Man collapses with ruptured appendix... three weeks after NHS doctors 'took it out' By Daniel Bates Last updated at 11:27 PM on 25th August 2009
After weeks of excruciating pain, Mark Wattson was understandably relieved to have his appendix taken out. Doctors told him the operation was a success and he was sent home. But only a month later the 35-year-old collapsed in agony and had to be taken back to Great Western Hospital in Swindon by ambulance. Enlarge Mark Wattson, 35, from Swindon may have been the victim of botched surgery after he had to have his appendix removed twice To his shock, surgeons from the same team told him that not only was his appendix still inside him, but it had ruptured - a potentially fatal complication. In a second operation it was finally removed, leaving Mr Wattson fearing another organ might have been taken out during the first procedure. The blunder has left Mr Wattson jobless, as bosses at the shop where he worked did not believe his story and sacked him. Mr Wattson told of the moment he realised there had been a serious mistake. 'I was lying on a stretcher in terrible pain and a doctor came up to me and said that my appendix had burst,' he said.
'I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I told these people I had my appendix out just four weeks earlier but there it was on the scanner screen for all to see. 'I thought, "What the hell did they slice me open for in the first place?" 'I feel that if the surgery had been done correctly in the first place I wouldn't be in the mess I am today. I'm disgusted by the whole experience.' Mr Wattson first went under the knife on July 7 after experiencing severe abdominal pain for several weeks. He was discharged but exactly a month later he had to dial 999 after collapsing in agony. Mr Wattson was readmitted to the Great Western Hospital in Swindon after his appendix ruptured Following the second operation his incision became infected and he was admitted to hospital for a third time for treatment. He said: 'I had a temporary job at a sports shop but when I took in two medical certificates saying I had my appendix out twice they didn't believe me. 'Now I'm helpless. I can't go out and find a job, I can't go to interviews, I can barely walk and am in constant pain. Before the first operation they told me I had to have my appendix removed and when I woke up afterwards they said it had been a complete success. 'But then I keeled over in agony one month later and when they did some tests at the hospital we could see the appendix was still there on the scans. 'As far as I was aware they took my appendix out and no one told me any different. 'I have no idea what they did take out, but I want to find out what went wrong.' A spokesman for Great Western Hospital confirmed that a representative had met Mr Wattson and that an investigation had been started. He was unable to confirm what, if anything, was removed in the first operation. Paul Gearing, deputy general manager for general surgery at Great Western Hospital NHS Trust, said: 'We are unable to comment on individual cases. 'However, we would like to apologise if Mr Wattson felt dissatisfied with the care he received at Great Western Hospital.'
Man collapses with ruptured appendix... three weeks after NHS doctors 'took it out' By Daniel Bates Last updated at 11:27 PM on 25th August 2009
After weeks of excruciating pain, Mark Wattson was understandably relieved to have his appendix taken out. Doctors told him the operation was a success and he was sent home. But only a month later the 35-year-old collapsed in agony and had to be taken back to Great Western Hospital in Swindon by ambulance. Enlarge Mark Wattson, 35, from Swindon may have been the victim of botched surgery after he had to have his appendix removed twice To his shock, surgeons from the same team told him that not only was his appendix still inside him, but it had ruptured - a potentially fatal complication. In a second operation it was finally removed, leaving Mr Wattson fearing another organ might have been taken out during the first procedure. The blunder has left Mr Wattson jobless, as bosses at the shop where he worked did not believe his story and sacked him. Mr Wattson told of the moment he realised there had been a serious mistake. 'I was lying on a stretcher in terrible pain and a doctor came up to me and said that my appendix had burst,' he said.
'I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I told these people I had my appendix out just four weeks earlier but there it was on the scanner screen for all to see. 'I thought, "What the hell did they slice me open for in the first place?" 'I feel that if the surgery had been done correctly in the first place I wouldn't be in the mess I am today. I'm disgusted by the whole experience.' Mr Wattson first went under the knife on July 7 after experiencing severe abdominal pain for several weeks. He was discharged but exactly a month later he had to dial 999 after collapsing in agony. Mr Wattson was readmitted to the Great Western Hospital in Swindon after his appendix ruptured Following the second operation his incision became infected and he was admitted to hospital for a third time for treatment. He said: 'I had a temporary job at a sports shop but when I took in two medical certificates saying I had my appendix out twice they didn't believe me. 'Now I'm helpless. I can't go out and find a job, I can't go to interviews, I can barely walk and am in constant pain. Before the first operation they told me I had to have my appendix removed and when I woke up afterwards they said it had been a complete success. 'But then I keeled over in agony one month later and when they did some tests at the hospital we could see the appendix was still there on the scans. 'As far as I was aware they took my appendix out and no one told me any different. 'I have no idea what they did take out, but I want to find out what went wrong.' A spokesman for Great Western Hospital confirmed that a representative had met Mr Wattson and that an investigation had been started. He was unable to confirm what, if anything, was removed in the first operation. Paul Gearing, deputy general manager for general surgery at Great Western Hospital NHS Trust, said: 'We are unable to comment on individual cases. 'However, we would like to apologise if Mr Wattson felt dissatisfied with the care he received at Great Western Hospital.'
Capping malpractice awards would solve health care crisis
In his Aug. 11 column [“Yet another danger: health care”], Carl Strock displayed real “empathy” for the Obama administration’s uphill struggle to bring universal health care to a nation that obviously doesn’t want it. He took the obligatory shots at the usual talk radio hosts, as well as Fox News, and echoed Democrat hints that those showing up at town hall meetings to confront their legislators are being egged on by outside forces. He lumps those he refers to as the “Angry Ones” into some unified collection of conservative Republicans who spent the last eight years aligned with George Bush, even though many of the health care dissenters are disgruntled registered Democrats. He tears into the health insurance companies. They’re the evil ones this time around. Back in the days of Hillarycare, it was those demonic pharmaceutical firms. I’m sure Mr. Strock took them to task back then as well. However, glaringly left out of the column (at least to me) was the one subject that never seems to surface in the liberal default position on health care — that being the discussion of tort reform. Before drastically altering the current system, why not consider a cap on legal awards, or a system of “loser pays?” Don’t outrageously high malpractice insurance rates have something to do with health care costs? Isn’t it a regular practice for doctors to order unnecessary but expensive medical tests as a measure against lawsuits? I would think that instituting real tort reform would be a lot less expensive than whatever form this massive health care bill finally takes. I truly “empathize” with trial lawyers and their need to take their one-third of outlandish legal settlements. But, to paraphrase Joe Biden, maybe it’s time they got a little skin in the game.
Seemingly, we an - portant historical perspective during the current health care reform discussion. In 1973, Richard Nixon, with accompanying grant legislation, provided millions of federal dollars to develop not-for-profi t health maintenance organizations (HMOs). Funds were granted for feasibility studies, planning, development and operations over a 20-year period. Group health plans sponsored by communities, doctors and hospitals using community-based, rated premiums emerged. Through mergers and purchases, the for-profit insurance companies gradually brought them into the for-profit arena. As the for-profits grew, competition became difficult to impossible, and the majority of not-for-profits succumbed. Few survived. Medicare has not shared this history. Federal tax dollars remain to provide health care, not profits. We need a public plan as part of the reformed health care policy.
Thousands of women are having to give birth outside maternity wards because of a lack of midwives and hospital beds.
The lives of mothers and babies are being put at risk as births in locations ranging from lifts to toilets - even a caravan - went up 15 per cent last year to almost 4,000.
Health chiefs admit a lack of maternity beds is partly to blame for the crisis, with hundreds of women in labour being turned away from hospitals because they are full.
After weeks of excruciating pain, Mark Wattson was understandably relieved to have his appendix taken out.
Doctors told him the operation was a success and he was sent home.
But only a month later the 35-year-old collapsed in agony and had to be taken back to Great Western Hospital in Swindon by ambulance. Enlarge Mark Wattson
Mark Wattson, 35, from Swindon may have been the victim of botched surgery after he had to have his appendix removed twice
To his shock, surgeons from the same team told him that not only was his appendix still inside him, but it had ruptured - a potentially fatal complication.
In a second operation it was finally removed, leaving Mr Wattson fearing another organ might have been taken out during the first procedure
Now they are using Kennedy's demise as a key to passing this ala' the funeral of Feingold in Minnesota a few years ago that blew up in their face. Oh boy.
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
I have found it difficult to explain why I am so adamantly against the president’s universal health care plan, and then in a town hall meeting, the president explained it perfectly. As a 30-year postal employee, I am always frustrated at working for a great organization that is separate from the federal government, not supported by taxpayer money yet dictated to by Congress and headed by a board of politically appointed postal governors. The president says on national TV that FedEx and UPS have no problems, but you always hear about the problems of the USPS [U.S. Postal Service]. FedEx and UPS do not have policy established by elected or appointed U.S. government officials; USPS does. Private insurance, while meeting federal regulations, does not have policy established by elected or appointed officials; your insurance plan will. So, Mr. President, while you may have knocked me and my 700,000 fellow employees of USPS, you made a brilliant illustration of why we don’t need the government interfering with the health of the American public. As the only agency under federal oversight that generates income, we would not be in the financial situation we are in were it not for the federal government passing a law that allows them to take $3.5 to $5 billion a year from our coffers. What will happen to my health care and income when you need more money?
Health care reform is absolutely necessary, no one can dispute that. But there is a simple solution right in front of our noses which does not require 1,000 pages of obscure federal mandates. States have come up with plans of their own, based on each one’s unique set of problems and demographics. Overall, they have done a pretty good job and are in a position to continue to improve and tweak their plans, since smaller bureaucracy tends to get things done quicker and better. And it might do well for states to follow the examples of other states that have a successful track record. All they need is an infusion of federal money to extend those plans already in place to every other uninsured citizen — not just those with very low incomes. If that were to happen, Medicaid (and possibly Medicare as well) would no longer be needed. Those resources could be transferred to the new plan(s). Yes, it would require money, in the form of more taxes, but along with other initiatives such as medical malpractice reform, prohibiting denial of coverage based on pre-existing conditions, guaranteeing portability, electronic prescriptions and medical records, and an aggressive cost reduction effort, we might be surprised at the outcome. Sometimes we can’t see the forest for the trees. A bipartisan approach and a refresher course on the constitutional wisdom of respecting states’ rights would go a long way in solving this problem.
'Cruel and neglectful' care of one million NHS patients exposed One million NHS patients have been the victims of appalling care in hospitals across Britain, according to a major report released today.
By Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor Published: 12:01AM BST 27 Aug 2009
One million NHS patients have been the victims of appalling care in hospitals across Britain, according to a major report released today Photo: CLARE KENDALL
In the last six years, the Patients Association claims hundreds of thousands have suffered from poor standards of nursing, often with 'neglectful, demeaning, painful and sometimes downright cruel' treatment.
The Patients Association said the dossier proves that while the scale of the scandal at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust - where up to 1,200 people died through failings in urgent care - was a one off, there are repeated examples they have uncovered of the same appalling standards throughout the NHS.
While the criticisms cover all aspects of hospital care, the treatment and attitude of nurses stands out as a repeated theme across almost all of the cases.
They have called on Government and the Care Quality Commission to conduct an urgent review of standards of basic hospital care and to enforce stricter supervision and regulation.
Claire Rayner, President of the Patients Association and a former nurse, said:“For far too long now, the Patients Association has been receiving calls on our helpline from people wanting to talk about the dreadful, neglectful, demeaning, painful and sometimes downright cruel treatment their elderly relatives had experienced at the hands of NHS nurses.
“I am sickened by what has happened to some part of my profession of which I was so proud.
"These bad, cruel nurses may be - probably are - a tiny proportion of the nursing work force, but even if they are only one or two percent of the whole they should be identified and struck off the Register.”
The charity has published a selection of personal accounts from hundreds of relatives of patients, most of whom died, following their care in NHS hospitals.
They cite patient surveys which show the vast majority of patients highly rate their NHS care - but, with some ten million treated a year, even a small percentage means hundreds of thousands have suffered.
Ms Rayner said it was by "sad coincidence" that she trained as a nurse with one of the patients who had "suffered so much".
She went on: "I know that she, like me, was horrified by the appalling care she had before she died.
"We both came from a generation of nurses who were trained at the bedside and in whom the core values of nursing were deeply inculcated."
Katherine Murphy, Director of the Patients Association, said “Whilst Mid Staffordshire may have been an anomaly in terms of scale the PA knew the kinds of appalling treatment given there could be found across the NHS. This report removes any doubt and makes this clear to all. Two of the accounts come from Stafford, and they sadly fail to stand out from the others.
“These accounts tell the story of the two percent of patients that consistently rate their care as poor (in NHS patient surveys).
"If this was extrapolated to the whole of the NHS from 2002 to 2008 it would equate to over one million patients. Very often these are the most vulnerable elderly and terminally ill patients. It’s a sad indictment of the care they receive.”
The Patients Association said one hospital had threatened it with legal action if it chose to publish the material.
Pamela Goddard, a piano teacher from Bletchingley, in Surrey, was 82 and suffering with cancer but was left in her own excrement and her condition deteriorated due to her bed sores.
Florence Weston, from Sedgley in the West Midlands, died aged 85 and had to remain without food or water for several days as her hip operation was repeated cancelled.
The charity released the dossier to highlight the poor care which a minority of patients in the NHS are subjected to.
Ms Murphy said the numbers rating care as poor came despite investment in the NHS doubling and the number of frontline nurses increasing by more than a quarter since 1996.
The personal stories were revealed to prevent their cases being ignored as only representing a small portion of patients.
The report said: "These are patients, not numbers. These are people, not statistics."
Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said he was concerned that public confidence in the NHS could be undermined by the examples cited and it would affect morale in hardworking staff.
He said: “The level of care described by these families is completely unacceptable, and we will not condone nurses who behave in ways that are contrary to the principles and ethics of the profession.
"However we believe that the vast majority of nurses are decent, highly skilled individuals.
“This report is based on the two per cent of patients who feel that their care was unacceptable. Two per cent is too many but we are concerned that this might undermine the public’s confidence in the world-class care they can expect to receive from the NHS."
Barbara Young, Chairman of the Care Quality Commission, the super-regulator, said: “It is absolutely right to highlight that standards of hospital care can vary from very good to poor.
“Many people are happy with the care they receive, but we also know that there are problems.
“I am in no doubt that many hospitals need to raise their game in this area.
“Where NHS trusts fail to meet the mark, we have tough new enforcement powers, ranging from warnings and fines to closure in extreme cases. We will not hesitate to use these powers when necessary to bring improvement.
"We will be asking NHS trusts and primary care trusts how they are ensuring that the needs of patients and their safety and dignity are kept at the heart of care.”
Chris Beasley, Chief Nursing Officer at the Department of Health said the care in the cases highlighted by the PA was “simply unacceptable”.
She added: "It is important to note this is not representative of the picture across the NHS.
"The NHS treats millions of people every day and the vast majority of patients experience good quality, safe and effective care - the Care Quality Commission's recent patient experience survey shows that 93 percent of patients rate their overall care as good or excellent.
"We will shortly be publishing complaints data on the NHS Choices website and expect trusts to publish the number of complaints they receive, setting out how these are successfully resolved."
I wonder if the No New Tax Party would be interested in seeing if BILL MCCULLOUGH's go along this way a bit more to see if he would be a good candidate.
Okay folks....for those are concerned about obama and where he is leading this country, we ALL must speak up to every single person we see about obama and his health care....along with everything else. Cause we clearly do not have a two party system any longer. The reps as well as the dems have failed us miserably. We only have US! So speak up before it is too late.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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