Deadly fun, only fun for the criminal

In an intriguing coincidence given the last comment posted here, the BBC ran a documentary last night(Panorama), looking at the alleged cost of violent patients to the NHS, coming up with a total figure of around £100 million, Scotland’s share is estimated at a mere £3 million!

Although I didn’t see the programme, I did catch an excerpt, which happened to touch on the last comment, which touched on the absence of a dialysis machine on the island, and the lack of finding to provide such a service.

The solution seemed to be provided in the programme…

One of the shameful facts that became evident was that while the patients may not care for the safety, health or well-being of the NHS staff that find they have to treat them, the staff are bound to look after the patients regardless, and are left with the choice of continuing to administer treatment, or withdraw treatment due to the danger they are in. In the case of dialysis, this amounts to a death sentence for the patients concerned, which is something that no health service personnel would consider, despite the insanity of the situation.

In the case of an individual featured in the report, a convicted rapist, he was said to have threatened and followed staff, and assaulted them while attending dialysis. This continued regardless of court action being taken to impose restriction on the individual, who also denied all these claims when challenged on camera by the presenter, and refusing to co-operate.

The solution to the problem, given the hospital refuses the option to withdraw treatment as dialysis is an essential, life-saving treatment needed every few days, is to provide a room where this patient can be treated in isolation.

The cost for providing this ‘private’ service for the the troublemaker?

£42,000.

As with the last comment, I’m not casting any negative criticism on the authority. They have a job to do, and a Duty of Care to their staff, and their patients, even the bad ones unfortunately. Equally unfortunately, the money to deal with them comes from the same pot as the money to treat the rest of us.

Truly a case of “The noisy hinge getting the oil”.

And, if anyone wants a dialysis machine on the island, organise those that need its services into a gang, and abuse the hospital and ferry staff, and there’ll be a machine and treatment room installed in no time, so that there’s no longer any need for the ‘abusive’ patients to travel off island.

That suggestion would be funny if wasn’t for the likelihood that it would probably work!