Paul S
Recent activity
Comments (2)
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Comment on: Closing the gap between the theory and real change
"The NHS has a headstart because the employees are self-selecting in terms of culture and values. But we must build on this foundation and create systems that target their intrinsic motivation ..." Really? So how did Mid Staffs happen, why is the Patients Association publishing reports like http://www.patients-association.com/default.aspx?tabid=80&Id=101 and why do whistleblowers get gagged rather than heard? If you're going to rely on the existing NHS culture and values you'll never get anywhere. Start by sorting out the culture, and starting to deal with problems openly and honestly, and you might get somewhere. Personally, I'd add a few well placed sackings too, just so that the employees know that you mean business.
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Comment on: Equal opportunities under the new CCGs
"Will they be any more successful than the primary care trusts they replace at meeting the needs of people with a learning disability, people with mental health problems and older people? Will they be able to gain the confidence of the gay community?" If my LCG is anything to go by, the answer is a clear NO! And given that an LCG should be more responsive than the CCG to which it belongs, that implies that my CCG will be as bad, if not worse. I contacted the LCG recently to let them know about the problems that people with rare diseases have getting treatment and to make the case that they need to consider this when commissioning services. I couldn't get anyone from the LCG itself to respond so eventually I made contact with the chair of the Patient Participation Group. Here is a part of the response that I got: "The Board re-iterated what I told you on the telephone that it is not appropriate for Patient Participation Groups to become involved with individual patients’ enquiries." With an attitude like that, how are protected groups and others with special needs going to get any change? So what a surprise, it appears that just as in the past the doctors think that they know best, and it appears that their hand picked "patient representatives" are going to support them.
