The BBC has been doing some interesting research on Accident and Emergency departments in general, which has some relevance to St. peter's A and E, which was the original reason for starting up this Blog.
Way back when, A and E's had a target that they had to keep - 97 % of patients arriving needed to be discharged or admitted to a bed within 4 hours. It was felt this was the best way of measuring an urgent treatment department. Separate figures were kept for patients who waited longer than 4 hours to be dealt with, or longer than 12 hours.
The Conservatives, decided to reduce the target to 95% to be dealt with within 4 hours, to make it easier for the NHS to keep to it's targets.
NHS Trusts which consistently failed to meet the targets would lose money as a penalty, so it wasn't just serious for patients waiting at the hospital.
Last year, as things got worse in the NHS, the government quietly indicated that failure to meet requirements would no longer result in 'fines'.
In fact, over the last twelve months, the targets have been missed even by efficient and well run hospitals, mainly because it's now accepted that most of the NHS is underfunded and unable to manage it's targets.
Now the BBC has discovered that there has been some widespread misuse of 'Drop-in Centre's' to game the statistics.
Lets take, as an example, Ashford and St. Peter's NHS Foundation trust. It runs a traditional Accident and Emergency Department at St. Peter's where patients arrive on foot or in ambulances with problems that range from the trivial to the most serious. Obviously, on arrival they are subject o the collection of statistics leading to the figures that indicate whether the Trust can meet the four hour target.
In fact there is also a 'Drop-in Centre' next to Ashford Hospital. It's not an A and E, ambulances don't call there, it doesn't deal with emergencies.
In fact it's very useful; staffed by nurses you can go there without an appointment and get seen for minor problems. If it turns out to be serious the Nurse can arrange for a transfer to A and E. I went there to have dressings changed and it usually takes about an hour or so. In the past it was attached to a G.P's surgery which was intended by the Blair Labour Government to see people in the evenings and weekends. It's just been closed to save money.
The thing is, the Drop-in centre's statistics go into the figures for Accident and Emergency for the hospital as a whole. Now, no one attending the Drop-in Centre is going there instead of going to A and E - this is non serious problems. The kind of thing that the practice nurse at the Doctors could deal with - but you can be seen without an appointment.
So, in one way the Trust is encouraging people to come in to improve the number of people being seen within 4 hours, because most people attending have quick, simple problems. If you shut the centre, none of the people would be on their way to A and E.
In fact, the BBC has uncovered that not only is this a common practise but some unscrupulous Trusts have been including figures for patients attending Drop-in Centres that have nothing to do with them, in order to massage the A and E to look better.
This 'gaming' of statistics to make them look better is more common in the NHS than you would think - this time there may need to be a recalculation of all last years statistics to find out what the real position was at our A and E's.
The effect of this fixing of the figures makes life harder for patients and easier for over paid NHS managers.
We shouldn't let them off the hook this time.
Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com
Showing posts with label Ashford and St. Peter's Hospital Chertsey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ashford and St. Peter's Hospital Chertsey. Show all posts
Monday, 22 January 2018
Monday, 24 April 2017
"The care provided to you fell below the high standards"; St. Peter's Hospital, Chertsey.
Here's another 'patient experience' of St. Peter's Hospital, Chertsey.
It isn't that exceptional, what is notable is that it's the refusal to apologise which brought about the parents lawsuit - as reported by the solicitors in the case;
"Bereaved parents settle medical negligence claim against St Peter’s Hospital following stillbirth"
A woman known only as R has received compensation following the stillbirth of her baby daughter at St Peter’s hospital in Chertsey Surrey in July 2013.
R’s first pregnancy was uneventful until at 39 week’s gestation she and her husband were sent home from St Peter's following rupture of her membranes and told to come back the following day for induction of labour.
When R returned to the labour ward the following day at midday as planned she was found to have a temperature of 38.9°C and a fast heart rate. CTG monitoring of the baby’s heart was described as suspicious but R was not reviewed by a doctor until 20.55.
The doctor prescribed R IV antibiotics due to her high temperature and Syntocinon to speed up her labour but the anti-biotics were not given until 21.25 and the Syntocinon was not started until 02.10 (a delay of 4 hours and 10 minutes).
After the Syntocinon was given the CTG trace revealed the baby's heart rate to be more abnormal but it was not until 04.10 the doctor made the decision to deliver R's baby by caesarean.
Sadly, R’s baby was born in a poor condition; without a heartbeat, floppy, pale with significant meconium. The neonatal team could not resuscitate her and her death was classified as a stillbirth.
R and her husband instructed medical negligence solicitors at Leigh Day, Nicola Wainwright and Suleikha Ali, to investigate their claim.
Expert evidence was obtained from an Obstetrician who advised that failures in R’s care including not admitting her for an induction of labour until 32 hours after her waters had broken, failing to identify and appropriately treat an infection and failing to intervene to deliver the baby sooner despite drops in the fetal heart rate was negligent. The independent expert expressed the view that but for these failures R’s baby daughter would have survived.
Given the expert’s criticisms, Leigh Day sent Ashford and St Peter’s Trust a formal Letter of Claim. The Trust made some admissions but did not admit full liability.
This meant that the bereaved parents had to begin Court Proceedings after which the hospital admitted the care provided was negligent and that negligence caused R's baby's death.
R and her husband wanted assurances from the Trust that lessons had been learnt to try to ensure that no other parents had to go through what they did.
During negotiations to try to settle the case Leigh Day were able to obtain such assurances and an apology, which R and her family wanted.
As well as paying compensation the Trust's Chief Executive wrote to the family to say:
“The care provided to you fell below the high standards you quite rightly expected with tragic consequences…we sincerely and wholeheartedly apologise to you and your family for that failure."
Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com
It isn't that exceptional, what is notable is that it's the refusal to apologise which brought about the parents lawsuit - as reported by the solicitors in the case;
"Bereaved parents settle medical negligence claim against St Peter’s Hospital following stillbirth"
Leigh Day
United Kingdom April 19 2017
A woman known only as R has received compensation following the stillbirth of her baby daughter at St Peter’s hospital in Chertsey Surrey in July 2013.
R’s first pregnancy was uneventful until at 39 week’s gestation she and her husband were sent home from St Peter's following rupture of her membranes and told to come back the following day for induction of labour.
When R returned to the labour ward the following day at midday as planned she was found to have a temperature of 38.9°C and a fast heart rate. CTG monitoring of the baby’s heart was described as suspicious but R was not reviewed by a doctor until 20.55.
The doctor prescribed R IV antibiotics due to her high temperature and Syntocinon to speed up her labour but the anti-biotics were not given until 21.25 and the Syntocinon was not started until 02.10 (a delay of 4 hours and 10 minutes).
After the Syntocinon was given the CTG trace revealed the baby's heart rate to be more abnormal but it was not until 04.10 the doctor made the decision to deliver R's baby by caesarean.
Sadly, R’s baby was born in a poor condition; without a heartbeat, floppy, pale with significant meconium. The neonatal team could not resuscitate her and her death was classified as a stillbirth.
R and her husband instructed medical negligence solicitors at Leigh Day, Nicola Wainwright and Suleikha Ali, to investigate their claim.
Expert evidence was obtained from an Obstetrician who advised that failures in R’s care including not admitting her for an induction of labour until 32 hours after her waters had broken, failing to identify and appropriately treat an infection and failing to intervene to deliver the baby sooner despite drops in the fetal heart rate was negligent. The independent expert expressed the view that but for these failures R’s baby daughter would have survived.
Given the expert’s criticisms, Leigh Day sent Ashford and St Peter’s Trust a formal Letter of Claim. The Trust made some admissions but did not admit full liability.
This meant that the bereaved parents had to begin Court Proceedings after which the hospital admitted the care provided was negligent and that negligence caused R's baby's death.
R and her husband wanted assurances from the Trust that lessons had been learnt to try to ensure that no other parents had to go through what they did.
During negotiations to try to settle the case Leigh Day were able to obtain such assurances and an apology, which R and her family wanted.
As well as paying compensation the Trust's Chief Executive wrote to the family to say:
“The care provided to you fell below the high standards you quite rightly expected with tragic consequences…we sincerely and wholeheartedly apologise to you and your family for that failure."
Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com
Thursday, 17 November 2016
Getting slapped down by St. Peter's Hospital, Chertsey, Accident and Emergency.
Now I've heard it all - and it takes a lot for me to quote a story from 'The Sun', which is a newspaper I don't have much respect for.
However, this story is too good (bad) to leave out - it relates how a medic at the Accident and Emergency department at St. Peter's Hospital slapped a patient.
If this allegation is correct it's a new low for the Accident and Emergency Department.
As the victim correctly points out, if he'd hit a medic he would have gone straight to jail. We'll see what, if anything, happens now.
You can watch a video of it here;
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2182292/shocking-moment-a-st-peters-hospital-nhs-medic-attacked-patient-he-was-treating-in-ae/
Here's the article if the link doesn't work;
HOSPITAL 'ASSAULT' Shocking moment a St Peter’s hospital NHS medic ‘attacked
patient he was treating in A&E’
The medic 'took his patient hostage', refusing to take the needle out of his arm
until he deleted the video
By BRITTANY VONOW
15th November 2016, 8:03 am
Adam Clark was slapped over the head by a doctor at St Peter's Hospital, Surrey
HOSPITAL ASSAULT
THIS is the shocking moment a NHS medic attacked a patient while carrying out a blood test at a London hospital.
Adam Clark, 38, was filming the blood test when the St Peter’s Hospital staff member aggressively slapped him over the head, grabbing his phone out of his hands.
Sun Exclusive
Adam Clark was having a blood test and recording the procedure when the medic at St Peter’s Hospital slapped him
The shocked bricklayer says he was then “held hostage” by the man, who held the needle in his arm and refused to take it out until the video was deleted.
Mr Clark recounted the attack to The Sun Online, reliving the moment he was assaulted by the man charged with the task of helping him.
He said: “The doctor was taking blood out of my arm at the time, and I started to film it".
Mr Clark, 38, reported the incident to Surrey Police, saying the confrontation was unacceptable. The medic’s slap left the patient feeling shocked and vulnerable
Adam Clark decided to speak out after the Friday night attack
“He snatched the phone out of my hand and then slapped me round the face.
The Shepperton local said he had been filming the blood test to show his boss – to prove he had gone to the hospital after complaining of feeling ill for a number of weeks – but the tests at A&E descended into chaos in a matter of moments.
Mr Clark said: “He ripped the phone out of my hand and he had a hold of the needle and was squeezing it, saying delete it, delete the video.
“I said to him ‘let go’ but he kept squeezing until I deleted it.”
It is understood the staff member was a healthcare assistant but Mr Clark confirmed to the Sun Online that the hospital told him that the man involved was a doctor.
Mr Clark spoke out of his discomfort during the confrontation on Friday night, saying: “I felt really vulnerable in that situation.
“It was horrible.”
He said the medic then told him that it was not permitted to film during a blood test.
Mr Clark said: “If he had of said – ‘you can’t do that’, I would have said ‘OK’ and stopped.
“But it was such an aggressive attack.
“When you’re in a situation where you feel a bit vulnerable anyway, it’s such a shock.”
In the video, the professional can be heard stating “you’re recording” before slapping the patient. Mr Clark deleted the video but later found it in his deleted items folder on his phone.
The medic took issue with the patient recording – but instead of speaking to him about it, he chose to slap him over the head.
Adam Clark has now reported the confrontation to Surrey Police, who are investigating Mr Clark said he was going to let the attack go but then thought twice.
He told The Sun Online: “I thought to myself, if I had of slapped him around the face, I would be in the police station. “I don’t see why he should get away with it.”
He said after the confrontation unfolded, he had spoken with nurses, with the St Peter’s Hospital staff member taken off the hospital premises.
He added that a manager of St Peter’s Hospital had come to speak with him, telling the 38-year-old the hospital was not taking the confrontation lightly.He also rang police, making an official report.
A Surrey Police spokesperson said: “Surrey Police is investigating following a report that a man was assaulted at St Peter’s Hospital, Chertsey on Friday, November 11 at 7.30pm.“Enquiries are on-going.”
A spokesperson for the Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust told The Sun Online: “We are aware that an incident between a patient and a Health Care Assistant, which occurred in our A&E department on Friday 11th November, has been reported to Surrey Police.
“We always take concerns and allegations raised by our patients extremely seriously and have already begun our own internal investigation. At the same time we will, of course, cooperate fully with Surrey Police.
“Until these investigations are completed, we are unable to comment further.”
Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com
Monday, 7 November 2016
Ashford and St. Peter's Hospitals merger is off!
Some really good news came out on 4th November; the 'On/Off' merger between Ashford and St. Peter's Hospitals and Royal Surrey County Hospital is not going ahead.....it's 'OFF'!
The Royal County decided the merger was not in their interests - something their medical Consultants told them overwhelmingly in a staff survey a year ago.
In fact what happened was that both trusts finances took a dive last year and in the case of Royal Surrey, disastrously so. The merger was put on hold for them to sort out the mess and it's probably by mutual consent that it isn't now going ahead.
As far as Ashford and St. Peter's was concerned, this was a merger no one wanted - the original merger of the two hospitals in 1998 resulted in the total downgrading of Ashford and the loss of its Accident and Emergency. As a teaching Hospital it had a good reputation and was convenient for its population centre.
Now with most of the land sold off, its reputation reduced and its patients making the long trek out beyond the M25, the merger can't be described as a success.
Since then, its management got merger fever; first they wanted Epsom Hospital, to the extent that they tried to demerge it from its Trust so that they could gobble it up.
That failed - to the relief of every patient contemplating a journey to and from Epsom or any resident of Epsom looking at the cost and difficulty of getting to Ashford or St. Peter's.
Then management wanted to take over Royal County, even though its miles away (22.5 miles each way by car from Ashford and an impossible journey by public transport).
The prize was Royal County's expertise in cancer care - which is a growing need. The Trust wanted that expertise so it could grab some of that 'business' away from the London hospitals and attract those patients to its site at Ashford. Meanwhile, as a bonus Guildford could lose some of its services to pay for the development at Ashford.
It should never have been considered - in patients interests alone. However, the potential loss of staff jobs was also an major issue.
Why does this matter?
Well, apart from the fact that for two years while the management of the Trust could have been concentrating on improving things for the staff and the patients, there is a little matter of the money that has been wasted.
In the 2015/16 Annual Accounts, Ashford and St. Peter's NHS Foundation Trust paid out £855,000 in outside 'consultancy costs'; that's where you pay outside 'Experts' to advise you and it's an area of expenses the Government wants cut down.
In the year 1014/15, the same costs were £2,004,000 which was £1,149,000 more.
Now my guess is that that additional £1,149,000 is most likely to represent the money wasted (in one year alone) on outside consultant's fees spent on the merger and the associated investigation by the competition authorities.
I'll keep sniffing around to see if I can find out any more!
Finally, it should be said that merger's rarely result in improved 'outcomes' and if you don't believe me check out the 'pages' column in the archive on the right hand side of the Blog - read 'The Merger Mania Series', which I wrote a couple of years ago when I wasn't as ill as I am now.
Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com
Tuesday, 16 August 2016
Barry Gunner; Another inquest hearing into a death at The Abraham Cowley Unit, Chertsey.
It's taken me a while to find this report on yet another inquest into a tragic death at The Abraham Cowley Unit which shares the St. Peter's Hospital site at Chertsey.
I'm concerned about this; very simply Mr Gunner was seriously ill with a history of self harm and suicidal thoughts.
In the run up to his suicide, he told staff repeatedly how he felt and yet he was able to access shoelaces from his property?
I have two problems with this;
Firstly, to anyone used to dealing with a 'place of safety', it should be automatic that things like belts and shoelaces are kept firmly locked away.
Secondly, this 'secure' psychiatric unit has a history of allowing suicidal patients access to things that put them in danger or the chance to leave the hospital.
I assume the jury and the coroner were unaware of these previous incidents;
'Talented artist' from Godalming took his own life while in hospital, inquest jury concludes
Barry Gunner, 43, killed himself using a ligature, which had been 'readily available' while being detained under the Mental Health Act
---------//-----------
You can take a look at a selection of previous reports on the unit on the 'Pages' section on the right hand side of this Blog.
Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com
I'm concerned about this; very simply Mr Gunner was seriously ill with a history of self harm and suicidal thoughts.
In the run up to his suicide, he told staff repeatedly how he felt and yet he was able to access shoelaces from his property?
I have two problems with this;
Firstly, to anyone used to dealing with a 'place of safety', it should be automatic that things like belts and shoelaces are kept firmly locked away.
Secondly, this 'secure' psychiatric unit has a history of allowing suicidal patients access to things that put them in danger or the chance to leave the hospital.
I assume the jury and the coroner were unaware of these previous incidents;
By Rebecca Shepherd
Get Surrey.
Barry Gunner, 43, killed himself using a ligature, which had been 'readily available' while being detained under the Mental Health Act
A "talented artist" from Godalming, who was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, took his own life while detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act, an inquest jury has concluded.
The six-day inquest at Surrey Coroner’s Court into Barry Gunner’s death came to an end on Monday (July 25) when a jury gave a verdict of "suicide".
The jury heard from medical clinicians and nursing staff from the Abraham Cowley Unit (ACU) of St Peter’s Hospital, who looked after and treated Mr Gunner during his 16-day stay.
The jury concluded: “Mr Gunner was found at approximately 2pm on March 26, 2015, in an unconscious state.
“He was in the locked bathroom of dormitory three Clare Ward within the ACU where he had been detained from March 10 under Section 3 of the Mental Health Act following an attempt at self-harm at his residence.
“He had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and exhibited symptoms of depression, anxiety, paranoia and psychotic behaviour.
“He had consistently relayed suicidal ideation to medical staff with the last documents occurrence being on the day of his death. The boot laces used as the ligature had been readily available.”
'Very paranoid'
The 43-year-old was transferred to the Chertsey unit on March 10, 2015, after he was admitted to Royal Surrey County Hospital following an overdose where he took a "large amount of medication" at home.
The jury was told Mr Gunner expressed "ongoing suicidal thoughts" to staff at the unit days and hours before he was found lying unconscious in his bathroom dormitory on March 26, 2015.
Despite attempts by staff and emergency services to revive Mr Gunner, he was pronounced dead at the scene at 2.38pm.
The medical cause of death given was "ligature compression of the neck in association with foreign body airway obstruction".
Dr Jolanta Landowska told the court that she conducted three reviews with Mr Gunner before his death and that he had spoken of having "no future" on the day he died.
She described Mr Gunner as "very paranoid", as he believed builders had planted spy cameras in his house and that the people on television knew "what he was wearing".
'Almost unbelievable'
Speaking after the inquest, sister Jane Fitzsimmons said Mr Gunner was the eldest of four children with two younger brothers.
When he was younger, he enjoyed fishing and camping and liked being outdoors and anything to do with nature.
She said Mr Gunner was an "extremely talented artist" and his drawings were of such quality that he could have sold them if he had wanted to.
Mrs Fitzsimmons said she was concerned about "failings" at the ACU.
“As a family, to lose a loved on through suicide is utterly devastating, but to lose a loved one while entrusted into the care of a muti-professional team is almost unbelievable,” she said.
“Words cannot express our shock, sadness and frustration that Barry succeeded in taking his own life whilst a patient within the ACU.”
'Careful balance'
Andy Erskine, director of mental health and social care at Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“I offer my heartfelt condolences to Mr Gunner’s family and friends.
“We take any death in our services extremely seriously and have completed an internal investigation into Mr Gunner’s care and treatment to make sure we do everything in our power to prevent anything similar happening again.
“As part of our investigations we met with Mr Gunner’s family to make sure we explored their concerns.
"Our findings have also been reviewed by medical professionals who were not involved in his care and treatment to identify further lessons to be learned.
“We have now implemented the recommendations from our investigation across all of our inpatient services.
"These include making sure we search inpatients’ possessions that are brought onto the ward, but kept in storage, making sure we offer people one-to-one time with nurses every day and that we record the outcome of all discussions about medication, even if no changes are made.
“We have to strike a careful balance between protecting people from self-harm with the need to promote people’s recovery from mental ill-health to enable them to return home.
"The coroner recognised that we have thought carefully about this issue in this instance.
“I am very sad this has happened and I am very sorry for the Gunner family’s loss.”
The six-day inquest at Surrey Coroner’s Court into Barry Gunner’s death came to an end on Monday (July 25) when a jury gave a verdict of "suicide".
The jury heard from medical clinicians and nursing staff from the Abraham Cowley Unit (ACU) of St Peter’s Hospital, who looked after and treated Mr Gunner during his 16-day stay.
The jury concluded: “Mr Gunner was found at approximately 2pm on March 26, 2015, in an unconscious state.
“He was in the locked bathroom of dormitory three Clare Ward within the ACU where he had been detained from March 10 under Section 3 of the Mental Health Act following an attempt at self-harm at his residence.
“He had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and exhibited symptoms of depression, anxiety, paranoia and psychotic behaviour.
“He had consistently relayed suicidal ideation to medical staff with the last documents occurrence being on the day of his death. The boot laces used as the ligature had been readily available.”
'Very paranoid'
The 43-year-old was transferred to the Chertsey unit on March 10, 2015, after he was admitted to Royal Surrey County Hospital following an overdose where he took a "large amount of medication" at home.
The jury was told Mr Gunner expressed "ongoing suicidal thoughts" to staff at the unit days and hours before he was found lying unconscious in his bathroom dormitory on March 26, 2015.
Despite attempts by staff and emergency services to revive Mr Gunner, he was pronounced dead at the scene at 2.38pm.
The medical cause of death given was "ligature compression of the neck in association with foreign body airway obstruction".
Dr Jolanta Landowska told the court that she conducted three reviews with Mr Gunner before his death and that he had spoken of having "no future" on the day he died.
She described Mr Gunner as "very paranoid", as he believed builders had planted spy cameras in his house and that the people on television knew "what he was wearing".
'Almost unbelievable'
Speaking after the inquest, sister Jane Fitzsimmons said Mr Gunner was the eldest of four children with two younger brothers.
When he was younger, he enjoyed fishing and camping and liked being outdoors and anything to do with nature.
She said Mr Gunner was an "extremely talented artist" and his drawings were of such quality that he could have sold them if he had wanted to.
Mrs Fitzsimmons said she was concerned about "failings" at the ACU.
“As a family, to lose a loved on through suicide is utterly devastating, but to lose a loved one while entrusted into the care of a muti-professional team is almost unbelievable,” she said.
“Words cannot express our shock, sadness and frustration that Barry succeeded in taking his own life whilst a patient within the ACU.”
'Careful balance'
Andy Erskine, director of mental health and social care at Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“I offer my heartfelt condolences to Mr Gunner’s family and friends.
“We take any death in our services extremely seriously and have completed an internal investigation into Mr Gunner’s care and treatment to make sure we do everything in our power to prevent anything similar happening again.
“As part of our investigations we met with Mr Gunner’s family to make sure we explored their concerns.
"Our findings have also been reviewed by medical professionals who were not involved in his care and treatment to identify further lessons to be learned.
“We have now implemented the recommendations from our investigation across all of our inpatient services.
"These include making sure we search inpatients’ possessions that are brought onto the ward, but kept in storage, making sure we offer people one-to-one time with nurses every day and that we record the outcome of all discussions about medication, even if no changes are made.
“We have to strike a careful balance between protecting people from self-harm with the need to promote people’s recovery from mental ill-health to enable them to return home.
"The coroner recognised that we have thought carefully about this issue in this instance.
“I am very sad this has happened and I am very sorry for the Gunner family’s loss.”
---------//-----------
You can take a look at a selection of previous reports on the unit on the 'Pages' section on the right hand side of this Blog.
Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com
Friday, 22 July 2016
Another breach of security at The Abraham Cowley Unit.
This is an article from 'Get Surrey' about an incident at The Abraham Cowley Unit at St. Peter's on 17/7/16.
Police, fire and ambulance teams were dealing with the incident at the St Peter's Hospital site in Chertsey for several hours on Sunday morning.
----------//----------
Now this is serious for a couple of reasons;
Firstly, any hospital ward needs to be secure. That's partly to keep patients in; the very nature of being a patient in hospital makes you vulnerable.
It's also important because if someone can get out unnoticed then other people can get in without being spotted and that's dangerous too.
Secondly, a series of patients of The Abraham Cowley Unit have died because the security was too lax - the coroners have made it plain that lack of security was a cause of death and needed to be improved.
As long ago as 2012, the unit released a press statement to say that it had increased it's spending on security for that reason.
And it's happened again!
They were very lucky this time.
I should add, as I always do, that The Abraham Cowley Unit may share St. Peter's site but is run by a separate NHS Trust.
Neil Harris
(a don[t stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com
By Stuart Richards
Get Surrey.
Police, fire and ambulance teams were dealing with the incident at the St Peter's Hospital site in Chertsey for several hours on Sunday morning.
Police negotiators were called to speak to a man who got onto a roof at the St Peter's Hospital site in Chertsey on Sunday morning.
The 35-year-old, who was understood to be a patient at the Abraham Cowley Unit, ultimately came down from the roof on his own after three hours, a Surrey Police spokeswoman said.
"We had a police negotiator there and other officers engaged with him," she added.
Ambulance and fire crews were also called to the incident shortly after 8am.
A spokesman from Guildford fire station said they sent their turntable ladder appliance, alongside a crew from Chertsey station.
"They assisted police in dealing with a patient in the roof area," he added.
The man was said to have come down voluntarily at around 11.15am.
The 35-year-old, who was understood to be a patient at the Abraham Cowley Unit, ultimately came down from the roof on his own after three hours, a Surrey Police spokeswoman said.
"We had a police negotiator there and other officers engaged with him," she added.
Ambulance and fire crews were also called to the incident shortly after 8am.
A spokesman from Guildford fire station said they sent their turntable ladder appliance, alongside a crew from Chertsey station.
"They assisted police in dealing with a patient in the roof area," he added.
The man was said to have come down voluntarily at around 11.15am.
----------//----------
Now this is serious for a couple of reasons;
Firstly, any hospital ward needs to be secure. That's partly to keep patients in; the very nature of being a patient in hospital makes you vulnerable.
It's also important because if someone can get out unnoticed then other people can get in without being spotted and that's dangerous too.
Secondly, a series of patients of The Abraham Cowley Unit have died because the security was too lax - the coroners have made it plain that lack of security was a cause of death and needed to be improved.
As long ago as 2012, the unit released a press statement to say that it had increased it's spending on security for that reason.
And it's happened again!
They were very lucky this time.
I should add, as I always do, that The Abraham Cowley Unit may share St. Peter's site but is run by a separate NHS Trust.
Neil Harris
(a don[t stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com
Monday, 18 July 2016
Another Inquest.
I recently came across this article from 'Get Surrey' about a preliminary Inquest hearing. it raise more than a few serious questions, which I hope will be answered in September.
Put very simply, Mr Phelan was admitted to Accident and Emergency as quite a vulnerable patient. He then went missing. It was w week later when his body was found on St. Peter's Way, which is the dual carriageway which leads from the hospital to the M25 Motorway;
Missing man found dead outside hospital was suffering from 'acute alcohol withdrawal'
By Charlotte Talbot
A man who went missing from St Peter’s Hospital seven days before he was found dead nearby had been suffering with "acute alcohol withdrawal", a court has heard.
Police launched an appeal after 42-year-old James Phelan went missing from the Chertsey A&E department at around 7pm on Friday August 8 2014.
A missing person appeal was launched after Mr Phelan left the hospital, and his body was discovered off St Peter’s Way on August 15 .
A pre inquest review was held at Woking Coroner's Court on Wednesday (May 25), where coroner Darren Stewart said further information was needed about the search, in particular the initial 24 hours.
The court heard that questions had arisen over a reported sighting of Mr Phelan not long after he left the hospital "near the location where his body was discovered", and how that information was treated by the search team.
Referring to Mr Phelan’s initial ‘medium risk’ status, Rachel Marcus, barrister for Mr Phelan’s family, said information was needed about how that status would affect the search efforts, compared to being ‘high risk’.
Miss Marcus also appealed to Mr Stewart for the process to be treated as an "article two inquest", which is given in circumstances where the state or "its agents" have "failed to protect the deceased against a human threat or other risk".
She raised questions about what advice Mr Phelan, from Walton , would have been given by doctors and what "reasonable steps were taken to safeguard" him.
Mr Stewart said he would consider her application.
The coroner added further statements were needed from police officers involved in the search, as well as GP Sarah Styles who had a telephone consultation with Mr Phelan in the days before his disappearance, and the agency triage nurse who saw Mr Phelan when he went to A&E.
A full inquest into Mr Phelan’s death is due to be heard from September 19 to 22.
My own list of questions begins with "why has it taken 2 years for the inquest to happen?"
And secondly why have crucial witnesses not yet been interviewed when it is always essential to speak to witnesses as close to the events they are remembering as possible.
At the time, police released CCTV on YouTube of Mr Phelan walking through the hospital, which has now been deleted - why?
Of course, the problem with all this is that if a vulnerable patient can walk out of hospital without anyone noticing, anyone can walk in as well.
I await the full inquest!
Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com
Put very simply, Mr Phelan was admitted to Accident and Emergency as quite a vulnerable patient. He then went missing. It was w week later when his body was found on St. Peter's Way, which is the dual carriageway which leads from the hospital to the M25 Motorway;
Missing man found dead outside hospital was suffering from 'acute alcohol withdrawal'
By Charlotte Talbot
Get Surrey
Police launched an appeal after 42-year-old James Phelan went missing from the Chertsey A&E department at around 7pm on Friday August 8 2014.
A missing person appeal was launched after Mr Phelan left the hospital, and his body was discovered off St Peter’s Way on August 15 .
A pre inquest review was held at Woking Coroner's Court on Wednesday (May 25), where coroner Darren Stewart said further information was needed about the search, in particular the initial 24 hours.
The court heard that questions had arisen over a reported sighting of Mr Phelan not long after he left the hospital "near the location where his body was discovered", and how that information was treated by the search team.
Referring to Mr Phelan’s initial ‘medium risk’ status, Rachel Marcus, barrister for Mr Phelan’s family, said information was needed about how that status would affect the search efforts, compared to being ‘high risk’.
Miss Marcus also appealed to Mr Stewart for the process to be treated as an "article two inquest", which is given in circumstances where the state or "its agents" have "failed to protect the deceased against a human threat or other risk".
She raised questions about what advice Mr Phelan, from Walton , would have been given by doctors and what "reasonable steps were taken to safeguard" him.
Mr Stewart said he would consider her application.
The coroner added further statements were needed from police officers involved in the search, as well as GP Sarah Styles who had a telephone consultation with Mr Phelan in the days before his disappearance, and the agency triage nurse who saw Mr Phelan when he went to A&E.
A full inquest into Mr Phelan’s death is due to be heard from September 19 to 22.
My own list of questions begins with "why has it taken 2 years for the inquest to happen?"
And secondly why have crucial witnesses not yet been interviewed when it is always essential to speak to witnesses as close to the events they are remembering as possible.
At the time, police released CCTV on YouTube of Mr Phelan walking through the hospital, which has now been deleted - why?
Of course, the problem with all this is that if a vulnerable patient can walk out of hospital without anyone noticing, anyone can walk in as well.
I await the full inquest!
Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com
Wednesday, 6 April 2016
Picketting with the Junior Doctors......again.
So, we found ourselves back on the Junior Doctors picket line at St. Peter's Hospital, Chertsey.
Once again there was a good turnout and lots of support.
The issues are getting clearer - there are now two legal challenges to The Health Secretary's decision - one of which deals with the disproportionate effect of the changes on women and single parents;
It's a real family atmosphere on the picket;
With a birthday celebration and a picketing dog;
We were hooting at passers by until my horn gave out;
It all gets very serious at the end of the month with the doctors withdrawing from Accident and Emergency work for two days. I imagine everybody is hoping that Hunt sees sense or the courts force him to do something before then.
Either way, we're supporting the strike!
Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com
Wednesday, 10 February 2016
The 2016 Junior Doctors Strike at St. Peter's Hospital.
We've been back on strike - or at least we've been on the picket line supporting the striking Junior Doctors at St. Peter's Hospital, Chertsey;
There was a good turnout, bigger than last time. My photo was from early in the morning and as the shifts changed the numbers got bigger.
We noticed the doctors got a lot more support from passing drivers than last time too.
This is the Chief Operating Officer of the hospital, down to check us out!
I think Robyn's getting the wrong idea about picket lines. The Doctors are very popular even in Surrey. We got a lot of support from some very expensive cars, although some of them may have been consultants.
Very movingly, a lady drove up to donate a tray of beautiful chocolate cupcakes.
No police here, no violence, just support from the public; it's not always like that when ordinary people are sticking up for themselves.
Of course, everyone knows that this is about opening up the NHS to new working practices that will hurt every member of staff from the bottom to the top;
Then, when weekends are paid at weekday rates it opens everything up to the privatisation that is nibbling away at the NHS. You just can't make enough profits if you have to pay higher rates for anti social working.
No one is against seven day working for the NHS but with qualifications.
We obviously need a 7 day Accident and Emergency and the diagnostics and consultants that requires. Right now the problem is that often the least experienced people are left to manage when the A and E's are at their busiest.
However, whether every hospital needs to do that is another question. Elite specialist stroke and cardiac units may be far more effective, covering patients for a number of hospital areas.
And there is absolutely no point in having every department at work 7 days a week - people have lives to live.
Here's Robyn stealing my whistle again;
Like everything it's complicated but judging by the high level of support most people have got the message.
One driver stopped his car to suggest that the doctors didn't need to strike - just agree not to treat any Members of Parliament when they fall ill.....that should resolve things quite quickly.
Here's a Doctors joke;
Q. "What's the only good Tory?
A. A suppository!"
Finally, I didn't feel well enough to walk all the way from the free car park at St. Peter's so I had to bite the bullet and pay.
Car parking at Ashford and St. Peter's Hospitals has become a nice little earner for the trust - a tax on hospital visitors.
As a result, the local council took back the car park it used to rent out to St. Peter's at a 'peppercorn rent' and now has it's own charges.
Ashford and St. Peter's charge £4 for up to three hours. As you can see the local council's rate is considerably cheaper;
The Doctors now have to work out how they carry this on - we'll be back if they go on strike again, their cause benefits all of us because it strengthens the NHS.
Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com
There was a good turnout, bigger than last time. My photo was from early in the morning and as the shifts changed the numbers got bigger.
We noticed the doctors got a lot more support from passing drivers than last time too.
This is the Chief Operating Officer of the hospital, down to check us out!
I think Robyn's getting the wrong idea about picket lines. The Doctors are very popular even in Surrey. We got a lot of support from some very expensive cars, although some of them may have been consultants.
Very movingly, a lady drove up to donate a tray of beautiful chocolate cupcakes.
No police here, no violence, just support from the public; it's not always like that when ordinary people are sticking up for themselves.
Of course, everyone knows that this is about opening up the NHS to new working practices that will hurt every member of staff from the bottom to the top;
Then, when weekends are paid at weekday rates it opens everything up to the privatisation that is nibbling away at the NHS. You just can't make enough profits if you have to pay higher rates for anti social working.
No one is against seven day working for the NHS but with qualifications.
We obviously need a 7 day Accident and Emergency and the diagnostics and consultants that requires. Right now the problem is that often the least experienced people are left to manage when the A and E's are at their busiest.
However, whether every hospital needs to do that is another question. Elite specialist stroke and cardiac units may be far more effective, covering patients for a number of hospital areas.
And there is absolutely no point in having every department at work 7 days a week - people have lives to live.
Here's Robyn stealing my whistle again;
Like everything it's complicated but judging by the high level of support most people have got the message.
One driver stopped his car to suggest that the doctors didn't need to strike - just agree not to treat any Members of Parliament when they fall ill.....that should resolve things quite quickly.
Here's a Doctors joke;
Q. "What's the only good Tory?
A. A suppository!"
Finally, I didn't feel well enough to walk all the way from the free car park at St. Peter's so I had to bite the bullet and pay.
Car parking at Ashford and St. Peter's Hospitals has become a nice little earner for the trust - a tax on hospital visitors.
As a result, the local council took back the car park it used to rent out to St. Peter's at a 'peppercorn rent' and now has it's own charges.
Ashford and St. Peter's charge £4 for up to three hours. As you can see the local council's rate is considerably cheaper;
The Doctors now have to work out how they carry this on - we'll be back if they go on strike again, their cause benefits all of us because it strengthens the NHS.
Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com
Monday, 28 December 2015
The Ankle Rankle.
I had an unexpected present this Christmas - my solicitor Anna Brothers sent me a copy of my medical file, which was very nice of her.
I hadn't applied for it myself because I didn't trust the Hospital - they'd already 'lost' the recording of my meeting with the head of Accident and Emergency.
I waited for the hospital to release the records to my lawyers.
So it's been a long time.
Here's my latest selfie;
As you can see, the bone on the left is broken and also twisted, which is a dislocation.
When I went back to hospital a week later I didn't believe the consultant who told me it was broken - I was told it was a sprain.
To shut me up he just showed me this X-ray, it was that obvious.
Now the question is whether the A and E consultant hadn't spotted this very obvious break or whether he did and just didn't want to put together the team needed to do the operation on a bank holiday.
I think he just couldn't be bothered - he thought I'd get an appointment the next day and the operation would happen then.
That didn't happen because there wasn't an appointment slot free for a week.
Now my problem with all this was that he had been employed as a highly paid 'consultant' for 9 months and if he couldn't spot a broken ankle by then he was never going to spot one.
Worse, the hospital hid what happened from me - it was only three months later that I was told the doctor had been a consultant.
A year later, after some detective work, I found out that he'd been allowed to go on practising for another three months until his contract ran out.
Then, they didn't renew it.
What else didn't he spot in that time?
Just for old times sake, I can't resist reprinting the poem I wrote to explain what happened;
The Ankle Rankle.
I couldn't let a whole year go past without printing that again now could I?
Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com
I hadn't applied for it myself because I didn't trust the Hospital - they'd already 'lost' the recording of my meeting with the head of Accident and Emergency.
I waited for the hospital to release the records to my lawyers.
So it's been a long time.
Here's my latest selfie;
As you can see, the bone on the left is broken and also twisted, which is a dislocation.
When I went back to hospital a week later I didn't believe the consultant who told me it was broken - I was told it was a sprain.
To shut me up he just showed me this X-ray, it was that obvious.
Now the question is whether the A and E consultant hadn't spotted this very obvious break or whether he did and just didn't want to put together the team needed to do the operation on a bank holiday.
I think he just couldn't be bothered - he thought I'd get an appointment the next day and the operation would happen then.
That didn't happen because there wasn't an appointment slot free for a week.
Now my problem with all this was that he had been employed as a highly paid 'consultant' for 9 months and if he couldn't spot a broken ankle by then he was never going to spot one.
Worse, the hospital hid what happened from me - it was only three months later that I was told the doctor had been a consultant.
A year later, after some detective work, I found out that he'd been allowed to go on practising for another three months until his contract ran out.
Then, they didn't renew it.
What else didn't he spot in that time?
Just for old times sake, I can't resist reprinting the poem I wrote to explain what happened;
The Ankle Rankle.
I’ve got a problem
and it’s really starting to rankle.
You see, I hurt my leg
in fact, I broke my ankle.
The problem was my mistake
Oh what would that be?
The ambulance took my break
to St. Peter’s A and E.
Because instead of trying
to fix it there and then.
Some idiot, what was he was doing?
Sent me home again.
You can mess up a finger
You can bugger up a wrist
but only a consultant at St. Peter’s
would
think a break was a twistI couldn't let a whole year go past without printing that again now could I?
Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com
Tuesday, 4 August 2015
Smug or what?
Now this is a picture of someone looking fairly pleased with himself;
As you know I don't normally publish selfies because you never know when I might want to do something illegal!
I've made an exception this time; I took time out to have a coffee, a small cheroot and a little celebration.
You remember I've said a couple of times that I couldn't tell you everything I was up to? That's because a few people do read this Blog, including some from a certain hospital in Chertsey.
Well, last summer when I went to the Museum of Water I did that because I was up in town visiting my Solicitors. In January I went to see the Zebra Crossing at Abbey Road Studios because I was up in town having my ankle looked at by an independent expert nearby.
This was all because last March I got the decision of the Parliamentary Ombudsman and I'd pretty much run out of options.
I ended up doing what I swore I would never do - I sued Ashford and St. Peter's NHS Foundation Trust for negligence.
I'd like to have told you all about it but that would have given the 'game away'.
This is the end result;
Obviously I had to do some editing - I wouldn't want any of you trying to use this cheque now would I?
It was a very difficult decision for me to take because the last thing I had ever wanted to do was to take money away from the NHS; I spent my life trying to defend it against the people who are now trying to destroy it as a system of free healthcare based on need rather than ability to pay.
However, after I failed to get any action from the hospital Trust or from the Ombudsman (I got an apology for "Poor Communication"......yeah right) I reluctantly decided that to sue was the only way to record what happened - it hurts them in their pocket.
More seriously, one of the factors that flags up that a hospital has problems are the number of lawsuits they generate.
I'm very grateful to Leigh Day and my Solicitor; Anna Brothers who did this for me.
You can contact them here if you need them;
http://www.leighday.co.uk/
Leigh Day has a well justified reputation for representing underdogs against mighty corporations and governments.
They are not afraid of being unpopular or taking risks on behalf of people other law firms wouldn't bother with.
And, somehow, they took on the case of my silly ankle.
My solicitor was kind enough to put up with me; I wanted to hurt the Trust enough to register what they did without going too far. My solicitor would definitely have preferred a bigger fight.
So, if you have a personal injury or medical negligence claim you know where to go for representation;
As it is, I now have a sum of money I never really felt happy about winning.
I was going to just give it to charity or buy equipment for a (different) hospital.
Then because it would have been lot more fun, I was looking at putting on concerts and donating the proceeds to a good cause; that's a bit unlikely now since I broke my back. I'm not sure I'm up to it.
Anyway, I intend to come up with something that's fun and surprising and does some good.
You will be the first to hear about it.
And I think a good night out is in order from the proceeds too - you know, it really hurt!
Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com
As you know I don't normally publish selfies because you never know when I might want to do something illegal!
I've made an exception this time; I took time out to have a coffee, a small cheroot and a little celebration.
You remember I've said a couple of times that I couldn't tell you everything I was up to? That's because a few people do read this Blog, including some from a certain hospital in Chertsey.
Well, last summer when I went to the Museum of Water I did that because I was up in town visiting my Solicitors. In January I went to see the Zebra Crossing at Abbey Road Studios because I was up in town having my ankle looked at by an independent expert nearby.
This was all because last March I got the decision of the Parliamentary Ombudsman and I'd pretty much run out of options.
I ended up doing what I swore I would never do - I sued Ashford and St. Peter's NHS Foundation Trust for negligence.
I'd like to have told you all about it but that would have given the 'game away'.
This is the end result;
Obviously I had to do some editing - I wouldn't want any of you trying to use this cheque now would I?
It was a very difficult decision for me to take because the last thing I had ever wanted to do was to take money away from the NHS; I spent my life trying to defend it against the people who are now trying to destroy it as a system of free healthcare based on need rather than ability to pay.
However, after I failed to get any action from the hospital Trust or from the Ombudsman (I got an apology for "Poor Communication"......yeah right) I reluctantly decided that to sue was the only way to record what happened - it hurts them in their pocket.
More seriously, one of the factors that flags up that a hospital has problems are the number of lawsuits they generate.
I'm very grateful to Leigh Day and my Solicitor; Anna Brothers who did this for me.
You can contact them here if you need them;
http://www.leighday.co.uk/
Leigh Day has a well justified reputation for representing underdogs against mighty corporations and governments.
They are not afraid of being unpopular or taking risks on behalf of people other law firms wouldn't bother with.
And, somehow, they took on the case of my silly ankle.
My solicitor was kind enough to put up with me; I wanted to hurt the Trust enough to register what they did without going too far. My solicitor would definitely have preferred a bigger fight.
So, if you have a personal injury or medical negligence claim you know where to go for representation;
As it is, I now have a sum of money I never really felt happy about winning.
I was going to just give it to charity or buy equipment for a (different) hospital.
Then because it would have been lot more fun, I was looking at putting on concerts and donating the proceeds to a good cause; that's a bit unlikely now since I broke my back. I'm not sure I'm up to it.
Anyway, I intend to come up with something that's fun and surprising and does some good.
You will be the first to hear about it.
And I think a good night out is in order from the proceeds too - you know, it really hurt!
Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com
Monday, 3 August 2015
49000 thanx!
Many thanks for taking the Blog to 49,000 views - I never thought it would be possible.
It's been a long struggle - tomorrow I have some news about that which I have had to keep quiet about for over a year.
I started Blogging because St. Peter's Hospital, Chertsey sent me home for a week with a badly broken ankle.
I would be the first to accept that it wasn't the most serious negligence that hospital's Accident and Emergency department has been guilty of - since then I have been horrified at the number of Coroner's notices which have put the hospital on notice that deaths have occurred as a result of their mistakes.
But it was fairly devastating for me and those around me.
I was shocked that the hospital covered up what happened and that, effectively, I couldn't get anyone to listen to me.
So although I've had a huge amount of fun doing this Blog it has a really serious purpose; to keep the hospital's failings in the public eye until something is done about it.
So, thank you once again and as I said....big news tomorrow!
Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com
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