"Yes, OK, we would also need some minimum safety regulation as well"
Why? What leads you to conclude that?
First, the BBC article that you link to shows some of the background to the problems with Mrinal Patel's application - it was submitted at a chaotic time in her life - and her BBC interview today clarified it even further. She even said that her lawyer advised her not to say certain things to the Council once the mess began to unravel. Not everyone can run their lives in a way that keeps them in control. The main lesson therefore is that bureaucratic and legalistic systems of public administration often fail in the real world, so any better system needs to be justified on the grounds that it provides for satisfactory outcomes for everybody, no matter how chaotic their lives.
Secondly, a friend of mine was once married to a very good nursing sister, and she said that she could tell of many occasions when nurses put the doctors right - hospitals were self regulating in those days. The second lesson is that we should find out why it went wrong (and, as with the railways for example, it wasn't entirely during the period of these pseudo-socialists that things went wrong). Cameron hasn't spelled out any answers, and Clegg - words fail me.
NPSA. Pah!
The 30m is just what's paid to the people at the NPSA, they cost far more money than that.
I don't even work for the NHS, but the software we write is used by many NHS organisations. Reporting to the NPSA had to be introduced into our software. It was a new "feature" that we had to write, or lose customers.
The actual reporting process is very complex, and takes weeks to set up for each customer, often entailing many visits by NPSA staff to the customer site, and hours of our time helping them configure the software.
You'd think it would be possible to just do it once, and apply the configuration to each customer, but no. It has to be done differently.
Then there are the teams of people at each authority / hospital who have to do the reporting.
Then the NPSA have started asking for extra figures, such as violence against staff, which other quangos already collect!
It's a complete waste of money.
just a thought WT
hospitals are now using key performance indicators - a tool filched from USA and applied here with a few key indicators missing.Vital one missing related to staff quality - ie ratio of trained nurses to patient numbers. Have a peek at KPIs - it's what is missed out that is telling.
Elio
Any idea why THEY keep trogging off to the USA re NHS when the US excludes millions from a health service. Puzzled
keep blogging
Elio
We were saddened to see the stories on the Colchester Gazette's front page (Patient : I had to clean my own ward) as the Trust is always concerned to hear of any instance where its high standards are not being seen to be met.
All of our staff are aware of their responsibilities towards cleaning and maintenance. Regular monitoring of the environment involves clinicians, facilities staff and representatives from the managerial team, including board members. Results are communicated to all staff, enabling them to address any shortcomings in a timely manner.
The patient in question - Tereza Tosbell - spent three days in Colchester General Hospital and was discharged on 18 June. No incidents or complaints were reported during her stay on the ward. The ward manager was not contacted by the patient about any of the allegations during her stay.
In the past year, the Trust has had a number of unannounced hygiene and cleanliness inspections by the Healthcare Commission. All wards inspected have been found to have a good level of cleanliness and maintained in good general repair. In the Healthcare Commission's annual health check ratings the Trust scored maximum marks for safety and cleanliness. NHS East of England has also praised the Trust for our very low rates of infections such as C. difficile and MRSA.
Following Tereza Tosbell's discharge we were contacted by a news agency requesting a comment on a claim that she was complaining about the cleanliness and had felt the need to clean her own ward area.
Having investigated the concern we could find no supporting evidence and issued a statement on 25 June. We also requested that the news agency encourage the patient to contact the Trust. To this day, more than two weeks after she left the hospital, Tereza Tosbell has not contacted the Trust, nor made a complaint.
Whilst it is a shame that Tereza Tosbell did not raise her concerns directly with the ward staff at the time one of our senior matrons is dedicated to looking at ways of improving the patient experience. We would encourage Tereza to contact the Trust so we can look at her experience in more detail. This way the hospital can continue towards the high standards it strives to achieve daily.
http://
www.colchesterhospital.nh...statement.shtml
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