You are sailing very close to the wind Reynolds. I work within the same patch as you and would advise you not to criticise individual trusts, or post patient information that could be identified.

a) Its not big or clever

b) Its not professional

I see the NHS Thought Police are up early in the morning. Can't criticise individual trusts? B*llocks.

Talk to anyone in the area and they will all tell you that Oldchurch is an appalling hospital. For decades it's been a trust that employed the mediocre, or just downright poor management. There's been a lack of investment because its been deliberately run down since the 1970s, because the plan was to build up shiny new services at Harold Wood, so that the valuable Oldchurch site could be sold off to property developers. Morale, with quality of care, inevitably suffered. It's only recently dawned on them (duh) that it's a good idea to have a major acute trust in the middle of the main population centre it serves. Now they have years of neglect to try to put right.
Living in Brentwood, everyone prays that Broomfield or even Basildon will be the hospital they end up in: anything rather than the dreaded Oldchurch.
Grumpy
http://boredtown.co.uk

Good for you standing up for what you think and feel. This is YOUR blog, so feel free to say what you think! Don't let the thought police bug ya! I LOVE your blog - but silly me has ponly just figured out how to 'log on' to write a comment! D'oh! Sending you good happy thoughts from here, all the way from Australia.
Cyalayta
Mal :o)

Tom is courageous enough to put his name to his opinions and stand up for his beliefs. Why don't you do that too?

Unless Reynolds also doubles as a BBC reporter then I think you are warning the wrong person.

Well, the original story is in the public domain (from the BBC website), and my views on trusts are always a personal view, which I am allowed to have. Patient confidentiality is always adhered to, I don't even use fake names or initials.

Well done Reynolds, so you should stick up for your own views. It is awful that people do this to their own family but what can you do, as you already stated, your hands are tied so to speak.
Keep up the great work

Liz

It would probably be interesting to find out how many times the family had asked for help/respite care to be arranged and was sent on their way.

Did you get to see a station in Toronto, or the inside of an ambulance (without resorting to dirty tricks or heavy drunkedness ?)

That's an awfully sad story. Making people aware of it on your weblog is a very small thing to do, but at least it's a thing. Hardly a breach of patient confidentiality.

TO: the one that hides behind anon. It is a Publick Domain Story, that old folk like me should be aware of. That waiting for Santa, that don't come, there are still places that take us retchid ones, if one is in the UK., not like here La La land, were we end up in a river bed waiting for the floods to wash us old bones out to sea, or eating a 50cents worth of Turkey at one of the many Homeless shelters that dot the landscape, at this festive season [Charlie the B***** Dickens were are you.] dungbeetle...

This story has made some ground, appearing in one of Canada's national papers today:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20041112.walzh1112/BNStory/International/

The story has also hit the papers here in New Zealand. I am going to write to the editor and tell him that printing that story was not "big or clever".

Hang in there Tom! Don't let the lackeys bring you down...

Nic