04 February 2013

UK: FAILURE of STATE MEDICINE

Thousands of NHS staff admit they wouldn't want their families treated in their own hospitals because care is so poor

  • A quarter of medical staff say they don't rate standards, according to a poll
  • Findings come as damning report into NHS is about to be released
By Sophie Borland and Daniel Martin
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Care: NHS staff admit they would not want their families to be treated in the hospitals they work at. Picture posed by models
Care: NHS staff admit they would not want their families to be treated in the hospitals they work at. Picture posed by models
Thousands of NHS workers would not send relatives to their own hospitals because the care is so poor, according to a survey.
One in four doctors, nurses and other staff at some trusts have admitted they don’t rate the standards at their own workplace.
The worst trust was Croydon, in South London, where 30 per cent of staff said they would not recommend it to friends or family.
This week a high-profile report will call for major changes to the health service in the wake of one of the worst-ever hospital scandals.
As many as 1,200 patients died because of poor care at Mid Staffordshire NHS trust between 2005 and 2008, and doctors have admitted they were ‘immune’ to their anguish.
NHS bosses say the release of the report on Wednesday will be one of the ‘darkest days’ of the health service’s history.
The poll of doctors, nurses and other medical staff asked whether they would recommend their organisation to friends or relatives. At five trusts, at least a quarter of workers said they wouldn’t, because standards were so poor.
They are Croydon; Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals; Royal Cornwall Hospitals; South London Healthcare; and North Cumbria University Hospitals.
The report into the Mid Staffordshire scandal is expected to warn that similar standards of neglect still exist at some hospitals.
Patients were left to become so dehydrated they were forced to drink from vases and nurses were threatened with violence for exposing poor care.
 
The report will call for major changes to the NHS – including tougher hospital inspections and laws to prevent cover-ups – to prevent a repeat of the disaster.

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