How Safe is Your Hospital

[Silvercloud]

err, it's got everything to with NHS Shetland ,medical waste found on Shetland I think thats a big clue.

[paulb]

err, it's got everything to with NHS Shetland ,medical waste found on Shetland I think thats a big clue.

 

odds are it came from a patients home. either one having radiotherapy or chemo. we were not told if it was full or empty.

 

human waste thats from a person that is getting radiation should not go down the toilet. so you can guess what it contained.

[bresail]

I wish people would stop making excuses for inefficiecies.

It was in a HAZARDOUS WASTE BAG and has to be treated correctly and sensibly according to law.

Was it empty or full?

Only a fool would check!

If at a later date anyone finds a shell or bomb do not

shake it or hit it with a hammer to check if it is live.

This is also dangerous.

It was correctly reported!

From there on it was handled by unknowlegeable people who floundered about.

Do we not have a hazardous waste policy anywhere?

I thank the finder for being so patient and trying to find someone to deal with it.

Let us hope that it was full of, what Paul suggested.

 

Incidently the contact should be Environment Agency on 0800 80 70 60 a 24hr service, so it is important.

 

Just imagine a bag of anthrax swabs laid outside for 2-3 days.

Whoops---.

[Hamiltonian]

Anonymity can't be used as an excuse for unprofessionalism on my part so I'll not enter any further discussion on this subject. But I can say that you can't believe everything that you read in the local tabloid.

[paulb]

what i was trying to say it may not have been a health board fault. it could as easily been the patients. sometimes its easy to beat up the health board over things that they may not be guilty of. maybe it was put out for collection and the wind/ animal took it. i don't know.

 

what happened i guess we will never know.

[bresail]

But I can say that you can't believe everything that you read in the local tabloid.

But, you can and must believe everything that you read on a hazardous waste bag even one that may seem empty.

I believe that the issuer of the bag should give diections on disposal methods.

 

Hamiltonian. You do not have to be anonymous, I'm not.

regards,

Rex.

[bresail]

hello again.

Here is a quite an "amusing "document to allay our fears. the whole thing is a quote that I have downloaded.

I will add comments by me, bracketed to avoid confusion

 

Professor Malcolm Grant, Chair of NHS England, said: “Recent events have demonstrated the need for constant vigilance to ensure consistently high standards of care across the NHS and to pick up possible failures at an early stage.

This is why we have placed quality care at the heart of everything we do.

(I am unsure if this is from now on forth or, a statement from what has been happening.)

“The key test is whether patients would recommend their local NHS care and if NHS staff feel positive about what they are doing.â€

(This would mean no gagging clauses and no implied threats, they have been illegal for a number of years anyhow.)

 

The 11 key priorities on the scorecard are:

 

Satisfied patients

Motivated, positive NHS staff

Preventing people from dying prematurely

(This is virtually admitting that murder, manslaughter or corporate neglect leading to death has happened.)*

Enhancing quality of life for people with long term conditions

Helping people to recover from episodes of ill health or following injury

Ensuring people have a positive experience of care

[

u]Treating and caring for people in a safe environment; and protecting them from avoidable harm[/u]

(As * above. An admirableview of what hospitals should have been all along.)

Promoting equality and reducing inequalities in health outcomes

NHS Constitution rights and pledges

Becoming an excellent organisation.

High quality financial management.

(This is the frightening sentence. It has been proven that patient care and health has been at the bottom of the list for some time. Financial management has been where the emperors have sat, untouchable and unaccountable. A welcome change has been promised for this state of affairs.)

Et tu Rex.

Damnatorum ius.

[unlinkedstudent]

Perhaps slightly off topic but I'd like to praise some of the NHS here in Shetland - I needed a GP's appointment and was given an appointment for tomorrow. I spoke with the nurse who gave good advice. As soon as I came off the telephone, the very kind practice manager called to say there was an appointment available this afternoon ...

 

... so thank you. Thank you also for the time you spent - our local surgery has just changed from having 10 minute apponitments to now 15 minute ones; whilst I've heard some say this is causing more congestion, I think it's a positive step.

[bresail]

I would also like to add praise to parts of the GBH. I recently had to undergo surgery which required an overnight stay. I was looked after with care and did not feel that I was a burden to all. So thank you.

I do not want to give praise and to instantly take it away so I will leave it at that, for now.

[paulb]

wish to praise our doctor she is now a single person practice. thank you dr hinton.

 

however the cutting of the extra gps was a bad idea. ive seen the effect it has on the service being offered.

[2thumbs]

Are things changing on your little rock?

[Mistymaud]

I get very concerned when reading threads like this - and probably, these days for different reasons than I used to.

 

I was the person who posted the b12 Deficiency Can Kill thread. And, as you may suspect, I have first hand experience of this illness.

I also have experience of challenging the authorities and medical professionals in respect of it. But what I've recently come to realise is that all this gagging and absention from responsibility (professional or legal) and letting the pen-pushers have control of the situation, has essentially ensured that medical knowledge is being erroded.

 

The b12 situation is a beautiful example: We have an illness that is well known historically to be fatal. We now suspect that as many as 1/3rd of the population suffer from it. It manifests itself in different ways and most patients that have a serious deficiency aren't even tested for it - the are diagnosed with one of the more 'well known' illness ie dementia.

 

There are patients all over the world, that have for many decades, reported back to doctors that their symptoms reduce when given more b12. I can speak to nurses I know personally who tell me this all the time. But patients aren't heard. And, if like me, you find out that your illness was the root cause of your problems the pen-pushers and legal bods step in to cover it up - to trivialise it. Hence, the medical professionals who need to know what is going on, never get to know - or they fear their reputation being tarnished.

 

When it comes to medicine the truth should never be hidden. Medical developments can not be made without the truth - and, as in the case of b12, knowledge is actually deterioriating to the point where most doctors simple give patients a patronising half-grin when discussing it. One hundred years ago this was one of the most feared illnesses....

 

Is island life worse with regards to this? I would say, most certainly, yes. Everyone knows everyone else, the patients who are considering complaining have limited access to alternative health care (they can't drive 100 miles to a drop-in centre) so they put their health at risk, and it's easier for smaller regions to restrict information through such acts as the Freedom of Information.

[Silvercloud]

Hi,

 

I totally agree  with your post . Living on an island does make it harder sometimes to access better health care some may say you choose to live on an island,  for some things/cases this is a poor excuse that often gets rolled out , not to be providing up to date research/medical care.

Some things are not getting properly referred.

While most people except and understand we have a more limited service for some things here on Shetland , this does not stop professional NHS  staff being properly informed in some cases and being properly up to date current medical thinking. Like you say if you don't like how your being treated in a hospital  for example it's not like there is another hospital on the island, to certain extent you are at the mercy whoever is overseeing your case and for some conditions you just got to hope that proper referals to right specialists are made and with some conditions like B12 deficiency and coeliacs disease you sometimes have to see a specialist once a year and sometimes getting a proper diagnosis can prove difficult without these specialists so you got hope the doctors that first see you are clued up enough to then make appropriate referals and to get best treatment for you.

 

With something like B12 DEFICIENCY  it can cut across all groups of people even pregnant women. Its so often overlooked to me personally taking B12 is as important as taking Folic acid in pregnancy. You can not overdose on it however be deficient in can kill. It works with other B vitamins  and together with Folic acid protects the nervous system {mainly the myelin sheath around the nerves} personally speaking now it should be routinely tested for .

It's overlooked often because many assume unless you have symptoms of pernicious anaemia you don't have the deficiency and getting a proper accurate diagnosis can be difficult with the blood work alone. Yet it one of the cheapest easiest deficiencies to treat.

For someone deficient in B12  taking a general vitamin pill over counter the amount of B12  may well not be anywhere close to what your body actually needs.

 

Raising B12 awareness is essential and getting appropriate treatment is essential.

[2thumbs]

@Silvercloud

 

So how would you go about getting a specialist opinion on such matters on Shetland?

[Silvercloud]

Hi,

 

You would have to go through your GP in most cases first for example if you thought for another example you might be deficient in B12, whom if he/she agreed it was a possibility, then refers you to someone /hospital/clinic who could offer more specific help diagnosis treatment .

 

Some GP'S are better for referring things than others .