Thursday 28 February 2008

The NHS

I wonder if the Labour politicians who founded and fought for the NHS are turning in their graves at the antics of their successors. Today it was announced that C-Diff has increased by over 70% this year despite all the hype about so called 'deep cleaning'.

A few years ago I spent a prolonged spell in Glenfield Hospital Leicester and was absolutely appalled at the lack of a hygiene policy. There were two antiquated shower facilities for well over fifty patients on the ward dealing with males recovering from major operations.

At that time consultants would routinely pass from wound to wound without washing their hands. Whole families of Asians would arrive en masse and spend hours around one bed with their children running amok until late into the evening. Workers were allowed in straight off building sites. I could go for much longer but you get the picture.

This will not change until the Chief Executives of each NHS Trust are made personally responsible for tackling disease in hospital. They are earning a fortune by normal standards but are not held responsible when their mistakes contribute to what is effectively mass murder. If these people were named and shamed in a court of justice and punished accordingly our hospitals would sparkle within days!

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