Posted on 01/22/2012 8:49:26 PM PST by Nachum
Four patients are dying hungry and thirsty on hospital wards every day, shocking figures reveal. Dehydration or malnutrition directly caused or was linked to 1,316 deaths last year in NHS trusts and privately run hospitals. The revelation follows a series of damning reports accusing staff of failing to address the most basic needs of the vulnerable, particularly the elderly. Only this month David Cameron was forced to order nurses to carry out hourly spot checks of patients just to see whether they need help eating, drinking or going to the toilet.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I think it's what some in our ruling class want.
Prominent Democrats Tom "We need to be more like European healthcare" Daschle,
former governor of Colorado Richard "Die and get out of the way" Lamm, and
Hillary!
How far mighty england has fallen.Disgusting.
Watch Obama argue for fairness. Many caring, competent medical professionals left socialism for the USA. The USA has been a robber barron of medical professionals. It would be only fair if we shared that wealth back with the countries that have a caring government system, even if they don’t have caring medical professionals.
How far mighty england has fallen.Disgusting.
'Cruel and neglectful' care of one million NHS patients exposed
Snips: The charity has disclosed a horrifying catalogue of elderly people left in pain, in soiled bed clothes, denied adequate food and drink, and suffering from repeatedly cancelled operations, missed diagnoses and dismissive staff.
The Patients Association said the dossier proves that while the scale of the scandal at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust - where up to 1,200 people died through failings in urgent care - was a one off, there are repeated examples they have uncovered of the same appalling standards throughout the NHS.
Pamela Goddard, a piano teacher from Bletchingley, in Surrey, was 82 and suffering with cancer but was left in her own excrement and her condition deteriorated due to her bed sores.
Florence Weston, from Sedgley in the West Midlands, died aged 85 and had to remain without food or water for several days as her hip operation was repeated cancelled.
I did not have to read past the headline to know that this was from the UK.
It is a precursor to a socialist USSA.
I wonder what percentage of the medical staff was native-born in the UK.
I’ve seen this in lots of nursing homes and hospitals. The staff restricts fluids so they don’t have to change the patients’ diapers as often or take them to the bathroom. The patient invariably develops a bladder infection, which is treated with antibiotics. This becomes a vicious cycle of bladder infections and antibiotics, which ultimately leads to C.diff. infections. C. diff. is difficult to treat and very infectious. Lots of elderly people die from this.
That system is a sick, sick joke.
With all modern technology medicine can’t come up with anything better for such situations than the diaper and the portable bedpan. If the patient can still think half clearly and move around in the bed, he/she would probably prefer something that builds plumbing connected elimination facilities into a bed that makes them available when they are wanted and covers them over when they are not wanted. They’d need periodic cleaning, but not on every use.
I had a British friend whose parents came to visit. While they were touring Seattle, her father had a stroke. He was hospitalized for over a month, during which time he made progress until he was well enough to tolerate the flight home.
Back in England, he was admitted to the wrong ward of the hospital (general care instead of critical care) and died within two weeks.
Sorry, but that is utter crap.
No stroke victim would ever be admitted to the wrong ward on the NHS. Stroke victims are top priority and the idea that they would be palmed off into the wrong ward is simply a nonsense.
I know this as I am a—the son of a stroke victim and b—a former NHS worker. My father got the best care imaginable, the proper care, and his thankfully was in fact a TIA. I am also been an admin worker for the NHS and dealt with the paperwork for patients. At three hospitals, none of whom strangely ever put a stroke victim in the wrong place.
You are either making the story up or you are passing on a second hand or third hand ‘story’. Sorry to be blunt and rude, sorry if you are offended, but I am tired of hearing supposedly true stories about ‘British friends’ and the NHS.
The NHS is a system with problems.
Some minor, some major.
It needs major reform and stories like this are a disgrace.
But (and I say this as a conservative) it is NOT the hellhole or ‘joke’ many Americans think either. It is in fact overall, bar some undoubted flaws and problems, a good system, and was for many years a superb system.
If you were ever to use the NHS, I think you would be surprised at how decent and ‘non-horrific’ it was. No, its not perfect, but neither is it the horror show of American myth.
No stroke victim would ever be admitted to the wrong ward on the NHS. Stroke victims are top priority and the idea that they would be palmed off into the wrong ward is simply a nonsense.
I know this as I am a—the son of a stroke victim and b—a former NHS worker. My father got the best care imaginable, the proper care, and his thankfully was in fact a TIA. I am also been an admin worker for the NHS and dealt with the paperwork for patients. At three hospitals, none of whom strangely ever put a stroke victim in the wrong place.
You are either making the story up or you are passing on a second hand or third hand ‘story’. Sorry to be blunt and rude, sorry if you are offended, but I am tired of hearing supposedly true stories about ‘British friends’ and the NHS.
Sorry, but I am only repeating what my friend said about the treatment her father received. He was admitted to the wrong ward, and subsequently died.
As far as the details go, I find my friend's account plausible. She was my friend--we were both PhD students in the same laboratory. Considering that we are highly trained, and understand medical language, I think the chances of her misunderstanding the situation are fairly low. Furthermore, I can see how overworked medical personnel in an understaffed system can easily make such a mistake. A stroke victim--but he was recovered enough to fly for several hours, probably with a flight transfer or two along the way--and the staff at the receiving end simply did not have the time to read through his entire accompanying medical record where the releasing physician recorded the commentary on the patient's care, supporting the recommendation that the patient be admitted to the critical care ward. So, with their main criterion being the observation that he was well enough to fly, they put him on the general care ward.
If you want to pass that off as a second hand story, so be it. From my point of view, I don't exactly trust the story told by NHS insiders, who have too much vested in keeping the system the way it is. And, since I do have experience working in a hospital, and know that medical mistakes are a huge concern even in an overstaffed, underutilized American hospital--I can only surmise that the situation is FAR worse in the NHS.
Apologies if I was overly direct/rude.
Yours is the first such story I have read here that I actually believe. Other stories that have been posted here always have the ring of made up story/exaggerated story/what the poster has heard on rightwing talk radio or read on a conservative website or forum. I have challenged one or two to name hospitals etc, and they can never verify.
Which tells me the story is a forum story that they are passing off as theirs. That why I snapped at you.
Your second post gives more details, and yes, that type of understandable mistake happens. What I read from your initial post was not that, I read it (and so would everyone) that the death occurred because of NHS organisation and complete negligance. Because of an NHS so bad it cant even put stroke victims in the right ward.
It was that ‘reading’ of the NHS that I attacked in my reply.
Again, apologies for my curtness and rudeness.
Is it not, at best, subject to frequent “traffic jams”? These so called “American myths” are based on news reports generated from within Britain. It happens in the USA too with government-run facilities. It’s time to chuck out now-failed ideas, whose golden days have long gone away along with other people’s money, on both sides of the pond.
1—The NHS is 63 yrs old, and a much loved part of Britain. The NHS will not cease to be, it will always be there, what is needed is reform. IMO the NHS should be retained for use by all Britons if they cannot afford private care, whilst there should be a drive to increase and make private British healthcare cheaper. That would leave the NHS free to treat the poorer with first class care.
2—Some of the myths are genuine news, but some are simply complete tosh, myth heard from rightwing talkradio who will declare false facts. Some are real stories or problems but are exaggerated.
Whatever the answer, it has to address the reality that other people’s money (OPM) is not an unlimited resource. If Britain as a whole wants to tax itself for that purpose, that’s Britain’s business. The US is more conservative due to its constitutional heritage.
"Never" is an impossibility, sir. In fact in a system the size of NHS there it's a statistical certainty that exactly such a thing will happen eventually.
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