1,200 deaths at 1 UK hospital and the biggest cover up in NHS history

Stafford General Hospital is my local hometown hospital and this scandal has been going on for a few years now. To think that at least 1200 people died unnecessarily from neglect over a 4 year period is something you wouldn't even expect to see in a third world hospital. Patients were left to fend for themselves, left lying in their own excrement for hours, were given insufficient drinking water (some drinking from flower vases to stay alive). Many were misdiagnosed and sent home when they should have been given life-saving operations.

The reason: because staff's focus was primarily on profits and targets. A series of resignations by the top brass, who have gone on to land other high-paying jobs in the industry, have meant nobody has been held accountable.

My mother died at the Katherine House ward inside the hospital grounds last year, and I have to say the care she was given was excellent, but her demise was very quick following a botched operation where the surgeon actually left something inside her body which caused an infection. After battling cancer for three years with numerous chemo sessions I think she just gave up after that, and she was gone in less than 3 months afterwards.

I wonder how many more hospital staff around the country are too driven by business and profits, that they are not doing their jobs properly and many more people are dying unnecessarily?

www.dailymail.co.uk... K7sHBY72

Originally posted by Ginga

I wonder how many more hospital staff around the country are too driven by business and profits, that they are not doing their jobs properly and many more people are dying unnecessarily?

The short answer to this question is, all of them.

My mother died at the end of 2012. For a couple of months she was being taken care of in a hospital. The nursing aids would leave her in the wheelchair in the hallway and expect her to walk over to her bed alone. She was unable to even take one step. She fell many times because of their neglect. We finally decided to take her out of the hospital and take turns caring for her at my grandmother's house.

Hospitals, doctors, and the like are just profit driven, drug pushing, pompous punks.

Hey, over here they kick you out of the hospital if you look like you may not make it. This practice of keeping the number of in hospital deaths down makes the numbers look better. I learned this from a doctor at the hospital here. It used to be policy. The hospital has changed management now and gone private. Maybe they won't be so much into artificially making the figures look better and strive to get you fixed.

Be thankful you aint a bit more up the a34 and have to use the university hospital around here where they stuck a woman who was going to have a stillbirth in the wards with happy mums and it was a brand new building costing lord knows how much

There's probably countless stories across the country which make the local papers but don't reach the nationals.

Many moons ago in England, my Father had an external ulcer on his lower-leg and went to
his Doctor for treatment. After being told to 'rub this cream on and it'll go away' -he took to
his bed with the pain and swelling.
My Mother eventually rang the same Doctor and he came and announced that a female
nurse would come and tend to the wound.
Days passed.

Thinking that the ulcer may be more than just an awful sight, my Mother called the hospital
and explained the situation to the folk there. The Doctor had just left and assured her all
would be well, but she wasn't convinced.
The ambulance arrived at noon of that day and they amputated the leg above the knee by
2.00pm in the afternoon.

Two weeks later, he was dead.

Five years passed and my Mother visited my home for Christmas. She commented that she
didn't seem to have an appetite these days and said that her stomach 'seemed like stone'
After a few weeks, she went to the same Hospital and asked for advice.

They checked her in and we visited her in the ward that evening.
I asked the Doctor during his rounds, what was wrong and he said that 'we're still doing
tests' and moved off.
A week later, I popped in on my way from work and found the bed empty. Seeking a nurse,
I asked where my Mother was and she answered 'the woman in the next bed wanted her
curtain closed and your Mother went to help. She's fallen and broken her hip'

I went ballistic! I demanded to see an official and when eventually, a guy in a white coat
arrived, he explained that due to the Nurses changing their shift, nobody had been there
to assist the woman with the curtain, so my Mother had got out of bed and slipped.
Oh, so that makes it okay I suppose?!

She died a week later.

I waited at her bedside with my sister as my Mother slipped away and then as midnight
passed, I indicated to my sister that a Doctor should check to see if she had died.

Standing in the corridor as the Doctor and Nurse checked to see if my Mother had gone,
a little woman in nylon shawl appeared and said that it was a shame and that she knew
my Mother through the years.
I smiled and thanked her and that was when I noticed the three or four people waiting
further up the corridor. The woman continued.
"I wouldn't bother making anything out of her fall, it was an accident" she said nervously
and glanced back at the folk watching us.
She added that I probably wouldn't get any money from it too!
Biting down on my anger, I told her in low tones that nothing I could do would bring her back,
so she could scamper back to her 'rat-gang' and tell them they'll keep their jobs.

As she hurried off, I warned that I would be watching and listening for any more screw-ups.
It was only my sister's hand on my arm that stopped me from chasing after them.

This was in the 90's -when hosptial treatment was in it's infancy, thank the Lord we've
come a long way since then, huh?!!

David Cameron apologised on behalf of the government and the country.


BBC: Cameron apologises for Stafford Hospital failings

The prime minister said he was "truly sorry" that the system had allowed "horrific abuse to go unchecked and unchallenged" for so long.

Telegraph: David Cameron: doctors should have been struck off after Stafford hospital scandal

The report itself did not name and shame any officials or doctors.

I remember when I worked for a large hospital in NYC's development department, at the board meetings new doctor/recruits were reminded/disciplined that they have to meet a minimum weekly requirement of retention out of walkin/er visits, referrals, etc..

One such example was a requirement from cancer specialists that a minimum of 35 patients be recruited for Chemo, per week. If I remember correctly, the cost of chemo was around 30,000 per appointment (treatment) which most patients requirement a chemo appointment every 2 weeks or so for a year or longer. Radiotherapy was even more. I left the job after 2 weeks of seeing what went on. Hospitals ARE businesses, yet they are the likely place to go when experiencing an "Emergency". Why are there no state-provided emergency facilities in America?

I mean, besides FEMA camps, that is.

This is what happens when politicians make laws that effect the care and treatment of the sick. This is what we americans can look forward to under Obamacare. The Dr.'s have stopped worrying about their patients health, now they worry about crossing that T or dotting that I on the stack of Government paperwork they will have to fill out. Politicians have no business making any decisions related to healthcare. Just wait till Obamacare starts in full, and see what happens to all those patients that get medicine/treatment that some politician has decided they don't need.

Top heavy on the paper pushers and very low on the nurses and doctors.
It seems like it is universal now.

Regards, Iwinder

Originally posted by A boy in a dress
Many moons ago in England, my Father had an external ulcer on his lower-leg and went to
his Doctor for treatment. After being told to 'rub this cream on and it'll go away' -he took to
his bed with the pain and swelling.
My Mother eventually rang the same Doctor and he came and announced that a female
nurse would come and tend to the wound.
Days passed.

Thinking that the ulcer may be more than just an awful sight, my Mother called the hospital
and explained the situation to the folk there. The Doctor had just left and assured her all
would be well, but she wasn't convinced.
The ambulance arrived at noon of that day and they amputated the leg above the knee by
2.00pm in the afternoon.

Two weeks later, he was dead.

Five years passed and my Mother visited my home for Christmas. She commented that she
didn't seem to have an appetite these days and said that her stomach 'seemed like stone'
After a few weeks, she went to the same Hospital and asked for advice.

They checked her in and we visited her in the ward that evening.
I asked the Doctor during his rounds, what was wrong and he said that 'we're still doing
tests' and moved off.
A week later, I popped in on my way from work and found the bed empty. Seeking a nurse,
I asked where my Mother was and she answered 'the woman in the next bed wanted her
curtain closed and your Mother went to help. She's fallen and broken her hip'

I went ballistic! I demanded to see an official and when eventually, a guy in a white coat
arrived, he explained that due to the Nurses changing their shift, nobody had been there
to assist the woman with the curtain, so my Mother had got out of bed and slipped.
Oh, so that makes it okay I suppose?!

She died a week later.

I waited at her bedside with my sister as my Mother slipped away and then as midnight
passed, I indicated to my sister that a Doctor should check to see if she had died.

Standing in the corridor as the Doctor and Nurse checked to see if my Mother had gone,
a little woman in nylon shawl appeared and said that it was a shame and that she knew
my Mother through the years.
I smiled and thanked her and that was when I noticed the three or four people waiting
further up the corridor. The woman continued.
"I wouldn't bother making anything out of her fall, it was an accident" she said nervously
and glanced back at the folk watching us.
She added that I probably wouldn't get any money from it too!
Biting down on my anger, I told her in low tones that nothing I could do would bring her back,
so she could scamper back to her 'rat-gang' and tell them they'll keep their jobs.

As she hurried off, I warned that I would be watching and listening for any more screw-ups.
It was only my sister's hand on my arm that stopped me from chasing after them.

This was in the 90's -when hosptial treatment was in it's infancy, thank the Lord we've
come a long way since then, huh?!!

I don't know how you kept your cool. Losing both parents through negligence must have been terrible.

If a company director, through negligence,caused the death of a worker, he'd be charged with corporate manslaughter. The hospital execs, by contrast, get to leave and take up better positions.

Once again though we have the same old BS trotted out for the press. Lessons have been learnt, new policies are being looked at... etc... etc.....etc! It's the same every time and everyone knows it's nothing more than a PR job.
Once again, nobody is being held acountable here.

What we need is for the NHS to have the hospitals run by qualified medical professionals, not business execs. Put medical staff in charge of all aspects and get rid of the multiple management layers. Finally, bring all support services back in house from their outsourced positions. Outsourcing DOES NOT save the taxpayer anything and leaves a BIG accountability gap. There.... sorted!

There's not much hope when the head of the NHS, Sir David Nicholson, feels no shame for what happened.

www.dailymail.co.uk...

reply to post by Ginga

I don't know how you kept your cool. Losing both parents through negligence
must have been terrible.

Thank you and It was terrible.
For many years now, I believed that the way hopsitals work now are in a
dispassionate manner and as said above, bureaucracy is the name-of-the-game.
Hence, I haven't been to a Doctor or hospital for years.

For many Nurses and assistants, it's just a job... the idea that one should be
caring and humane is an unknown ability, something that belongs on TV.
I know there are good people, I know that some aspire to bring a great service
to people in suffering, but I also believe that many took a job in nursing because
it's seen as a 'secure' vocation.

When my wife was in hospital awaiting the birth of our son, she stayed in the same
hospital as my parents had been in. My boy decided to wait a little while before
entering this world and so, my wife spent the night in the place.
I remained at her side and being an ATSer, I watched wth flinty-eyes!
A Midwife came by every hour and she was a nice person, completely opposite
from the lady during the day... a skinny women with a pinched-face and miserable
demeanour.

I wandered the corridors during the night... most of the building seemed deserted
and apart from an unknown person smoking in the stair-well, nobody was seen.
When 6.00am came around, I ventured down to where a private cafeteria was situated.
Apparently, private businesses can do better in the food services than the UK NHS!

The place was packed with hospital employees!
The chatting and laughing of around 30 people sitting around tables with large jugs of
coffee and plates of danish -startled me and yet, I kept myself checked and pondered
that I had caught the staff between shifts.

I bought a cup of coffee and made it last for over thirty minutes.
The group of men and women never left, they just sat chatting, joking and even one
of them was knitting!
After 35 minutes, I got up and went back to my sleep-deprived wife, the staff stayed.

Years went by and my son grew.
At 9 years-old, he jumped from our garden fence and fell... his forearm swelled and
he complained that he couldn't move it.
Yes, you guessed it, I took him to the hospital... THAT hospital!

They said his arm was broken/not broken/broken/greenstick broken and then a nurse
took us to a storeroom and applied a plastered cast.
Chairs and stacked tables surrounded us as she slapped on the gypsum plaster.

A few weeks later, a visit to a Doctor who struggled with the English language found
us coming to terms with the announcement that my son's arm hadn't been set properly
and the arm would have to be 're-broken'!!

They took him into surgery and without removing his coat, they broke the arm and
placed a heavy-duty cast to the limb.
A Nurse busied up to me and told me that I must sign this document that allowed
them to use suppositories on my son.
That was it. I leaned over and hissed that if I discovered that they'd even contemplated
touching his ass, I'd make it my business to find out where she lived and with narrowed
-eyes, I told her softly "I'll come-a-calling"

He's now twenty-years old, a University student and his arm works fine.
Nobody used 'ass-bullets' and nobody went 'a-calling'!!

I actually live in Stafford. Used the hospital a few times over the years... recently they have shutdown that hospital in the evening meaning you have to go all the way to stoke. Not the greatest, I hope they fix the issues in the long term, not shut it down.

My granddad went in numerous times for ops and came out alright.

My main experience was lots of waiting to be attended but i guess you get that everywhere. I completely broke my arm in two, spiral fracture of the humerus. Was in cast 3 months. To cut a long story short they originally wanted to send me home in a sling... after much talking the exact opposite, plaster from neck to hand. I guess my problems were the result of not enough staff more then anything.

Mother went in a few times, once heart related, fine.

Brother went in with massive pain in his appendix area, drugged him, tested him, kept him in over night, woke up in the morning with no pain and sent home. We asked what it was, there response was it happens sometimes, we don't know.

Father gone in, all fine.

My cousins partner used to work as a nurse at Stafford for a stint. She recently left an outburst on Facebook talking about how everyone is blaming the staff but fail to mention how they used to have 2 nurses to 28 patients, no breaks etc. Been greater failings with cuts backs.

Am fed up with the media saying nurses are # today! Why is no one saying it is not ok for 2 nurses to look after 28 patients and go for 15 hours with hardly anything to eat & drink! I have worked at Stafford hospital & it is no worse than any other hospital I have worked in. If the government want to make us more compassionate make the nurse to patient ratio 1 nurse to 4 patients like it is in Australia & stop slagging us off we work #ing hard! Rant over.

interesting perspective.

Yes you're right a lack of staff is definitely an issue at Stafford. I remember when my missus gave birth there how there was only one nurse between too women giving birth. She was frantically hopping from one room to the other. She was obviously very stressed, as I remember the missus (it was our first child) screaming she couldn't do it. The nurses response: "Don't be stupid, of course you can."

reply to post by A boy in a dress


You reacted to that situation in a much, much better way than I would have.
I would have gone out of my way to make sure that the Dr's and Nurses that were responsible were dismissed and were never allowed to work in medicine again.

Either that or I would have ran down that corridoor and become very violent towards them.

I cannot imagine the pain you went through and I am truly sorry for your loss.

reply to post by samuel1990

Again, thank you.

I have discovered over the years that if you wish to unearth a rat's nest, then one should
aquire the mentality of a 'Rat-Catcher'... sadly, I tend to believe people and see them as
honest from the beginning.

Maybe these recent investigations will lift the lid on the particular hospital I was writing
about. I know a friend who attempted to take it further after he treated in a less-than cordial
way.
Sat in an office with a lady who -after he explained that the Doctor that was treating him
couldn't be understood by my friend and the two Nurses that accompanied the Doctor,
was asked if he was being a racist!!
The Doctor misdiagnosed my friend's injury and during his pain, he asked the Nurses several
times what the Doctor was saying AND after receiving shrugs, he was advised to keep his
voice down or he would be ejected from the Hospital.

As said before, maybe that particular bunch will be cleared out.
Thank again.

reply to post by Ginga


It wouldn't be just profit. Its eugenics and satanism/lucifernasim/Nazism, very very dark gremlins are in power and running our world. And we have to be a Family and start to notice, be aware and intercept. The way of the intercepting fist like Bruce Lee developed. Not passive self defense, ie I use the world passive because its one by one, in lone circumstances, and often when being targetted and not very effective for a society. Not aggressive offence, but that middle ground of rapid, almost aggressive defensive (not exactly attack but on the ready to meet all the challenges).

The only reason tyranny can operate is because people aren't talking and uniting in their communities and aren't making a huge stand, and then taking that to higher political levels with eveyrthing from: not following their legislations, not electing them, getting PI's on them to discover all their dirty laundry and really really ensuring its hard to operate as a corrupt dark hat in our world. We have to do that.

I'm so upset at the euginics and mistreatment in our hospitals, medical and world, and that no one is getting together to problem solve stopping it.

big march at the weekend... never seen the town so full. From the center of town and marching all the way up to the hospital.

www.bbc.co.uk...

This blog summerises a lot of things from different newspapers and illustrates some facts. Its well worth a read.

skwalker1964.wordpress.com...