This Sceptered Isle, Part MMXIII

Warning - this is not easy reading.  These are some findings contained in three reports released in Britain December 11th, together with other reports released earlier,  regarding the performance of Britain’s NHS:(1)  a quarter of new mothers were abandoned by their midwives during labour, with some left to give birth on the floor or in corridors; midwives due to help women give birth at home were failing to turn up; others were unable to read machines that monitor babies’ heartbeats.(2) 148 events April to September were deemed so serious they should never happen.  These included a fallopian tube removed instead of an appendix; another woman left infertile after doctors operated on the wrong side of her body; the wrong patient having heart surgery; another man had laser surgery on his right eye rather than his left; 37 other patients had the wrong part of their body operated on or treated; another 21 were given the wrong implant or prosthetic limb; there were 69 instances of objects including swabs and scalpels left in patients’ bodies after surgery; and five patients died or incurred severe harm after nursing staff incorrectly inserted feeding tubes into their lungs.(3) thousands of patients have reportedly all but given up trying to secure appointments with their family doctor.  In fact, one of the biggest concerns of patients was the inability to see a GP – a key finding of an NHS survey showing how patients had lost faith in family doctor...
Source: InsureBlog - Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs