More comments and dozens of E mails coming in from NHS staff, some very senior...
"Daniel, I have just read about your blog (Saturday Mail). I want to say GOOD FOR YOU!! I recently worked for a year as a secretary in a big NHS hospital and I can see that you are doing nothing but speaking the truth about the real state of the NHS! As you say, the doctors are competent and well-meaning. It's the ancient, creaking, bow-legged, hopelessly inefficient systems (paper notes that get lost all the time/understaffing/appointment dates often received by patients after day of appointment, no linkage between depts and systems etc. etc. etc.) that are the problem. I really could write a book about it. Never mind the 'damned lies and statistics' that fall from the mouths of managers and politicians, the NHS has still to be sorted to make it work properly. It will take a hell of a lot of sorting. It is indeed shocking that NHS Trusts such as the one you speak about would want to pour money into sueing someone like you, who only wants to improve things for patients, rather than doing the jobs they are paid for and improving it themselves! Again, well done to you for standing up and speaking out, we need many more like you".
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"As someone who knows the internal corridors of this Trust all too well, I applaud your courage and your effort to highlight the issues that blight this Trust. It is sad that money so desperately needed for proactive treatment is wasted once again on solicitors protecting those very same people that should be protecting patients like you. Stay strong".
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"I am ashamed of working in the NHS when I read stories like yours. In Cumbria it's not just men with prostate cancer who get a 3rd rate service, it's other people with other cancers too. The Trust have made themselves look ridiculous, spending taxpayer's money on lawyer's fees which could have been better spent on paying someone to answer the phoneline you rang 3 times and couldn't ever get an answer from. But then the Trust has big problems and perhaps explains why it's going down the tubes."
I belong to a pressure group called 38 degrees...I'd like to invite more of you to join us as you clearly have an interest in changing the way the NHS works. Here's a copy of some of the things they are currently looking at with regard to government changes:-
ReplyDelete"What we decided together to focus on What David Cameron's new proposals might mean
Don't force the NHS to promote competition between private health companies: rule out price competition and promote co-operation and quality of care instead Some Progress. It sounds like the role of the NHS regulator, "Monitor", will now have an overall focus on promoting the interests of patients not price competition as originally proposed. The devil will be in the detail of how this works, and there is probably still more talk of competition than lots of us would like. Lib Dem MP Andrew George has warned "Monitor" could act as a "trojan horse" allowing more of the original plans to be slipped "through the back door".
Don't allow private companies to "cherry pick" healthcare contracts in a way which could undermine local hospitals: put NHS services and hospitals first Progress. There will be "new safeguards" to stop private companies taking over the job of commissioning health services where hard-pressed GPs are unwilling. But the government wants to keep the policy of "Any Willing Provider" being allowed to run NHS services, including private companies. Many experts say this policy means that in practice it will be extremely difficult to prevent "cherry-picking". We will definitely need to look hard at this area of the legislation when it is published.
Don't take big decisions about health spending without experts and patients being involved as well as GPs A lot of progress. It sounds like patients, nurses, and hospital doctors will now be involved in taking decisions as well as GPs. Mental Health Charity Rethink is describing the revised plans as "a real step forward for patient power".
Don't allow big decisions about health spending be taken behind closed doors and without democratic scrutiny Some Progress. It seems that local "health and well-being boards", which include elected local people, will have a beefed up role in scrutinising what GP commissioning boards are up to.
Don't force any big changes without testing them properly first - trial any changes in one area for several years first, then give parliament a fresh vote A little bit of progress. The timetable for imposing the changes has definitely been slowed down, with many of the original deadlines dropped or softened. But the government still isn't proposing a local trial, or a fresh vote once we've seen how all of the new systems work.
Don't remove the government's "duty" to provide a comprehensive health service: keep that duty in law Success? It's being reported that the Bill will be rewritten to reinstate this comprehensive duty. That would be a massive success – but we need to see it happen in practice before we can relax!"
If you have time paste this address into your search engine and take their poll.
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/m/74c05856/2d4aa590/595efe79/4674cf93/2579338413/VEsH/