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Shocking report but not surprising
LAST week's County Times featured an article with the headline, Hygiene levels cause 'disgust'.
There are no prizes for guessing that it was about East Surrey Hospital and that it contained revolting details of, among other things, a kidney bowl containing faeces and urine being left in a toilet for over 12 hours.
It was shocking reading but not surprising, sadly. I've been getting letters and emails with these kinds of horrible details for years.
They share common themes – they are about failures in basic care and basic hygiene and they tend to reflect the terrible experiences, particularly of elderly patients.
They also often make for very upsetting reading and I know that members of my team have been deeply distressed at descriptions of people's elderly relatives left lying in their own waste for hours, dehydrated and staring at the food in front of them that they are unable to eat because there is no one to feed them.
Imagine being in that situation. It's like something out of your worst nightmare and yet, despite the best efforts of desperately over-stretched staff, it seems to be a regular occurrence.
It also doesn't surprise me that the patient who got in touch with the County Times, reported that his GP said he wouldn't send patients there if he had the choice. It doesn't surprise me as I've heard it many times before but it is deeply, deeply worrying.
Only four weeks ago, I went to East Surrey to meet the chief executive and the new chairman.I listened to their assertions that the hospital has improved and that it no longer deserved its reputation.
It felt like Groundhog Day – every single time I visit I am told the hospital has improved and that patients are happy. It hasn't and many of them aren't.
Every time I complain on behalf of one of my constituents about failures in basic care and hygiene, I am told that as a result procedures will be changed.
But nothing changes. I feel like I am hitting my head against a brick wall and that I've been bashing away for years.
Local people deserve decent access to services that are grounded on excellent hygiene and care. That's why, even though the Government and the local PCT ignore our plight, I am determined to do everything I can to get a new local hospital for NHS patients.
I know we can get a world class hospital for patients in the Horsham and Crawley area – one that patients and GPs alike trust and want to use.
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Weather for Horsham
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 6 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -7 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: East
