Showing posts tagged with: NHS

Now a gag on doctors and nurses: Hundreds being prevented from exposing poor care in hospitals by 'Stalinist' rules

Hundreds of doctors, nurses and NHS managers  are being prevented from exposing poor care by  ‘Stalinist’ gagging orders.

A leading surgeon said the case of Gary  Walker, who broke his silence to tell the Mail about high death rates, was just  the tip of the iceberg.

Mike Parker said the secret deals to keep  former staff quiet were a ‘threat to the survival of the Health Service’.

Freedom of Information requests show that 90  per cent of severance agreements between health trusts and doctors have gagging  clauses. They stop frontline staff revealing their concerns about patient safety  and hospital standards. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt says he will write to all  health trusts, urging them to drop the clauses or face ‘the consequences’ if  they don’t.

But the row has placed question marks over  the future of the most powerful man in the NHS, Sir David Nicholson, who has  clung to his job despite presiding over the Mid Staffordshire hospital disaster  that cost the lives of 1,200 patients.

To read more click here.

Call for UK wide 50p per unit price

There should be a pan-UK strategy to combat problem drinking - including a 50p minimum price for a unit of alcohol, experts say.

The call by a coalition of 70 health groups and campaigners comes as different approaches are being pursued in the UK.

To read the full article click here.

Stafford Hospital senior nurses' changed records

Two senior nurses at Stafford Hospital changed waiting time figures and ill-treated patients, a disciplinary hearing was told.

A&E sisters Sharon Turner and Tracy White face a series of allegations dating back to 2003.  Ms White refused to help undress one elderly woman patient, it was alleged.

To read the full article click here.

Nurse regulator 'not good enough'

The regulator for nurses and midwives is still not doing enough to protect patients properly, MPs are warning.

The Health Select Committee said a huge backlog of cases was hampering the ability of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) to safeguard standards.

The cross-party group of MPs also highlighted the regulator's poor record of having decisions overturned on appeal.

But the NMC said it was working hard to put things right.

To read the full article please click here.

Official National Survey shows that smoking halves in 40 years

Smoking in Britain has more than halved and people are drinking on fewer nights of the week, according to a snapshot survey covering the past 40 years.

The General Lifestyle Survey indicates 45% of adults smoked in 1974 compared with 20% in 2011.

The proportion of men who said they drank alcohol at least five days a week fell from 22% in 2005 to 16% in 2011.

The proportion of women drinking five days a week dropped from 13% to 9% over the same period.

To read the full article click here.