Do People Prefer A Terrible Local Hospital?
This article from the Express and Star illustrates the problems of reforming local health services.
The problems that existed at Stafford Hospital have been well documented. This report from the BBC is typical of many I’ve seen.
One of the problems with hospitals with bad reputations either in the media or amongst medical professionals, is that no staff will move there, as they want to protect their professional reputation. There is a story about this from the Stoke Sentinel.
But those that want to keep Stafford Hospital going, have no right to use some of the abuse they have against Julie Bailey, who fought valiantly to expose the scandal of poor healthcare at the hospital. It’s probably lucky for Ms. Bailey, that she appears to be white. I suppose that is lucky for her abusers, as otherwise some of the language used would have probably involved a reference to the police.
The Anonymous Widower 
There will always be some people who credit the bad hospital with saving their granny, gushingly say how wonderful all the staff were etc etc. There are hospitals in Manchester area I wouldn’t choose to go to, yet others swear by them. I have a lot of friends who live in Trafford and are quite happy to go to Trafford General; I wouldn’t choose to go there, and I know what you think of the place. Stepping Hill got negative publicity over the issue when a nurse was killing patients; Helen is currently being treated there after a rather nasty accident, and the care she is getting is amazing. If it hadn’t have been, we would have switched to private hospital. But we saw no need.
Comment by Liz P | January 2, 2014 |
There’s one hospital, near where I lived in London as a child, that was terrible then and still has its problems, from what I can gather from friends in the area. But there’s a big campaign to stop it being down graded.I do think there must be something wrong with the regime that inspects hospitals. After all, surely the inspectors noticed something was wrong at Stafford. Even the statistics must have been crying out. Or do the inspectors not want to upset the apple cart?
Comment by AnonW | January 2, 2014 |
A lot can be hidden from inspectors, more than you would think. I am aware of a school which had some VERY major issues, and Ofsted thought the place was wonderful, despite parents expressing some concerns to them. Whilst other schools which were doing well with difficult children from difficult family backgrounds would get slated!
Comment by Liz P | January 2, 2014 |