The day had at last arrived! Who would have  have thought that in Britain such a demonstration would ever have needed to have taken place? The damaged patient and their relatives were on the MARCH!!!  Patients were putting on their war paint, the drums had started beating  ....
No longer were  damaged patients and their relatives prepared to be  silent. 

To the everlasting shame of Britain the weakest and most vulnerable had had to take to the streets. They had at last found their courage to speak the unspeakable that there is wide spread patient abuse in the NHS: some damaged patients are unable to obtain medical care and: standards are simply not good enough, nor is there any accountability.

The morning was spent at a Conference. One of our members gave a generous  donation of £100, to help towards the cost. After the morning Conference,   the "SINNERS"  with their banners waving set off for the Department of Health to reclaim control over their own National Health Service! This demonstration is for PATIENTS' RIGHTS and the campaign can be likened to the start of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s

 A group of about 50  people assembled outside  Richmond House. It must be remembered that they were  representatives of a much bigger number. Many people had contacted SIN to say they would love to be there but: 
they were much too ill,
lived too far away
could not afford to come to London.

London is obviously the the political nerve centre , but is the most difficult and expensive place to reach. The dice is loaded on all sides against the damaged patient.

The consequences of iatrogenic damage are the same no matter what the speciality, the age or the cause, be it misdiagnosis, wrong drugs, poor  care by a surgeon, physician or GP. SIN has been raising public awareness of  the issues, problems and night-mare scenario faced by the innocent victims of medical mistakes for over 3 years!

SIN was delighted to be joined by a number of other Patient Support Groups and Ms Diana Organ MP. Ms Organ is one of the few MPs willing to stand up for the iatrogenically  damaged patient and appreciates  that clinical judgement is not infallible!

Who were contacted about the Demo?:
Sky TV News; BBC1 News; ITN News; Channel 5 News; Radio 4 "You & Yours";  "Woman's Hour" ; The Times; Press Association; Reuters. The Press Association did come and there were cameras shooting the demonstration and yet nothing appeared  on TV that evening, nor  in the next day's Press .  WHY?

The demonstration did get covered on the BBC News Online website in their archive section, 16th April. There is a very good section here, but no relevant  photograph. Why not live? There is also a short paragraph on the Net Doctor website, in their archive section.

NET DOCTOR

" Victims of medical errors have called for the government to provide better protection for patients. Around fifty campaigners have handed a petition to the Department of Health, saying that doctors must be  made more accountable, and that patients should be given better access to the details of their treatment. The petition, which was presented yesterday ( 15/4/02) was organised by the pressure group Sufferers of Iatrogenic Neglect. An iatrogenic illness is a condition caused by the treatment a patient receives."

Other Patient Groups represented
Action Against Unnecessary Hysterectomies  ( AAUH) a group based in Glocestershire
                       ( Ms Organ was first alerted by her constituents to the problems of 
                        gynaecailogical iatrogenic damage and has given  them her support))
Campaign Against Hysterectomies ( CAH)
Parents Recognition of Paedeatric Errors ( PROPES)
Action for Patients Against Neopleptic Abuse ( APANA) Campaign to protect autistic adults   from being prescribed inappropriate anti-psychotic drugs.
Parents Network : Parents' rights to protect under-age children from the iatrogenic damage     casued by oral contraceptives.

 Represenatives from the Richard Neale Support Group had intended to be present but had not been able to make the long journey down from  North Yorkshire, but sent their good wishes.
Also,  Jill Baker, who has done so much  work to protect the elderly had been unable to come because of ill health.

NEW BANNER FOR SIN

 SIN is very proud of its new Banner. It is 8 feet long and plastic coated for protection. It was bought because of a generous donation of £50 from Vera who isover 80  years old and is too incapacitated to be present. All Vera wants us to do is to just " keep going"  to change the system so that future patients will not have to experience the pain and trauma that we have all suffered.We who went to the demonstration went,  not just for ourselves, but for all the other "Veras" of Britain who could not get there.
 
 

A PETITION WAS HANDED INTO THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

The Petition read as follows:

We the undersigned wish to improve the standards of health care in the NHS and to ensure protection for the patient. We request that the following measures  be adopted by the Department of Health:

• TRUTH: any patient who is a victim of a medical mistake and has sustained damage to be informed immediately. Clear assessment of damages given with remedial and on-going medical care guaranteed.
• ACCOUNTABILITY: a thorough investigation in the medical error and sensible remedial actions/sanctions taken
• JUSTICE: a Victim's Compensation Fund to be established + mediation to reduce the huge legal bill
• INTEGRITY OF MEDICAL RECORDS: the patient to have copies of all medical records and test results
• INFORMED CONSENT ONLY
• ACCESSIBILITY  in person by the patient to the established and newly formed protective agencies which must take up individual cases
• AN END TO THE DENIAL & COVER-UP CULTURE
• THE "BAD APPLES" MUST GO

A civil servant from Prof. Sir Liam Donaldson's Office ( The Chief Medical Office),. he listened courteously to what we had to say and a letter and petition was handed to him. The letter requested the we have a meeting to discuss the issues raised 
.
We   are currently awaiting a written acknowledgement from Sir Liam of the documents  we have previously sent in. It was SIN's Third Paper : " Balancing the Scales": SIN's case for a Victim's Compensation Fund. This document went in during the first week of March. Sir Liam had invited SIN to make its submissons.A  document containing the "Emperor Has No Clothes" and " The Patient's Voice for Equity" was also sent by recorded delivery at the same time.

SIN has been working hard on behalf of the damaged patient by raising public awareness of the general issues which affect these unfortunate individuals. It is our belief that the above documents are the authentic voice of the damaged patient. We know that the contents are true and represent the dilemmas facing the iatrogenic patient. these documents demand respect and should receive  urgent attention.

For too long the D.o.H has kept at arms length patient representation and has been intent on consulting and listening to the very people who have been in control of the system i.e.. the doctors /consultants ( BMA) the Managers ( Confederation of NHS Managers) The NHS Complaints Personnel, The Ombudsman's Office,  the GMC, UKCC  AVMA, the MDU, MPS, lawyers,  etc. etc. If you genuinely wish to find out what is wrong with a system you surely consult the people i.e. the  patients who are the consumers, and  who have experienced the problems and flaws of that system. We believe that the above papers are an invaluable resource and describe the plight of the innocent victims of  medical mistakes in Britain  at the start of the 21st. Century. We do believe that the D.o.H is now genuinely interested in hearing from patients.

Although  more money is required  in the NHS,  assurances must be given that incompetence and bad practice is being monitored and steps taken for its  elimination and for  the removal of "problem" doctors, nurses and managers. No more patient abuse should be tolerated and the rights and protection  of innocent  iatrogenic victims   and the safeguarding of their health care and  well being: - must become  top  priorities!

Documents handed into Mr. John Hutton's Office. Minister for Health
Unfortunately there was no civil servant available to receive the above documents which  were handed  to the Receptionist, together with a covering letter. We have asked for a meeting with the Minister.

Deputation to Number 10 Downing Street  - 3pm 15th April, 2002
SIN on behalf of its members, and indeed for all the iatrogenic victims - handed into Downing Street copies of the above 3 documents,  with a covering letter. We hope that we shall receive an acknowledgement signed by the Prime Minister himself.

An impromptu meeting with the Minister for Health  Mr John Hutton
After the Demonstration had dispersed some "Sinners" were sitting at a cafe  discussing the day's events, when Mr. Hutton passed by on his way to  the House of Commons. It is perhaps  true to say he was " ambushed" by the Sinners. He was very courteous and good-naturedly  engaged for several minutes in conversation with our members.

"In House" - Accessibliity to Policy Makers

Following on from our Demonstration, SIN was delighted to be offered space in the "House Magazine". This is a parliamentary  weeklyHouse of Commons magazine  and it just so happened that the week following, beginning 22nd. April was a special Health Issue No. 987 Vol.27  This magazine goes out to every MP, all the ministers , to the civil servants, the Assemblies and to the European Parliament to the MEPs.
The same  statement by SIN was also  published  in the other  House Magazine: Who's Who in the House of Lords: a Lords Picture Guide No. 989 April 29th , 2002.

This means that SIN has obtained access to all the policy makers - making sure the plight of the iatrogenic victim  reaches the people who matter!! This is an all party issue and affects everybody!

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PRESS RELEASE

FOR THE ATTENTION OF THE NEWS DESK:

Sufferers of Iatrogenic Neglect ( SIN) a patient support and pressure group, has organised a DEMONSTRATION   with several other Patient Support Groups, which will take place in london Monday 15th April, 2002. We are the innocent victims of medical errors who have been damaged through a misdiagnosis or the wrong treatment. Representatives of these groups with their relatives will be walking at approx. 1.30pm over Westminster bridge along the Embankment and so to the Department of Health, Richmond House, Whitehall where the groups will hold a peaceful but vocal protest beginning around 2.15 pm. Press/media coverage would be welcome.

It is impossible to overstate the trauma and distress that these patients undergo when they discover that something has gone wrong with their medical care. One can guarantee that no health professional rushes around to inform the patient or the relatives that serious damage has been sustained. In fact, patients find themselves in a bewildering world of denial and cover-up which has permeate the NHS for the last five decades. Every door they knock on for help is slammed in their faces. This has been to the detriment of the iatrogenic victim, the health professional and to quality control in the NHS as a whole.

The unpalatable truth is that the victim of a medical blunder will find that their ensuing health care has been put into jeopardy because to give remedial care would be to disclose the fact that damage has occurred, thereby giving evidence for a potential legal action. ¹This means that some victims are being denied appropriate medical care, even though their lives may be at risk.

The ²Secretary of State for Health has recently acknowledged that "cover-ups" do exist and it was stated in a³ leaked document from the Department, that there are at least 50 known scandals per year that are being suppressed, involving "problem doctors". We believe that for the essential and obvious good of the patients implicated, the medical professsion and for the NHS as a whole, these scandals should be investigated and exposed.

 ^{1The Observer 24th October 1999 " Consultants & GPs blacklist complaining patients"
   Lord Woolf's Inaugural lecture, 17th January 2001 ; doctors withhold medical expertise from damaged patients: ".......they needed to recognise that because patients felt that they had been a victim of  medical malpractice, this did not   justify withdrawing treatment....."
  2 New clinical compensation scheme for NHS 10th. July 2001 D.o.H. website Alan Milburn: "....mistakes are hidden and cover-ups can occur"
3  The Daily Mail 28th December 2001: " Haunted by 50 scandals a year: " ...NHS expects up to 50 scandals a year in which doctors have maimed, or killed patients in botched operations [misdiagnoses] or subjected them to [written] physical   verbal, or sexual abuse ....ministers are desperate to avoid embarrassing public inquiries into blundering NHS doctors...all these are "problem doctor " cases".}

SIN believes it has been a major force in putting medical errors on the agenda. For too long the NHS has been reluctant to cope with medical mistakes which inevitably arise because health professionals are human and definitely not infallible. The Chief Medical Officer has acknowledged that one in ten patients attending hospitals will be subjected to a medical error, and in addition there are errors made by GPs in diagnosing and drug prescribing. Recent research has estimated that ⁴34,000  patients die needlessly every year in the UK hospitals, this is the equivalent to two jumbo jets crashing every week. If this were to happen, people would be on the  streets demonstrating for an overhaul of the aviation industry. It is also estimated that there are also 46,000 patients who will be permanently and seriously damaged every year. These patients and their relatives have to fight for truth, justice and even medical care. We are on the streets demonstrating!

It is the failure of the NHS Complaints System to protect the damaged patient and to have these matters impartially addressed, together with the isolation of the individual complainant which has prompted the setting up of Sufferers of Iatrogenic Neglect

Most people cannot afford to take legal action and of those who do only 17% are successful. Another reason for the low success rate is that invariably an iatrogenic patient will find that critical documents and test results are missing or have been altered. Lord Woolf, in his inaugural lecture, reviewing the state of medico-legal claims came to the conclusion that: " it was clear to the courts that hospitals and the medical profession could not be relied upon to resolve patients' justified complaints." He pointed out that the NHS since its inception, has aimed to contain compensation pay outs and will defend to excess every case, regardless of its individual merits. Legal costs have soared. The NHS legal bill has reached £4bn per year and then in addition there is an equivalent amount from the Legal Aid Board and private funding. Very little of this reaches the iatrogenic victim. The only certain winners are the lawyers.

SIN is fighting for improvements in standards of health care and a reduction of medical errors. We also believe that an iatrogenic patient has a right to know the truth if they have suffered damage due to a medical mistake. We are demanding: truth, justice, appropriate medical care and accountability. We are fighting for a more civilised and humane way of dealing with medical errors. We want an end to the denial and cover-up culture. We want an open and honest culture in which doctors will be able to acknowledge their mistakes. We also want a Victims' Compensation Fund set up which will greatly reduce the legal bill. No one is immune from a medical blunder - it could be you and your family next!

^{4 Daily Mail 2nd.March 2001 : " 34,000 dying needlessly every year  in NHS hospitals" . Research into incidents of medical errors done by Prof. Charles Vincent into two unnamed UK hospitals and extrapolated to the UK as a whole.}
 
 

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Dear Gillian and Margaret,

You may remember that I am now  over 80 yrears old, painfully disabled, thanks to the medical profession, so quite unable to attend your conference.

I wish you every success and expansion as the numbers of damaged patients increase, but without any knowledge of what they can or cannot do about it.

The medical profession have safeguarded themselves from their own errors to the detriment of their victims.

With every good wish
God Bless,
Vera