Wednesday 6 February 2013

The NHS:"..put patients first"

I won't recount fully here the story that prompts this post. But the jist is that a hospital in Staffordshire was the subject of a public enquiry following a catalogue of ill treatment, neglect and unacceptable practices in its care of sick patients. The report apparently ran to 4000 words and the the chairman of the report said in his summing up that the "National Health Service should put patients first".
Fine words, & I have posted about this in previous posts but from where I'm sitting alot has to be done if that maxim is to be implemented.
Today the patient is the computer, its targets, imposed by central government, its paperwork, its cost cutting & 'income generation' for the trust.
I made these comments to the I.T dept in my work last week when I spent approx 45 minutes in entering details on to computer. Time that could have been spent by me spending that time with a patient whom required a nurse actually spending time talking to them. But no, computer work comes first. We are sent emails when the information  is not put on the 'system' within 48 or so hours..
Its all about money. The hospital trust gets money from the referring family doctor & central government for & each every time a patient is see & its proven by the data being  entered.

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