The need to cut costs is real. Regardless of who is to blame for the current squeeze on local government resources, in the real world there is going to be less money to spend on all local government services for some time to come. It is therefore essential to focus resources on things which will do most good.
Tag Archives: Learning difficulties
‘Never mind the patient, tick the box’
Regulation and inspection are often increased after a crisis
By Prof Sue Bailey President, Royal College of Psychiatrists
Scandals lead to inquiries and to recommendations – leading to a focus on filling in forms and ticking the right boxes.But in this week’s Scrubbing Up Sue Bailey, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, says it’s time to listen to those receiving the care.
Why do care standards break down? We’ve all read heartbreaking stories of elderly people with dementia or patients with learning difficulties being neglected, mistreated and abused.
When things go wrong, inquiries are set up, reports are published and lessons learnt.
Think Winterbourne View; Mid-Staffordshire; childcare in Rochdale, or the Carlisle Report.
At heart, the recommendations boil down to improving communication, listening, learning and acting. It means taking notice of what patients and service users have to say.
Blame culture
But when trying to deliver the right kind of care, the health service often addresses regulation, standard setting, inspection and monitoring.
Epileptic girl, 17, who choked on her own vomit in a hospital bed ‘was ignored by two nurses’
- Lassania Aslam, 17, suffered five epileptic fits in the space of 24 hours
- Caroline O’Rourke and Mary Subaste failed to look after her properly
- Coroner’s court hear how hospital neglect contributed to her death
By Steve Robson
PUBLISHED: 09:35, 23 November 2012 | UPDATED: 10:53, 23 November 2012
Tragic: Lassania Aslam had learning disabilities and was a life-long sufferer of epilepsyTwo nurses who ignored the plight of an epileptic girl who died after she inhaled her own vomit in a hospital bed face being struck off.
Lassania Aslam, 17, suffered five seizures in the space of 24 hours after being admitted to The Whittington Hospital in Archway, north London.
But senior nurses Caroline O’Rourke and Mary Subaste failed to ensure she was looked after properly as the 17-year-old’s brain was starved of oxygen, a tribunal heard.
Subaste had witnessed two of Lassania’s fits, one of which lasted for six minutes.
