Rescuing
Democracy in the United Kingdom from our current Elected
Dictatorship
|
Spin, not
face-to-face confrontations with the voters, is the Government's
chosen method of communication. Ordinary
people are dangerous. Ordinary people might ask a question
which throws a politician 'off message'; the Cabinet member
might reveal himself or herself to be a human being like
us, and not a programmed android. Worse still, he or she
might tell the truth.
Ann Leslie - Daily Mail, September
16, 2004
|
BLAME
OUR 'RIGHTS'
Letter
from an anonymous Staff Nurse in the NHS - Daily Mail, July 14,
2004
As
an NHS staff nurse in a community hospital which, although small,
has three MRSA-positive patients, I believe much of the blame
rests on our obsession with civil liberties.
I
trained in the days when matron ruled with a rod of iron, patients
did as they were asked and there were set visiting times which
allowed staff, including the all-important cleaning staff, to
do their jobs properly.
Over
the years, I have seen that change beyond recognition and, in
many ways, to the detriment of the service. Matron has been replaced
with an army of managers and patients have been given so many
rights that hospital staff have lost the authority to do their
job.
It
is no longer possible to confine a patient to bed, make them take
their medications or even make them wash if they refuse. To do
so now would risk a charge of assault. Unrestricted visiting times
means there's never a period when the ward can be closed for thorough
cleaning.
Most
alarmingly, patients can leave the building and then return to
mix with other patients. I have seen patients being taken out
to lunch, to bingo clubs and down to the pub, then return to their
hospital beds.
This
is patients' rights gone mad and it makes a mockery of nurses
needing to be more vigilant about washing their hands. Patients
and the Government should remember that hospital staff need authority
for a very good reason; they train to do a job aimed at preserving
health and saving lives.
Take
away their authority to say 'we really do know best and this is
what we want you to do' and they cannot be blamed when it all
falls apart. Patients want rights and they got them. They didn't
bargain on the right to get MRSA.
