成人快手

Reactions to my post of 30 May 2006, regarding yet another (alleged) disaster within NHS Western Isles have left me less than pleased. In the 6 months of the Island Blogging project for the Western Isles, I have consistently flagged up failings within the organisation of the NHS in these isles; threats with legal action by people who cannot be held to account (there is no traceability in the Comments section, or is there, Graham?) would be entirely the sort of reaction that employees of NHS Western Isles can expect if they raise concerns. Stating that the lack of communication CAUSED the unfortunate deaths I referred to in the earlier version of the 30 May piece is an inaccuracy on my part, which I have now corrected.

If the relatives of the deceased were to raise a complaint, this matter would be looked into and at worst, the documented systems failure could be held to be a contributary factor. That has, by law, not been ascertained. Hence my rewriting of the piece. Nonetheless, the breakdown of communications remains a systems failure and a very serious matter. Rather than shooting a messenger, those that shout so loudly would do better to hold those that do not act on the systems failure to account.

Another problem was flagged up by the Western Isles MP at the end of last week. Endoscopies requested by doctors to be carried out at Uist & Barra Hospital were delayed by up to 6 months. Apparently because the requisite equipment was not on site, according to the MP. Endoscopy involves inserting a tube with a camera into the oesophagus (the tube linking the mouth to the stomach) and the stomach. It is a common procedure, used for diagnosing peptic ulcers of the stomach or the duodenum (the first bit of gut after the stomach) as well as cancer of those organs. Delaying these diagnostic procedures mean that treatment would be delayed, and (as the MP highlighted) time is of the essence in treatment of (not just ulcers but particularly) cancer.

I take the liberty, afforded to me and everybody else by law, to highlight systems failures within NHS Western Isles as they come to light. I think I have adequately attributed the information in this post, and not drawn any conclusions that are non-substantiable.

Can we please have an open discussion, rather than slamming each other with the threat of lawyers? They earn quite enough already.

Moran taing.