinical audit as a tool of patient safety and clinical
excellence
3)
To call for a review of the clinical complaints procedure of the NHS
So
far CDCA has attracted world-wide interest from both doctors and patient
groups. It was clear that the situation In Bristol was not unique. Doctors have
had clinical freedom to act as they please without regard for patient safety
and without fear of being made accountable for their clinical decisions.
Hundreds
of families have seen their children suffer and die or sustain serious brain
damage. The cost in human terms to these families is incalculable. The cost to
the state in terms of unresolved grief, benefit payments, sick benefit and
drugs administration is not known. In the wake of
What
will it take to make the NHS accountable and open? How many more patients must
suffer Incompetent medical intervention before the medical profession imposes
on itself an independent statutory body designed to pick up doctors mistakes
and deal with them efficiently to ensure the safety of the next patient? When a
patient goes into hospital three basic questions need to be asked. Does this
patient require medical intervention? Has the medical intervention resulted in
patient benefit? Has the medical intervention made the patient worse?
At
the GMC Inquiry Sir Donald Irvine asked Dr Stephen Bolsin how could they ensure that another
What
is the way forward?
There
must be constructive ways forward to ensure patient benefit which at the same
time reflects clinical excellence.
Clinical
audit could be a powerful tool of change within the medical profession if it is
used to keep sight of the patient. Conversely it can be used as a tool that
appears to inspect standards of clinical care but in fact hides mistakes
through statistical analysis, and is designed to do so in order to protect the
status quo.
The
wounds and scars, inflicted on the medical profession by its own members
involved in these various tragedies, need time to heal. But how do we keep
sight of the patient whilst this healing of the medical profession is taking
place?
How
do doctors learn to respect the patients they are dealing with when they are
trained to intellectualise the condition or the disease and isolate it from the
real person sitting in front of them?
I
think doctors today need to be trained to engage with their own humanity and
that of the patient. Positive change will only come about if the medical
profession chooses to change its own unthinking patterns of behaviour and to
step back and reflect. The age of paternalism is over, the age of partnership
based on respect and equality is ready to take its place.
If
you wish to contribute ideas to CDCA which would help the organisation to
engender change based on patient benefit I would be only too happy to hear from
you.
Yours sincerely.
Maria
Shortis
Director
CDCA
************************************************
************************************************
CROP
(Citizens' Rights for Older People)
Ground
Floor, East Wing
Teston
Tel:
01622 812228
Citizens'
Rights for Older People, better known as CROP, is a
free confidential advisory service for older people in the Mid Kent Health
Area. We help older people to challenge decisions they do not agree with
which have been bade on their behalf. We enable older people to make
informed choices by seeking out all the options and presenting them to the
client. The client is then able to decide on key decisions or issues that
affect their lives.
Jan Price, Project Co-ordinator.
************************************************
David Glass Home
Page
Fax:
01483 740100
Email:
DavidG7429@aol.com
Website:
http://members.tripod.com/davidglass1
This
site documents a mother's ongoing struggle with doctors who believe that her son
should be killed with diamorphine.
It
is a year ago that Carol Glass and members of her family took positive action
to resuscitate her son David following the decision of the doctors and chief
executive of Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust to administer diamorphine to David
against his mother's wishes and without the sanction of the court. Although not
terminally ill the doctors said it would be in David's 'best interests to allow
him to die.........' .
As
a result of the family's actions in saving David, the Portsmouth Hospitals NHS
Trust sought an injunction against them which bars them from being on hospital
premises except in the case of individual emergency treatment. They are not
allowed to visit any relatives or friends who may be treated at the Trusts
hospitals. Carol can visit David only (if he is ever taken there again).
David's sisters can only visit David but no more than two of the very immediate
family can be present at any time.
************************************************
First
Do No Harm - Doctors Who Respect Human Life
Tel:
+44 (020) 7730 3059
Fax:
+44 (020) 7730 0818
Website:
http://www.donoharm.org.uk
E-mail:
enquiries@donoharm.org.uk
'FIRST
DO NO HARM' is a doctors' action group, formed to oppose the current campaign
for euthanasia and to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the World Medical
Association’s “Declaration of Geneva" of 1948, the reformulation of the
Hippocratic Oath. In this a doctor promises:
"The
health and life of my patient will be my first consideration."
************************************************
Freedom to Care - Liberating
the Professional Conscience
FtC, c/o Porter-Williams,
Greenhaven,
Halfway
Lane,
Dunchurch,
Email:
mailto:freedomtocare@aol.com
Website:
http://www.freedomtocare.org
Promotes
the expression of social conscience in the workplace, public accountability, ethics at work and supports whistleblowers and
whistleblowing.
Provides free information on
professional ethics, bullying at work, corporate responsibility, social and
ethical accounting and auditing - especially in health care, nursing, social
work, police, financial services, education, science and environment.
************************************************
General
Medical Council
W1N
6JE
Tel:
0171 5807642
Fax:
0171 9153641
************************************************
(Office
of the ) Health Service Commissioner for
Millbank
Tel:
0171 217
Fax:
0171 2174000
************************************************
HealthWatch
Box
BM HealthWatch
Tel/Fax:
020 8789 7813
Email:
Michael.E.Allen@btinternet.com
Website:
http://www.biochem.ucl.ac.uk/~dab/healthwatch.html
Newsletter:
tandmpayne@aol.com
HealthWatch
promotes:
*
The assessment and testing of treatments, whether 'orthodox' or 'alternative';
*
Consumer protection of all forms of health care, both by thorough testing of
all products and procedures, and better regulation of all practitioners;
*
Better understanding by the public and the media that valid clinical trials are
the best way of ensuring protection
************************************************
Help
the Aged
St
James's Walk
Clarkenwell
Green
Tel:
0171 2530253
Fax:
0171 4903463
Email:
info@helptheaged.org.uk
hta@dail.pipex.com
************************************************
The
Informed Parent
Middlesex
HA3
7UW
Tel/Fax:
0181 8611022
Shouldn't
the after-effects of childhood vaccination be discussed before?
It'd
make sense wouldn't it? Yet sadly, there's a lot that parents aren't
told.
For
instance, you might think that it was vaccination that eradicated many of the
ailments, like whooping cough and measles, that used
to plague us in the early years of this century. However, it's an
established fact that improvements in nutrition, housing and public sanitation
were chiefly responsible for bringing these diseases under control.
You
might think, that apart from a few tragic cases, side
effects from vaccinations are minor and short lived. Again, this isn't
the case. A growing number of health professionals now believe that
vaccination could be linked to a host of maladies including cot deaths,
leukaemia, debilitating neurological illnesses and a drastic weakening of a
child's immune system.
You
probably think that the one person you feel you can trust in this debate is
your family doctor. While no one is suggesting that he or she would
deliberately mislead you over vaccinations, doctors are under a lot of pressure
to toe the official line. History has shown that the medical
establishment is far from immune to making mistakes. Yet doctors who
raise doubts about the effects of vaccination face official censure, or worse,
from their professional bodies.
Then
there's the money. Doctors who achieve between 70% and 90% take-up rate
for vaccinations qualify for a financial bonus. Below that and they get
nothing. Of course, big drug companies have an even bigger interest in
vaccination. They make millions of pounds a year from it.
Vaccination,
in short, is big business.
At
The Informed Parent we think you are entitled to the independent information
that will help you to make up your own mind, and that vaccination should be no
one's business but you own.
Please
contact The Informed Parent for more information or details about becoming a
member.
************************************************
Inquest
Ground
Floor
Alexandra
National House
330
Tel:
0181 8027430
Fax:
0181 8027450
************************************************
The
King's Fund
Tel:
0171 3072400
Fax:
0171 3072801
Email:
web@kehf.org.uk
Website:
http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/
The
King's Fund is an independent health charity whose goal is to support the
health and health care of the people of
The
King's Fund has a wide remit in the health and social care field. Although its
primary concern is
For
more information about any of the activities of the King's Fund, please
call Andrew Bell on
0171 3072585, or e-mail at A.Bell@kingsfund.org.uk
The
King's Fund website has a large list of related organisations at
http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/links/default.htm
************************************************
Ledward
Victims Group
c/o Mrs Janet St Pier
Honorary
Secretary
85
Church Meadows
Sholden,
Deal
Email:
janet.st.pier@ukgateway.net or janstpier@aol.com
The
Ledward Victims Group is hoping to achieve the following:
*
To establish why an incompetent surgeon was allowed to carry out surgery for 16
years.
*
That a "vetting" procedure is put in place for all doctors/surgeons,
and that there is a governing body set to review doctors/surgeons on a regular
basis.
*
There should be "freedom" to all medical staff to speak of any
concerns or observations they have about senior colleagues without fear of
reprisal.
*
There should be an easier way for a patient to complain without being fobbed
off.
************************************************
Medical
Accidents
IFBQ
Unit
6
The
Revenge
Road
Lordswood
ME5
8UD
Email:
ylindridgeifbq@aol.com
Website:
http://www.medical-accident.co.uk/frames.htm
Our
aim is -
To
support all patients and to work with you to reduce medical accidents through
information sharing and
education
Support is a 2-way process
We want to help you, but we need you to help us with
information, and pinpointing our priorities
We believe that all patients have the right to:
Be listened to
Be respected
Have a say in their own treatment
Be kept informed of all options
Be treated by healthy, competent medical personnel
Be treated in hygienic conditions
Be treated in well-managed organisations
We are a patient-led group; we apply business-accepted processes, standards and
solutions
to medical concerns
Our approach is caring and supportive. Our aim is to fund our services to
patients at minimal
/ no cost to the patient
We have been successful in business through our approach, and wish to help
others have a
better quality of life
This initiative was launched by Yolande Lindridge; her intervention and
approach to medical
issues affecting her and her family led to:
Her son having the best quality of life available to him
Containing her own breast cancer over 7 years without the intervention of drugs
Improving dramatically her osteo-arthritis over 11 years without the intervention
of
drugs / surgery
Her mother having a better quality death than that which was on offer to her
Saving her own life in hospital
She must be doing something right!
WE
WANT TO USE OUR EXPERIENCE AND APPROACH TO HELP YOU.
WE
NEED YOU TO TELL US ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCES, GOOD AND BAD.
Please
feel free to E-mail us if you have any queries or if you would like further
information.
All
information received will be dealt with confidentially.
Together
reducing the risks for patients
Copyright
(c) IFBQ, 2000
************************************************
Medical
Ethics
Springhill
House
WV4
4TJ
Fax : +44 1902 340100
info@medethics-alliance.org
http://www.medethics-alliance.org/
Medical
Ethics Alliance is a non-profit making organisation and has been established to
promote pro-life policies
******************************************************
Medical
Litigation
http://www.medneg.com/, is subscriber based and the annual
fee is £120 plus vat (£141). Our case database,
and all other data bases as described below are only available to subscribers.
Established
in 1998, is now used by most clinical negligence practitioners, including the
NHS Litigation Authority, who enjoy the following unique benefits:
·
a Confidential Index of over 1,000 experts under
specialities who have testified in open court with relevant judicial comment -
updated monthly;
·
fast law reports, based on official transcripts, with full analytical
headnotes, tables of cases and indexes prepared by experienced members of the
Bar.
·
authorities considered, applied, distinguished,
overruled and otherwise judicially considered;
·
indexes of over 1,200 practising lawyers with direct
links to reported cases in which they have appeared - and the results;
************************************************
MRSASUPPORT
Tel:
0121 476 6583
Email:info@mrsasupport.co.uk
Website:www.mrsasupport.co.uk
The
number of cases of MRSA is likely to rise to more than 100,000 over the next 12
months. To date, around 7,000 patients have contracted MRSA each year in
hospital and 5,000 die each year as a direct cause.
MRSASUPPORT:
*
Formed to provide practical and moral support to all involved.
*
Most patients don't know that they have been infected and then when informed
don't know what to do!
*
Most hospitals call MRSA an "infection" without telling the whole
truth.
*
As well as offering immediate help, in conjunction with HAIR (Hospital Acquired
Infection Register) we shall campaign for a cleaner approach to hospital
hygiene.
Members
of MRSA SUPPORT have published a booklet aimed at helping hospital patients and
visitors to defend themselves from picking up the MRSA bug. Compiled by their
chairman Tony Field, the booklet entitled "MRSA - A PATIENT'S
DEFENCE!" outlines practical steps which can be taken to help prevent the
spread of the deadly infection.
The
booklets cost £1.00 (including postage).
To
join the group; the annual subscription is £7.50 (this includes the booklet and
10 newsletters).
Please
make cheques payable to MRSA SUPPORT (Please remember to include your name and
address. Thank you.)
************************************************
NHS-Exposed
For
further information and assistance, please contact :
Dr.
Rita Pal,
Racial
Equality 2000,
Sutton
Coldfield,
B76
2BS
Tel
(
Email:
racialeq2000@nhs-exposed.com or nhs-exposed@btinternet.com
Website:
http://www.nhs-exposed.com/index.html
The truth behind the white coat - a
campaign for individual rights within the NHS.
Extract
from the website: To experience the working environment of the NHS today
means having to compromise on the ideal healthcare and to throw away personal
altruistic beliefs about human life. Financial constraints
hits the workforce on every side. The nursing staff
are the main casualties of the NHS today - bed crisis means nurse
crisis.
Nursing
workload is far greater during shifts oncall - having to do the work of three
individuals on a shift because of cutbacks. No replacements for long term
absent or retired staff ; no incentives and paid badly
for the high standard of work that is required for every patient. Excessive
work schedules unfit for any person by European working standards.
As
a junior doctor I was forced to work extra hours without extra pay or
gratitude; ordered by management to clerk additional patients that had been on
waiting lists for many years (without contractual job obligations) ; forced to
watch treatment being withdrawn on the elderly because "we are short of
beds" and having to stay ? silent ? for fear that your career maybe ruined. I have worked under
conditions where there were no intravenous lines available to provide basic fluids , no drip sets on the wards , an inadequate number of
nursing staff ratio so that daily observations could not be done and patients
left to die.
************************************************
NHSEXPOSE
www.nhsexpose.co.uk
This
Website Is One Individual's Attempt To At Last Tell The Truth About The
"Real NHS" And The "Silent Pressure" That Exists Within The
Service Which Prevents People From Revealing The Facts About Today's NHS.
My
Name Is Ian Perkin And I Told The Truth About The Fiddling Of Cancelled
Operations At
************************************************
NHS
Code of Practice on 'Openness in the NHS'
This
NHS Executive website outlines the Codes of Practice and provides information
on what information NHS Trusts are obliged to provide.
Website:
http://www.doh.gov.uk/nhsexec/codemain.htm#codeprinciple
************************************************
Patients'
Association
************************************************
Patient
Information Leaflets
Website:
http://www.mentor-update.com/
PILs
has a huge self help database
(choose text only version if you have problems accessing the
self help database)
************************************************
Patient
Website:
http://www.patient.co.uk/
This
is a
************************************************
Public
Concern at Work
16
Tel:
0171 404 6609
Fax:
0171 404 6576
Email:
whistle@pcaw.demon.co.uk
Public
Concern at Work promotes accountability and good practice in
the workplace. We do this by helping
ensure concerns about serious
malpractice are properly
raised and addressed before the public interest
is harmed. Recognised by the
organisation in this field,
we are a completely independent charity.
******************************************************
Relatives'
Association
Tel:
0171 9166055
************************************************
Self
Help
Website:www.self-help.org.uk
Self
Help UK provides a searchable database of over 1,000 self help organisations
and support groups across the UK that offer support, guidance and advice to
patients, carers and their relatives
************************************************
SIN
(Sufferers of Iatrogenic Neglect)
SUFFERERS
of IATROGENIC NEGLECT
Iatrogenic
= Medically Induced Damage
For
information please contact either Co-Director:
Gillian
Bean
Tel/Fax:
0115 9431320
e-mail:
sinfo@cwcom.net
or
Margaret
MacRae
Tel/Fax:
0192 4407195
e-mail:
Mag@sinfo.freeserve.co.uk
website: http://www.sin-medicalmistakes.org/
SIN
is a pressure and support group for victims of poor medical care and their
relatives who wish to improve standards in the NHS.
************************************************
UKCC
(
Tel:
0171 6377181
Fax:
0171 4362924
************************************************
Voluntary
Euthanasia Society
13
Prince of Wales Terrace
Phone:
0171 937 7770
Fax:
0171 376 2648
E-mail:
info@ves.org.uk
Website:
http://www.ves.org.uk/index.htm
The
Voluntary Euthanasia Society campaigns for wider choice at the end of life. As
well as our political campaign to legalise assisted dying, we also supply
living will forms for the advance refusal of medical treatment.
************************************************
Your Turn – Campaigning to prevent pressure sores
Website:
http://www.your-turn.org.uk/
Fact:
One in five patients in
Fact:
Up to 4% (£4 billion) of the NHS budget is absorbed by pressure sore related
events.
If
you visit the website you can register and receive details of how you can help
prevent the preventable.
Books and other
publications.
(Most recent first)
* Don't Tell The
Patient - Behind the Drug Safety Net
* Death by HMO: The Jennifer Gigliello
Story
* Dark Cures: Have Doctors Lost Their
Ethics?
* Problem Doctors: A Conspiracy of
Silence.
*
Trust
me (I'm a doctor).
*
Who
cares about the health victim?
*
Medical
Litigation
*
Regulating
Medical Work.
*
"Trust
me - I'm a Doctor" Understanding and Surviving Modern Health Care
*
Death,
Dying and the Law.
*
Whistleblowing in the Health Service.
*
Setting
Limits. Medical Goals in an Aging Society.
*
The
Treatment You Deserve.
*
Law
and Medical Ethics.
*
Rationing
in Action.
*
Whose
Standards? Consumer... Standards in Health Care.
*
Hospitals
in Trouble.
************************************************
Title:
Don't Tell The Patient - Behind the Drug Safety Net.
Author:
Bill Inman
Date:
1999
Publisher:
ISBN:
0-9675812-0-6
Extract
from sleeve notes:
A controversial account by an 'insider'
who has been involved with drug development for more than forty years. It is a
book for patients (most of us) though some doctors may get the message.
The
climax of the story is Bill Inman's ten-year campaign against the exploitation
of patients' trust in doctors who are bribed by drug companies to take part in
'safety assessment' studies which are nothing more than promotional
exercises. Thousands of patients continue to have their drugs changed
unnecessarily without their informed consent. The Department of Health
condones this practice because of its commitment to support the drug industry
************************************************
Title:
Death by HMO: The Jennifer Gigliello Story
Author:
Dorothy Cancilla
Date:
1999
Publisher:
Dedicated Press
ISBN:
0-9671922-0-X
(HMOs
are the American equivalent of NHS Trusts in the
Extract
of review by Kismet Oz:
Perhaps
there is no greater regret than when you choose one direction over another, then
at the end of a long and difficult journey you realize you've made the wrong
decision and paid the ultimate price. This is precisely what happened to
Jennifer Gigliello and her family, when Jennifer was only twenty-two years old
and experienced medical problems during her pregnancy. She relied on a medical
system that was supposed to deliver appropriate care and have the right
answers, but instead caused her to become chronically ill and then abandoned
her because she was no longer cost effective. In Death by HMO: The Jennifer
Gigliello Story, a powerful story is shared which serves as a lesson to all who
read it. Unfortunately, this story could happen to anyone or their loved ones.
Death
by HMO was not written for vindication. The author, Dorothy Cancilla
(Jennifer's mother), writes with strong conviction that their family story
should never have to be repeated. She advises readers to take full
responsibility for their own care and for the care of loved ones at a time when
it is more profitable for HMOs to allow chronically ill patients to die rather
than to care for them properly.
The
full review is available at: http://www.deathbyhmo.com/KismetOz.html
There
is also a Death by HMO web site at:
http://www.deathbyhmo.com/
Death
by HMO is available in hardcover for US$24.45 (includes shipping &
handling. Order from: Dedicated Press,
For
more information about Death by HMO, or to schedule an interview with Mrs
Cancilla, the Email address is: mailto: deathbyhmo@hotmail.com or call Cathy
Thornsberry at + 1 650 7383697.
Orders
may be placed at http://www.deathbyhmo.com/orderform.html
************************************************
Title:
Dark Cures: Have Doctors Lost Their Ethics?
Author:
Paul deParrie
Date/Ed:
1999
Publisher:
ISBN:
1563840995
Dark Cures deals, from a Christian
viewpoint, with the deterioration of the value of human life within the medical
community -- and how that deterioration can affect you and your loved ones. In fact, the
most dangerous place you can be is in a hospital at a time when you are
"non-responsive", comatose or deeply unconscious. The information in
Dark Cures will help you to prevent you or your loved ones from being
"non-treated" to death by the doctors whose ethics have been subverted
by a "cost/benefit" paradigm.
************************************************
Title:
Problem Doctors: A Conspiracy of Silence
Authors:
P Lens, G van der Wal.
Date/Ed:
1999
Publisher:
IOS Press
ISBN
90 5199 287 4
About
understanding problem doctors and helping the profession find better ways to
help them and protect the public, the patients. How can we select better
doctors in the future. And if everything fails, is
outplacement possible?
Hardback:
284 pages - Price: £45.
Van
Diemenstraat 94,
1013
CN,
Tel:
+ 31 20 6382189
Fax:
+ 31 20 6203419
Email:
market@iospress.nl
Web:
http://www.iospress.nl/
************************************************
Title:
Trust me (I'm a doctor).
Author:
Dr Phil Hammond
Date/Ed:
1999
Publisher:
Metro Books
ISBN:
1 900512 60 0
Review:
Remaining
Constructively Sceptical
Dr
Phil Hammond is unashamedly open about his profession. He provides a rare
insight into the dark side of medical culture and training. As patients we can
sometimes experience an overwhelming pressure to keep quiet and hand over our
health care lock, stock and barrel to the doctor sitting in front of us.
Doctors may want to do their best for every patient they meet, but in this book
in a hospital as a patient make
sure you have access to this book. It will act as a powerful advocate of your
well-being and give you a measure of autonomy.
************************************************
Title:
Who cares about the health victim?
Author:
John Elder
Date/Ed:
1998
Publisher:
Klaxon Books
ISBN:
0 9534604 0 1
Book
release information:
An uncomplicated, comparative 'inside'
into health service complaints procedures, compensation schemes, patients'
rights and disciplinary mechanisms in the developed world, with a critical yet
objective focus on the UK systems.
Published
in December 1998, this book is the first and only publication - and that
includes the press and broadcasting as well - to disclose the undiluted facts
about the NHS Complaints Procedure and how it works in practice, and describes
the complaints mechanisms in another ten advanced countries. Equally
unique, is the detailed information provided about patients' rights policies,
compensation mechanisms and medical disciplinary practices, not only in the
The
emerging picture is intensely revealing and suggests that our citizens are
missing out in justice in these areas concerning health care compared with some
nations. Exposed is the congenital flaw of internal investigation and
self regulation regarding the complaints process and medical disciplinary
bodies, respectively, and the immensely difficult route for compensation claims
in
What
is more, Who cares about the health victim? is the result of the first independent research into the
subject of health complaints and associated health issues. Its
publication has been especially timely, coming at a point when focus on these
aspects relating to the health service has been particularly acute, to the
extent that the Government is presently looking at the question as a matter of
some urgency.
The
book takes an uncomplicated look at the 'big picture', the detailed procedures
as they currently stand, why they are in need of vital change and where
significant lessons can be learned from the advances made in other developed
societies.
Who
cares about the health victim? and its author featured
in the series of broadcasts by BBC Radio 4's 'You and Yours' programme earlier
this year which focussed on the NHS Complaints Procedure, medical negligence
and connected areas. The revelations in the book were introduced strongly
in this latest Radio 4 review of these issues concerning the health
service. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that this unique book is
already successful and in circulation throughout
ESSENTIAL READING FOR THE PUBLIC, HEALTH
CARE PROVIDERS AND PRACTITIONERS, PATIENTS' GROUPS, LEGAL PROFESSIONALS, AND A
MUST FOR REFERENCE AND COMMUNITY LIBRARIES.
To
Order: Send GBP6.95 (+ GBP1.50 if overseas) to:
Klaxon Books,
************************************************
Title:
Medical Litigation
Editors:
Geoffrey Hall and Charles Lewis
Published
monthly
ISSN:
1461-5738
"A
concise and comprehensive review of medical negligence cases and issues, with
practical analysis and comment"
Annual
subscription: £75
Tel:
01494 772275
Fax:
01494 793098
Email:
info@medneg.com
Also,
for £120 (+ VAT) annually, you can have access to their databases which
include full text law reports with headnotes and unlimited downloads. Good for
finding solicitors, experts and what your local hospital has been getting up
to. Check out the site free (minus the full text bits) at
http://www.medneg.com
************************************************
Title:
Regulating Medical Work
Author:
Judith Allsop and Linda Mulcahy
Date/Ed:
1996
Publisher:
Open University Press
ISBN:
0 335 19404 4
Publisher's
notes:
This
book examines the formal and informal regulation of medical work in the British
health service. It asks what regulation is for, what systems of rules
control medical work and how they are used in practice.
************************************************
"Trust
me, I'm a Doctor" Understanding and
Surviving Modern Health Care
Author:
Thomas L Minogue
Date:
1996
Publisher:
Medical Communications
ISBN:
0-9654891-0-8
Extract:
Like
other caregivers, physicians enter into a collective and unconscious pact with
society. Doctors want the power and prestige of their elite profession,
laying claim with some validity to a task that they propose only their select
members can perform. Society wants care which will be virtually perfect,
yet not be too significant a drain on its financial resources or personal
energy. People want protection from their vulnerabilities. Even if
our society realises all this isn't possible to the desired degree, it will
settle for a covenant that doctors will maintain the fantasy.
Society
fulfils its part of the bargain by setting physicians apart with only minimal
hassle - a little regulation, an occasional malpractice suit, a few spurts of
bad press. Physicians promise what they can't deliver - an aura of
availability, essentially limitless expertise, and consistent curing. The
deal is struck. The doctors are satisfied and society gets a poor
facsimile of the care it bargained for - or perhaps, deserves.
Extract
from sleeve notes:
Now,
more than ever, understanding our changing health care system can literally
mean the difference between life and death.
An
experienced knowledgeable physician explains in straightforward language:
o How hospital and doctor services
are really delivered
o What doctors are like beneath
their "god-like" image
o A method for evaluating your
care
o What answers you'll want during
a doctor's appointment
o A dozen practical steps you can
take today towards better care
************************************************
Title:
Death, Dying and the Law
Author:
Sheila McLean
Date/Ed:
1996
Publisher:
Dartmouth Publishing Company
ISBN:
1 85521 657 4
Publisher's
notes:
Issues surrounding the end of
life, and in particular questions of patient choice, have seldom been so high
on the legal, ethical and political agenda. This interest has both a
Part
I; Law and Ethics at the End of Life:
The
Practitioner's View, Nicholas Pace
Managing
Patients in a
Are
Advance Directives Really the Answer? And What was the
Question? Ann Sommerville
Law
at the End of Life: What Next? Sheila McLean
Part
II; Safeguards for Physician-assisted Suicide:
The
Physician
Assisted Suicide: A Social Science Perspective on International Trends, Barbara
Logue
Voluntary
Euthanasia: The
The Way Forward? Christopher
Docker
Death
and Dying: One Step at a Time? JK Mason
To
order: http://www.euthanasia.org/ddl.html
************************************************
Title:
Whistleblowing in the Health Service. Accountability, Law & Professional
Practice.
Author:
Geoffrey Hunt
Date/Ed:
1995
Publisher:
Edward Arnold
ISBN:
0-340-59234-6
************************************************
Title:
Setting Limits. Medical Goals in an Aging Society, with
"a response to my critics".
Author:
Daniel Callahan
Date/Ed:
1995
Publisher:
ISBN:
0-87840-572-0
************************************************
Title:
The Treatment You Deserve.
Author:
Dr Iain Robertson-Steel
Date/Ed:
1994
Publisher:
ISBN:
0-7160-2033-5
************************************************
Title:
Law and Medical Ethics.
Author:
Mason and McCall Smith
Date/Ed:
1994, 4th Ed.
Publisher:
Butterworths
ISBN:
0-406-02478-2
************************************************
Title:
Rationing in Action
Author:
Richard Smith, Editor, BMJ
Date/Ed:
1993
Publisher:
BMJ Publishing Group
ISBN:
0-7279-0813-8
************************************************
Title:
Whose Standards? Consumer and Professional Standards in
Health Care.
Author:
Charlotte Williamson
Date/Ed:
1992
Publisher:
Open University Press
ISBN:
0-335-09720-0
************************************************
Title:
Hospitals in Trouble
Author:
J.P.Martin
Date/Ed:
1984
Publisher:
Basil Blackwell Publishers Ltd
ISBN:
0-85520-762-0
Extract
from the introduction:
This
is a book about failures of caring in hospitals. It seeks to illuminate
the problem posed by the question, How is it that
institutions established to care for the sick and helpless can have allowed
them to be neglected, treated with callousness and even deliberate cruelty?
There
is no simple explanation for this paradox. Individual psychopathology may
have a part, but the issues are both broader and deeper. They are broader
in that much turns on the attitudes of society to its weakest members, and the
resources assigned to their care; they are deeper in that what may occur is a
perversion both of individual motives and of social institutions.
The
past 15 years [written in 1983] have seen both a series of major scandals, with
at least ten inquiries of national significance, and a whole string of lesser
ones involving local inquiries, TV programmes and press campaigns of various
kinds....Even as this book was being finished in early 1983, The Times carried
on its front page a story of neglect and inadequate care in several hospitals
for the mentally handicapped, and its long term reader might wonder how much
has changed since 10 November, 1965 when it published the Letter to the Editor
which led directly to the publication of Sans Everything and the ensuing
revelations which have continued to the present day.
COMMENT?
BACK TO CONTENTS
Many
disputes and discussions drag on longer than they should because basic terms
are not clearly understood and agreed at the outset. Some administrators
actually use this as a way to avoid giving a clear response to your
questions. Please note that the simple definitions below aim to be free
of moral content - so for example the actual definition of the term
'euthanasia' should work whether you are pro- or anti- euthanasia; the real
debate should be about whether it is right that terminal care is so appallingly
bad in the UK, that some individuals choose euthanasia as their best
option. Legal terms are based on the
Consent: with consent
(either express or implied) medical staff can do things to patients which if
done by a lay person could result in a criminal charge for doing very serious
bodily harm. This exception is based on the assumption that the treatment
has therapeutic value for the patient. Consent is implied where the patient
quietly accepts treatment without complaint.
Do Not Resuscitate: often entered in patients' medical
records to indicate that a decision has been taken that if a life threatening
emergency occurs, no action to reverse the situation should be taken. In
theory, this decision should never be taken without consultation with the
patient and/or relatives. Often coded as:
*
'DNR'
do not resuscitate,
*
'not
for CPR' (cardiopulmonary resuscitation),
*
'NFR'
(not for resuscitation),
*
'for
blue card'
*
'not
for xxx' (where xxx is the internal telephone number for calling the
resuscitation team).
Self
adhesive stickers or pencil may be used in order to facilitate easy removal of
the DNR decision from the permanent records.
Euthanasia: is the
intentional killing of one human being by another (see Murder) where the motive
for the killing is claimed to be for the benefit of the person killed (note
there is a very big difference between intention and motive in the legal sense;
intention – intending to do what you actually did - is usually an essential
ingredient of an offence, whereas motive – the reason why you did what you did
- only affects the level of sentencing).
Futile
Treatment:
One definition of futile treatment is treatment that cannot end unconsciousness
or end dependence on intensive care.
Another
definition of futile treatment is treatment that fails to improve a patient's
prognosis, comfort, well being or general state of health.
Homicide: the killing of
a human being by another human being.
Manslaughter: unlawful
homicide which for some reason does not amount to murder.
Voluntary
manslaughter results where the finding would be murder but for mitigating
circumstances, e.g. provocation or diminished responsibility.
Involuntary
manslaughter results where the intention required for murder is lacking, but
where there is intention either to do something unlawful and dangerous, or to
do something lawful but do it with a high degree of negligence.
Murder: intentional
unlawful killing of a human being. An intention to cause really serious
bodily harm can also satisfy the 'intention' requirement for
murder.
Negligence: simply means
lacking the proper degree of care. From a legal point of view, negligence
is not so simple.
The
criminal courts only get involved with negligence if it causes death (see
involuntary manslaughter), and only then if the level of negligence is so high
as to go beyond mere compensation between parties, and deserves punishment.
For
the civil courts to consider negligence there must be some resulting loss which
can be compensated in money terms. A defendant would only be liable for
negligence where:
a)
there was some duty to take care
b)
there was a negligent breach of this duty
c)
the negligent breach of duty directly caused a loss
d)
the loss was foreseeable
e)
the negligent breach of duty causing the loss must be
the most likely cause of the loss where there is more than one cause.
Ordinary
Treatment:
all medicines, treatments and operations which offer a reasonable hope of
benefit to the patient and which can be obtained and used without excessive
expense, pain or other inconvenience.
Suicide: occurs when a
person kills themselves. This is not an offence; neither is an
unsuccessful attempt. Helping someone to commit suicide (in legal terms,
'aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring') is an offence, and may amount to
murder.
Supply
Driven Demand: a situation where staff do not ask for things which they
know are not easily available.
Terminal
Illness: an
illness which, regardless of the use of life sustaining procedures, would
produce death and where the use of these procedures only serves to postpone the
moment of death.
Personal accounts of abuse in our hospitals.
If
you wish to add your own account , please email it in
a similar format to those appearing below to info@patientprotect.org
Patient:
Margaret Green, Aged 81, died January 1996.
Hospital:
Margaret
Green was an active pensioner, who had travelled by bus on the morning of her
admission to hospital to do voluntary work for Oxfam. She died in a
The
hospital claims that this was an isolated case resulting from an unfortunate
series of communication failures resulting in nobody noticing the gross
dehydration, the increasingly swollen abdomen and the failure of the surgeons
to show up.
An Isolated Case? The way
the hospital treated my mother was slick, economical (three litres of saline,
no antibiotics, no analgesics over a five day period is cheap!) and involved a
lot of looking the other way. I now know this was not the first (or last) case
of its kind at this hospital. The hospital's response to my complaint took nine
months. It was skilfully worded and evaded the real issues. Again, I feel that
this was a tried and tested response. The same applied to the independent
review and the Ombudsman. Twelve years on and I am no closer to finding out why
these failures in my mother's treatment occurred or who was responsible.
The complaints process was a complete waste of time.
Patient: Neil Askew,
Aged 11½, died 31 December 1996.
Hospital:
Neil
was taken to see his G.P. following headache, vomiting and the appearance of an
unusual rash on his foot. The G.P. suspected meningitis and telephoned
the hospital to arrange Neil's admission and clearly referred to the headache,
vomiting and rash. The doctor did not tell Neil or his mother of his
provisional diagnosis, neither did he administer any
antibiotics. He gave them a referral letter and told them to make their
own way to the hospital.
At
the hospital, Neil waited 1 hour 40 minutes to be assessed by the triage nurse,
although she had read the referral letter upon Neil's arrival. She
expressed no concern when shown the rash, and instead asked for a urine sample
(useless for confirmation of meningitis). A further 1
hour 40 minutes were spent in the paediatric waiting room. Medical
staff were unhelpful and unconcerned as has condition
worsened. Neil's parents finally succeeded in getting a nurse to take his
condition seriously, but he lost consciousness before a doctor could examine
him and died 8 hours later.
Throughout
the investigations which followed, staff lied and hospital investigators
dragged their feet. The green "Applications for Admission" form
which clearly stated "Headache/Rash" was intentionally suppressed by
clinical staff and administrators, although Neil's parents were repeatedly told
that nobody was aware of Neil's rash. The Ombudsman declined to take any
robust action despite being shown proof of this intentional and gross
maladministration.
One
local 'resolution', two 'independent' reviews and an Ombudsman's report have
revealed little and achieved even less. The investigations surrounding
Neil's death have taken three years and cost approximately £25,000, but have
failed to reveal why things went wrong or who was responsible.
Patient:
Kathleen Stenson, Aged 81 years
It
has come to our attention that Mrs Kathleen Stenson and her son William are
being subject to abuse at The Court Nursing Home, West Felton, Oswestry in
William
is in a lone struggle right now, against Shropshire Social Services and The
Court Nursing Home who appear to be acting beyond their powers in denying him
freedom to visit with his mother in privacy and by fabricating innuendos and
false accusations against William with the result that he is supervised during
visits to his mother, that conversations between them are being listened to
including censorship and interfering with the private mail of Mrs Stenson, all
being perpetrated by the management of the nursing home.
William
on all his visits to his mother finds her parched and requesting water. He
complains to management who, instead of wanting to quench Mrs Stenson's thirst,
call the cops and social services. Please visit http://www.southerncrossnursinghomes.com/ and see how you can help.
Patient: Robert
Powell, Aged 10 years, died 17 April 1990.
Hospital/Health
Centre:
Robert
Powell died of a treatable condition called Addison’s disease which, unknown to
his parents, had been suspected four months before Robbie’s death, when he had
been an inpatient at
The
Powells were refused an Inquest. The senior partner at the health centre
refused Mr Powell's request for an investigation into Robert's death. The
Powells had no other option but to complain to the appropriate Family
Practitioners Committee. A subsequent appeal hearing at the Welsh Office
collapsed because of maladministration which the Welsh Office vigorously denied
for three years. However, even when the Powells were vindicated, and the Welsh
Office were forced to admit the maladministration, the Powells were still
refused their statutory right to a fair and honest investigation into Robert's
death. The Powells were forced into a civil action for negligence hoping that
the truth would be established. However, that wasn't to be. In 1996 West
Glamorgan Health Authority admitted liability for Robert's death with the same
information that was available on the night the child died - £80,000 was paid
into court. The Powells did not receive any compensation as they challenged the
Judgement that GPs had no legal duty to tell parents the truth following a
child's negligent death. The case is currently in the European Court of Human
Rights. The police investigated the case between 1994 and 1996 but the Crown
Prosecution Service [CPS] said that there was insufficient evidence to
prosecute any of the doctors. Mr Powell challenged the CPS's decision and was
informed that no stone had been left unturned by the police and it was a matter
for conjecture as to whether any enquiries by the police would reveal further
material and significant evidence. It later came to light that the GPs under
investigation had been providing a service as police surgeons for the past 20
years, to the very police force that had inadequately investigated Robert's
death. Following a formal complaint in 1998 the police investigation was
reopened and there are now at least 16 lines of inquiry notwithstanding the
same factual information was available in 1996. In Mr
Powell's view, this highlights the inadequacies of the initial police
investigation and also the failure of the CPS to properly assess the case. The
outcome is anxiously awaited.
It
is the view of the Powells, and that of many others, that the NHS complaint
procedures are conveniently structured to protect the medical profession. There
is no current mechanism to address impropriety and the abuse of power by
individuals within the NHS investigating authorities and government. The
absence of a deterrent not only breeds complacency but encourages individuals,
with a conflict of interest, to cover up medical mistakes. The Powells have
taken their complaints to the Prime Minister on several occasions. However, the
complaints are referred straight back to the individuals complained against and
the complaints are again brushed under the carpet of deceit. It is the failure
of the government to address public concern that leads to such atrocities as
the Bristol Heart Babies and many others.
We
owe respect to the living - to the dead we owe only truth. Voltaire
Patient: David Glass, Aged 17 years.
Hospital:
Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust
David
Glass was born prematurely at 30 weeks gestation on 23 July 1986 in
the Association for Spina Bifida and
Hydrocephalus, she met a consultant, Mr Forest at
steroids in preparation
for an endoscopy. On his way to the operating theatre, his mother was asked to
sign a consent form for tonsillectomy. Following the operation he had four
convulsions and was treated with a tranquilliser, called diazepam. He was
placed on a life support machine, and suffered from pneumonia and blood
poisoning caused by three types of bacteria. He was tube-fed with pre-digested
food, which gave him severe diarrhoea, and was given oral antibiotics. He was
discharged, but had to be re-admitted as his pneumonia had not cleared. The
medical team wanted to give him diamorphine and allow him to die, but his
mother refused, with
the support of a solicitor. Over the next month or two he spent a lot of time
in and out of hospital, and in October 1998 diamorphine was again suggested and
the mother refused, but the Chief Executive of the hospital endorsed the
treatment, and the police advised against his mother taking him
home. David was
treated with a subcutaneous diamorphine drip and was given no food or fluids.
When he deteriorated, turned blue and virtually stopped breathing, his mother
and relatives removed the drip and stimulated him by rubbing, and smelling
salts, and he improved. He was sent home under police escort. The GP gave him a
morphine antagonist, intravenous antibiotics and oxygen, and changed the liquid
food. By March 1999 he was feeding again without the tube. Carol went to Court
to establish the right to an assurance that, should David be re-admitted, he
would not be given diamorphine. She was told it was "not in David's
interest" to keep him alive.
Patient:
Hospital:
(Details
withheld at author's request)
Vaccine
Damage is only the Beginning
The
effects of vaccine damage on an infant are not just a simple life-long single
tragedy. The repercussions of that initial event will often stimulate other
tragedies that, taken together, exacerbate the epitonic aspects of that
person’s life. It may be
appropriate therefore to give you a snapshot of some of these events that have
darkened my daughter’s life. I am sure that these sorts of events are not
uncommon and are probably mirrored in the lives of others who have been
similarly damaged. L was born a healthy child to loving parents in 1960. We
were told that it was in her best interests to have her vaccinated at
six-months of age [DPT]. So we did just that. Almost immediately after the
first vaccination L went into a paroxysm of convulsion, but seemingly recovered
after a few days. This was reported to the doctor at the time of the next appointment
for phase two of the programme. The doctor said that she would give only a
reduced dose (thereby
acknowledging there was some contraindication to subsequent doses). Again
within a very short time (the same day), further and more complicated convulsions
occurred and L was seriously ill for almost a fortnight. The doctor then
decided that no more vaccinations should be given.
Subsequently
after neurological investigation L was pronounced to be brain-damaged.
L
was lovingly cared for by her parents, but at the age of ten months, whilst
still being breast-fed, she had an accident that required hospitalisation. The
hospital told my wife and me that we could only visit her once a day at 6 p.m.;
and further my wife was given 36 hours to wean L from
the breast. L was in hospital for three weeks and returned home a devastated
child. As parents we were left to cope with our child, without any adequate
advice on what we might expect, and when she developed some behavioural
problems through her lack of ability to understand the corner of the world into
which she had been so violently thrown, she was put into a drug regime (at the
age of eight) that has
continued more or less
continuously until the present day. When L was about 20 we moved to another
part of the UK and she was put into a respite care situation, on the advice of
her then GP, so that we could make the transition and at the same time gain a
little time to recover from the years of caring for our damaged child. The
private Home that took L, registered by social services, found that she did not
sleep very well. The care staff, rather than feel sympathetic and be
understanding of her temporary separation from her parents, told the
manager that if L was
not removed from the Home by the time they came on duty the following night,
they would not remain on duty. The manager therefore had L admitted to a local
mental handicap hospital, where she was put on a ward of teenagers who were
there mainly for disruptive behaviour. L was terrorised and
received serious
injuries when she was struck with something like a paling from a fence that
still had the nail embedded in it. Her foot and hand were affected by acute
cellulitis for about six weeks. She was so affected by this terrorism that she
often fainted with alarm and had to be admitted several times to the hospital
infirmary. By the time she was discharged some fourteen months later she was
doubly incontinent and so drugged that she was incoherent and uncoordinated. By
this time her mother was ill and the hospital in the new area was asked for
assistance. This was refused, and the same week L’s mother died. I was then her
sole carer, and was left to cope as best I could. Eventually
the hospital took in L, first as a
day patient, and then admitted her full-time because I was working.
L
was a patient there for about ten years, and during that time she was assaulted
by being bitten by another resident on four occasions, on two of those,
suturing was necessary to her hand and face. The hospital promised to separate
the two women but did not do so until after the third occasion. The fourth
biting incident was by another resident. When I started to take legal action
against the health authority for lack of care, L was seen by a plastic
surgeon who assessed
her injuries that had by then healed to scars. His view was that as she was
‘mentally handicapped’ she would not be aware of the disfigurement and that
damages would be little or none. So I took-up the matter as a complaint with
the health authority that promised to look after her better in the future.
Following that she was placed in a locked ward, where a further attack took
place. Finally as a sop, so to speak, the first attacker had all of her bottom
teeth removed. [A ploy that was mistakenly determined to avoid
her causing harm to anyone else.]
L
was rehabilitated from hospital in 1992 into a community living situation where
she was placed with one other handicapped person and a team of carers on
24-hour duty. By this time she had (unknowingly to her carers) developed PTSD
as a result of the trauma she had experienced in hospital. Her long experience
of being faced with situations from which she could not escape or defend, had
brought about reactions that when triggered would put her into an anxiety
state. A state that was not understood, because her history
had not been explained nor had her initial neurological impairment ever been
investigated. So once more she was drugged, and again she became doubly
incontinent, didn’t sleep properly, lost weight, dribbled constantly, etc. She
lost all of her acquired social activities: swimming, riding, music and
walking.
The
money that financed this community living situation for L was ring-fenced until
last year, now it is at the mercy of local government politicians. Due to the
need for cuts in expenditure the social services department is taking steps to
pass the scheme over to the private sector on an agency basis, and amalgamate
schemes so that there would be a minimum of four people to each house.
For
forty years L has been misunderstood, misdiagnosed, mistreated and abused, all
because her innocent parents believed that they were doing what they had been
told was right. I feel that the NHS and social services has a duty to be called
on to respond with an acknowledgement of their errors and some substantial
contribution to an adequate future welfare of L.
Patient:
Hospital:
By Mal Bowen.
I
welcome the recent news of an increase in the state pension, but have
misgivings as to whether it will be good news for all pensioners. The reason
for my scepticism is that for the past four years my wife and I have been
campaigning for justice for my late mother-in-law, who was a victim of
involuntary euthanasia.
Throughout
our campaign we have encountered all forms of rule bending by every authority
that we have approached, including NHS trusts, the GMC, the Police Force, the
CPS and the Police Complaints Authority. Whenever we appealed to the government
concerning this blatant rule bending, we were told that they could not
intervene in the decisions reached by any of the authorities involved. Since
1996, I have spoken with the relatives of hundreds of victims, who suffered the
same fate as my late mother-in-law, only to discover that they had encountered
the same problems with the various authorities, including the government.
I
believe that my late mother-in-law and many other elderly and vulnerable people
have died as a direct result of decisions taken by unethical senior members of
the medical profession, for purely economic reasons. It is my opinion that
successive governments have been well aware of this practice, but have chosen
not to intervene and act against these despicable people. I believe the reason
for their inaction is that although these medical professionals are clearly
breaking the law, as well as the Hippocratic oath,
they are also boosting the economy, with significant savings to the government
on medical treatment, long term care and pensions etc.
In
my opinion, a suitable analogy of the government's attitude to these unethical
medical professionals would be that of a poultry farmer (the Government) who
employs a guard dog (senior medical professional) to protect and care for his
flock. The dog is unable to protect all of the birds, as there are far too many
for one guard dog, so the dog reduces his workload by killing off the odd old
non-productive bird (elderly or vulnerable patient).
The
poultry farmer is fully aware that the guard dog is killing birds. But refuses
to punish the dog in any way, because of (a) The savings he is making, by only
having to feed one dog and (b) The substantial savings he makes from no longer
having to house, feed and care for old non-productive members of the flock.
I
believe that some unethical members of the medical profession may regard an
increase in pension as raising the bounty on our elderly and vulnerable
citizens, within the safe sanctuary of the government's blind eye!
Mal
Bowen.
If you know of cases of abuse, tell us now!
Please
email to info@patientprotect.org
or telephone 01227 713661 or fax 01227 711426,or write
to:
Roger
Green
15
Water Meadows
Fordwich
Extract from the Patients’ Charter. (Page 5, 1995 edition)
“Rights
and standards throughout the NHS
Access
to services
You
have the right to:
receive health care on
the basis of your clinical need, not on your ability to pay, your lifestyle or
any other factor;”
Mrs
Jill Baker
Waterlooville,
Hants,
PO7 7SZ.
Tel:
023 9226 1009
Fax:
023 9226 1009
12th
July 2000.
The trial of Diane
Wilde, Raymond Davis and Julie Hodgkins at Portsmouth Crown Court.
These
three defendants will be sentenced on Friday 14th July 2000, for saving their
nephew's life by thwarting the doctors attempts to end
it!
These
caring people are not criminals, They are heroes. The
justice system has completely failed them. The taxpayer paid for a Queens
Council for St Mary's Hospital (the prosecution) but would not provide the same
level of service for the defendants.
They
were only provided with mediocre barristers, who in my opinion made a
disgraceful job of their defence. This was not a level playing field.
1.
The defending barristers failed to point out that it was the doctors who
initiated the attack, not Diane Wilde; How could she when she was completely occupied
trying to resuscitate her nephew?
2.
When the defendants went to complain to the police they gave a statement
totally unaware that it would later be used against them in court. They were
not issued with a caution. In my opinion this is totally illegal and should
have resulted in a mistrial! But the Judge would not allow this!
3.
The Judge stated that he would not allow any emphasis on the administration of
Diamorphine to David Glass? As this was the sole reason why the struggle took
place when David's relatives rescued him from the continued administration of
Diamorphine and resuscitated him, how can this then be seen as a fair trial?
4.
Carol Glass, David's mother has asked the police to investigate the case
against the doctor's perjury in the witness box and their attempts to murder
David. She, quite rightly in my opinion, feels that the police have no
intention of doing any such thing! Is this British Justice, I think not!!!
In
my opinion this trial was completely unfair to the defendants and the Home
Secretary must call for a retrial!
JILL
BAKER
(The
"Do not resuscitate" patient at St Mary's Hospital Portsmouth)
Mr.
Graham Pink was a charge nurse who was fired when he stood up for decent
patient care in his hospital in
Bullying
is common in NHS trust
Bullying
at work is associated with job dissatisfaction, absence, poor performance, and
turnover. In a survey of staff of an NHS community trust, it was found that
over a third reported being subjected to one or more forms of bullying in the
previous year and 42% had witnessed the bullying of others. Staff who had been
bullied had lower job satisfaction and higher job induced stress, depression,
anxiety, and intention to leave the job.
Extracted from: BMJ 1999; 318: 228-232.
"Techniques
of neutralization: a theory of delinquency" was published over 50 years ago
in American Sociological Review. The authors, Sykes and Matza, proposed
the theory that, following deviant behaviour, individuals can protect
themselves from self-blame (flowing from internalised norms) and the blame of
others by justifying or rationalising their deviant behaviour. This
theory remains accepted by criminologists today.
Authors:
Journal:
American Sociological Review
Year:
1957
Vol:
22
Pages:
667-670
Since
leaving
Letter
to the Editor of The Times, published 10 November, 1965
Sir,
We, the undersigned, have been shocked by the treatment of geriatric patients
in certain mental hospitals...
The attitude of the Ministry of Health to complaints has reinforced our
anxieties. In consequence, we have decided to collect evidence of
ill-treatment of geriatric patients throughout the country, to demonstrate the
need for a national investigation. We hope this will lead to the securing
of effective and humane control over these hospitals by the Ministry, which
seems at present to be lacking.
We shall be grateful if those who have encountered malpractices in this sphere
will supply us with detailed information, which would of course be treated as
confidential.
Yours faithfully,
Strabolgi,
Beaumont, Heytesbury, Brian Abel-Smith, Edward Ardizzone, Audrey Harvey, John
Hewetson, Barbara Robb, Bill Sargent, Daniel Woolgar O.P.
10, Hampstead Grove, NW3.
November 9th.
Sans
Everything: a Case to Answer
The
letter to The Times (above), with its authorship of Peers, a distinguished
academic, a celebrated artist, social workers and clergymen had what Barbara
Robb (1967) described as 'astonishing results' in the form of 'hundreds of
letters releasing a pent-up rage and misery...including...many from nurses and
social workers'.
In
due course a selection of this and other material formed the basis of a book
edited by Mrs Robb, with a title drawn from Shakespeare referring to the last
of the seven ages of man, Sans Everything: a Case to Answer. The heart of
the book was a passionate cry of distress at the undignified suffering of so
many elderly people in hospitals up and down the country, but in addition there
were a number of chapters by experts suggesting reforms which might alleviate
this sort of suffering. (extracted from Chapter
1, Hospitals in Trouble)
Louis
Dembitz Brandeis, 1856-1941
American jurist who served as an
associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1916-1939). His opposition
to monopolies and defense of individual human rights formed the basis of many
of his high court decisions.
The
address of this website is: http://www.patientprotect.org
The
site is authored and maintained by Roger Green, in memory of his mother.
Roger
Green has the following contact details:
Tel:
01227 713661
Fax:
01227 711426
Email:
info@patientprotect.org
Mail:
15 Water Meadows, Fordwich,