Patients have a Champion

by | Feb 6, 2023 | News | 1 comment

At last – someone to fight for us

Sometimes, it can feel as if nobody listens to what you say.  Querying my treatment at the Royal Marsden Hospital, the nurse brushed me aside with the comment “you are only a patient”.

I found out that doctors and nurses at the Marsden had decided my problems were  down to age;  when actually they were being caused by an allergic reaction to the drug I was on.  Did I get an apology?  Er – no.  I was told “you are not being supportive of the Marsden!  But then, I was only a patient.  What did I know? !!

How often do we get to discuss treatment plans?  Or do we just go along with what is planned, even though we might think something else might work better, as nobody wants to listen?  It is seldom we find anyone to listen to our concerns.

But – things might be about to change, as this report from the Patients’ Association  (PA) shows : – 
Part of cover of Patient Safety Commissioner 100 Days Report.
The Patient Safety Commissioner has published a report of her first 100 days in post. We are delighted to be hosting the report on our website, while the Commissioner’s own website is being built.

The report includes a message from our Chief Executive, Rachel Power, welcoming the Patient Safety Commissioner, Dr Henrietta Hughes, and her commitment to patient partnership.

In the report, Dr Hughes describes what she has done in her first 100 days in post, her achievements so far, what she’s heard from patients, what she believes needs to happen, and what she’ll do to achieve her ambition of “a health and social care system that listens, hears and acts with speed and compassion to the voices of patients”.

If you don’t belong to the PAt belong, you can read the rest of the report here :  https://www.patients-association.org.uk/blog/patient-safety-commissioner-the-first-100-days

Considering every \union representing NHS staff during the strikes told us they were striking o behalf of patients, it would be nice to be asked what I, as a patient, actually wanted.

So I rely on the PA to represent what I want, and it’s free to join if you want to be part of PA.   Each week PA publishes a useful Newsletter with what’s going on, and their Chief Executive, Rachel Power, constantly represents patients in front of government, the media etc.

Details of how to join etc. here  https://www.patients-association.org.uk/membership

1 Comment

  1. Gloria on February 7, 2023 at 10:42 pm

    Let’s hope that she states positively that any fixing of the NHS must prevent any further privatisation either by the back door or the front door; also that private companies already involved in NHS treatments revert their insidious intrustion and ensure that the NHS is purely run by being in public ownership and NOT government ownership as such.