Good grief. It goes from bad, to worse, to I don’t know what to call it. In the UK, unavailability of maternity beds has women giving birth in waiting rooms. From the story:
Women are being forced to give birth in a hospital waiting room because there are not enough beds in overstretched maternity units. Expectant mothers are going through one of the most agonising ordeals of their lives in a crowded seating area, while other patients look on. Campaigners last night warned that such an appalling standard of care is putting the health of women and their babies at risk. King’s College Hospital, in South London, has admitted that mothers ‘regularly’ go into labour in the maternity unit’s waiting room as there are not enough beds. Managers said the department is often so full that some women have their babies in the seating area – with nothing more than a temporary screen to protect their privacy. The hospital admits the unit is severely overstretched and there are not enough beds to cope with the increasing birth rate of the catchment area. But critics warn that the dire situation will soon be commonplace up and down the country as increasing numbers of hospitals close their maternity units to save money.
Oh yea! Give me that centralized health care!
Meanwhile, at the other end of life, a dying cancer patient was put in a taxi without oxygen or pain control to go to a hospital 80 miles away—and he still didn’t receive care. From the story:
A dying cancer patient was sent 80 miles by taxi after a blunder by NHS staff, it was revealed today. The 62-year-old man was sent between hospitals by cab - without oxygen or medical care on the three-hour journey. An inquiry revealed the patient was unable to have the treatment when he eventually arrived at the second hospital - and he died a few days later. Health watchdog Peter Tyndall said: ‘Unfortunately, his cancer was terminal - he hadn’t long to live. ‘What should properly have happened is that he should have been made as comfortable as possible for his last few days. The whole episode was badly managed.’
And they tried to cover it up.
An investigation revealed NHS staff later tried to cover up the blunder by faking official records - falsely claiming the man’s wife had agreed to go with him.
But fear not, the boom was lowered!
Health officials were today ordered to apologise over the scandal...A Hywel Dda Health Board spokesman said: ‘We very much regret the failings identified by the ombudsman, both in relation to the complaint and the conduct of a member of staff during the investigation. ‘The health board has now put in place procedures and plans to avoid a similar recurrence of the issues identified. ‘A letter of apology will be forwarded to the family, with an assurance the ombudsman’s recommendations have been taken seriously and that an action plan has been developed to address them.’
When I was in private practice, I represented a young woman who became profoundly cognitively disabled because of malpractice by the anesthesiologist. He—and his hospital—tried to cover up their negligence, too. But we caught them and they got clobbered with a very big settlement. But when the government does it, it’s a whole different deal.
I repeat: Good grief.
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