Third World British Health Care

Scandal of care at top children's hospital
• Parents 'lied to' about poor treatment
• Inquiry ordered after doctors' claims


Treatment at one of Britain's leading children's hospitals is worse than that in the developing world, according to a damning doctors' report uncovered by The Observer which also reveals how parents are "told lies" to cover up sub-standard care.

In the document, which the head of the Royal College of Surgeons describes as alarming, consultants are scathing about the Birmingham Children's Hospital. Last night MPs called for a full inquiry into the quality of care at the hospital, where children are treated for life-threatening conditions such as liver or kidney failure, neurological problems and chronic heart complaints.
The report was commissioned by the NHS primary care trusts in Birmingham that fund the hospital after senior doctors at the hospital and the neighbouring University Hospital Birmingham, including world-renowned experts in paediatric care, complained that their repeated attempts to raise the alarm had been ignored. The report reveals that:

• Doctors lie to parents about why their child has undergone a major operation because they cannot admit that the hospital lacks the personnel and infrastructure to conduct safer procedures.
• Support for surgeons undertaking kidney transplants is so poor that consultants felt they had received better back-up when performing such procedures on a visit to Lagos, the capital of Nigeria.
• Transplant services for children with serious liver failure are so poor that they constitute "a third-class service [which is] putting patients at risk".
• Children with neurological problems have been involved in "close calls" - potential threats to their health - because of delays in getting them admitted to the right specialist ward. Nurses who work on the ward are resigning because of dangers to patients.
• Staff who support surgeons during complex operations do not recognise which surgical instrument has been requested, causing delays.
• Doctors no longer report safety risks because "there is no point" as hospital managers do not respond with action.
• Specialist services for very ill children with rare conditions "are being allowed to wither on the vine" because of a lack of resources and poor management.

Paul O'Connor, the hospital's chief executive, insisted last night that 'there is no immediate clinical risk to any patients at the hospital' but yesterday after being contacted by The Observer he commissioned Dr Jane Collins, his counterpart at London's Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, to conduct an inquiry and produce a report that he pledged to publish.

A Department of Health spokeswoman last night said it took such matters 'extremely seriously' adding: 'The Department of Health is waiting to receive the findings of this investigation. When we do we will consider these findings very carefully and respond.'

John Black, president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England demanded urgent action last night. 'It's alarming to read this report. It's unusual, to say the least, for a group of internationally known consultants to say that the paediatric service is third class and putting patients at risk.

'The report has highlighted real problems. It's a relief that it doesn't say that harm has occurred, but the consultants are saying that in their opinion patients are being put at risk. I would think that this report should ensure that, before the risk turns into an actual event, this should be acted upon.'

Steve McCabe, a government whip and MP for Birmingham Hall Green, said: 'It's very alarming to read that there's very poor management at the children's trust, leading to unnecessary waiting lists and putting lives at risk. It's very worrying that senior clinicians and consultants are making these claims but are not prepared to report incidents formally, thus allowing them to be swept under the carpet. There needs to be a much more thorough investigation.'

Jonathan Fielden, chairman of the British Medical Association's consultants' committee, said the report showed hospital managers had not listened to concerns raised by its most senior doctors and put financial concerns ahead of improving care for highly vulnerable patients.

Andrew Lansley, the shadow Health Secretary, called for an 'urgent' response. 'Birmingham Children's Hospital has some fine staff. I would be very worried if they expressed concerns like these. This is something the board will want to urgently respond to.'

Last night Lisa Weale, who criticised the quality of care at the hospital after her four-month-old son, Thomas, died there in December 2004, welcomed the report's publication.

'I am not surprised by what this report has found and I am glad that this is being highlighted. I knew that it was not only us who had been through such bad treatment. I feel the hospital have been getting away with this silently.'

She said a recent letter of apology from the hospital was 'too little, too late'. She and her partner Jason Smith have received an out-of-court settlement over the death of their son.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/nov/09/royal-college-surgeons-birmingham-childrens-hospital-scandal-report

Porn good-BNP bad

Wearside internet porn teacher could return to class

A WEARSIDE man could be allowed to teach again despite looking at internet porn during school hours. Darren Adamson, 36, admitted also calling sex phone lines while head of English at Houghton Kepier School in Houghton-le- Spring, near Sunderland.

He is the second teacher to have been suspended by the same school for accessing material online in school time.

British National Party (BNP) member Adam Walker, 39, left his post last year after admitting contributing to an online forum in work time.

Walker also faces a General Teaching Council (GTC) hearing.

The GTC said while there was no evidence pupils knew what Adamson was doing, his actions were “wholly inappropriate”.

Their ruling added: “There was clearly a risk that a pupil may have entered a room when such images were on screen.”

Adamson was sacked for gross misconduct by the school, but remains on the teaching register.

But Margaret Morrissey, spokeswoman for Parents Outloud, said: “It is absolutely unacceptable. Whatever this teacher’s excuses, he knows it should not be done, certainly not on school premises, on school equipment and by a school teacher. This is one of those areas where there is no room for debate.

“If you do this you should know that you will lose your job and end your professional career. There is not a parent in the land who would want this man standing in front of a class.”

A professional conduct hearing of the GTC was told Adamson used the secondary school’s internet system to log on to a number of websites when he should have been teaching during April and May last year.

He also used preparation time to dial “premium rate” numbers, between November 2006 and March 2007.

The GTC ruled the case was “particularly serious as he should have set an example and was in a position of particular trust and authority.”

Adamson was not present at the hearing, but written accounts from him and his wife said he had experienced “considerable difficulties and anxiety in his personal life”. The committee said Adamson’s conduct had brought “the standing and reputation of the teaching profession into serious disrepute”.

The GTC issued an order stating Adamson must produce a report from a psychiatrist demonstrating he was fit to teach before he could work again.

A spokesman for Sunderland City Council said: “As Mr Adamson’s employer, the school took immediate action to suspend the teacher pending an inquiry as soon as the misuse came to light during a routine audit of the school’s IT system.

“Following a full investigation carried out by the school, during which all aspects of Child Protection issues were thoroughly considered, along with the adult nature of the sites visited and the fact they were not accessed during lesson times into account, a disciplinary hearing was held.

“Mr Adamson did not deny the allegations and was dismissed for gross Misconduct in September 2007 by the school’s governing body.”

http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2008/11/08/wearside-internet-porn-teacher-could-return-to-class-61634-22209548/

Worthy Voices

DO NOT LET THE UK DAIRY INDUSTRY DIE

I hope that our political masters who take the trouble to read my ramblings about the current state of the UK dairy industry, do something positive in their actions to assist it and not hinder.

Why is a once profitable industry and obviously a major contributor to the UK’s balance of payments, being allowed to wither and die? To those of you who don’t know or would not wish to know, 2 dairy producers per day are leaving the industry which now only totals approximately 20,000 hardworking, underpaid individuals.

For the uninitiated, it was a politician who dismantled the co-op set up to take over from the defunct Milk Marketing Board. What made this notable female take such action? It certainly has seen the demise of a once great industry.
It has seen some of the highest suicide rates of any industry. Why? Probably because government departments continue to pile on the bureaucracy form filling, for what? It brings no respite for the cash starved dairy sector.

These economists who continually tell us we have to benchmark against the best should look further than their Whitehall corridors, we are the best but are still starved of cash, while a government looks on and sees their balance of payments within dairy products rise higher and higher. Please oh please politicians, tell us your master plan.
Leading ministers tell us its supply verses demand, then ministers why are we continuing to see our imports of dairy products rise. Those who wander around the corridors of power cannot be so naive to think that we mere peasants cannot understand how a balance sheet operates but then again most political manikins spend most of their time looking up their own rear.
http://www.farmersforaction.org/9.html

NWN:

How much do you pay for your milk? Farmers get just a penny a litre. The FFA still hold protests, and these people are worthy of our support.

You can discuss this further at:
http://www.nwn-forum.co.uk/

Obama picks Clinton alum Emanuel chief of WH staff

WASHINGTON (AP) - President-elect Barack Obama pivoted quickly to begin filling out his new administration on Wednesday, selecting hard-charging Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel as White House chief of staff while aides stepped up the pace of transition work that had been cloaked in pre-election secrecy.
Several Democrats confirmed that Emanuel had been offered the job. While it was not clear he had accepted, a rejection would amount to an unlikely public snub of the new president-elect within hours of an electoral college landslide.
With hundreds of jobs to fill and only 10 weeks until Inauguration Day, Obama and his transition team confronted a formidable task complicated by his anti-lobbyist campaign rhetoric.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081105/D9492S2O0.html

NWN: And he picks a zionist !

Discuss on http://www.nwn-forum.co.uk/index.php

They Failed

Rebel Labour MPs fail in bid to overturn union restrictions

The rebellion was higher than expected. Thirty-six MPs had backed a TUC-led campaign which also wanted close a legal loophole that allows employers to use agencies to break strikes and give greater protection to individuals following the taking of industrial action.
A number of Labour MPs who had pledged to rebel were absent, campaigning in the byelection in Glenrothes, Scotland, making the size of the rebellion all the more surprising.
The original rebels were joined by a number of moderate Labour MPs, including Nick Palmer, Broxtowe; Andrew Miller, Ellesmere Port and Neston; Gordon Marsden, Blackpool South; and Brian Jenkins, Tamworth.

Two Liberal Democrats rebelled against their whip, Paul Holmes, MP for Chesterfield, and John Leech, MP for Manchester, Withington, to support the Labour dissidents.
They were joined by Respect MP, George Galloway; three Plaid Cymru MPs and three independents.

Pat McFadden, the employment relations minister, refused to yield to the Labour rebels to even consider any further changes in the law to strengthen their position.
He was strongly supported by Jonathan Djanogly, the shadow corporate governance minister. "The last thing the government should do is hand the power to self-interested employee groups to hold companies to ransom," Djanogly said.

"The government would be wrong to do anything that more than simply dismisses the new clause. If they do not, it would add yet further weight to the rumours that the 'beer and sandwich' culture of the 1970s has worked its way back into Downing Street."
Labour MPs were also disappointed that the government would not move on changing the law and allow unions to expel fascists from unions. McFadden argued that it would not be possible to single out the British National party.

John McDonnell, the Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, in whose name the amendments were tabled, said: "This is a huge rebellion in a byelection week and sends out the clearest possible signal to the government that we are not doing enough on trade union rights. Our supporters will not understand why the government is prepared to fall over backwards to rescue the bankers but will do nothing to protect workers as the recession begins to bite."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/nov/05/trade-unions-bnp-labour-rebels

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http://www.nwn-forum.co.uk/

Go ahead, make our day

Rebel MPs join union bid to overturn Thatcher laws Amendment to expel fascists from unions stands greatest chance of success in Commons debate

Trade unions will tonight seek to overturn some of Lady Thatcher's restrictive industrial laws that Labour has refused to repeal since Tony Blair won the 1997 general election.

Thirty-six rebel Labour MPs are backing a campaign coordinated by the TUC to amend the employment bill, which is going through Parliament and comes up for debate tonight.

The legislation will simplify balloting laws, close a legal loophole that allows employers to use agencies to break strikes, give greater protection to individuals following the taking of industrial action and allow unions to expel fascists from unions.

As well as many members of the left-wing Campaign Group, the rebels include Jon Cruddas, the former Labour deputy leadership candidate whom Gordon Brown toyed with giving a ministerial job, ex-minister Kate Hoey, Andrew Dismore, who chairs the joint human rights committee, Michael Connarty, MP for Linlithgow and East Falkirk, Gordon Prentice, MP for Pendle, Dennis Skinner, MP for Bolsover and Eric Illsley, MP for Barnsley Central.

The move has the backing of more than a dozen unions and follows a three-year campaign for a trade union freedom bill, which was talked out by ministers earlier this year.

Unite, Unison, GMB, the Communications Workers union, Public and Commercial Services union, the RMT, Fire Brigades union, Prison Officers' Association, the Bakers' union, Aslef, National Association of Prison Officers and the National Union of Mineworkers are all supporting the TUC campaign.

The most successful amendment - which the government is likely to back - proposes changing the law to expel British National party (BNP) members from unions. Ministers are under pressure from the European Commission to amend the law.

Labour MPs and the anti-fascist campaign group Searchlight want to change amendments to the bill made during its Lords' stages, saying they must be overturned because they prevent unions from expelling people for membership of a political party.

More:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/nov/04/tradeunions-thefarright


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http://www.nwn-forum.co.uk/

Griffin doing deals again with UKIP ?

UKIP rejects BNP electoral offer

Nigel Farage says his party will not work with the BNP
UKIP says it has "unanimously rejected" an offer from the British National Party for an electoral pact at next year's European elections.
It says ex-tennis star Buster Mottram, a UKIP member who claimed to represent the BNP, made the "astonishing offer" at a meeting in London on Monday.
Under the deal the BNP would fight seats in the north while UKIP would focus on the south in the elections.
The BNP said a deal made sense. UKIP says it would not work with the BNP.
The UK Independence Party, which campaigns for Britain to withdraw from the European Union, says Mr Mottram has since been expelled from the party.
'No deal'
They say he turned up at a meeting of its national executive committee in Whitehall earlier, claiming to represent BNP leader Nick Griffin.
The party says he refused to leave the meeting after the offer was rejected and they called the police, after which he left.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage said: "There are no circumstances, no possible situations, in which we would even consider doing any type of deal with the BNP whatsoever.
"I'm simply amazed that the BNP thought we would even consider such a thing, given that we are a non-racist, non-sectarian party."
In the 2004 European elections, UKIP more than doubled its share of the vote to 16%, with 12 MEPs.
The BNP's vote share was 4.9% - more than 800,000 votes - although it failed to get a seat in the Brussels parliament.
But the BNP's candidate in this year's London mayoral elections came fifth with 69,710 votes and won the party's first seat on the London Assembly. UKIP's candidate came seventh with 22,422.
BNP leader Mr Griffin told the BBC it made electoral sense for the two parties to avoid standing against each other at the European elections in June 2009.
He said he had spoken to a number of UKIP party members about the deal.
UKIP says the BNP has been "working very hard to infiltrate" its ranks and that it expects more people to leave UKIP within the next few months.
It says two NEC members who they accuse of campaigning against Mr Farage's leadership were also expelled.

NWN: Buster Mottram is a silly twerp that hails from the Home Counties and has always been a very shallow non-political tory type (bit like Mr.Griffin really). In the past, when the media have asked questions of him and his politics, he has developed diarrhoea and hid behind the settee. Mottram was last seen on the fringes of the National Front in 1976.