ROOM 111, BE AFRAID. IT'S YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE

I've just read this article over at Liberal Conspiracy. 

It's something that I think we all need to read. 

People need to know that this company (and why would any other companies be different) are playing around with the health of sick and vulnerable people, and treating their staff with such disdain.

Do they not see that having to deal with these situations day in and day out, without proper medical knowledge, will create an intolerable strain. I wouldn’t last the first day.

Companies tender for these contracts, from which they can make a lot of money; they cut costs to the minimum with never a thought to the consequences. 

They are, after all, not in the least interested in the patient outcome. Dead or alive, they make money and it appears that if it all fails, they simply hand back the contract to the government and walk off with bonuses and Mercedes.

I am reminded of the almost unbelievable situation we found ourselves in a few years ago when retirement homes ran out of money and couldn't cope, because the management had sold off the property to give themselves massive bonuses, and then couldn't afford the money to rent them back. The taxpayer had to step in, regardless that the directors of the company had made millions, and rescue old people who didn't know where their next meal was coming from. 

It's hardly a modern European way of doing things, is it?

It’s no use appealing to a Tory government though. They and theirs are covered by private health insurance so they won't be listening. It’s a problem for little people of no account.  So Mr Hunt (promoted because he managed to deliver the Olympics with an unlimited budget, which we have never been allowed to know; and with the help of tens of thousands of army personnel, because his private contracts went belly up just days before curtain up) will continue to make a complete mess of running health in England.

Yes, in England, so, thank god, it is not us. Yet. Let's make sure it never is. 

Here's the article:

by Anonymous

The NHS Direct service, which has received much negative coverage since launch, will pull out of 111 contracts and hand over to other providers.

Does this surprise me? No – it serves an example of the negative consequences of the privatisation of the NHS.

As a former employee I know first hand that although this service fails its patients, they are not the only victims. The ‘call handlers’ whose job it is to speak to patients have been failed by the service too.

I worked for NHS Direct for four months, and during this time I was ‘trained’ to handle calls on the old service, and the new 111 number. I had no medical background, and five weeks of training on a computer questionnaire health system was deemed adequate to begin taking calls from the general public.

Focus was placed on the quantity of workers as opposed to the quality of our knowledge.

My first live call was a disaster. The patient was a stroke victim, and I did not recognise the signs. Trying to contact a clinician for advice was useless due to the long queues because of large call volumes. It was only when a manager intervened (a previous call handler with no official medical training) did I recognise the signs. Instead of being taken offline and being given the further training that I obviously needed, I was  informally disciplined and told to keep my head down.

Staff morale was low, and the wages were terrible. I worked for an external agency that was employed by the NHS to provide staff and the agency paid us up to 60% less for doing the same job as those employed by directly by the NHS.

Shifts could be changed within a twenty-four hour period; no paid sick leave, pension options or incentives. Because of this and poor management, no counselling or emotional support much of the staff did not care about the job or the patients.

Confidentiality breaches were common; with many staff unaware what decision to make would often invite others to help. Calls from the mentally disturbed and elderly were handled incorrectly by some staff members who had not received enough training to correctly handle these calls. Abuse calls required a flag to be raised but many staff simply could not always recognise the signs and would decide not to take action.

I participated in commissioner calls in order to deem the 111 service safe for a live launch. The calls were conducted in a casual and unprofessional manner. A call which I was tested on involved the caller speaking in a ludicrous French accent to determine if I knew what correct procedure to follow on the computer system. Even though the centre was deemed ‘safe’ it was obvious that given the circus like atmosphere on the day of the final tests that the staff were unprepared.

During my time as a call handler I tried to do the best that I could with the limited resources available. But because of the emotional and mentally draining element of the job I decided to leave, as did many other staff.

The illustrations of the English cabinet secretary for health are mine.