Wednesday 22 February 2012
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Last update:
Wednesday Feb 22, 2012
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- Israeli false-flag terrors in India and Thailand
- Iran cutting oil export to six European states
- Mr. Obama! Play this lullaby for your daughters tonight
- Mr. President, mind eating your peanut butter!
- A petition signed against the war on Iran
- A rally against the war on Iran in 48 U.S. cities
- Using Fetus in PepsiCo and Nestle products
- Targeting Iranian Nationals
- Michael Ledeen’s reaction to launch the BarackObama.ir
- Israeli’s false flag operation on U.S. Carriers!
The NHS caused or contributed to the deaths of at least 74 patients through lack of basic care in the past ten years, according to a learning disability charity.
According to Daily mail, vulnerable people were left in excruciating pain after being refused
medicine, while some members of staff assumed their quality of life was
so low they were not worth saving, claimed Mencap.
The charity is investigating the deaths of patients with learning disabilities in five primary care trust areas in south-west England, and will make recommendations to ministers in 2013.
A damning inquiry into the deaths by Mencap and families of the deceased lists a catalog of mistakes in hospitals, along with staff ignorance or neglect. Often serious illnesses have gone undiagnosed, it claimed.
The parliamentary and health service ombudsman, Ann Abraham, has already ruled that four of the cases highlighted were avoidable deaths and found serious failings in eight others, The Guardian reported. Inquest verdicts also confirm failings in several cases.
The accusations follow harsh criticism of NHS care in recent reports, particularly in the case of elderly people.
David Congdon, Mencap's head of campaigns and policy, told the newspaper: 'These cases are a damning indictment of NHS care for people with a learning disability.
Kirsty Pearce suffered from 14 complex medical conditions, an inquest heard
'They confirm that too many parts of the health service still do not understand how to treat people with a learning disability and they are an appalling catalog of neglect and indignity.
'As a result of institutional discrimination in the NHS, people with a learning disability are dying when their lives could be saved.'
He said that the NHS had taken positive steps since the charity's Death by Indifference report in 2007, but that the charity was still hearing of many patients with a learning disability receiving poor treatment.
He described the cases in the report as the 'tip of the iceberg.'
The highlighted cases include that of Carole Foster, who died in 2006 at Fair-field Hospital. The investigating ombudsman said her care at the Bury institution could have been avoided through better care.
Lisa Sharpe, who died at 21 in 2004, is one of four deaths among the 74 to have occurred at Basildon Hospital in Essex. The ombudsman said the hospital was guilty of 'service failure' in her case, and mentioned 'significant failings' in the care of teenager Kirsty Pearce, who died there in 2003.
Basildon Hospital
The family of nine-year-old Daisy Healy, who died in 2005, 'suffered injustice' as a result of NHS failings.
Paul Burstow, care services minister at the Department of Health, echoed the charity's fears and promised change.
He said the Government had extended its funding for a confidential inquiry into the premature and avoidable death of people with learning disabilities.
The Government is also planning a public health observatory focusing on improving health care for people with learning disabilities.
The NHS promised to look closely at Mencap's findings and said it took the evidence seriously.
'One of the measures of a civilised society is how well it looks after its most vulnerable members,' said Sir Bruce Keogh, the NHS's medical director.
Dr Pauline Heslop, who is leading the inquiry, said that people with learning disabilities had the right to timely, appropriate and individually-tailored care.
She said that any doubt or neglect of these rights was outrageous .
Professor Steve Field, chair of the NHS Future Forum, which advises the Government on health policy, backed Mencap's demand for doctors and nurses to have fuller training on learning disabilities.
The charity is investigating the deaths of patients with learning disabilities in five primary care trust areas in south-west England, and will make recommendations to ministers in 2013.
A damning inquiry into the deaths by Mencap and families of the deceased lists a catalog of mistakes in hospitals, along with staff ignorance or neglect. Often serious illnesses have gone undiagnosed, it claimed.
The parliamentary and health service ombudsman, Ann Abraham, has already ruled that four of the cases highlighted were avoidable deaths and found serious failings in eight others, The Guardian reported. Inquest verdicts also confirm failings in several cases.
The accusations follow harsh criticism of NHS care in recent reports, particularly in the case of elderly people.
David Congdon, Mencap's head of campaigns and policy, told the newspaper: 'These cases are a damning indictment of NHS care for people with a learning disability.
Kirsty Pearce suffered from 14 complex medical conditions, an inquest heard
'They confirm that too many parts of the health service still do not understand how to treat people with a learning disability and they are an appalling catalog of neglect and indignity.
'As a result of institutional discrimination in the NHS, people with a learning disability are dying when their lives could be saved.'
He said that the NHS had taken positive steps since the charity's Death by Indifference report in 2007, but that the charity was still hearing of many patients with a learning disability receiving poor treatment.
He described the cases in the report as the 'tip of the iceberg.'
The highlighted cases include that of Carole Foster, who died in 2006 at Fair-field Hospital. The investigating ombudsman said her care at the Bury institution could have been avoided through better care.
Lisa Sharpe, who died at 21 in 2004, is one of four deaths among the 74 to have occurred at Basildon Hospital in Essex. The ombudsman said the hospital was guilty of 'service failure' in her case, and mentioned 'significant failings' in the care of teenager Kirsty Pearce, who died there in 2003.
Basildon Hospital
The family of nine-year-old Daisy Healy, who died in 2005, 'suffered injustice' as a result of NHS failings.
Paul Burstow, care services minister at the Department of Health, echoed the charity's fears and promised change.
He said the Government had extended its funding for a confidential inquiry into the premature and avoidable death of people with learning disabilities.
The Government is also planning a public health observatory focusing on improving health care for people with learning disabilities.
The NHS promised to look closely at Mencap's findings and said it took the evidence seriously.
'One of the measures of a civilised society is how well it looks after its most vulnerable members,' said Sir Bruce Keogh, the NHS's medical director.
Dr Pauline Heslop, who is leading the inquiry, said that people with learning disabilities had the right to timely, appropriate and individually-tailored care.
She said that any doubt or neglect of these rights was outrageous .
Professor Steve Field, chair of the NHS Future Forum, which advises the Government on health policy, backed Mencap's demand for doctors and nurses to have fuller training on learning disabilities.
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