Agenda 2019

More advertising of Private Medical Care. Take your choice from these and others I am becoming increasingly irritated or even annoyed, with the seemingly growing number of adverts on social media pages, search engines and numerous web pages urging me to buy Private Medical cover. Now,I have nothing against private health care as an option, provided that it is done exclusively in private custom built hospitals and nursing homes, with private hospital staff, and does not overlap NHS facilities in NHS hospitals and does not as is the case now, lead to a two  tier standard of service where NHS patients and staff are somehow reduced to a second rate status. Private wards, restaurants, special facilities or other "special treatments" have no place in our NHS hospitals.Mixing the two in the hope that nobody will notice is wrong and it is unfair. The common feature of these advertisements, is the statement or implied suggestion that by taking out insurance with these com...

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/nhs-hit-by-stealth-cuts-of-2bn-as-tariffs-received-for-medical-procedures-are-reduced-10204414.html NHS hit by stealth cuts of £2bn Warning bells sound as spending on agency nurses soars In 2014, the South West area NHS Trusts of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset alone, spent £34 million on obtaining Agency nursing from private companies. There is every reason to believe that similar and even greater sums in a number of other NHS Trusts around the country. WHY?

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/03/05/sir-david-nicholson-says-he-will-not-resign_n_2810508.html?utm_hp_ref=uk     Sir David Nicholson Says He Will Not Resign Over Mid Staffs Scandal   David Nicholson said he had "no idea" about the scandal     David Nicholson should not be given the option of resignation. He should be fired for his gross incompetence and his inept and rambling excuses during submissions to the Health Select Committee yesterday. However, in the perverse world that is Westminster , Cameron, Hunt and other s have rushed to Nicholson's defence and stating that he has their "full confidence". We should not be surprised if Nicholson far from being fired, actually receives a bonus for his involvement in the NHS on top of his already inflated salary.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9859681/Hospital-sued-over-children-left-neglected-and-dying-on-wards.html  Hospital sued over children left neglected and dying on wards   L-R Sean Turner, Jack Casey, Luke Jenkins.    Photo: Turner family, Athena, Jay Williams  This is appalling and totally unacceptable. It is  the result of the betrayal of our NHS  by successive governments since the 1980's. It is indicative  of a philosophy, which places the pursuit of targets and cost cutting, above all other objectives, including medical necessity. It is the outcome of years of neglect and believing that the solution to all resulting problems is the introduction of yet another layer of management, the closure of wards, and yet another reorganisation of the service. With the last few days, the R obert Francis QC  report into Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust, has delivered a scathing indictment of...

  http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/mid-staffs-inquiry-how-a-10year-coverup-was-uncovered-8484075.html        "They were failed by a system which ignored the warning signs and put corporate self-interest and cost control ahead of patients and safety.” Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust Report A scathing indictment of a system and culture which, sadly, is not limited to Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust. Already we have the statement that another eight hospitals in 5 other NHS Trusts are to be investigated as a matter of urgency. There are without doubt other hospitals which should be subjected to scrutiny, and their performance and shortcomings exposed. Of course this is not to say that all hospitals in all Trusts are providing inadequate or incompetent standards of service for their patients. There are some, perhaps many hospitals where the standards of care are beyond reproach, From my own ...

  http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/feb/02/mid-staffs-report-cover-ups  Mid Staffs report: No more cover-ups, says man whose son died after blunder   Frank Robinson at Stafford Civic Centre during the  public inquiry into the Mid Staffs care scandal.,                                       For as long as the present structure in the NHS remains, so will the incidents and subsequent cover up and concealment remain. It is a sad fact that many NHS Trusts have the same culture. It is just that some are worse in performance than others and some, but not all, are exposed. Too many patients and their relatives are, for many reasons, unable to peruse these Trusts either through the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, or through litigation on the soon to be ...