A private hospital in England has repeatedly mistreated and put thousands of patients in harm’s way. On top of that, Melanie Newman reported for the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in February 2017, a senior surgeon has been under investigation for fraud and other serious issues that have created serious problems to the hospital patients. Thousands of patients have been affected by the hospital’s poor care and mistreatment as it has been prioritizing the financial state of the private hospital over the safety and health of the patients.
Fawkham Manor hospital underwent inspection multiple times during 2016 that resulted in unusual and serious findings. For example, when inspectors went into the hospital they found that staff regularly failed to wash their hands, and frequently brought patients to the wrong theater, as well as neglecting equipment maintenance. According to the inspectors, the leadership team “did not understand the risks,” thus putting patients at “high risk of avoidable harm.”
Mohammed Suhaib Sait is the senior surgeon accused of fraud. As Newman reported, he has been “accused of carrying out unnecessary and substandard operations,” and prioritizing financial priorities over patient care. Some staff members were aware of the senior surgeon’s practices, but, according to inspectors, “staff did not always feel they could raise concerns or have confidence their concerns would be listened to.”
In February 2017, Pamela Duncan of the Guardian did report on the NHS losing confidential information patients, which led to delays in care and patients taking wrong amounts of medicine. Otherwise, the problems that have affected thousands of patients in the UK have failed to be covered in the corporate media.
Sources:
Melanie Newman, “Private Hospital Put NHS Patients at High Risk of Harm,” Bureau of Investigative Journalism, February 23, 2017, https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2017-02-23/bmi-hospital-rated-unsafe-put-patients-at-risk-of-harm.
Melanie Newman, “Surgeon Accused of Profiting from Unnecessary NHS Operations,” Bureau of Investigative Journalism, January 29, 2017, https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2017-01-29/surgeon-accused-of-profiting-from-unnecessary-operations-on-nhs-patients.
Pamela Duncan, “NHS Accused of Covering up Huge Data Loss That Put Thousands at Risk,” Guardian, February 26, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/feb/26/nhs-accused-of-covering-up-huge-data-loss-that-put-thousands-at-risk.
Student Evaluator: Jonathan Esparza (College of Western Idaho)
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