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CNN had a recent story on the NHS and its downfall. They can not hire enough people to staff for all the needs. They have huge waiting lists. They seem to want people to join the private sector as well as having the NHS so they can get care when they need it, especially specialty care. The people are smart enough to do this on their own. There have been huge jumps in hip replacements in the private sector as well as other procedures as people are fed up with the long lines to get care. The private sectors is building more hospitals and clinics to take care of the population. The NHS does not have the money to follow suit. They, like here also do not cover care for those who can no longer be at home. I was told by a friend there this week that it costs over $10,000 USD per month for care outside the home plus supplements. People are leaving the workforce there due to long term medical conditions that they can not get treated in a timely manner. The companies are now giving private insurance to their employees to get around this problem.
The Infectious Disease Societies and The Joint have recommended cutting of fingernails to fingertip length and keep them natural, do not wash your hands as often but use alcohol instead, hospitals should install hand sanitizers both inside and outside patient rooms and basins should be only for hand washing not for dumping of other fluids also do not use a splash of bleach for cleaning sinks but instead use products newly approved specifically capable of removing biofilm. Another recommendation was to not double glove unless a pharmacist is preparing sterile meds or in response to certain high consequence pathogens. The CDC participated in these recommendations.
A recent story tells of the problems with hospitals having large corporations do their ED work. There is a shortage of physicians so PAs are often seeing the patients instead of a trained ED physician. The story blasted Tenova and American Physician Partners for using mid level practitioners to save money to increase earnings. This also may mean patients are not getting the right treatment at the first visit and must return for more treatment which raises the patient and insurance costs.
Canadians can circumvent their national health by having procedures done at a different province. This is especially true for joint replacements. The waiting time may be several years under the national health plan but only weeks or a month or two with private clinics. Of course, if you do this you must pay for the procedure on your own. Clearpoint Health Network has 53 operating rooms across Canada and are the largest private operator in the nation. The usual charge is about $24,000 whereas under the health plan they pay about $12,000. There is such a large backlog of patients the some provinces are paying to have patient's surgery performed at the private hospitals. Those who do not like to see this trend decry that many physicians are moving to the private sector leaving valuable OR time vacant due to a lack of surgeons available. They should instead focus on the disparity of pay an conditions between working in a public or private setting. All this is due to a loophole in the law which states that medically necessary non-emergency surgery is an insured condition when you are in you province but not insured if you get the non-emergency surgery in another province.
The junior physicians in England have voted to go on a two day strike for higher wages. This adds to the already terrible healthcare in the nation and more strikes by others unions. Top
In a huge story HCA Florida Bayonet Point in Hudson Florida is shown as a hospital that does not care about patients nor their safety. There were complaints by the physicians of unsanitary surgical instruments, poor monitoring of patients in the ICU, Anesthesia errors that allow patients to wake up during surgery as they reduced the number of anesthesiologists from 15 to 1and an overflowing ED. There were also Roaches in the OR along with instruments being held together with tape. The hospital has done nothing to address the problems. The hospital is rated "A" by Leapfrog which says alot about their ratings. This hospital also recently had a tussle over their anti-union methods and were reprimanded. The medical staff elected a neurosurgeon as chief of staff last year but since he was one that stood up for patient care he was denied te post by the hospital Board who sat another in the Chief position threatened him with being shown the door if he attended any committee of medical staff officer meetings. It is beyond me why physicians would work at this snake pit and put their patients in potential jeopardy. Of course, there is the money that the contract physicians are paid!
The residents and fellows at Loma Linda have filed a petition to unionize. This comes as demands for better patient care and working conditions have fallen on deaf ears. Top
DISCLAIMER: Although this article is updated periodically, it reflects the author's point of view at the time of publication. Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. Readers should consult with their own legal counsel before acting on any of the information presented.