During my lifetime I’ve only taken part in a handful of demonstrations or marches. Mostly they’ve been to do with education, although I have been tempted to attend marches in support of the miners, and against the poll tax and war in Iraq
On Saturday I joined over 40,000 other people for a march from Stafford town centre to support Stafford Hospital Stafford Hospital
I must say that we have always been a very healthy family (I am touching some wood as I type!) and any care we've required has been first class. Rhiannon and Tom were born there in 1986 and 1990.
There are now plans to remove all acute services, including maternity, from Stafford to Wolverhampton, Stoke or Burton-on-Trent, all about 20 miles away. Already A&E is closed overnight as the hospital found it difficult to recruit suitable staff, during and following the inquiry. This is punishing local people further, and for patients without transport it will make it very difficult to attend appointments or if hospitalized to receive visitors. The irony is that each of these other hospitals is already overcrowded!
Over the coming years, as we pull our military bases out of Germany
Feeling in the town and surrounding areas is running high, as was evidenced by the march and demonstration. There are a great many caring people who have spent their lives caring for people through their work in the NHS. It wasn’t a political demonstration; all parties are in agreement that a county town, the size of Stafford, needs a hospital with acute services. The town needs the jobs that the hospital provides, and we all need to move on from what has happened in the past and look to a future.
Stafford today, but will it happen to your town tomorrow?
I’m hoping that people power will prevail…
Having worked most of my life either in or for the NHS I have seen both the good and the bad. Too much tinkering only appears to make things worse and I have seen a lot of that. Stafford could be turned around but if someone on high has decided otherwise. Well!
ReplyDeleteOne observation is the smaller the hospital the more personal the care perhaps that could be in mind...
I'm sure you're right, Colin. To me the hospital is just the right size, but perhaps you don't get the ecomomies of scale that you would in a larger hospital.
DeleteOne of the reasons the Francis report gave for the failings in care was that the hospital was understaffed - so sort out the staffing! However there can be no excuse for poor care for the vulnerable and dying.
It's funny but before the scandal broke there wasn't any talk of closing anything!! The people of Stafford deserve better, especially as we were the ones affected by the poor care.
The Health and Safety of people in England gets more and more unsafe and unhealthy. Problems usually mean poor management. As you say, everyone will have to suffer. Where will plasters and medication for the people of Stafford come from? They can't paper over the cracks. Closure moves and changes the problem but does not necessarily solve it. Small is beautiful. All over the land one can find examples of malpractice in hospitals as well as good care. I have witnessed both on many an occasion. Are they using Stafford as a scapegoat? I don't know the hospital nor town so cannot make further comment ... but people power could show the degree of sentiment and make the NHS who / what?) heads think again? I feel as sorry for nurses as I do for those in education. People trying to do the best are thwarted by idealists who have not a grain of commonsense of how the real job is daily achieved. However, if minds are made then the wheels have to turn. Well done for making a stand!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that with the right level of staff, with the right training, and with good management, your local hospital could be just as good as anywhere else.
ReplyDeleteAs you say, sort that out and the problem is solved, why shift the problem to somewhere else by overloading other hospitals and causing great inconvenience to patients?
I am a great believer in the NHS and am convinced it is stuffed full of really good people doing the best they can, often under great pressure and interference from managers and government, who haven't a clue what the jobs of doctors and nurses really involve or what problems they face. There is also a huge amount of wastage of resorces because of bad administrative processes. I could go on about this endlessly due to my connection with the NHS, but the bottom line is, just get good people and let them get on with their jobs.
Hi Jean,
DeleteMy only experience of the NHS is as a user, but you have made some very good points here.
Well done for joining in ... as you say Stafford needs this hospital ,, for the locals and for the Forces coming in!!
ReplyDeleteLike you, I've never marched or demonstrated though there have been many causes I've felt very strongly about. I wish I had done now, so good on you for making your voice heard for something important.
ReplyDeleteAxxx
I was a follower. The main credit should go to the organisers.
DeleteWell done Gay for your support - if we had been at home we would have joined you.
ReplyDeleteI have only the best to say about Stafford having been both an in and an out patient during my 25 years living just across the road from it.
As you rightly say, it is the poor staffing levels which is at the heart of this and which I experienced (but which did not affect) on my last stay (2 nights). Care could be undertaken by volunteers, and having been a St John Ambulance volunteer for 25 years up to the mid 80's, there are sure to be capable people who would help with cups of tea, sorting out the tv, helping to wash faces and hands, and combing hair. These were all things I did while a patient recovering from my minor op. It's not rocket science!
I know. We'd have been narching shoulder to shoulder, with Maisie, Lucy and Poppy...
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