Comments on: 70 patients die in a filthy, blood-splattered NHS hospital

By: The Greenroom » Forum Archive » UK health care horror: 1,200 die needlessly in filthy, blood-splattered hospital

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 01:50:15 +0000

[...] isn’t an isolated incident. Another NHS hospital faced a similar scandal when 70 patients died after suffering similar conditions. Another NHS hospital let a premature newborn die… because infants born before 22 weeks are [...]

By: Cassy Fiano » UK health care horror: 1,200 die needlessly in filthy, blood-splattered hospital

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 01:49:25 +0000

By: Mat

Mat — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:38:56 +0000

“You sound like you can see absolutely no good in this healthcare reform.”

Yes, this coming from a person who thought communism wasn’t really a bad idea…like I’ll actually listen to anything you have to say, Sonja…

By: Christopher Renner

Christopher Renner — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:34:08 +0000

Sonja, you’re reading that statistic the wrong way – what it says is that 62.1% of bankruptcies are related to medical expenses, not that 62.1% of the time someone gets medical care they’re going to have to file for bankruptcy.

Besides which, the authors have stretched to count that many bankruptcies as medical – they count bankruptcies where the bankruptcy filer claims that medical expenses played a role, whether or not there were hard facts supporting that assertion. Just relying on their hard facts they couldn’t claim more than 40.3% of bankruptcies are medically related. (See Table 2 for all this.)

Look further to table 1 – there really aren’t any significant differences between “medical” and “nonmedical” bankruptcy filers. Which suggests that instead of being unfairly burdened by medical expenses, bankruptcy filers are perhaps taking advantage of the ease with which one can file for bankruptcy.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 15:16:00 +0000

Sonja, with all due respect, the healthcare “reform” being considered in America is *nothing* like the Australian system you describe. Apples and oranges. The bills being considered (pushed) have been shown by the CBO to be more costly to Americans. An increase in taxes will begin years before healthcare “benefits” will be instituted. There are cuts in Medicare, which is already broke. Furthermore, they include fines and/or jail time for not signing up for a government-approved healthcare plan. Is this sort of thing that you’d want in Australia? It’s certainly not what most Americans want.

By: sonja

sonja — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 06:37:56 +0000

You sound like you can see absolutely no good in this healthcare reform.

Here in Australia, we just had conjoined twins separated by an excellent team of surgeons. All paid for by taxpayers through the public healthcare system.

We’re taxed 1.5% of our income (an additional 1% if you earn over $70K pa and don’t have private health insurance) towards healthcare. So even if I’m earning $50K per year, $750 of that goes towards paying for my health. So if I need emergency treatment for something, I’ve got it, and it’s paid for. Which means that unlike the US, we don’t have to file for bankruptcy for medical reasons 62.1% of the time. (http://www.pnhp.org/new_bankruptcy_study/Bankruptcy-2009.pdf)
So it’s not THAT expensive, either.

By: Bob

Bob — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 05:22:51 +0000

Reports have also shown that making “paperless hospitals” has actually caused costs to RISE. All of that software, training, and ongoing support (since it’s all Windows based) is expensive. Hardest hit have been smaller teaching hospitals.

Re-using equipment that’s supposed to be one-time use stuff will probably become even more common as costs spiral out of control. There’s no tort reform in the health care bill either? Why would people want to become doctors when you just become a huge target for lawsuits?
It’s a huge mess, and the Democrats are going to shove it on all of us and then blame the Republicans over it, claiming that it’s because of the abortion issue. (Which actually has been a non-issue overall)

This is how they’re going to try to keep their pants on during the 2010 elections. Mark my words.

By: Glenn Cassel AMH1(AW) USN Retired

Glenn Cassel AMH1(AW) USN Retired — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 05:12:37 +0000

Resignations! I don’t think so! This is nothing less than negligent homicide. And if the Crown doesn’t do anything, perhaps the citizenry should organize a vigilance committee and simply do what needs to be done. Rope, Tree, Doctor/bureaucrat……..assembly required. Hang them to the last!