National Health Service

[SteveH]

Sorry Ian there is a link to the DFM in this article, but I thought it interesting enough to post.....  WWW

NHS vulnerable to health card fraud, government admits

A Hungarian reporter working undercover for the DFM said she obtained an NHS number and then an EHIC card.
She claims she was then able to access a range of medical treatment in Hungary - including maternity care - with the authorities there able to recoup costs from Britain.
The reporter, Ani Horvath, had a fellow journalist pose as her landlord and offer a forged tenancy agreement as proof of address in order to register at a London GP surgery.
Ms Horvath said she then flew to London and underwent a check-up at the surgery, during which her Hungarian ID card and the lease document were scanned but not questioned.
She was then issued with an NHS number, which her accomplice used to successfully apply online for an EHIC card for her, which was valid for five years.
Whitehall sources said it was not clear how extensive EHIC fraud might be, but the Department of Health acknowledged there were loopholes in the system that could be tightened.


By Hugh Pym, Health Editor BBC There are no figures on the scale of fraud with EHIC cards obtained in the UK and used to cover health costs in other European countries.
Whitehall officials believe it could be limited. But critics will say the fact that the Government does not know how much of the money paid to other health systems for EHIC use - £154 million in 2013/14 - might be the result of fraud is itself a problem.
The Department of Health acknowledges that the system need to be tightened up. Questions will be asked about whether more robust evidence of residence and National Insurance contributions is required before NHS numbers and EHIC cards are provided. Cards issued in the UK have a five year lifespan. Some argue this could be shorter, in line with other countries.
Then there's the issue of policing the system with many GPs arguing their job is to care for those who need it rather than act as border control officials.

MORE.....http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-33843758


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3191557/Foreigners-charge-NHS-care-country-Loophole-lets-thousands-migrants-free-treatment-card-GP.html

[SteveH]

Health board managers were paid more than £50m as their numbers rose by nearly a fifth in three years

Managers at North Wales’ scandal-hit health board were paid more than £50m in three years, as their numbers rose by almost a fifth.
Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act also show that the average wage paid to managers at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board increased by 9% between March 2012 and March 2015.

The board paid senior managers £21.5m and managers £29.5m, based on average salaries over the three-year period.
The number of managers rose from 196.13 to 231.40 - an increase of 17%.
The average wage paid to managers increased from £34,298 to £37,636, equating to a 9% pay rise.
Last year alone, the number of managers employed by the troubled board increased by 29 from the year before, with a rise in their average wage of more than £1,000

Clwyd West AM Darren Millar, who is the party’s health spokesperson, said: “Boosting the number of NHS ‘managers’ in Wales and upping their average pay at a time when frontline staff are under immense pressure is astonishing.
MORE....http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/betsi-cadwaladr-managers-health-board-9880221

[Fester]

How can the physical NUMBER of managers be 231.4 ??

You see what I mean about dodgy statistics!

[snowcap]

is one of them pregnant?

[norman08]

Yes and a lot of them took the pay off ,12 months later a post becomes available for them by their mates ,but the staff on the front line have cuts ,could write a book on mad nhs management around this area .

[Ian]

How can the physical NUMBER of managers be 231.4 ??
You see what I mean about dodgy statistics!

I don't think it was a good idea to provide the mathematical figures as provided;  Rachel ought to have said "from almost 200 to more than 230".  Non-statisticians don't always understand raw statistical data. But then, as has been proved many, many times reporters on the Nationals don't understand percentages, probability or accuracy...

[SteveH]

Fault shuts down operating theatres at Llandudno General Hospital
Patients’ surgical procedures are being relocated after problems were detected in the air conditioning system of a hospital’s operating theatre.
The was reported at Llandudno General Hospital in recent days after staff carried out routine checks.
It means that surgery at the unit’s two operating theatres is now being transferred some 22 miles away to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor.
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/llandudno-hopital-operation-air-conditioning--9939388

[Fester]

A five hour wait, on the pavement, in the freezing sleet for an ambulance... the Exec Officer calls it, 'unfortunate'. 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-35729133

[Ian]

The Welsh Ambulance Service is broken. At the very least they need to double the number of ambulances in service.

[norman08]

If all the ambulances were not queuing up outside hospitals wouldn't be a problem .  I noticed yesterday about the overpaying of food from suppliers that was another reason I left the hospital ,I suggested savings and managment didn't want to know that is the biggest problem bad managers ...  Question I asked when do I know when the heating is on ,,,,, the windows are open . So much waste but those at the top don't want to know as its not their money .

[Ian]

Yes; they certainly need to become more flexible in the triage department. Bangor only has 8 beds in A & E, so it doesn't take a lot to make their department inaccessible on a busy night.

[Hugo]

If all the ambulances were not queuing up outside hospitals wouldn't be a problem .  I noticed yesterday about the overpaying of food from suppliers that was another reason I left the hospital ,I suggested savings and managment didn't want to know that is the biggest problem bad managers ...  Question I asked when do I know when the heating is on ,,,,, the windows are open . So much waste but those at the top don't want to know as its not their money .

That's too often the problem Norman,  it's the staff who work in the hospitals who know how to run the place but all too often the pen pushers at the top won't listen to them.
It's a shame because we could all benefit from their suggestions.

[Blongb]

If patients who were due to be released from Hospital were seen by their Consultant first thing in the morning, before they did their Morning outpatients clinics, there would be no bed shortage problem.

[Ian]

Another case of a non-arriving ambulance:

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/elderly-conwy-woman-10-hour-10999235

[DaveR]

A five hour wait, on the pavement, in the freezing sleet for an ambulance... the Exec Officer calls it, 'unfortunate'. 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-35729133

Absolutely appalling story, more reminiscent of a third world country than the UK.