NHS Facts
Six figure salaries
The basic annual salaries of NHS Fife directors (Annual Accounts 2012):
- £170,000 – Dr Brian Montgomery, Medical Director
- £165,000 – Dr Edward Coyle, Director of Public Health
- £150,000 – Mr John Wilson, Chief Executive
- £115,000 – Ms Anne Buchanan, Nurse Director
Weak leadership
- Higher than average death rates at Queen Margaret Hospital (read more).
- Poor accident and emergency performance. Highest percentage of delayed discharges in mainland Scotland (read more). 93 fit patients die awaiting hospital release in Fife (read more).
- Incompetent management of Fife's Community Health Partnerships (read more).
- Cancer target missed (read more).
- Poor management at Victoria Hospital (read more)...(and more). Shortage of nurses at Victoria Hospital (read more). Travel problems at Victorial Hospital (read more).
- Weak budgetary controls: Highest cost provider in primary care in Scotland (read more). Highest GP prescribing costs in Scotland (read more). NHS Fife overspends by £3.28m (read more). NHS Fife overspends by £2.4m (read more). Weak controls over contract consultant fees (read more). Budget 'shambles' in operational division (read more).
- Inspectors find Victoria and Queen Margaret hospitals unhygienic (read more).
- Weak leadership: annual review criticised (read more).
- Highest compensation claims in Scotland (read more). Delayed inquiries and medical negligence (read more). Care failings at Queen Margaret Hospital (read more). Failure to investigate abnormal test results (read more).
- Long dental waiting lists and high treatment costs (read more).
- Incompetent public consultations. Lack of transparency about A&E services (read more). Public kept in the dark over changes to services (read more). Breaking up the patients' forum (read more).
- Incompetent management: missed clinic appointments rise year on year in Fife (read more).
- High staff absenteeism (read more).
Ageism
The NHS does not treat all patients equally. Some NHS trusts are institutionally ageist:
- NHS ageism 'stopping elderly getting cancer treatment'
- Old people ‘not safe’ in Scottish hospitals, nurses say
- NHS ageism 'harming elderly care'
- Care of elderly criticised
Cancer patients beware
Cancer patients in particular are often discriminated against:
- You’re seeking attention, GPs tell young cancer victims
- Cancer patients who are young, female or from an ethnic minority face a longer wait to be diagnosed and referred to a cancer specialist.
- Breast cancer victims face NHS ageism, campaigners claim
- Elderly women are dying needlessly from breast cancer because it is diagnosed too late.
- Older women 'denied breast cancer treatment'
- Elderly people are being denied cancer surgery because NHS doctors are reluctant to operate on them.
- Elderly cancer treatment 'shame'
Nursing care
Poor nursing care is common in the NHS:
- Nurses 'are losing their sense of compassion’.
- RCN Conference: Nurses' compassion 'as important as skills'.
- Elderly are humiliated by nurses.
Weekend staff availability
- Patients are more likely to die in hospital if they are admitted at the weekend: one of the most important reasons is that there are fewer doctors available.
- Nine to five culture in NHS has devastating impact.
- Juniors doctors told to do operations they are not trained for: survey.
- Patients are 40 per cent more likely to die if admitted at the weekend: London University study.
A&E patients more likely to die on bank holidays
- Patients admitted to hospital as emergency cases on public holidays are significantly more likely to die than those admitted on other days of the week – including weekends – a major Scottish study has revealed.
The 'killing season'
- Each year, the first Wednesday in August sees more than 6,000 newly qualified doctors start their careers in medicine. It coincides with a 6% increase in death rates.
- Sir Bruce Keogh, the Medical Director of the NHS, admits that patients are at risk during this period.
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