22 February 2013

UK: DEATH in STATE HOSP after DISC OP. "six-figure compensation"

From UK DAILY MAIL

Friday, Feb 22 2013 3PM 29°F 6PM 32°F 5-Day Forecast

Woman, 42, bled to death after routine back op in hospital where staff had warned bosses about 'grave risks to patients'

Andrea Green died hours after the operation at Barnsley District Hospital
Post-mortem report listed cause of death as internal bleeding
It later emerged she may not have needed the surgery after all
Staff had already warned about 'extreme pressure and stress' in department

By Anna Hodgekiss
PUBLISHED: 11:17 GMT, 22 February 2013 | UPDATED: 13:33 GMT, 22 February 2013

Andrea Green bled to death after a routine back operation she may not actually have needed

A fit and healthy woman bled to death after having routine surgery for a back pain.
Andrea Green, 42, died just 14 hours after the operation at Barnsley District General Hospital.
Her death came after staff in the hospital's orthopaedic department warned managers about grave risks to patients 'extreme pressure and stress' in the department.
An inquest was halted and Sheffield coroner Chris Dorries asked police to investigate following the emergence of the letter outlining staff concerns.
Ms Green had started suffering from back pain in August 2009. The pain was so bad that she was bedridden for two weeks despite being prescribed with painkillers by her GP on numerous occasions.

She was referred to the orthopaedic clinic at Barnsley Hospital but by the time her appointment came round, her pain had subsided.

The clinic diagnosed her as suffering from a prolapsed (herniated) disc. Unbeknown to Ms Green, this condition quite often resolves itself over time without the need for further treatment.
Despite this, the hospital listed her for surgery and she was advised that the pain could return if the operation was not carried out.
Because she did not want the pain to return, she agreed to the procedure, which took place in March 2010.
When her sister Janette Allatt visited her in hospital later that evening, she found her very pale and complaining of stomach pain.
Nurses discovered she had very low blood pressure and because she was in pain, administered medication to relieve it.
At 2am the following morning, Ms Green's father received a telephone call from the hospital informing them that she was seriously ill. To their horror, by the time her family arrived at the hospital, she had died.

Mrs Allatt, 56, said: 'I just remember being in total and absolute shock. I never expected anything like this to happen. We have so many questions about what happened to Andrea and believe if it wasn’t for the surgery, she would still be here today.'
A report from the post mortem examination listed the cause of death as retroperitoneal haemorrhage (internal bleeding).

Andrew Harrison

Solicitor

Areas of work:

Medical Negligence

Accreditations/Memberships:

APIL accredited Litigator

Phone Number: 01226 603 128
Email: enq@raleys.co.u

19 February 2013

ONTARIO LIBERAL PREMIER SPEECH

from ONTARIO LIBERAL PREMIER SPEECH.with (comments)

Your government is committed to health promotion to combat smoking and obesity, and it believes strongly in patient-centred care and evidence-based health policy.(NOT DEFINED)
Along with all parties in the legislature, it understands the pressing need to expand access to HOME CARE in Ontario.
And so your government will continue to expand the support available to people in their homes, and to address the needs of men and women across Ontario currently waiting for the HOME CARE services they require.(MD HOUSE CALL fee will be increased).
Your government will also continue to expand access to mental health services and support efforts to reduce stigma for men and women coping with mental illness.(TWO MENTAL HOSPITALS CLOSED in TORONTO)
It will work with partners in all related sectors to coordinate the best response to these challenges because Ontario's minds and spirits must be healthy, too.
It will also move forward with a Seniors Strategy to ensure that Ontario can best respond to the needs of its aging population.
It will promote partnership between health care providers - from hospitals and long-term care homes, to community support services and front line medical providers through Community Health Links - so that the care of our loved ones and our most vulnerable citizens is constant and cohesive.
To ensure the best treatment for our children, our parents, grandparents and our friends, your government believes the research community must be supported in its work.
And it is therefore announcing renewed support for the Ontario Brain Institute (655 BAY STREET @ Elm St) through a funding partnership with the PRIVATE sector.
Every dollar your government contributes will leverage four additional dollars from its partners by 2018.
( GOVERNMENT RECOGNITION of the IMPORTANCE of PRIVATE EQUITY).

UK DEATH FROM CORONAVIRUS (NCoV)

From UK DAILY MAIL

Tuesday, Feb 19 2013 3PM 37°F 6PM 32°F 5-Day Forecast

Sars-like virus claims first UK victim after man, 39, dies at a Birmingham hospital

The patient, who was being treated at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, died on Sunday
Was a relative of patient being treated in Manchester after bringing back coronavirus from Middle East
Hospital says patient was already receiving treatment for long-term, complex health condition

By Anna Hodgekiss
PUBLISHED: 05:11 GMT, 19 February 2013 | UPDATED: 12:22 GMT, 19 February 2013

A new Sars-like illness has claimed its first UK victim, health officials confirmed today.
The 39-year-old man, who was being treated at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, died on Sunday after becoming infected with the novel coronavirus, the hospital confirmed today.
Of the 12 confirmed cases worldwide four have been British and five have died as a result of the virus.
Scroll down for video

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses known to cause illness ranging from the common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

The patient in Birmingham caught the disease from a relation who became infected in the Middle East, and is still being treated at a Manchester hospital.
A third member of the same family is also being treated for the virus at the hospital which health officials fear could be spread from person to person.
Of the 12 people who have been confirmed as suffering from the virus across the globe, six have now died.
Three people have died in Saudi Arabia and two in Jordan.
A hospital statement released today said: 'The patient was already an outpatient at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB), undergoing treatment for a long-term, complex unrelated health condition.
'The patient was immuno-compromised and is believed to have contracted the virus from a relative who is being treated for the condition in a Manchester hospital.

'QEHB is working closely with the Health Protection Agency which is currently following up other household members and contacts of this case.
Professor John Watson, head of the respiratory diseases department at the HPA, said: ‘This case is a family member who was in close personal contact with the earlier case and who may have been at greater risk of acquiring an infection because of their underlying health condition.
'To date, evidence of person-to-person transmission has been limited. Although this case provides strong evidence for person to person transmission, the risk of infection in most circumstances is still considered to be very low.'
Infected patients have presented with serious respiratory illness with fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.

The lining of the lung, or epithelium, represents an important first barrier against respiratory viruses

Today, experts suggested the virus could potentially be treated by targeting the immune system.
The coronavirus (NCov) belongs to the same family as the coronavirus SARS, which surfaced in China more than a decade ago and infected 8,000 people worldwide, killing around one in 10 of them.
It's thought the virus can penetrate the lining of the passageways in the lung and evade the immune system as easily as a cold virus can.
The research also reveals that the virus is susceptible to treatment with interferons, components of the immune system that have been used successfully to treat other viral diseases, opening a possible mode of treatment in the event of a large-scale outbreak.
Now scientists at the Institute of Immunobiology at Kantonal Hospital in Switzerland, have tested how well the virus could infect and multiply in the entryways to the human lung using cultured cells manipulated to mimic the airway lining.

The lining of the lung, or epithelium, represents an important first barrier against respiratory viruses.

But, said co-author Dr Volker Thiel, this part of the body does not put up a big fight against NCoV.

18 February 2013

UK:POOR PATIENT COMPLIANCE

From UK DAILY MAIL

Monday, Feb 18 2013 6PM 29°F 9PM 32°F 5-Day Forecast

One in three patients does not take medication properly putting their health at risk and costing the NHS half a billion pounds every year

Aston Medication Adherence Study analysed one million prescriptions
People often put off by side-effects and not understanding instructions
Certain groups more susceptible to a lack of adherence to guidelines
Those whose primary language is Urdu and Bengali struggled as did over-60s

By Mario Ledwith
PUBLISHED: 08:26 GMT, 18 February 2013 | UPDATED: 09:21 GMT, 18 February 2013

One in three patients is putting their health at risk because they do not take their medication properly, costing the NHS an estimated £500 million every year.
Fears about potential side-effects and poor understanding of doctors' instructions are partly responsible for the issue, according to a study.
Researchers analysing one million prescriptions found that the absence of symptoms and a lack of trust in pharmacists also played a part in people deciding to stop taking their medication.

Understanding: The Aston Medication Adherence Study analysed one million prescriptions and found that a number of factors, such as side effects and poor instructions from doctors, were responsible for people not taking medication properly

The Aston Medication Adherence Study, is thought to be the first research project looking at adherence to medication in the UK.
It found that certain ethnic groups are more likely to experience difficulties in understanding how to take medication.
People whose primary language is Urdu or Bengali are particularly susceptible, as are those living in poorer inner-city areas.

More...

They found that people aged over 60 struggled with adherence to medication patterns.
The study, carried out by researchers at Aston University’s Pharmacy School, was centred on the Heart of Birmingham Teaching Primary Care Trust, looking at those suffering from type 2 diabetes, hypothyroidism and high cholesterol.
Health bodies are facing increasing pressure to manage treatable, long-term conditions in an attempt to reduce hospital admissions.

Findings: The study, carried out by researchers at Aston University¿s Pharmacy School, looked at those suffering from type 2 diabetes, hypothyroidism and high cholesterol

The report recommended that healthcare systems should take account of a patient's first language and offer more advice to those taking medication for long-term conditions.
Professor Chris Langley, principal investigator for the AMAS said: 'What is important about the AMAS is that it identifies adherence patterns within an ethnically diverse inner city area with high levels of deprivation; this is currently unchartered territory.
'The results from this study have provided an intriguing insight into adherence behaviour within an inner-city population, whilst the focus group data provided context and understanding of the barriers to adherence from the patients’ perspective.'
Dr Joe Bush, investigator for the AMAS added: 'We identified numerous groups in which adherence levels were lower than in the general population, but it is not possible at this time to identify why adherence is lower in these groups.
'Whilst the focus groups suggested possible reasons for non-adherence, we hope to explore these issues further and identify the primary reasons for non-adherence in these patient groups in future research.'

17 February 2013

NHS MISTAKES: 56 WRONG TESTICLES REMOVED

From UK DAILY MAIL

NHS pays out £1million in compensation to men who have had the wrong TESTICLE removed

Fifty-six claims made by men affected by medical blunders in four years
NHS pays out £20,000 if wrong testicle has been removed
Most common reason for payout is when testicular torsion is misdiagnosed

By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 11:48 GMT, 17 February 2013 | UPDATED: 12:08 GMT, 17 February 20

Blunders: The NHS can pay out £20,000 if the wrong testicle has been removed

More than £1million in damages have been paid out by the NHS to men who have had the wrong testicle removed by surgeons.
In the last four years there have been 56 successful claims made by men who have been affected by medical blunders, according to the National Health Service Litigation Authority.
In most cases the men didn't need surgery at all and in others surgeons also had to remove the second testicle.
The NHS normally pays out around £20,000 if the wrong testicle has been removed.
Roger Goss, co-director of Patient Concern, told The Sun: 'It is amazing that surgeons don't always take enough care to guarantee that they are removing the correct testicle.
'Despite the huge total compensation bill, individual payments sound modest for wrecking men's lives.'
According to the figures £1.3million has been paid out since 2009.
Men who have been left infertile can be rewarded up to £70,000.
But the most common reason for payouts is when doctors misdiagnose testicular torsion — where the tubes inside the body get twisted, cutting off the blood supply.
Other claims result from hernia operations where the blood supply to the testicle is accidentally cut off.

15 February 2013

NHS: DANGEROUS STATE MEDICINE

Friday, Feb 15 2013 9PM 29°F 12AM 27°F 5-Day Forecast

If he won't quit just sack him! MPs and bereaved families demand NHS chief is axed

Sir David Nicholson is clinging to his £270,000-a-year job
It follows the Mid Staffordshire hospital disaster - costing 1,200 lives
He also ignored warnings about another hospital trust under investigation
A whistleblower has now spoken of the ‘Stalinist’ nature of the NHS

By Sophie Borland, Claire Ellicott and Tamara Cohen
PUBLISHED: 22:26 GMT, 15 February 2013 | UPDATED: 00:14 GMT, 16 February 2013

Hanging on: The head of the NHS, Sir David Nicholson, was clinging to his job last night after fresh attacks from politicians and grieving families

The head of the NHS was clinging to his job last night after fresh attacks from politicians and grieving families.
They insist Sir David Nicholson should pay the price for presiding over the Mid Staffordshire hospital disaster that cost the lives of up to 1,200 patients.
Earlier this week it emerged he also ignored warnings about another hospital trust under investigation for the needless deaths of 670 people.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt increased the pressure on Sir David by condemning a culture of ‘institutional self-preservation’ within the NHS.
As the row intensified yesterday:

Whistleblower Gary Walker spoke of the ‘Stalinist’ nature of the Health Service and of ‘battlefield scenes’ at the hospital where he was forced to quit as chief executive
A second whistleblower broke his silence to say Sir David ignored written warnings about failings in the same Lincolnshire hospital
Mr Hunt wrote to all trusts demanding they justify their use of gagging orders
Police revealed they would be investigating whether criminal charges could be brought against Mid Staffordshire staff
Relatives of the Stafford victims marched on Downing Street and called for Sir David’s resignation
Two MPs from the health select committee also suggested he quit.

Mr Walker revealed he had told Sir David targets were being put ahead of patients at United Lincolnshire hospitals four years ago – but he was removed, paid off and forced to sign a gagging clause.
On Wednesday, he ignored a threatening email from NHS lawyers to give an interview to the Daily Mail in which he attacked Sir David and said he was not interested in patient safety.

More...

The second whistleblower is David Bowles, the former chairman of United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust, and Mr Walker’s former boss.
He said he sent a letter in July 2009 to Sir David, warning that patients could die there because managers were being forced to meet unrealistic targets.
He claimed the NHS chief executive failed to investigate the detailed allegations properly.

Under pressure: Grieving families insist Sir David should pay the price for presiding over the Mid Staffordshire hospital disaster that cost the lives of up to 1,200 patients

Mr Bowles says he left his job in 2009 after being threatened with suspension when he refused to commit his organisation to meeting national waiting targets.
‘I was put under pressure by NHS bureaucrats to force Gary Walker to leave, but I refused because he was doing a good job of shielding the organisation under relentless pressure to put targets first,’ he said.
‘I wrote to Nicholson in the hope that the full weight of my concerns may be taken seriously. The allegations were serious – I actually referred to the possibility of becoming another Mid Staffordshire hospital calamity – but the inquiry did not look at safety or the breaches of the codes.’
Mr Hunt did not directly attack Sir David yesterday but called for a ‘culture change’ in the Health Service, which currently puts ‘targets ahead of everything else’.

Not happy: Whistleblower Gary Walker, pictured, spoke of the 'Stalinist' nature of the Health Service and of 'battlefield scenes' at the hospital where he was forced to quit as chief executive

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s World at One he added: ‘Too much of the system is concerned with institutional self-preservation instead of actually getting to the bottom of whether there are patient safety issues.’
Mr Hunt said he had written to the chief executive asking why Mr Walker was gagged, adding: ‘The first thing a good organisation does when it hears of something that’s gone wrong is to investigate whether there’s any truth in the allegations and get to the bottom of it.’
Meanwhile two Tory MPs on the Commons health select committee have called on Sir David to consider his position. Chris Skidmore, MP for Kingswood, said: ‘I’m deeply uncomfortable that he remains in position.
‘I do feel moving forward that the only way in which we are going to get the changes needed is if there is a change in leadership at the very top. We’ve got to end this incessant culture of the revolving door of management leadership.’
Sarah Wollaston, a former GP who is MP for Totnes in Devon, said: ‘David Nicholson would set an example of leaders taking responsibility for their organisations, not scapegoating, if he stepped down.’
Yesterday a campaigner who helped expose the Mid Staffordshire scandal delivered a letter to the Prime Minister calling for Sir David to go. Julie Bailey, 51, who founded Cure the NHS after her mother died at the trust, said: ‘We believe Sir David has presided over the worst disaster in the history of the NHS.
‘He is the person in charge and he needs to be sacked. We need a leader that inspires and galvanises those working in the NHS and I’m afraid this man doesn’t. He’s a failure.’
Other campaigners have set up a petition on a government website calling for him to resign. More than 2,500 have signed it.
Sir David, whose annual salary package is £270,000, insists he is ‘not ashamed’ to still be in his post because the failure were ‘system wide’ rather than individual.
He has faced increasing calls to resign since a report into the Mid Staffordshire scandal was published last week. He was in charge of the regional body supposedly overseeing Mid Staffordshire but which failed to pick up on the horrific standards of care.
Sir David also appointed the trust’s chief executive – even though he had had no formal training – who axed more than 50 nurses.
As chief executive of the Department of Health he is said to have dismissed warnings from relatives of patients who died, saying they were ‘simply lobbying’.
Up to 1,200 patients are thought to have died unnecessarily at Mid Staffordshire between 2005 and 2009 and many others suffered ‘inhumane’ and ‘degrading’ neglect.

Demands: Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, left, increased the pressure on Sir David by condemning a culture of ‘institutional self-preservation’ within the NHS. Campaigner Julie Bailey, right, has called for Sir David to go

DAILY MAIL COMMENT: THIS MODERN DAY APPARATCHIK MUST GO

Wealthy: Sir David Nicholson earns £270,000 a-year as the chief executive of the NHS

This month, the NHS has been rocked by two of the most serious scandals in its history. And, at the centre of both, stands the ex-Communist Sir David Nicholson, its £270,000-a-year chief executive.
Most reasonable people, we suspect, will find it astonishing that he did not resign last Wednesday, when a public inquiry revealed the most appalling, inhumane neglect at Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust, when he was the bureaucrat in charge.
If anybody in the private sector had presided over a failure which led to the deaths of up to 1,200 people, they would have been sacked.
But Sir David is a man without shame. He only offered token contrition, and insisted he would not resign as it was a system failure.
Now – thanks to whistleblower Gary Walker – we are learning more shocking details of another cover-up involving Sir David, at the United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust.
First, Sir David ignored warnings by Mr Walker that an obsession with targets was resulting in squalid conditions on the wards that were almost certainly costing lives.
Then Sir David’s side-kick, Barbara Hakin (later a dame), began a campaign which led to Mr Walker being sacked as the Lincolnshire Trust’s chief executive – and gagged with £500,000 of taxpayers’ money.
Who do these people think they are? They use our money to give themselves huge salaries. Then, when someone complains about their incompetence, they again use our money to gag them.
This paper believes it is incredible that – while hundreds of police are arresting journalists for hacking into celebrities’ phones – not a single NHS bureaucrat has had their collar felt over the countless deaths of terrifyingly vulnerable people.
But then these high officials and quangocrats – so reminiscent of the commissars in Stalin’s Russia – are Britain’s new elite.
They expect knighthoods. They demand the salaries and all the perks of high-flying executives in the private sector.
But there is a crucial difference. In the private sector, when things go wrong, heads fall. In the NHS, it is the fault of ‘systemic failure’.
The Mail is not in the business of calling for people in public life to resign. But so egregious are the outrages that have taken place under Sir David that we support those victims’ relatives who demonstrated outside Number Ten yesterday to demand his head.
Every day this modern day apparatchik remains in post is an affront to morality, justice – and the patients whose lives he destroyed.

Sir David could face further pressure if MPs on the Commons public accounts committee decide to quiz him over his expenses next month. The Mail has revealed he has spent £6,000 of public money on trips to Birmingham – where his wife lives.
Many of the visits spanned long weekends, prompting speculation he was using taxpayers’ money for private purposes.
It emerged last night that doctors, nurses and managers responsible for the horrific neglect at Mid Staffordshire hospitals could be charged with manslaughter.
Police are to consider whether they have enough evidence to prosecute individual members of staff over the scandal. So far not a single member of staff has been prosecuted or even sacked over the deaths between 2005 and 2009.

Hard-hitting: This is the front page of last Thursday's Daily Mail

An inquiry into the disaster published last week refused to scapegoat individual medical staff or managers – and instead blamed failures across the system.
But Mr Hunt has since urged police to investigate cases saying it was ‘outrageous’ nobody had been brought to book.
Last night Staffordshire police said they would be carrying out a joint probe with the Crown Prosecution Service to see if they had enough evidence to press for criminal charges.
A spokesman said charges could include manslaughter or criminal neglect. Officers will review the 1,900 pages of the inquiry published last week and cross reference it with existing evidence, he said.

13 February 2013

Toronto: Dr.J.PARIAG MD (Univ.West Indies-Jamaica & Trinidad),FRCSC(McMaster-Hamilton)

Dr. John K. Pariag, Mississauga. (Western Suburb of Toronto)
On March 22, 2012, the Discipline Committee found that Dr. Pariag committed an act of professional misconduct, in that he failed to maintain the standard of practice of the profession. The Committee also found that Dr. Pariag is incompetent. Dr. Pariag admitted to the allegations of professional misconduct and incompetence, as follows:
Regarding a review of 35 patient charts from his surgical practice:

improper placement of chest tubes in a CF patient;
performing cholecystectomy in the presence of evidence that the common bile duct was not clear;
failure to protect an anastomosis with a stoma where appropriate;
improperly discharging three post-surgical patients with elevated white blood cell counts and fevers;
unnecessary transfusion of one patient;
questionable decision to perform a targeted bowel resection in a patient with rectal blood loss when the point of bleeding was unknown, and failure to investigate a possible foreign body as indicated by x-rays of the patient;
incorrectly repairing a hernia, leading to recurrence;
unnecessary removal of three healthy appendices;
failure to obtain a right breast ultrasound despite a radiologist's suggestion in a cancer patient;
failed to give DVT [deep vein thrombosis] prohylaxis perioperatively to a patient with known breast cancer;
failure to properly control intraoperative bleeding;
improperly performing surgery without first addressing the patient's elevated INR;
perforating a patient's bowel while removing two 0.25 cm polyps;
improperly ordering blood transfusion of a 12-year-old with a haemoglobin count of 108, which order was subsequently cancelled by another physician, and failure to investigate percutaneous pelvic abscess drainage before proceeding to perform a laparotomy on that patient;
improperly performing an elective thyroidectomy without supervision when Dr. Pariag had never performed such a procedure at the hospital and had not reviewed thyroid surgery during his residency; and
dissecting a patient's portal triad during surgery to correct a bowel obstruction, which error resulted in the patient's death due to hemorrhagic shock.

Regarding patient A, who had surgeries for an intra-abdominal mass, later identified as a sarcoma:

failed to adequately document a differential diagnosis, treatment plan, or informed consent discussions with Patient A; and,
after the recurrence of the sarcoma, failed to solicit an opinion from the Regional Cancer Centre where the patient had been seen in the past, and improperly attempted to treat the sarcoma outside a multi-disciplinary care center.

On December 19, 2012, the Discipline Committee ordered a public reprimand, and directed that specified terms, conditions and limitations be imposed on Dr. Pariag's certificate of registration for an indefinite period of time, including that:

Dr. Pariag is prohibited from engaging in any hospital-based surgical practice save and except as a surgical assistant when a College-approved certified surgeon is performing the surgery and is in attendance. At no time shall Dr. Pariag be the most responsible physician with respect to any patient in a hospital setting;
Dr. Pariag is prohibited from performing surgery in an office-based setting save and except for minor surgical procedures under local anaesthetic involving the skin and subcutaneous tissues;
At his own expense, Dr. Pariag shall undergo a comprehensive practice assessment (CPA) of the office-based practice described in paragraph (b) by an assessor selected by the College. Dr. Pariag shall abide by any and all recommendations made as result of the CPA; and Dr. Pariag shall promptly notify the College should he cease practising medicine before completion of the CPA.
The terms, conditions and limitations on Dr. Pariag's certificate of registration under (a) and (b) are to be included on a written form and the written form is to be presented to any patient before Dr. Pariag sees the patient, and a copy signed by the patient is to be included in the patient's chart.

Dr. Pariag was further ordered to pay to the College costs in the amount of $3,650.