Mad Hatter's Tea Party

It seems that not a day goes by without some kind of directive or commission being set up within the NHS with the promise that this one really could work. Yet again today, the NHS resembles something of Alice in Wonderland's Mad Hatter's tea party, as we "all change" and welcome in the Quality Care Commission. Their mission - should they choose to accept it - is to tackle hospital super-bugs (queue the A-Team theme music). So how will they achieve this?

My guess is that a barrage of suited-and-booted administrators with clip boards and free pens from Medical Reps will descend upon our hospitals (and other areas of health care) and tick/cross lots of boxes. And if there are too many crosses? They have the power to:

• close wards/units/areas


• hand out fines


• issue warnings

Hygiene has become a big issue in the cleanliness of hospitals, mainly due to recent outbreaks of Clostridium Difficile and MRSA. But are doctors and nurses to blame, as one government bloke told the ITV news earlier today?

Tell him to come here and say that!

While I'm sure many doctors and nurses could be better at handwashing, the government seem to forget all these visitors and managers trapsing their germs in and out. If you ask them to "please move for a moment" because vomit needs mopping up from the floor, they look at you as if you've just kicked a puppy and often flatly refuse. Do we really need the "He-man's" and "She-ra's" of the administrative world to swoop in handing out detentions or whatever? Can't we just get on with the job we're training to do?

Without wishing to sound like a political activist, I can't help thinking that had the NHS been managed properly since it's creation without continuous change, we might not be in this pickle...