JUST as we hear that the A&E and maternity departments at King George Hospital are to be saved (just before a General Election), another scandal has broken over Barking, Havering & Redbridge University Hospital Trust, which has consistently been cited as
JUST as we hear that the A&E and maternity departments at King George Hospital are to be saved (just before a General Election), another scandal has broken over Barking, Havering & Redbridge University Hospital Trust, which has consistently been cited as "the worst in the country".
Last week on Radio 4's The Report, Sir Brian Jarman stated that he had identified this trust as one of the 25 who report an unexpectedly high number of deaths each year and had written to Minister for Health Mike O'Brien about this in January but had yet to receive a response.
That this trust had "at least 150 more deaths than expected" sadly comes as no surprise to me as my grandmother was one of these unnecessary deaths at King George. She was forced to wait more than a week for an operation on her broken hip and starved of food for the entire time.
How many 95-year-olds would you expect to survive such treatment, especially when the broken hip was never immobilised?
As she was of the old school, she refused to complain if she was in pain and starving because she didn't want to be thought a "coward" or a "nuisance". When they finally operated, she was just too weak to survive.
My aunt subsequently wrote complaining of the treatment my grandmother had received, but was sent a mere form letter reply which did not seriously address the issues she had raised and no proper investigation was ever made.
Now it seems that Sir Brian is finally raising these isssues officially with Mike O'Brien because after 10 years of "no action, I needed to say something".
It would appear, however, that Mike O'Brien and his fellow Labour MPs in the area are happy for this inaction to continue as they smile for the cameras, as he has not received a response in over two months.
UKIP's policy of replacing these odious trusts with elected health boards which the voters can remove if they fail is clearly well overdue.
PAUL WIFFEN M.A. (Hons) OXON
UKIP London Chairman
Cedar Park Gardens
Chadwell Heath
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