Gagging and whistle bowing:
- The sacking of Northern Health & Social Care Trust Chair Jim Stewart was removed from his post for speaking out against the Health Minister.
- Lilly Kerr also faced the full might of Health Minister in July 2012, she was removed as chair of the Social Care Council after passing on information to trade unions and the media. However the information that she passed on was already int he public domain. References BBC, UNISON.
The biggest failure in health in Northern Ireland came at the hands of bad governance, this failure was not highlighted through Transforming Your Care, if anything those who were guilty of bad governance where actually part of the review team.
Key People:
- Health Minister Edwin Poots, brought Transforming Your Care review to Northern Ireland, appointing John Compton CEO of the Health & Social Care Board to lead it. During his term as health minister there have been several reported instances that showed a health service in crisis, these can be viewed below.
- John Compton, Mr Compton was appointed Chief Executive Designate of the Health and Social Care Board in January 2009. His hold one of the most critical post in Health in Northern Ireland and has resided over some of the worst performances in both patient care and finance in the history of the DHSSPS. Yet this is the man who was asked by the Health Minister to review health in Northern Ireland.
- Mary Hinds, Director of Nursing and Allied Health Professionals within the Public Health Authority. Mary Hinds was previously Director of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in Northern Ireland. Prior to joining the RCN, she was Director of Nursing at the Mater Hospital in Belfast. She was appointed by John Compton to be part of the Transforming Your Care Review team. Alos in commissioned by Health Minister Edwin Poots to review the under pressure Antrim Area Hosptial in January 2012.
Dr Rutter and Mary Hinds were asked to review A&E practices in Antrim Area Hosptial.The final report was highly questionable with Hinds stating to the health committee that she omitted claims of bullying within the Northern Health & Social Care Turst, BBC, despite her role in the review being to access staff morale. Despite the extent of the review and the changews enforced post the review Antrim Area Hospital failed to improve and standards have in fact got lower.
High Profile Deaths:
- Four babies died from pseudomonas at two Northern Ireland hospitals between in December 2011 and January 2012. Police are now conducting preliminary investigations into the four deaths from the bacterial infection. Reference - BBC
- His widow said that there was 'no dignity' in the way that he was treated at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. The 77-year-old was waiting all day to be transferred to another hospital but by the time medics came to move him he was dead. His widow said that there was 'no dignity' in the way that he was treated at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. Reference - Daily Mail, BBC, BBC
- Patient dies after listeria outbreak at Antrim and Causeway hospitals. Three patients were identified with a blood stream infection due to the listeria bacterium. An elderly patient has died following the outbreak of listeria at Antrim and Causeway hospitals in Northern Ireland. Reference BBC
- The Ulster Hospital in Dundonald has postponed about 30 routine operations a week as a result of a shortage of beds. The move is due to the ongoing pressure on the hospital's accident and emergency department. reference BBC
- Health bosses have said that vacant consultant jobs at hospitals across Northern Ireland may be plugged by temporary locum staff in order to maintain safe services — amid fears frontline patient care could be at risk because of a shortage of senior staff. Reference Belfast Telegraph
- Staff working on the frontline of Northern Ireland’s beleaguered health service have been speaking out as morale sinks to an all-time low and the system reaches breaking point. reference Belfast Telegraph
- We’re at breaking point, warns Northern Ireland nursing director“Stop trying to make the unworkable work.” That is the view of Janice Smyth, director of the Royal College of Nursing in Northern Ireland, on the current state of the health system. Reference Belfast Telegraph
Accident & Emergency Crisis:
- 26 JANUARY 2013, Almost 1,000 people waited longer than 12 hours in A&Es at two of Northern Ireland’s major hospitals over a three-month period, shock new figures have revealed. Reference Belfast Telegraph
- 20TH JANUARY 2012, A GP in Northern Ireland has described the situation at Antrim Area Hospital as “unacceptable”. Reference Health Care Today,
- Dr Josef Kuriacose, who works in the Northern Health Trust, has said the hospital is under so much pressure he would not want to go there
- 09 APRIL 2012, Northern Ireland’s health service has faced unprecedented pressure in recent months. Reference Belfast Telegraph
- 09 MARCH 2012, Almost 150 people waited longer than 12 hours over the weekend in three of the emergency units struggling to cope after the closure of the casualty at Belfast City Hospital. Reference Belfast Telegraph
- 21 March 2012, The person leading an action group looking at reducing waiting times at emergency departments across Northern Ireland has said the current system is "intolerable". Reference BBC
- 21 March 2012, Health Minister Edwin Poots has said he has been "applying pressure" to health trusts to find a better way to combat the problems in A&E departments. Reference BBC
- 19 JANUARY 2012, The man in charge of Antrim Area Hospital's A&E - which is struggling to cope with patient numbers - has been invited to explain the bed crisis to Antrim Borough Council.Reference Belfast Telegraph
- 20 MAY 2011, The A&E at Antrim Area Hospital is worse than a Belfast city centre hospital during the height of the Troubles, a leading Northern Ireland doctor has said. Reference Belfast Telegraph