COTTAGE HOSPITAL CASUALTY & CARE.DATA

My dear ladies and occasional gentlemen much as I am grateful for our NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE, I am also saddened by its state at present. Whilst there is much good to celebrate, equally there are things going wrong that are costing lives.

Our WONDERFUL COTTAGE HOSPITAL is a CASUALTY and will be an ENORMOUS LOSS to the local community. It seems that those of us in RURAL COMMUNITIES are not important enough to have our own hospital. There are far more important people in PARLIAMENT who have to have a HOSPITAL virtually in every BUROUGH.

It seems to me the NHS is TOP-HEAVY with MANAGERS, DIRECTORS AND MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS and short on NURSES, MIDWIVES, CARERS AND WARD AIDS.

Yet again the NHS has proposed a NEW initiative, ‘ CARE.DATA’. They plan to collect PATIENTS confidential MEDICAL RECORDS, HOSPITAL RECORDS AND COMMUNITY SERVICE RECORDS on one data base for our benefit. However a decision will be made in MARCH whether to SHARE THE DATA WITH PRIVATE COMPANIES.

Yet again a proposal has been suspended because of what Ronald would refer to as a ‘COCK-UP’. Apparently they FAILED to deliver the relevant information to patients in time to launch the system. I received mine but did not like it.

I have decided not to allow my confidential information to be shared as I DO NOT HAVE ANY CONFIDENCE that the DATA would be secure and I HAVE NO CONTROL over who the INFORMATION will be SHARED with.

Apart from that if they CANNOT EVEN MANAGE to send out the relevant information leaflets about the proposals, HOW ON EARTH would they manage such a COMPLEX SYSTEM?

Yours Grumpily

Celia