Posted on 07/02/2009 9:12:48 AM PDT by Entrepreneur
A three-year-old girl awaiting heart surgery has had her operation cancelled three times this month because of a shortage of beds.
Ella Cotterell was due to have aorta-widening surgery on Monday at the Children’s Hospital, Bristol. But 48 hours beforehand, the operation was cancelled for the third time as all 15 beds in the intensive care unit were occupied, her parents said.
A hospital spokesman said that procedures would be reviewed, but the case highlights a growing problem of cancelled operations in the NHS.
More than 57,000 surgeries were postponed for non-clinical reasons, including a lack of beds, last year – 10 per cent more than the previous year.
Latest figures show that the problem persists. At least 43,000 operations were cancelled in the first nine months of 2008-09, with nearly 1,800 patients not being treated within 28 days of their original scheduled date.
Among the excuses for cancellation the previous year were a hospital running out of shavers to prepare patients for surgery, a surgeon going missing following a fire alarm, and a patient’s translator failing to turn up.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
bttt
Cheaper to let her die.
Wow.
welcome to the future.
Bump. Just shared on Facebook.
I was in labor for 6 days in the UK. I went to the hospital when I couldn’t take the pain any more...and was sent away to ‘labor at home’ because they didn’t have a bed available and I hadn’t ‘dilated’ enough. They didn’t even bother with Pitocin. Baby and I almost died at the birth.
I have too many horror stories about the UK system.
Urge your state reps to adopt “opt out” legislation:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2281139/posts
Deathcare are more like it. People in the UK have lost their minds if they continue to support this POS.
I own a business in the UK. My employees pay 50% of their wages in taxes in one form or another. But their health care is “free.”
Worse every UK citizen is assigned a primary physician. They are not permitted to change the physician, get a second opinion or get services outside the system. We have found that a growing number of physicians are from third world countries such as Pakistan, and they are borderline competent to treat your pets. It is a disaster, and it is common for people to forego treatment altogether because the treatment may be worse than the cure.
It seems to me that before we go plunging into this sea change in medical care, that we explore how other countries have fared under the same model. If we look at the facts of how nationalized health care has served citizens of other countries we would fix this one rather that allow our government to take it over. If this is done we can never go back.
We will yearn for the good old days within a short time.
THE GOVERNMENT CONTROLS HEALTH CARE COSTS BY LIMITING THE PRODUCT!
The NHS ‘criteria’ is also ‘set’ for GPs. In other words....ANY physician can log on to a computer with the most BASIC medical knowledge and it’s all outline FOR them to follow: What patient’s symptoms are, how to diagnose, when to refer, what treatments may be used, how much it costs the state....on and on.
Disgraceful.
When my FIL was ‘euthanized’ in the UK....I did a lot of digging on the internet. I ran across the databases. They’ve since ‘covered their tracks’ and one has to have a password to get in, now.
“They are not permitted to change the physician, get a second opinion or get services outside the system.”
I’ve said it before, the future of this country will be in a black market/underground economy. There is at least 40% of the population that won’t put up with that kind of nonsense. Funny part is, those that support this crock of a “free” system will be hurt the most.
Prayers up for this little girl...
Excerpt of article:
A three-year-old girl awaiting heart surgery has had her operation cancelled three times this month because of a shortage of beds.
Ella Cotterell was due to have aorta-widening surgery on Monday at the Children’s Hospital, Bristol. But 48 hours beforehand, the operation was cancelled for the third time as all 15 beds in the intensive care unit were occupied, her parents said.
A hospital spokesman said that procedures would be reviewed, but the case highlights a growing problem of cancelled operations in the NHS (UK's National Health Service).
More than 57,000 surgeries were postponed for non-clinical reasons, including a lack of beds, last year – 10 per cent more than the previous year.
Latest figures show that the problem persists. At least 43,000 operations were cancelled in the first nine months of 2008-09, with nearly 1,800 patients not being treated within 28 days of their original scheduled date...
Wow. I knew things were bad under the UK's National Health Service, but I didn't realize things were THIS bad, regarding being assigned a primary physician, second opinions, etc. Just wow.
Thanks for the ping!
I was invited to tour a London hospital during my last trip to the U.K. The conditions there were nothing less than time travel back to the 1960s.
Girl, 3, has heart operation cancelled three times because of bed shortage (UK Socialized Medicine)
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