Ethical Companies – The Blog

“A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do” – Bob Dylan

Steve

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Police probe death of hospital patient who begged for water.

A hospital patient, Kane Gorny, died of dehydration after becoming so desperate for a drink of water that he called police for help. The 22-year-old was not given vital medication after an operation at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, south London, according to his mother.

So not only was he not given any water but he wasn’t given his medication either.

A coroner has such grave concerns about the case that it has been referred to police who are investigating Mr Gorny’s care. Mr Gorny, from Balham, was diagnosed with a brain tumour the year before his death, according to a report in the Daily Mail. Treatment caused his bones to weaken and he was admitted to the hospital for a hip replacement in May 2009. His mother, Rita Cronin, says he needed drugs three times a day to regulate his hormones, but he was not given them by hospital staff. She said he became very dehydrated but his requests for water were refused and nurses called in security guards to restrain him when he became angry. He became so frustrated that he rang the police from his bed to demand their help but officers were assured Mr Gorny was fine.

Angry ? I bet he was …. Presumably he couldn’t just head for the nearest tap under his own steam.

She said nurses assumed he was just badly behaved. Mr Gorny’s cause of death was determined to be dehydration. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “Detectives from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command are investigating the death of Kane Gorny at St George’s Hospital after this was referred to us by Westminster Coroner’s Court.” A spokesman for St George’s Hospital said: “We are extremely sorry about the death of Kane Gorny and understand the distress that this has caused to his family.

His death is indeed very distressing to his family, even more so is the knowledge that it was largely due to gross incompetence.

“A full investigation was carried out and new procedures introduced to ensure that such a case cannot happen in future. “We have written to the family to explain the actions that have been taken and to answer their concerns about Mr Gorny’s care. “The family has also been invited to meet with trust staff to discuss the case in detail.”

Ahhh procedures and processes, that’ll help. I’m quite sure that compassion, empathy, sympathy and understanding are difficult concepts to instil in people via “procedures”.  As for the invitation to meet trust staff I reckon they’d prefer to meet the staff responsible for his death, and show them just how they feel ….

Now if you’ve been paying attention you’ll notice I said “these men” not “this man” in the title.  Why ?  Well you’d have thought this sort of thing could just be an isolated incident ….  Oh no, here we go again:

Dying hospital patient phoned switchboard begging for a drink after nurses said NO.

A patient desperate for a drink of water had to telephone the switchboard of the hospital he was being treated in to beg to see a doctor. Derek Sauter, 60, used his mobile phone to request medical attention after his pleas for help were ignored. But when the doctor arrived he was turned away by ward nurse Caroline Lowe, who said Mr Sauter was ‘over-reacting’ and threatened to confiscate his phone.

So what if he was over-reacting ? Would it have really hurt just to give this man a jug of water and a glass ? Heck just one glass of water would have helped make his last few hours on earth more pleasant, it might have even saved his life, who knows ?

Eight hours later the grandfather-of-three, who was suffering with a chest infection, was dead. Rather than offering sympathy to Susan, Mr Sauter’s wife of 41 years, Miss Lowe later told her that he could have been prosecuted for harassing the doctor on call. Yesterday his daughter, Ruth Sauter, 42, said she was appalled at the way her father, a former administrator for the Healthcare Commission, the former NHS watchdog, had been let down by the NHS.

So the NHS let down one of their own ….

‘My father went into hospital for a routine chest infection, but never came out,’ said Miss Sauter, of Thurrock, Essex. ‘His condition was not life threatening and the nurses had specific instructions to keep close tabs on him. ‘But their appalling lack of care, and cruel behaviour killed my father. He should not have died that weekend; it was not his time. ‘It’s so much worse knowing that he died alone, thirsty and scared on that ward.’

Even worse: knowing that his death was indirectly (at least in part) due to negligence, incompetence and callousness. Even if giving this man water hadn’t stopped him dying he wouldn’t have spent his last few hours on earth “gagging” for a drink of water.

Mr Sauter was admitted to Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup, in Kent, at 9am on June 27 2008. He was admitted to a ward and given intravenous antibiotics and oxygen, but at 8.30pm he telephoned Mrs Sauter, a midwife, in distress claiming nurses were refusing to give him any water because he had accidentally knocked over the first cup he had been given. A note scrawled by Mr Sauter and discovered by his family after his death said: ‘Asked for a jug of water at 6pm and again at 8.30, told to wait for handover. Said I knocked cup of water on floor.’

In another note Mr Sauter said he was ‘getting depressed’. Some time between 9.30pm and 11.30pm Mr Sauter was moved to a side room where there was no monitoring equipment and, although he was supposed to be checked every four hours, no observations on his condition were made. At 11.35pm Mr Sauter, who had still not had any fluids, made his desperate call to the switchboard. The following morning, at 6.51am, a distressed Mr Sauter telephoned his wife to ask her to come back to the hospital. But he died of pneumonia brought on by the chest infection less than half an hour later – before Mrs Sauter, 60, arrived.

I would been depressed as well if it was me, and extremely angry as well.

She had not been able to see him before have because the events had happened outside of visiting hours. An investigation by the hospital revealed Mr Sauter’s oxygen levels, which should have been routinely monitored, were not checked for 11 hours and had dropped 35 per cent below the recommended level. The report concluded that were it not for the failings of Miss Lowe Mr Sauter would have survived. She has since been sacked by the hospital, but has not been suspended by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, who are investigating. ‘It’s absolutely appalling that they haven’t struck the nurse off their register,’ Miss Sauter added. Miss Lowe, who lives in Essex, said: ‘I am so sorry about what has gone on, but there are key facts the family haven’t picked up on. ‘He didn’t press the buzzer. We got him water, but then he spilled it, so we got him another glass. We got him a jug and everything. ‘I have been through such trauma with this. I am still traumatised by it.’ A spokesman for Queen Mary’s Hospital said: ‘The Trust would like to convey their sincerest apologies for the failings in care which have been revealed.’

Apologies. That’ll help ….

Honestly I am speechless, I really don’t know what to say.

Steve

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Eat less meat to save 18,000 lives, warns government’s medical chief.

As regular readers will no doubt I agree with people having the right to smoke and have commented upon such on a number of occasions. I have also intimated on a number of occasions that the “anti smoking” campaign could well be the “thin end of the wedge” and as such is being used to control people in the name of “it’s good for you”, uh huh. I’ve also mentioned the following famous passage on a number of occasions:

“First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me.” – Martin Niemöller

We could oh so easily change communists or socialists etc to drinkers, smokers, motorcycle riders, motorists and so on. So they’ve come for the motorcyclists (compulsory crash helmets), the motorists (compulsory seat belts) and they’re coming for the smokers and the drinkers …. Yes, next thing you know it’s all about what we/you eat, and if you’re “obese” or even (heaven forbid) “a bit portly” then you just know you’re going to get some “grief”, from someone somewhere.  So what do we have this time ? “Eat less meat”:

“Britons should significantly reduce the amount of meat they eat in order to save thousands of lives, the chief medical officer said yesterday. Sir Liam Donaldson said that if the country cut its meat consumption by 30 per cent, 18,000 premature deaths from heart disease would be avoided each year. And the resulting fall in the number of sick people would mean tens of thousands of extra ‘healthy life years’”

Just because not doing something means you live longer doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to stop doing it.  Heck we might all live longer if we live in Norway, so let’s all move to Norway shall we ?  Err no, I have nothing against Norway but I don’t want to live there, same as I don’t want to quit eating meat.  It’s all about pros and cons as well so eat less meat and PRO you might live longer but CON you might prefer to eat meat (which is enjoyable) and live less, nobody wants to spend their entire life eating lentils and tofu (ok extreme case formulation strategy there I know, but you see what I mean).  In the comments on the Daily Mail article we have Jimmy Smith from Norfolk:

“Eat this, dont eat that, do this dont do that, this is bad for you, this is good for you, eat 5 of this a day, dont smoke, dont drink, get 7 hrs sleep a night, how about you all please shut up and keep your opinions to yourself, I’ll live my life how I choose. We all die at some point anyways, why not enjoy our time on this planet.”

Well it’s a good point. As for myself I don’t smoke, I don’t drink (not much, really really not much), I don’t “do” illegal drugs and I don’t gamble (not counting the lottery). I am soooo NOT giving up meat as well, in fact I have this urge for a nice big juicy steak right now, so well done Liam Donaldson for promoting the British Beef industry.  And if Mrs Donaldson is listening and is tired of Liam’s sanctimonious ranting, get him one of these for his birthday, he’ll sooooo love it:

Steve

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“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we” – George W Bush

Never fails to make me smile

Steve

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The trouble with men.

1 They believe house fairies (ie us) do all the washing-up and laundry, take the rubbish out and replenish stocks.

Ok I don’t do the laundry but my weekly wash is half the size of the wife’s, I’m low maintenance by comparison. I do take rubbish out, in fact I don’t recall the last time anyone else in the house actually emptied the kitchen bin (it’s like the Simpsons episode where they staple items on rather than take it out). As for washing up I love my dishwasher

2 They expect praise having completed a tiny task (despite taking ages over it).

Praise ? Round here ? Dream on.

3 They suffer from sporadic blocked nostril syndrome — the inability to smell their own bodily odours, foul bins or blocked sinks — but are sniffer dogs when you’ve drunk too much white wine or there’s a roast in the oven.

I don’t have bodily odours. As for “off” food I’m the only one who ever spots it, or smelly bins etc.

4 They jump in with fix-it solutions when we just want to be heard — they don’t seem to understand we like whingeing.

Well try a disclaimer then “this is just a whinge, feel free to ignore me”.

5 They are incapable of thinking beyond the next week and arranging holidays/fun things for us to do. Closely linked to…

Let me see who organised our wedding, every single holiday and God knows what else ? Clue: It’s not my wife.

6 Datelexia: an inability to remember (or care about) things we’ve planned. Ditto birthdays, anniversaries and Valentine’s.

Jean doesn’t know when we got married, day or month or year. She probably couldn’t even tell you where it was (it’s tomorrow if you’re reading this, March 27th).

7 They get all our friends’ children’s/partners’ names wrong, even the ones we’ve just seen.

Yeah right I don’t think so. If I’ve forgotten someone’s name it’s usually because I don’t like them not because they’re Jean’s friend.

8 They are reluctant to go to bed, always finding a distraction in television, computers and faffing.

Guilty, sometimes.

9 They “suffer” from man flu and shameless hypochondria.

Wrong, I haven’t had flu for 20 years.

10 They spend our savings on platinum noise-cancelling headphones and other ridiculous, expensive gadgets.

Computers possibly. Oh and £150 on a TomTom which paid for itself because it tells me where the speed cameras are

11 They “shower snork” — clearing their nose in the shower.

Doesn’t everybody ?

12 They leave bachelor-style coin pile-ups everywhere.

Mine are in a jar.

13 They have zero patience for shopping except when it’s for them, which they pursue with clinical OCD.

I admittedly don’t like shopping (in shops), use Amazon, it rocks.

14 They spend hours on the loo. Can it be that arduous ?

Uh huh, no I don’t. Jean can’t go without “having a fag” first and as for David you could read War And Peace while waiting for him to get out of the toilet.

15 They send cryptic texts because they haven’t given them enough (any) thought.

I don’t do texts, I’m 45 not 15.

16 They always seem to want to break their necks skiing.

Never had the slightest desire to ski, ever, and that’s despite having lived in Austria for a time. Or skate or anything else sporty and dangerous (I do quite like pool and snooker).

17 They assume highway restrictions do not apply to them. “You can’t be banned unless you’re more than 30mph over the limit.” So that’s 99mph all the way down the M40, then.

I have to say the following: 1) If you do 70mph on a motorway you’re likely to be one of the slowest on there (not counting lorries, coaches or the M6) 2) Car speedometers are hopelessly inaccurate, the one on your TomTom is accurate.

18 Their “quick drink” brings them back, wasted, at 4am (and, apparently, also turns their mobile off).

I drink 2 units …. Not a night, not a week, about 2 a month usually. Ok, possibly not true but I don’t go out drinking. I can be tempted to a bottle of Jagermeister now and again though.

19 They are conflict-avoidant, preferring to let issues stew.

Hardly surprising considering the potential reaction.

20 They belch loudly and proudly in public (and private).

Natural body functions. I wouldn’t do it at work though.  Ditto farting.

21 They never make the bed — “it needs to air”.

Guilty. But it’s just a few pillows and a duvet, it’s hardly a 30 minute job is it ?

22 They hog the telly.

Jean spend her life watching the following: Dog Whisperer, The End Of My Leash, It’s Me Or The Dog, Top Gear (yeah I know, perhaps she fancies Richard Hammond), Shed Channel, The Caravan Show. If I so much as want to watch the cooking channel I get abuse

23 They worship their mother, believing she is perfect and talking about her way too much.

No.

24 They lust after anything with bare legs and large breasts.

Red hair maybe …. Seriously large breasts are not essential. Gillian Anderson is of course still the sexiest woman on the planet

25 They believe Cheryl Cole is 100% natural.

I believe Cheryl Cole has the sex appeal of a dead slug, she does nothing for me; and if that’s natural then I’m hung like Ron Jeremy

This article has been blogged in a couple of places and until I chose to resist commenting.  But seriously, could you imagine the reaction and criticism if we had a similar article about women ?  Also, I thought the Times was a “serious” newspaper ?  This article shouldn’t even be worthy of being published by the Times.

Steve

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Did you know that anti smoking started with the Nazis ?

Today’s Anti-Smoking Purge Is Borrowed From The Nazis.

Like I’ve said before I don’t smoke (the other people in the house do, and I was once a smoker myself on 40 a day at one point) but I wouldn’t try to deny people the freedom to smoke if they want to, providing it’s not “in my face” (metaphorically and literally).  I know people go on about the health risks but it’s their lungs not mine, let people get on with it if that’s what they want.

As for the Nazi thing, let’s hope the smoking bans aren’t a precursor to yet more draconian measures to curb (or even curtail) people’s personal freedom of choice in other matters ….  Alcohol, food etc.

Steve

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Rather an unfortunate name for the journalist considering the content of the article ….

Steve

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Teachers suspended after pupil Sam Linton dies from asthma attack.

You may recall my earlier blog post about the death of Sam Linton a few days back …. (Here)  In it I discussed the incompetence shown by teachers at Offerton High School in not calling an ambulance for a pupil who was having a serious asthma attack.  Well it seems 5 teachers have now been suspended whilst a formal inquiry is undertaken.  I shall be watching this one with interest.

Steve

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Ban smoking in cars to save young lives.

Sir, A new report launched today by the Royal College of Physicians, Passive Smoking and Children, confirms that passive smoking is a leading cause of death and disease in children. About two million children are currently exposed to cigarette smoke at home, and many more outside the home. In addition to the serious health risks of passive smoking, however, the report also points out the additional health risk to children posed by family smoking, which makes children about twice as likely to become smokers themselves.

These health hazards to children can be avoided entirely by acting to reduce the number of adults who smoke, particularly parents and care-givers, and to reduce still further the exposure of children to smoke and smoking, both in and outside the home. This will require a comprehensive strategy including tobacco price rises, mass media campaigns, more effective health warnings, prohibition of point of sale display, generic packaging and better provision of smoking cessation services.

Smoke-free legislation also needs to be extended much more widely, to include public places visited by children and young people, and including prohibition of all smoking in cars and other vehicles. The Chief Medical Officer, in his foreword to the report, says that we must keep up the momentum to continue to reduce the harm of tobacco use in our communities, and create a truly smoke-free future. As doctors, we agree, and call on governments to take the necessary actions to protect our children’s future.

Riiiight ….  Although A) I don’t currently have a car anyway (I have a van, it’s a long story) and B) I don’t smoke ….  I don’t see why on earth I shouldn’t smoke in my car/van if I want to.  I’m sure the external diesel fumes on the M6 are far worse than a whiff of Lambert and Butler.  Isn’t it about time we stopped terrorising smokers ?

Of course, let’s look to Helen Lovejoy ….

Steve

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A Scientist Writes ….

Oxford University researchers have discovered the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element, Governmentium (symbol=Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called pillocks. Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert. However, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact.

A tiny amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction (that would normally take less than a second) to take from 4 days to 4 years to complete. Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2 to 6 years. It does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places.

In fact, Governmentium’s mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes. This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass. When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium (symbol=Ad), an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium, since it has half as many pillocks but twice as many morons.

Made me smile

Steve

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