Marathon Pundit: British ObamaCare update: Inadequate hygiene in Scotland

Monday, September 27, 2010

British ObamaCare update: Inadequate hygiene in Scotland

Lack of money isn't the issues in regards to inadequate sanitary standards in Scotland. The government running health care is at the root of this problem, with an assist granted to that old deadly sin, human laziness.

Would you want a filthy endoscope deep inside your body?

From The Scotsman:

The revelations of inadequate standards of hygiene in Scottish hospitals, in a report by NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, reflect an unacceptable level of carelessness in protecting patients.

That instruments used in procedures such as endoscopies should not be properly sterilised is inexcusable.

Considering the large amounts of cash that have been lavished on the NHS in recent years, it should be perfectly possible to carry out the necessary cleaning procedures with care and efficiency. Whatever the current restraints on spending, this is one area in which false economies are not acceptable.

If, as has been suggested, the problem is the culture of targets imposed on the NHS, then clinicians must make representations to the health authorities to have these rigid guidelines made more flexible. To risk infection for any reason whatsoever is dicing with patients' lives. Any hospital procedure is stressful for patients. They have a right to expect that hospitals will take every necessary precaution to safeguard their health. Any hospital-acquired infection is a reversal of the purpose of hospitalisation and a reproach to the NHS.