People Die and Politicians Apologize

As America prepares to be railroaded into a national health care scheme, an anecdotal report out of England gives us a glimpse of what to expect.

TOO few nurses, too poorly trained; receptionists rather than medical staff assessing arrivals at A&E [emergency rooms]; high rates of infection by the superbug Clostridium difficile; at least 400 more patient deaths than expected in just three years.

A tale of a single disastrously managed institution, and yet the failings of Stafford Hospital, which were first picked up by the Healthcare Commission in 2007 and made public in a report on March 17th, have triggered apologies right up the political ladder.

“On behalf of the government and the NHS I would like to apologise to the patients and families of patients,” said the health secretary, Alan Johnson.

The following day the prime minister, Gordon Brown joined in: “We do apologise to all those people who have suffered,” he told Parliament, adding the usual bromide that it “should never be allowed to happen again”.

This local difficulty has gone national mainly because people suspect that those terrible hospital managers were made worse by the pressure to meet government targets. Both the health secretary and the prime minister deny it, but the commission’s report into the scandalous level of care provides support for the view.

It found that hospital managers were chasing stringent financial targets in order to achieve “foundation” status, the badge of honour given to the best hospitals, which comes with more freedom to manage one’s affairs. This led them to cut more than 150 posts, including some nursing ones, and left the hospital seriously understaffed.

In summary, many people die and many politicians apologize. It should be the tagline for socialized medicine.

More at the link.