Thursday 13 October 2011

HOW TO IMPROVE HOSPITALS

The disgraceful situations in our hospitals with patients being literally starved to death or left unattended in thier own faeces has shocked the nation.

To our shame two of the hospitals are local to us, Whiston and Ormskirk.
The usual excuse is "lessons will be learnt" is just not good enough. What lesson needs to be learnt that patients need good nutrition and the ability to get to it if bed ridden?
What lessons need to be learnt that patients often need to be taken to the toilet and not left in their own excrement?
What lesson needs to be learnt that a bit of compassion and privacy is needed for patients?

Now I am a bit ashamed about this as I did my medical housejobs at Whiston. Then it was old fashioned and of course lacked modern diagnostic equipment and patients were in large wards of thirty patients.
Then they were well nursed, even in the geriatric block housing altogether 180 patients all those patients were well looked after and measures to prevent pressure sores strictly observed.

What has gone wrong?
Well we all know that with the demise of the Matron standards have gone downhill and hospitals are run from the office.
We, doctors and nurses were in fear of the wrath of the matron and that ensured standards were high wards were clean and patients attended to.
There was no central station where all the qualified staff sat behind computers as they do now. The trained nurses were all on the ward observing the patients.
Possibly a cause of hospital acquired infections has something to do with the present slack standards.

I know nowadays boxes have to be ticked and reports made but if that is all nursing is about, why not just have an office and let the relatives do the work.

OH THAT IS THE LATEST SUGGESTION. Families coming into hospital to feed their sick relatives, presumably so that the nurses can remain behind their computers and tick all the boxes.

That is going to do wonders for infection control with many family members carrying who knows what infection into the wards each mealtime.

So what is to be done to ensure proper care? In the past hospitals have been fined, but that is just fining the taxpayer and denuding the hospital of funds.
Chief executives have been removed but given generous severance payments and pensions and sometimes been employed in other NHS establishments, but it seems this is to no avail.

I believe it rests with the boss. In the NHS the buck stops with no one.
In business if the boss makes mistakes it hits him in the pocket and can bankrupt him.

This is what should happen in hospitals (and councils).
There should a financial penalty for deficiencies, severe enough to ensure those in charge do what they should. They have remunerations far in excess of what they had in the past.
We should insist that they earn it and if they fail, hit them in the pocket.

SO TO SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS, MAKE SURE THE BUCK STOPS WITH THE BOSS.

P.S I don't know about the wards but the staff in outpatients at Wigan Infirmary could not be more helpful, a contrast with other establishments I have visited recently, but then they are Wiganers and we have avoided so far the worst hospital infection of all, multiculturalism.

I just wish they could improve car parking facilities.

CAMERON'S COMPASSION?

David Cameron in pledging a greater proportion of our GDP than any other country says he feels a warm satisfaction at the good this programme does in reducing poverty in the Third World.
He like Geldoff and Bono are good at encouraging people much poorer then they are to give money and in Cameron's case making it obligitory by spending our taxes on these worthy projects.
Our government of course is in debt and incurs more debt to assist these countries who often have a better bank balance than do we.

Now I do not agree with all this involuntary taxpayer largess but a quick look at the recipients shows clearly where Camerons preferences lie and his assessment of the relative importance of various human rights in his mind.

Thus until recently, China with a poor human rights record and many executions and political prisoners has been a recipient of our forced largesse as had India which posseses aircraft carriers which we can not afford. India has a wealthy upper class well able to financially to help the "Untouchables" who live in abject poverty. No discrimination there then.

Pakistan, a corrupt regime with a penchant for persecuting and even killing Christians receives masses of aid, well it's for the poor children you see.

Afghanistan with an even worse and corrupt regime consumes billions in aid. Well it's for the women's education you see. I know they behead infidels but you have to consider the poor children, and in any case it is their culture and we must not interfere.

Countries in Africa, notorious for torture and worse are helped. Yes we know they are corrupt and most of the money ends up in Swiss bank accounts but some does get through to the poor, helping to alleviate hunger.

So It's nice to know we are helping all contries to create a better life and save children from starvation even if little gets beyond the agencies organising it at least some does.

It must gladden his heart that we are helping mitigate child starvation in all these poor countries.
All the needy will be helped WON'T THEY.

WELL NO. Any country who locks up people with what they in their culture perceive as un natural sexual proclivities will get no aid from us. These people of minority sexual inclinations must be released immediately or no further aid will be given.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE STARVING CHILDREN? YOU ASK.

Sorry but their life and death does not matter as much as what is seen as a persecution of "gays"

So there you have it. Cameron's compassion.
Behead, torture, kill or steal form the poor and it will be ignored BUT, lock up a few homosexuals in your country and aid will be stopped AND YOUR CHILDREN DIE.

HOW COMPASSIONATE!
It just demonstrates the hold the "Gay" lobby has over the government.

Their rights are worth more than life and death, but then the coalition in is only helping its own containing as it does many Limp Dems, and we know what they are like don't we?

yaz