Mid-Staffordshire? Not Just Mid-Staffordshire!

In The Belfast Telegraph:
Tuesday, 7 April 2009Tragedy of patient who froze to death

“A confused patient froze to death just hours after wandering out of a hospital in his slippers, an inquest has heard.
“Alcoholic William Scott (51) fled the accident and emergency department and disappeared into undergrowth on the perimeter of Lagan Valley Hospital. Police were not informed by staff.
“Coroner Brian Sherrard said steps had been taken to try and prevent a repeat of the March 2005 tragedy in Lisburn, Co Down. ‘There definitely has been a breakdown in communication at some stage,’ he said.
“He said staff at the hospital had been searching for Mr Scott, who was admitted to the hospital on March 12 suffering from alcohol-related seizures, after he went missing from his cubicle the following bitterly cold day. He was agitated and confused.
“His family had to tell police of the disappearance themselves two hours later.
“The victim, from Warren Park, Lisburn, was found dead on March 31 from hypothermia on a steep swampy bank close to the ambulance station and the Lagan River towpath.”
.
Not that long ago the Healthcare Commission reported on the high death rate in a Hospital Trust in England: The Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust.

The Independent headline:Patients die in 'third-world' hospital
17 March 2009“Between 400 and 1,200 more people died than would have been expected in a three-year period, the head of the investigation for the Healthcare Commission said.
“Families have described ‘Third World’ conditions at the trust, with some patients drinking water from vases because they were so thirsty and others screaming in pain.
“The Commission launched an inquiry after concerns were raised about higher than normal death rates in emergency care, in particular at Stafford Hospital.
"It was like a Third-World country hospital. It was an absolute disgrace."

Perhaps the Health Secretary should go and look at the Third World hospitals, they may not indeed be as bad. They really do not have ridiculous targets and despite poor financing the doctors and nurses do the best they can. Also in the Third World, there would be riots if things like this happened.

Later in The Sunday Telegraph:Ten NHS trusts have worse death rates than 'shocking' Mid Staffordshire
29 Mar 2009

“Ten health trusts have worse death rates than the hospital where at least 400 patients died needlessly because of ‘shocking and appalling’ standards of care, the Sunday Telegraph can reveal.”

You won’t believe this:
“Since the data was prepared, Swindon and Marlborough has been renamed Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Bolton Hospital has been renamed Royal Bolton Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.”

Rebranding still cost money in logo and headed papers, money that could be spent on direct patient care. It used to be that criminals change their names after release from prison like this medical student in Sweden after serving his sentence for murder.

I suppose killing patients is a form of murder.

In the meantime Healthcare Commission has also been rebranded and is now called Care Quality Commission (CQC) and is headed by none other than Cynthia Bowers who used to be head at The West Midlands Strategic Health Authority (SHA) that oversee The Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust. The best known medical blog NHS Blog Doctor in England had a good post. Read about it here. Do you think Cynthia might want to change her name too! Jobbing Doctor hade a go too: read about it here.
In England they do not just reward bankers and insurers.

Notable posts:The Witchdoctor: Yo-Yo Management - The Staffordshire Story
NHS Blog Doctor: How to complain about the NHS; Cynthia Bower : April Fool NHS Blog Doc
The Jobbing Doctor: Stafford - unearthing the reasons; More nonsense
Dr Rant: Central Credit: Local Blame
Dr Grumble: Mid Staffs Investigation
Ward 87: A Big Thankyou to Private Eye
My other posts:Mid-Staffordshire: Media Media Media.
Mid-Staffordshire: Unbelievable! Unbelievable! Unbelievable!
Mid-Staffordshire: Where Are The Doctors?
House M.D. : 95% vs 5%
House M.D.: Modern Tyranny
Humber Mental Health Teaching NHS Trust: Learning From The Past.