nhs gets the blame
The piece quoted below, by Evolve Politics, says it all. The mass media like the BBC and the Graun simply aren’t reporting the news any more. For accuracy, you need to visit social media sites like Evolve and, of course Vox Political.
This Site ran its first piece on the subject yesterday, under the headline Health of thousands threatened because privatised NHS contractor misplaced documents – fair, accurate and, of course, laying blame where it belongs, with the privatisation of services.
The NHS didn’t misplace half a million documents – a private company partly owned by French firm Sopia Steria did.
The NHS didn’t cover up a data leak – Conservative government Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt did.
If the BBC and the Graun can’t report the news properly, then you have two choices – complain until they change their ways, or boycott them. Readers are already abandoning the Graun en masse.
Perhaps the most worrying aspect of this story is that NHS services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were also affected, even though they should not be using privatised services.
Explanation, please?
The BBC opens with “NHS misplaced half a million documents,” The Guardian went with “NHS accused of covering up data leak.” Were you to read the mainstream media this morning then you might be forgiven for thinking our National Health Service was putting patients at risk. In reality, the fault lies with a private company. However, “private company fails the NHS” isn’t a snappy headline.
Between 2011 and 2016, 500,000 documents containing medical information were mistakenly filed for storage instead of being forwarded to GPs. This included important items like test results for cases as personal as cancer biopsies. Investigations are now under way into 2500 of the highest risk cases. The cost of these investigations has already reached £2.2 million as medical experts are brought in to individually assess cases.
A further investigation will also take place into whether the loss of documents played a role in the death of patients. A 50 strong team of administrators have also been brought in to resolve the mess left by the private company.
The company, NHS Shared Business Services, is partly owned by the Department of Health and partly by French company Sopia Steria. The government’s aim was to use a private company to increase efficiency within the NHS. Their poor record largely affects NHS England. Only 41 pieces of missing correspondence were from NHS Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. NHS England has the highest levels of private involvement.
Posted by jeffrey davies on 28 February 2017
