Faith in the NHS??

[brazenhussy]

Faith in the NHS??

Broken neck was missed for six months(from daily Mail)
Last updated at 23:30pm on 24th January 2007
Elizabeth Hodgkinson was left in constant pain and unable to walk after she snapped two vertebrae
Her widow Malcolm, 64, claimed the two vertebrae were snapped during the procedure and over the next four months she suffered worsening pain down her left side.
The couple complained to four doctors at the Waters Green Medical Centre in Macclesfield and consultants at the Manchester Royal Infirmary, but they did not spot the fractures.
Mrs Hodgkinson collapsed in March and was taken into hospital.
Two months after that doctors X-rayed her neck and spotted it was broken.
But her injuries were so severe that specialist neurosurgeons were unable to save her and she died in September.
At the inquest into her death, Cheshire Coroner Nicholas Rheinberg gave the causes of death as respiratory impairment, fracture of the spine and Wegener's Granulamatosis.
Recording a narrative verdict, he said: "The fracture which was not diagnosed until May 6 led to her subsequent death."

Makes you wonder.......................

 

[Maxi_77]

Regular readers will probably have spotted that I am not one of the NHSs biggest fans, but I would suggest this is perhaps not a sign of the chronic state the NHS is in, rather a sign that even doctors can make mistakes.

There was another report of a broken neck not being spotted immediately in todays paper, (I haven't got time to find a link at present) and although this one did not have such disatrous results perhaps it indicates that the condition can be difficult to identify in some cases.

 

[Harry_Skinters]

My sympathy goes to Mr Hodkinson for his loss. My experience of the NHS is that my wife had a complete hip replacement last June. The waiting list was about 5 months which was one month less than originally estimated. The problem was that the symptoms she suffered was pain in the leg and knee. This went on for about ten years, with numerous visits to GP's and Consultants. No one noticed that her hip had seized due to arthritis. It was replaced at Haslar and is now fit again. However, the orthopaedic ward was like a sausage factory. There were overworked staff nurses which were terrific but some of the auxilliary nurses had a distinct lack of nursing care skills.

 

[Lingyai]

We all make mistakes, but this sounds poor, very poor. Mind you, some of the medics I came accross in the mob were pretty crap, and there was a geordie civvy physio in Guzz that was a poor excuse for a physio. Totally mis diagnosed a problem I had.
Still, with all docs' it's a gamble. Either that or DIY.

 

[Seadog]

Missing from the first post

Daily Mail

 

[brazenhussy]

whoops - thanks Seadog!!!

 

[WindyMiller]

Hi BH

I currently work in the NHS (as does my wife and mum) and I understand that there are many stories such as this that circulate within the media and for those concerned it must be a horrible and upsetting experience.

But I have seen first hand how the staff within the NHS cope with a creaking system, low pay and bad working condittions (sound familiar!!)

As with most things there are good and bad in all things and it's misleading to call these terrible instances 'trouble with the NHS' - when in fact it is trouble with a hospital or a doctor/nurse. To brand the whole as the same when the vast majority of people find the NHS staff very helpful.

Thanks

 

[Shakey]

What grips me is the state of hospital cleanliness. My grandmother went in to hospital a few months ago after a minor fall. The ward she was in had dried vomit on the deck, the next day the whole place was declared a gastro-enteritis breakout. She ended up picking up about two other infections and it killed her.

There's alcho-gels at every ward entrance yet no-one seems to use them. The wards are often unclean 'cos the nursing staff aren't there to clean the cleaners are. But that's been contracted out to someone who employs any old numpty on the cheap.

When we had the foot and mouth outbreak in 2002(?) you couldn't go near a farm and if you had to you had to drive your car over a disinfectant mat and your boots too.

Our hospitals have nothing like this, we seem to take more care over our livestock than our people. On top of this the great unwashed turn up at any old time that suits them to visit their relatives, bringing all manner of disease in with them, walking straight past the alcho-gels on their way into the wards.

It needs sorting out!

 

[brazenhussy]

Hi BH

I currently work in the NHS (as does my wife and mum) and I understand that there are many stories such as this that circulate within the media and for those concerned it must be a horrible and upsetting experience.

But I have seen first hand how the staff within the NHS cope with a creaking system, low pay and bad working condittions (sound familiar!!)

As with most things there are good and bad in all things and it's misleading to call these terrible instances 'trouble with the NHS' - when in fact it is trouble with a hospital or a doctor/nurse. To brand the whole as the same when the vast majority of people find the NHS staff very helpful.

Thanks

please accept my apologies - on hind sight i should have titled it differently.
no offence was meant to those working withing the NHS, and re-reading it i realise my mistake.
again i apologise.

 

[Scud]

For those of you with an interest in the mess that is the NHS at the moment, there are a fair few blogs out there that make interesting reading - they also provide reassurance that Defence isn't the only area where the government are putting people's lives at risk by cutting costs. I strongly recommend the following for those interested in the NHS:

NHS Blog Doc (a GP's Blog)

and

Random acts of Reality (a Paramedic's Blog)

Both of those will give you some idea about how disillusioned the people on the ground are in the NHS - I certainly know the feelings they talk about when more budget cuts and bureaucracy are imposed from above.

 

[WindyMiller]

please accept my apologies - on hind sight i should have titled it differently.
no offence was meant to those working withing the NHS, and re-reading it i realise my mistake.
again i apologise.

No problem brazen, I'm not having a go - it's just a good many people pour their lives into the job only to be shafted by the accountants in charge.

no apology needed :razz:

 

[dhoby_bucket]

We all know there are problems within the NHS and it is only kept going because of the goodwill shown by the Dr's and Nurses, but where exactly do you start from to make it work better???