Isn't it incredible how politicians manage to weedle their way out of taking any responsibility for anything bad that happens during their tenure in office. Lesley Griffiths probably obtained a Masters Degree in "Manipulation and deception" at Hogwarts, as I can't imagine any 'red-brick' university admitting to having her as even a short-term student. What's it about ? I'm glad you asked.
The Western Mail reports that 54,627 operations were cancelled in Wales over the past two years.
This figure is a fact, as Martin Shipton would never report a figure of such importance unless he was 100% certain of his facts. Of course, The Health Boards and our Government claim - with no proof being offered, as is their custom - that 9,127 operations were cancelled by the patients, for assorted unbelievable reasons. They further claim, in similar fashion, that the balance of the 54,627 operations were cancelled 'for justifiable and professional reasons'. ( Yeah Right ). Shocking as my next revellation might seem - I don't believe them, because of some very factual reasons that the Minister appears to have overlooked i.e - the availability of beds and the resulting reorganisation of procedures as a result !
Where I live, there are 29 residents, of whom some 7 have been scheduled for surgery at Llandough Hospital or U.H.W., without having their appointed dates met. "Ring us at 6.00am on the day to make sure a bed is available", which ( after 20 or so attempts ) earns them the response, "Sorry, there isn't a bed currently available". They then have to wait weeks or months before another date is offered ( but not guaranteed ). Any complaint is usually met with some pre-packed response such as, "this time of year is exceptionally busy because of the current weather, or an outbreak of Ebola, Bovine Tuberculosis, Foot and Mouth Disease, Swine Flu etc, etc. ad nauseum. I have even known of Cardiac in patients being told that their Coronary Artery by-pass, or valve replacement operation, has been cancelled due to a " high influx of emergencies". So, as the song goes, "Nelly the Elephant packed her trunk and said 'Goodbye' to the circus....... these patients being sent home to await another possible ( but not guaranteed ) appointment, and if you die in the meantime, thanks for helping us shorten the waiting list.
So, can anyone out there in sick people land offer any other reasons, or is Lesley Griffiths correct to say that I, the Western Mail, Plaid Cymru (and now you ? ) are "taking an over-simplistic and deliberately disto ?rted view of the facts to make a cheap point". Comments, please ? R.W.
PS You may recall a post/article dated 7th August, in which the 'Health board bids to save money by rise in operations. What happened to this plan ?
Remember, the main reason we have this pro blem is because the Universall Inept Health Board has consistently and systematically cut the number of hospitals and hospital beds in order to reduce costs. This inexplicable behaviour has also included the rationalisation of all services, plus the centralisation of services, which make them more inaccessible to urban and rural patieents. Also, the Discharge Proceduire has changed so that nurses have the authority to discharge patients as soon as possible, regardless of the fact that treatment is shortcut and re-admissions have increased as a direct result of Incompetent Management by the U.I.H.B. and NHS Wales - all with government approval. RW Edit
Monday, 24 September 2012
Staff Procedures at Whitchurch Unclear....so a Patient Dies
Staff Actions on Choking Man Questioned ( !9th September 2012, Echo )
[ This is compulsory reading, otherwise you wouldn't believe it happened ]
A Jury has returned a narrative verdict on a man who died from choking at Whitchurch Hospital. Georj Sahan died in March during lunch after swallowing a piece of meat. Cardiff & Vale Coroner Mary Hassell ( Yes, it's her again ) stated that procedures undertaken by staff to save Mr Sahan were 'unclear'. She noted that staff were either not given the right training on administering suction before oxygen on a choking patient, with regar to which action came first - or they did not follow the traning correctly. She added "procedures Did contain such guidance but this procedure was not followed in this case"
Despite the consultant psychiatrist telling the court there was no link between prescribed anti-biotic medication and a difficulty with swallowing, the Pathologist who performed the post mortem claimed there was evidence to the contrary, the coroner noted (Well, one of the buggers was wrong so why wasn't this followed up ??). "The pathologist.... stated that the consumption of this type of medicine was well known, in some cases, to impact on a patient's ability to swallo" she said.
The 62 year old Mr Sahan suffered with schizophrenia and had been receiving treatment for the condition since his early 20s. He was pronounced dead in the dining hall of the secure ubit, where he had been living on and off for the past 4 years. [ nobody even said "sorry", and the narrative verdict means that the family cannot have a full independent investigation into his untimely death ].
Ruddy marvellous - eh ??? R.W.
[ This is compulsory reading, otherwise you wouldn't believe it happened ]
A Jury has returned a narrative verdict on a man who died from choking at Whitchurch Hospital. Georj Sahan died in March during lunch after swallowing a piece of meat. Cardiff & Vale Coroner Mary Hassell ( Yes, it's her again ) stated that procedures undertaken by staff to save Mr Sahan were 'unclear'. She noted that staff were either not given the right training on administering suction before oxygen on a choking patient, with regar to which action came first - or they did not follow the traning correctly. She added "procedures Did contain such guidance but this procedure was not followed in this case"
Despite the consultant psychiatrist telling the court there was no link between prescribed anti-biotic medication and a difficulty with swallowing, the Pathologist who performed the post mortem claimed there was evidence to the contrary, the coroner noted (Well, one of the buggers was wrong so why wasn't this followed up ??). "The pathologist.... stated that the consumption of this type of medicine was well known, in some cases, to impact on a patient's ability to swallo" she said.
The 62 year old Mr Sahan suffered with schizophrenia and had been receiving treatment for the condition since his early 20s. He was pronounced dead in the dining hall of the secure ubit, where he had been living on and off for the past 4 years. [ nobody even said "sorry", and the narrative verdict means that the family cannot have a full independent investigation into his untimely death ].
Ruddy marvellous - eh ??? R.W.
Saturday, 8 September 2012
N,I.C.E approved drugs denied to patients by Health Boards
'Scorecards' to force NHS hospitals to use recommended drugs for patients
By next year every hospital will be rated using an 'Innovation Scorecard'. Health authorities that are found to be denying approved treatments will face censure by the Department of Health. N.I.C.E have approved many drugs for administration, such as Xarleto ( rivaroxaban ) and Pradaxa ( dabigatran etexilate ), which would replace Warfarin and end the need for the onerous I N R blood tests, but our Universally Inept Health Board will not allow GPs in Cardiff and the Vale to prescribe them. Why not ? Cost - these new drugs are deemed to be too expensive to be used when huge cuts are supposed to be made to their budget. But, what is their budget ? How is it set, and by whom ? What are the specific factors that determine which service has to bear the cuts, and which communitiees are given lower priority ?
As usual, the Minister for Health and Social Services, Leslie Griffiths, refuses to provide this essential information ( except that the C & V UHB have STILL to cut £76m in service costs this year. ) With other reports showing massive cuts already made, it begs the question - "Why are these figures constantly increasing, despite cuts already made ?" Still, the Minister refuses to justify any of these continually increasing figures, or to provide ANY details of the specific specialities that are ( supposed ) to have irresponsibly caused by the alleged overspending - all committed under the close scrutiny of our inept government and the ( supposedly ) independent Wales Audit Office. [You may recall that two years ago, this Universally Inept Health Board were said to have to save only (?) £20m for that fiscal year. Yet, massive savings are made but the figure of budget cuts still goes on rising. Nothing that the UHB, the Minister, or the Welsh Government reoprts provide any explanation for these spurious cuts. We can only remain completley bemused and ignorant by these spurious, farcical figures, whilst suffering continual insults to our intelligence, made by people not competent to do their jobs. We are constantly facing changes of bureaucrats, with promoted supporters providing living proof of the Peter Principle. So, people barely qualified in their existing jobs are promoted to jobs they have no experience of and not a clue how to make function, proving that billions of our public money are in the hands of incompetent politicians and bureaucrats ( talking bureauCRAP ), with public opinion completely ignored. The list of essential drugs being deliberately withheld is huge, denying patients of the relief that they offer.
The statements from 'hospital managers are even more perverse. i.e "We can only afford to providenew drugs or treatments where they are cost-effective and demonstrably add real patient benefits." Strange - isn't it that this is the remit of N.I.C.E. Therefore, their approval is all that is needed to provide drugs that are cost-effective and add real patient benefits. Consequently, it begs the question " Do they know their own remit, and why not just obey N.I.C.E. ??
At the risk of sounding cynical, it makes me wonder why Herceptin was handed out like Smarties, at enormous cost when the maximum only likely benefit was estimated to be to 1 in 18 women only. Why are we not told the results of this huge expenditure, or does the answer fall in the same question, why were millions committed to changing privately made breast implants, that conflicted with the essential restructuring of the poor women who have had to endure mastectomy ??? R.W.
By next year every hospital will be rated using an 'Innovation Scorecard'. Health authorities that are found to be denying approved treatments will face censure by the Department of Health. N.I.C.E have approved many drugs for administration, such as Xarleto ( rivaroxaban ) and Pradaxa ( dabigatran etexilate ), which would replace Warfarin and end the need for the onerous I N R blood tests, but our Universally Inept Health Board will not allow GPs in Cardiff and the Vale to prescribe them. Why not ? Cost - these new drugs are deemed to be too expensive to be used when huge cuts are supposed to be made to their budget. But, what is their budget ? How is it set, and by whom ? What are the specific factors that determine which service has to bear the cuts, and which communitiees are given lower priority ?
As usual, the Minister for Health and Social Services, Leslie Griffiths, refuses to provide this essential information ( except that the C & V UHB have STILL to cut £76m in service costs this year. ) With other reports showing massive cuts already made, it begs the question - "Why are these figures constantly increasing, despite cuts already made ?" Still, the Minister refuses to justify any of these continually increasing figures, or to provide ANY details of the specific specialities that are ( supposed ) to have irresponsibly caused by the alleged overspending - all committed under the close scrutiny of our inept government and the ( supposedly ) independent Wales Audit Office. [You may recall that two years ago, this Universally Inept Health Board were said to have to save only (?) £20m for that fiscal year. Yet, massive savings are made but the figure of budget cuts still goes on rising. Nothing that the UHB, the Minister, or the Welsh Government reoprts provide any explanation for these spurious cuts. We can only remain completley bemused and ignorant by these spurious, farcical figures, whilst suffering continual insults to our intelligence, made by people not competent to do their jobs. We are constantly facing changes of bureaucrats, with promoted supporters providing living proof of the Peter Principle. So, people barely qualified in their existing jobs are promoted to jobs they have no experience of and not a clue how to make function, proving that billions of our public money are in the hands of incompetent politicians and bureaucrats ( talking bureauCRAP ), with public opinion completely ignored. The list of essential drugs being deliberately withheld is huge, denying patients of the relief that they offer.
The statements from 'hospital managers are even more perverse. i.e "We can only afford to providenew drugs or treatments where they are cost-effective and demonstrably add real patient benefits." Strange - isn't it that this is the remit of N.I.C.E. Therefore, their approval is all that is needed to provide drugs that are cost-effective and add real patient benefits. Consequently, it begs the question " Do they know their own remit, and why not just obey N.I.C.E. ??
At the risk of sounding cynical, it makes me wonder why Herceptin was handed out like Smarties, at enormous cost when the maximum only likely benefit was estimated to be to 1 in 18 women only. Why are we not told the results of this huge expenditure, or does the answer fall in the same question, why were millions committed to changing privately made breast implants, that conflicted with the essential restructuring of the poor women who have had to endure mastectomy ??? R.W.
Thursday, 6 September 2012
Autocratic Government Ingnores Public Opinion
Auditor General probes £20m South Wales Land Developments deal
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-19496009
5 September 2012 Last updated at 21:39 Help<http://www.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/7277283.stm>
The Wales Audit Office is investigating the sale of more than £20m worth of publicly-owned land to a company based in a Channel Islands tax haven.
An investigation by BBC Wales has revealed that 16 sites across Wales were sold in a single deal without an open tendering process.
The Welsh government has defended the sale, saying the land was sold above its market rate.
BBC Wales business correspondent Nick Servini reports.
Read More
* <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-19480925> Watchdog probes£20m land deal
Isn't it staggering, that our Government is hell bent on making Wales a Banana Republic, or a Cockle Republic, as that's all we'll end up having to export - unless we can sell welks also ? As with the Atos debacle, is it possible that there is NO British company who could tender for this work ?
Thank goodness that we have a bold Auditor General who will deal firmly with this land-rape and put the government in its'place ! ( Yeah Right ). R.W.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-19496009
5 September 2012 Last updated at 21:39 Help<http://www.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/7277283.stm>
The Wales Audit Office is investigating the sale of more than £20m worth of publicly-owned land to a company based in a Channel Islands tax haven.
An investigation by BBC Wales has revealed that 16 sites across Wales were sold in a single deal without an open tendering process.
The Welsh government has defended the sale, saying the land was sold above its market rate.
BBC Wales business correspondent Nick Servini reports.
Read More
* <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-19480925> Watchdog probes£20m land deal
Isn't it staggering, that our Government is hell bent on making Wales a Banana Republic, or a Cockle Republic, as that's all we'll end up having to export - unless we can sell welks also ? As with the Atos debacle, is it possible that there is NO British company who could tender for this work ?
Thank goodness that we have a bold Auditor General who will deal firmly with this land-rape and put the government in its'place ! ( Yeah Right ). R.W.
Tuesday, 4 September 2012
Euthanasia - a step closer with government henchmen Atos
For the attention of Pat English - 'You Say' Editor
Dear Madam,
I applaud David Simpson for his excellent letter, in defence of the vulnerable and disabled ( mentally and physically ). I just wish to add a fact not made in this letter. All of the DWP Centers, and their staff, were taken over by Atos completely. Therefore, none of them work for the DWP any more, nor were they consulted on this change. All this was done following the instructions of the UK and Welsh governments, setting a new low for the betrayal of the most vulnerable and disabled in our society.
No one gets past an Atos Assessment because, even if they pass the first assessment, all previous medical evidence is ignored, making it impossible to score any points. Our governments have bought a French company of henchmen to guillotine any applicant's assessment. What an irony to cowardly ignore their duty of care to the vulnerable, by selling out to a duplicitous - and crooked - foreign company. We are betrayed by the evil coalition in London and the iniquitous Labour government in Wales. This will inevitably increase the chances of UKIP, the Greens, or even the BNP to form the next government ( well.....not the BNP, of course ). Shame on the three 'main' parties for approving this wicked and cruel deception of 'assessment'.
Yours faithfully
Robin Williams - Patient Advocate
Dear Madam,
I applaud David Simpson for his excellent letter, in defence of the vulnerable and disabled ( mentally and physically ). I just wish to add a fact not made in this letter. All of the DWP Centers, and their staff, were taken over by Atos completely. Therefore, none of them work for the DWP any more, nor were they consulted on this change. All this was done following the instructions of the UK and Welsh governments, setting a new low for the betrayal of the most vulnerable and disabled in our society.
No one gets past an Atos Assessment because, even if they pass the first assessment, all previous medical evidence is ignored, making it impossible to score any points. Our governments have bought a French company of henchmen to guillotine any applicant's assessment. What an irony to cowardly ignore their duty of care to the vulnerable, by selling out to a duplicitous - and crooked - foreign company. We are betrayed by the evil coalition in London and the iniquitous Labour government in Wales. This will inevitably increase the chances of UKIP, the Greens, or even the BNP to form the next government ( well.....not the BNP, of course ). Shame on the three 'main' parties for approving this wicked and cruel deception of 'assessment'.
Yours faithfully
Robin Williams - Patient Advocate
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