Patient dies in British Hospital after being denied water
This is one reason why you don't want the government to control everything. If a private hospital messed up like this, it would likely go out of business.
A patient desperate for a drink of water had to telephone the switchboard of the hospital he was being treated in to beg to see a doctor.
Derek Sauter, 60, used his mobile phone to request medical attention after his pleas for help were ignored.
But when the doctor arrived he was turned away by ward nurse Caroline Lowe, who said Mr Sauter was 'over-reacting' and threatened to confiscate his phone.
Eight hours later the grandfather-of-three, who was suffering with a chest infection, was dead.
Rather than offering sympathy to Susan, Mr Sauter's wife of 41 years, Miss Lowe later told her that he could have been prosecuted for harassing the doctor on call. . . .
Labels: healthcare, UK
posted by John Lott at 3:47 PM
2 Comments:
This is rapidly taking on the trappings of an urban legend. See a similar story regarding the death of Kane Gorney at St George's Hospital in the UK in May of 2009.
Gorney was 22. He repeatedly requested water from the nurses, but was ignored. He called the police from his hospital bed to request help. When the police arrived, they were turned away by the nurses, who assured them that there was no problem. The hospital never apologized.
Since when was a doctor ever intimidated by a nurse, who was blocking access to his patient?
Since when were police ever intimidated by a nurse blocking access to a victim who had called them for help?
While these stories may well be true, they do smell fishy.
Al, while I always encourage critical analysis, I think anyone who believes these stories to be far-fetched isn't paying much attention to how governments operate.
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