The Anonymous Widower

The Future Of The NHS

This is very much in focus, after the Francis report into Stafford Hospital.  Here’s my four-pennyworth, which I wrote to BBC Radio 5.

In the last five years, my wife and son have died of serious unrelated cancers. I’ve also had a bad stroke and also hospitalised because of heart failure.

 The large modern hospitals, like Addenbrookes, University College and the Royal London have been superb. But the small hospital in Manchester, where my son was, was completely Dark Ages. But NHS and local politics wouldn’t allow the wrecking ball in.

 All these small hospitals should be demolished and everything centralised.

After all if you were any form of medical staff, would you like to work in a small crap local hospital or a big prestigious one? So crap hospitals, like Stafford and I suspect a few others, get the staff they deserve.

So when you want your local hospital to do everything, just think again about what you want!

But then wasn’t in any different.  As a child, you avoided all of the local hospitals in Enfield and Barnet, and went to London if you could. Recently, at Newmarket, everybody avoided Bury St. Edmunds Hospital if they could and went to Addenbrookes. At that hospital, I’ve met so many staff, who live nearer to Huntingdon, but prefer to avoid the hospital at Hinchinbrooke, whose reputation isn’t the best.

So can a lot of the problems in hospitals like Stafford, be put down to the good staff leaving a sinking ship?

February 6, 2013 - Posted by AnonW | Health | Hospitals