Rescuing
Democracy in the United Kingdom from our current Elected
Dictatorship
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Come
back Gilligan, all is forgiven. Penny Young, Diss, Norfolk,
to The Guardian, February 24, 2005
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
Power
cut, please
Labour's
pollsters have Tony Blair running scared, because they have
informed him that if turnout at the next election is below
50%, the result will be a hung parliament. This would be
good news for those of us who, viewing the damage inflicted
by recent governments, would like nothing better than a
Parliament powerless to do anything. Letter from Ron
Phillips, London W14 - Daily Mail 17/2/05
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Tony
Blair's pledge cards made no mention of pensioners. Perhaps
they're the jokers.
Letter
to the Daily Mail from Brian Green, Daventry, Northants
- February 22, 2005
The
Guardian's Polly Toynbee says 'a profoundly nasty streak'
among voters worried about poverty, crime and immigration
might cause them to vote against the Government. Isn't
it time we replaced the present electorate with one more
to Polly's liking? Ephraim Hardcastle, Daily Mail,
February 24, 2005
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A
scandal far worse than the figures reveal
By
Dr Sarah Burnett, Former NHS Consultant - Daily Mail, February
25, 2005
New
figures showing that deaths caused by the MRSA superbug have doubled
in the past four years do not surprise me. They do, however, worry
me greatly because I am absolutely certain that they represent
a gross under-estimation of the scale of the MRSA crisis.
My
belief - and there are statistics to back this up - is that deaths
from MRSA have multiplied 15 times since 1992 and are now running
at 5,000 a year. Indeed, that figure may be on the conservative
side.
So
why do the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics
show MRSA deaths running at just less than 1,000 annually? It's
very simple. In a majority of cases, MRSA will not be given as
a cause of death on the death certificate. Instead, less emotive,
less specific words, such as 'septicemia' and 'infection' are
used.
Semantics
are disguising the true scale of this disaster.
Every
MRSA-related death is a tragedy for the patient and their grieving
relatives. But each one of these deaths is also the most damning
indictment possible of Health Secretary John Reid and his predecessors.
Barely
a week goes by without Mr Reid popping up to set a new target
or launch yet another initiative to counteract MRSA. And barely
a week goes by without it being ever more clear that they are
having no impact at all.
Like
most doctors, I regularly come across patients who are too scared
of MRSA to go into hospital for even routine operations such as
a hip replacement. Who can blame them, with newspapers full of
horrific stories of patients either dying or having to stay in
hospital for months after contacting MRSA?
Yet
as everyone seems to know but no one seems able to do anything
about, spread of MRSA could be so easily controlled by return
to strict staff discipline, and basic hospital hygiene, with washing
and sterilising techniques that actually work.
We
seem to have completely forgotten that one of the greatest advances
in modern medicine was the discovery of the benefits of sterilisation
by Louis Pasteur and the development of aseptic technique by Joseph
Lister.
At
this point you are probably expecting me to join calls to 'Bring
back Matron' - the one figure in the hospital hierarchy who, it
is universally believed, can reassert standards of hygiene.
Well
Matron IS back. The Government introduced Modern Matrons in 2000,
but they are far too busy dealing with NHS bureaucracy, attending
human resources seminars and a thousand and one other meetings,
to ever have time to tell their nurses to wash their hands.
And
if Modern Matron does find a moment to order a nurse or porter
to do just that, she is more likely to find herself facing a hospital
disciplinary board than a grateful patient.
The
tragic death of patients, however, is only part of the problem
MRSA poses to the NHS. There are the additional costs of treating
an infected patient who survives. He or she must be nursed in
isolation under carefully controlled conditions and treated with
expensive drugs. There are also further costs related to extended
stays in hospital - some lasting for many months- that each case
requires. As a direct result, tens of millions of pounds that
should go into improving care and reducing waiting lists are being
diverted into treating a secondary infection contracted in hospital.
It is an appalling and needless state of affairs.
Just
consider private hospitals and ask yourself why the superbug has
been more or less totally excluded from them.
Yes,
I know the rise of MRSA is, in part, due to over -prescribing
of antibiotics in the recent past which has allowed resistance
strains to develop.
MRSA
and its assorted variants do display a worrying immunity to the
dwindling armoury of effective antibiotics at our disposal.
But such infections were not a
problem when I qualified as houseman in 1985 and nor are they
a serious problem anywhere else in the world. That is because
the rest of the world remembers what we seem to have forgotten:
how to wash our hands properly.
Low-paid
hospital contract cleaners are often blamed for the MRSA epidemic,
but while dirty hospitals are a disgrace, they are not the root
cause of this problem. You
don't, in the main, contract MRSA from dirty floors or unwashed
bedside cabinets; you catch it from skin-to-skin contact with
other people - fellow patients, visiting relatives and, of course,
from nurses and doctors dedicated to making you better.
Around
25% of the population are healthy carriers of MRSA - they are
unaware of it and unharmed by it - so the potential for cross-infection
is enormous. But - and I hope you are listening, Mr Reid - simple,
practical measures can minimise this risk.
Everyone
- but particularly nurses and doctors - has to get back into the
habit of washing their hands properly after touching a patient.
And for this we need sinks and taps that work.
It
doesn't sound much, does it? But until I eventually ran out of
patience with the NHS and quit four years ago, I never found a
sink in an NHS hospital that allowed staff to wash their hands
effectively. The hot water tap was more likely to result in a
trip to casualty with badly scalded skin rather than anything
resembling clean hands. Water that is too hot
to wash in is a precaution against the development of Legionnaire's
Disease in the hospital water supply system and mixer taps are
surely an answer to this dilemma. But they are apparently ruled
out by budgetary constraints, so most medical staff are now in
the habit of washing their hands under the cold tap or 'disinfecting'
with an alcohol hand rub.
Yet
is is a fact that there is nothing as effective at eliminating
MRSA as a thorough hot water hand wash.
Despite
the fact that MRSA is predominantly transmitted by people, equipment
must be cleaned and sterilised on a patient-by-patient basis,
too.
Once,
when I was still working as an NHS consultant radiologist, I picked
up a probe I needed to perform a breast scan and found a pubic
hair still attached to it. When I checked, I discovered that the
last patient was a man being scanned for testicular cancer. Every
NHS hospital doctor I know
can tell you a similar story.
Finally,
hospital staff must know when they are dealing with a patient
infected with MRSA. Their medical notes should carry warning stickers,
just as they do for patients with HIV or hepatitis, while those
going to theatre or for examination should wear tags identifying
them as MRSA carriers.
MRSA
patients should also be at the end of any daily examination or
operating list so that a particularly thorough 'terminal clean'
can take place at the end of the day.
I
am sure that may of you will be shocked that these basic, common
sense measures are not already in place in our hospitals to protect
all of us from the scourge of MRSA. Believe me, they are not.
Indeed,
it is far from rare for a surgeon to discover that a patient has
MRSA when a bored-sounding nurse phones up from the ward several
hours after the operation to say: "Sorry, but we forgot to
mention it."
What
we desperately need to stop the rise and rise of MRSA is good,
strong hospital management from someone dedicated to rigorous
hospital hygiene. MRSA-related deaths are a needless tragedy and
Mr targets and initiatives will do nothing to halt them.
But
they could be stopped by something as simple as clean hands.
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Perhaps
Ann Widdecombe was right about Michael Howard, but it
should have been KNIGHT with a K, and he could have saved
us from the monsters Blair and Campbell - Letter to
the Dail Mayil from Les Fletcher, Rhos-on-Sea, Colwyn
Bay, Wales - February 18, 2005
After
a clear vote against them, we still got eight non-elected
Regional Assemblies. When we vote against the EU Constitution,
we'll get them anyway. Letter from P.Cove, Aylesbury,
BUCKS.- Daily Mail, January 31, 2005
THE
TIMES slavish support for the Government worries some
members of the paper's staff, not to mention any perspicacious
readers who are left. Political editor Philip Webster
was questioned about this when he addressed colleagues
as part of an in-house 'masterclass' exercise. Small wonder.
One of his Blair-worshipping subordinates wrote a news
story yesterday poo-pooing the row over Labours anti-semitic
poster mocking Michael Howard, saying it was merely £5million
worth of 'free publicity' for the party. Ephraim Hardcastle
- Daily Mail, Febrauary 2, 2005
Hold
the front page
Further
to BBC bias (Mail), very often on BBC Breakfast and Breakfast
With Frost, coverage of the morning papers is censored.
If the front page of the Daily Mail is critical of Tony
Blair and his Soviet-style Government, it is not shown,
although the front pages of all the other newspapers are
shown. A supposedly independent broadcasting body is acting
as censor for this Government - an absolute disgrace.
Letter from Peter Fish, Chippenham, Wilts. .- Daily Mail,
February 17, 2005
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The
REAL NASTY PARTY- How
Labour is the true home of spite, bigotry and contempt for the
public
For
the health of our democracy, we, the people of the United Kingdom,
must find a way to force Mr Blair to resign
Such
defiance of the democratic process and the will of the majority
of we people of the UK, must be exposed by voters as a matter
or urgency, and not just in the two by-elections we have had this
July and the European elections in June 2004. But how can this
be done?
The
most effective way of getting our deceitful PM to resign would
be to mobilise the army of Labour MPs currently in the House of
Commons and get them to demand it, the loss of their seat to be
a penalty if they did not. All voters in Labour-held constituencies
need to write a letter along these lines to their local Labour
MPs:
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Dear
Despite
his absolute and unequivocal assurances over the past year
of the serious risk to our security of Saddam Hussein's
'weapons of mass destruction', Prime Minister Blair
has admitted, that the threat was non-existent. For that
critical error of judgement and for his gross incompetence
in handling this very important issue, I ask you to take
immediate steps to ensure that Tony Blair does the honourable
thing and resign without delay..
I
would therefore be much obliged if you would propose and
help mobilise a Parliamentary vote of 'No Confidence' in
Mr Blair which, despite Labour's huge majority, would leave
the PM with no option but to resign.
If
I get no reply to this letter, I shall assume you will continue
to support Mr Blair as our Prime Minister. In such circumstances
I shall not vote for you in the forthcoming General Election.
Signed:
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Simple,
non-violent, protest letters along these lines on a variety of
issues could be the basis for re-vitalising our democracy and
increasing voters' interest and participation in politics. Download
a printable copy of the above letter here.
There
is another way for the voice of the silent majority to be heard,
a voice that made sure broken promises would not only be revealed,
but punished in subsequent elections.
In
the year available before the General Election expected in 2005,
many topics are available as ammunition, each one asking questions.
A weapon for our purpose will be the results of Opinion Polls
in individual constituencies using ICM, NOP, Gallop, Mori
or YouGov.
Questions
suggested for this purpose are listed here.
CAST
YOUR VOTE ON A VARIETY OF OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES HERE.
Current
and prospective Parliamentary candidates of all Parties running
for election could share a platform at public forums in every
constituency. They would be presented with the results of
polls on this issue expressed by the majority of voters in that
constituency.
The candidates could be asked if their own views and that of their
Party manifesto corresponded with the polls, and if not, how they
intended to represent the will of the majority of local voters.
Local and National Press, Radio and TV coverage would be arranged
and the results published on this web site.
Here
is another powerful strategy for using your vote effectively in
the forthcoming General Election. Send your sitting and prospective
MPs a letter defining your requirements if they want your vote.
This example deals with the proposed
EU Constitutional Treaty.
Your
letters would end: "If you do not answer
this letter, I shall take it that you intend to follow the Government
line. I shall act accordingly in the forthcoming General Election.
Or
why not create a questionnaire that you send to all the candidates
in your constituency, getting them to give yes/no answers to questions
of your choice, and ending it with the same paragraph(above).
Download
a printable example of the questionnaire.
It
is high time for the people of this United Kingdom to stop allowing
themselves to be manipulated by politicians. We need our representatives
in Parliament to genuinely reflect the view of the majority in
their own constituency, even if this means going against their
personal and/or their party's policy. While they may argue their
case, hoping to change the minds of the majority in their constituency,
they should ultimately be obliged to reflect the majority view
of those who elect them.
It
will be argued by politicians of all parties that most voters
don't have the knowledge necessary to express an opinion on important
subjects at issue, and that our vote is a form of delegated democracy.
We should argue that it is their duty to ensure that we voters
do have ready access to such information as is necessary to form
an intelligent opinion. That, after all, is one main purpose of
Opposition Parties in our Parliamentary Democracy.
Most
important of all, such proceedings would rekindle in voters their
latent interest and obligation to cast their vote, knowing that
the candidate of their choice would be more likely to act in accordance
with their wishes. A much higher turnout in elections would be
the result.
Contact
your local Party Chairman. Gain his support for setting up public
forums in your constituency on these, as well as any other relevant
topics, well before the next General Election expected in 2005.
You should then, depending on the integrity of the candidate of
your choice, feel fairly certain that your view on any subject
being debated in Parliament will more accurately be reflected
by your representative in that assembly.
