Some futures aren't much fun to contemplate - IV

I've linked to a story from today's London Daily Mail 31 December. Please read the entire article. I warn you it is not easy reading.

“[The patient’s] daughter-in-law Amanda . . . added: ‘All that he had at the end of his 101 years was his dignity and they took that away from him.”

Also take a few moments to scroll thru the comments left by Daily Mail readers.

No one should conclude that NHS works like this, routinely. But just as clearly this episode happened, none of the hospital staff seeemed particularly concerned about it, and many of the commenters don’t seem surprised either.

Is this, after all, the future we may look forward to in the US as we sail along toward single-payer, government-controlled health care system?

What evidence is there that the answer is anything but “yes”??

It is also eye-opening to read the cold, bloodless, and lawyerly form-letter “apology” from the Hospital. It’s almost as though the hospital is responding to a complaint about late meal delivery or some other trivial service glitch:

‘Some aspects of Brig Platt’s discharge from hospital in 2006 were unacceptable and the trust apologises for any distress that this has caused.’

Some aspects, huh? Of the discharge (and not of Mr Pratt’s mistreatment prior to his discharge?) And the “trust apologises” – well, that’s about as impersonal as one can get. Gahhhh.