I’m not a big supporter of overly nannyish Health and Safety regulations – most of the stuff is common sense and in most cases if you, say, tripped over something that was stationary on the floor, then I’d say you should have looked where you were going.
However, I accept that regulations of this type are a necessity in the workplace in order to keep some kind of order and commonality with respect to business practices.
It should be accepted that if your job requires you to stare at a computer screen for most of the day then your employer should ensure that it is at the proper height, that your chair is sufficiently supportive and that all steps have been taken to ensure that you will not suffer injury or pain due to doing your job. It should be accepted that you should be able to walk round your workplace without fear of slipping or tripping. It should be accepted that unless heavy lifting is part of your job description, you shouldn’t be expected to do it.
A fat patient in Blackpool Victoria Hospital, yesterday
At Blackpool Victoria Hospital recently, Ms (no shock there) Ann Chambers-MacPherson has alleged that nursing staff refused to lift her 68 year old mother, Christine MacPherson, into a bed. As well as this, she has made a few other allegations such as failure to wash blood from her mother’s face to make her case look a bit more substantial. Why she had blood on her face I do not know. Murder on the dancefloor?
Anyhow, the media has made a big issue over the fact that Christine is 15 stone but this is completely irrelevant. Due to Health and Safety regulations, hospital staff are entitled to refuse to lift anyone. That’s basically the end of the story in relation to her issue. Ann says she is going to sue the hospital if nurses are not disciplined. Well, sorry Ms, but they won’t be.
However, equipment should be in place to provision the lifting of patients, and it is not clear whether any kind of hoist or other lifting equipment was available. The hospital have rapidly issued an apology and looking at the level of crawling they are partaking in in the media suggests they were at fault in some way and may well be hoping any malpractise is not revealed.
However I believe the nursing staff should not be made into scapegoats and clearly this personal crusade by Ms Chambers-MacPherson is just her angling for some compensation by trying to portray a false image of hospital staff and procedure.
Her other complaints, such as her mother not being seen for an hour, are a sign that she lives in a fantasy land. I’ve been to A&E and I wasn’t seen for an hour either. I’ve been to see a consultant and had to wait 3 hours. Whoopie-fucking-do.
Apparently her mother was not given her medication either. Perhaps she should have taken it into the hospital eh? I’m fairly sure they wouldn’t have confiscated it.
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Quick buck – beats working for your dollar! People of this ilk make my bloody blood boil.
Even using a hoist that cannot be done with one person – H&S rules.
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These people are nothing but anal parasites, anything to get their revolting faces in the paper and 5 minutes of fame, she should just fuck off back under her stone and do what she does best: SUCK SHIT.
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That disgusting picture is more like 50 stone than 15. But no, I don’t think nurses should risk themselves lifting heavy patients – or anything more than a small child. Most can be treated on the floor in an emergency – which this obviously wasn’t. But more and more of society are obese – and we have to face it. A lot of it comes from a lack of self respect and depression too – not just being lazy and stuffing their faces though I think in Blackpool there’s probably quite a few of them.
The thing is I think she should make a fuss but for one reason only – if that patient had been seriously ill requiring immediate life-saving treatment, then there should have been some method instantly available to get her on a trolley and treated and I don’t think there was. Fat people pay taxes too.
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No I know and I agree that it should be one service for all regardless of background, weight, whatever.
Society is getting fatter and I never want to see the NHS say to people, “sorry, you’re too fat so we wont help you”.
But in this case, all we know is that she is massively obese, had fallen over and was not lifted on to a bed. I don’t know whether she was on the floor or on a chair but the bleeding hearts on the Gasjet are painting this picture that she was there bleeding to death from cuts on her face whilst sat in a pool of piss, exasperated due to lack of medication and screaming for help.
In fact she probably sat there and mumbled and grumbled to Hattie Harrington-Smythe or whatever she’s called and did nothing. Yes they should have attended to her but it’s not a perfect world and things get overlooked all the time, especially in a behemoth like Blackpool Victoria.
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Phil,
have you got the number of this lady? I met her on a blind date two years and somehow we lost touch. There is a pint in it for you if you can oblige.
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She’s all mine Andy!
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Nice one boys. What is it about corpulaent, fleshy women that men love, while so many women are struggling to look like Twiggy at her teenage best?
Anyway, on the subject of Health & Safety I was listening to Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio2 a few minutes ago and they were discussing the pupil in Lincolnshire who lost 8 of her fingers because she stuffed them into the bucket of Plaster of Paris and not into the bucket of clay there to make a mold of her hand.
Apparently, this is the worst thing to do as it heats up when drying burst her so badly the fingers had to be removed after 12 operations couldn’t save them.
Forgive my ignorance, but I might have done the same, because the only thing I know about Plaster of Paris is that it is used to set bones and hospitals have cutting machines that take it off. How come they couldn’t cut hers off?
Jeremy asked the H&S rep to comment and she pointed out what a valid, useful service they provide (she wasn’t laughing, honestly! ) but this absolutely wasn’t their fault as they hadn’t seen it coming or offered schools any advice about prior warnings to pupils etc…
Jeremy went on to remind her that something similar, though not as serious as this, had happened a few years ago at another school and he went on to wonder why nothing was done then in the form of advice to be given to pupils. Once again this ‘lady’repeated it wasn’t their fault.
Useless to the end this lot, aren’t they?
Another Govt .Dept. we need rid of as soon as possible.
I take the point on board about lifting heavy patients and I’m sure I’ve seen lifting devices at the Vic, but this woman obviously just wants the money and doesn’t give a damn where it comes from. Why didn’t she lift / help her mother onto the trolley if it was so necessary?
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Why didn’t she lift / help her mother onto the trolley if it was so necessary?
if you read the article she did.
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It’s my understanding the nurse on duty with this patient, did everything to help the patient, she assisted her to the toilet and returned her to her bed. It makes my blood boil when whilst in A&E family member’s can’t seem to assist their family member’s. They do so at home so why don’t they there! Simple answer they thin “why should I. They get paid to help, I don’t.” These said family member’s see the Vic as some sort of mini break from their responsibilities!
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