National media: Keogh says 13k NHS deaths! Keogh: er, no I don’t

National media: Keogh says 13k NHS deaths! Keogh: er, no I don’t.

Rise Of The Patient #ROTPt: A Trilogy in Health Care

See on Scoop.it – Of human kindness

Join me, Shirley Williams, as I interview Dr. David Lewis as he shares his life experience in the health care system as a Family Doctor, Patient and Caregiver. Bio David Lewis FRCSEd, MRCGP David Lewis is a family doctor in United Kingdom.

David Lewis‘s insight:

If you have a moment, why not listen to my interview with Shirley.

See on www.blogtalkradio.com

Rubbish in, rubbish out – clinical coding pitfalls undermine travails of NHS

Brilliant essay illustrating importance of clinical coding in managed healthcare system

The SKWAWKBOX

In the immediate aftermath of the release of the Francis Report into events at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, I identified that David Cameron’s crocodile-tears and apparent humility were just a feint that would quickly turn into an attack on the NHS nationally (yet another front in their all-out war on it), using Mid Staffs as a template for attacking other hospitals – and Labour.

This morning’s headlines – covered by the BBC (website and news channel) and the right-wing press – about Professor Sir Brian Jarman’s claim that 20,000 NHS deaths could have been prevented come on the back of a 2-week long assault by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt on Labour’s supposed failings leading to Mid Staffs.

The claims are utter nonsense – but they are being used by the press and the government as

A sledgehammer to smash the NHS – and Labour

I’ve already shown, at…

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2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 2,700 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 5 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

The Great Tory NHS TUPE Pension Scam: read, share and fight!

Ha! Rid the millstone of NHS pensions to make privatisation a tastier option. Cannot be good for future of the service

The SKWAWKBOX

I like patterns. They tell you a lot. And I’m generally good at spotting them – on psychometric tests various employers have put me through, one part I usually get maximum marks at is pattern-identification. Sometimes you look at a particular puzzle and it doesn’t seem to make any sense, and then all of a sudden one part will become meaningful and the rest falls into place.

I had a similar experience earlier this week when I saw a comment on Twitter by a friend of mine (@michaelh14 – I’d recommend following him). He was having a discussion with someone and mentioned that if NHS staff are transferred to a private provider their pension rights will be protected by TUPE but new employees taken on by the private employer would not be – and suddenly a lot of pieces started to fit. And they show that this government is making…

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Old age care as frail as it’s users?

Care of frail elderly

The weekend newspapers included reports here in UK that older people with £35,000 to £50,000 saved for a rainy day would be out of luck if they needed residential care later. The prize for being honest savers was the State would rob you of the hard earned money to pay for care and when the money ran out the State would continue to pay. For the hard living spenders, they will get residential care, if required, for free from the start.

Is this fair? In my opinion this makes a mockery of saving ethos.

To add insult to injury, care at home is failing our older citizens. It is scandalous that contracts for home care budget for 15-20 minutes per client for washing, toileting and dressing then a meal. These people are often frail, usually vulnerable. Our pets are often looked after better!

Part of the problem is the zeal people have destroyed residential institutions. With the rising elderly population of whom nearly 10% will need support there are not enough residential places. So Local Authorities are purchasing care at home packages. These packages are ridiculously designed in many cases. Failing to budget for the travelling time of carers is negligent. All the travel time would be caring time if the carers were based in large institutions. In days gone by these institutions were community hospitals and care homes.

Our vulnerable elderly are not helped by well meaning people who trumpet end of life choices for all. It is soul destroying to see people convinced they have a right to die at the place of their choosing. It can cause terrible upset for relatives who are left behind. Failure to fund adequate home care is part of the problem. In the current climate vulnerable elderly are stuck between Scylla of doing right thing and preserving some if not all of hard earned money for the next generation and Charybdis of getting properly cared for while exhausting all the hard earned savings.

Does the average MP understand how general practice works?

One GP's Protest

On a previous post I included an email exchange with an MP. The MP had responded to one of my emails to MPs, on the topic of GP practice boundaries. The MP said: “I must say that I do have some sympathy with the idea of free registration.  I had an excellent GP in XX who I was with from the age of 19 when I went to University.  It seems strange that I could not remain with that GP when I only live 40mins away in YY.”

Now most GPs will think it is obvious why living 40 minutes driving distance (according to the AA route finder it is about 34 miles) is not practical. What is worrying is that this well-meaning MP, who is voting on the Health Bill which includes the GP boundary issue, is not aware why 40 minutes/34 miles is problematic.

What is the average…

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NHS medical director urges GPs to use Skype for consultations – GP online

Via Scoop.it – Of human kindness

NHS medical director urges GPs to use Skype for consultationsGP onlineConsultations may be held online to improve patient access to GP services, according to the NHS medical director.  Brilliant idea, I think not!  Who will put cameras on our PCs? Who will resource the increased bandwidth on NHS Net which is struggling with the 2MB service currently?  Where will the additional time come from for family doctors to include these consultations? In my opinion, this will only increase the gap between ‘rich’ and ‘poor’ health care.  Tudor Hart’s inverse care law likely to increase at the same rate as Moore’s Law if this was implemented unless the equipment needed is made available as widely as landline telephone.
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Olympic sport aptitude test – Health tools – NHS Choices

Via Scoop.it – Of human kindness

Find out which sport you are best suited to with a short psychological and aptitude test. Developed with an expert team at Loughborough University.
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NHS staff urged to ‘blow whistle’

Via Scoop.it – Of human kindness

MPs call on regulators to send a clear signal to NHS staff that they risk being investigated if they fail to report concerns about colleagues.
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