Dying for Profit

A depressing month heralded in a shocking NHS Learning Disabled Mortality Review, forced by the revelation our NHS investigates 1 % of the deaths of the Learning Disabled in their care, two Inquests of autistics concluding ‘natural causes’, and another is likely, from the findings of an NHS England’s investigation into Thomas Rawnsley’s death.

With the inevitability of even fewer inquests and more ‘natural causes’ deaths by the introduction this month of  certification of deaths by Medical Examiners, rather than Coroners.

We have few investigations, let alone independent ones, into those dying in state care, despite ever increasing deaths, and the fact that back in 2013, MENCAP reported 37% died due to inadequate health care at a rate of 1,200 a year.

https://www.mencap.org.uk/press-release/mencap-research-scandal-avoidable-death-1200-people-learning-disability-die

So state ‘care’ is becoming evermore unaccountable, even for death, and evermore expensive, with nearly a fifth of our total NHS and care budget spent on it, and almost all care and treatment for the autistic and learning disabled is now provided by monopoly venture capital backed private providers with an overriding duty to provide ever more profit.

And no one is even commenting on, let alone doing anything about the quality of these public/private services costing billions, even if they result in the death of a service user.

NHS England didn’t want anyone to see its commissioned University of Bristol Learning Disability Mortality Review Annual Report 2017,so publication was held back from November to the day after the local elections and the day before a long bank holiday.

NHS refused any press conference or media comment and Jeremy Hunt disappeared from Parliament before he could be asked a question on the report.

Such is Ministerial and NHS Responsibility

https://www.hqip.org.uk/resource/the-learning-disabilities-mortality-review-annual-report-2017/#.Wu29kaQvwdU

Only 1131 deaths were referred to the programme because of lack of resources,  despite the NHS having enough money to pay £13,000 a week for the treatment they resulted from, and again through lack of funding, only 103 of these deaths were actually reviewed with no indication of when the remaining 1028 deaths would be investigated.

Of the 103 reviews, 13% of deaths were found by the review team to be down to:
Neglect or abuse.
Organisational dysfunction.
Delays in care or treatment.
Gaps in service provision.

The many inquests into the deaths of autistic and learning disabled including Danny Tozer, Oliver McGowan, Connor Sparrowhawk & Richard Handley and yet to be held Thomas Rawnsley are horrific testaments to the Review’s findings..

No wonder the government removed the right to life jury and Inquest from those held under MCA Dols.

As shown by Thomas Rawnsley’S death ,Where consideration of his right to life removed BY CORONOR, from his exceptional Jury as he died under a DOL.allowing a Court order he died from natural causes

So what was the NHS’s reply to the reports findings ?

We welcome this interim report, the first of its kind in the world.
( A black piece of PR as no other country has been forced to commission such a report because  disabled in state ‘care’ are dying for profit. So badly in fact, our government has been forced to issue annual death reviews)

These early lessons will feed into hospital and community services work including early detection of symptoms of sepsis and pneumonia prevention, constipation and epilepsy where there is significant progress.

( Surely hospitals and community NHS paid millions – up to 13,000 a week – should not be used until such basics exist within them.

(Such basics shockingly deemed ‘early lessons’ )

The NHS go on to say another 1.4m more will be spent this year so that those responsible locally as well as the University of Bristol and NHS HQ can ramp up the speed and number of reviews.

So 1.4 million for more death reviews, meetings and bureaucracy and private local profit, with no accountability or compensation for victims and their families.

But still very cheap , in comparison to the billions that would have had to be paid out, if we had USA accountability for patient care with Medicare representation in court.

Or even if we had Coroners Inquests with Juries- 2 millions being paid out in compensation to Connor Sparrowhawk and another.,

So shouldn’t our government and Court of Protection comply with its own laws and ensure that those held in MHA/ NHS treatment or MCA residential best interests care, do not die ?

And ensure that our public money is not wasted on unsupervised, lacking
the basics, proven unsafe and inadequate public/ privatised provision ?.

Does our government, NHS and courts not have a duty to protect our most vulnerable in and from state care ?

Unless the profit motive is removed from state care/treatment more will, and will be allowed to die, making that profit with impunity..

There can be no saving of lives by Carillion style bankruptcies just less culpability and more public money wasted.