tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38351522059683441142024-03-06T10:18:15.035+00:00Notes from a hospital bedThe ramblings of a poor sod after spending months in tractionTraction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.comBlogger458125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-75852473559300495492013-03-29T17:57:00.001+00:002013-03-29T17:59:00.403+00:00The DISABLE Programme<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Rt Hon Secretary of State for the Disabled</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Today I'd like to talk to you about a new government initiative which we have called DISABLE. This stands for Decommissioning of Injured, Sick, Autistic, Bothersome and Loafers Euthanasia programme. It's a very simple concept whereby we round up those who are, frankly, a drain on society and we offer them the opportunity to do the decent thing.<br /><br />Obviously making such a programme mandatory might receive resistance from some quarters of society so we've decided to roll out the programme with a number of pilots starting in Scotland, North East England and South Wales. Initially the programme will be voluntary with participants' families being rewarded with things like a year's free council tax, Pizza Hut vouchers and the chance of a foreign holiday. We will assess the programme before rolling it out across the country.<br /><br />I'm pleased to say that a well-known contractor has already been appointed as the main partner for DISABLE and all those in receipt of disability benefits will be called for an assessment to see if they are suitable to take part in DISABLE. Those scoring sufficient points will be spared the programme but those who don't make the grade will be put into one of two categories. The first group will be the "Unsupported' who will be fast-tracked for immediate euthanasia. There will be time to say goodbye to their families before being taken on to a regional DISABLE centre where they will be removed as a benefit claimant. The second group, the Death Related Activity Group or DRAG will be given help and support to move off the benefit claimants' register with one of our partner organisations. However, if they fail to progress sufficiently then they will be put into the Unsupported group and liquidated.<br /><br />Now, some people will think this new programme to be a little heartless but I would say to that handful of critics that we're all in this together. The sick and disabled cannot shirk their responsibilities to the rest of us. Hard-working families pay taxes to support the disabled but the public purse is not a bottomless pit. Let's be candid about this, some members of society are simply not viable and no useful purpose can be served by keeping them alive and prolonging their misery while they soak up precious resources.<br /><br />I would also like to point out that the DISABLE programme will have other benefits. The regional centres where lethal injections will be administered will be a shot in the arm for the construction industry. You'll notice that we have avoided incineration as we have no wish to breach our obligations on carbon emmissions under the Climate Change Act.<br /><br />I hope you'll join me in welcoming this bold initiative to cut the deficit and to help this group of people into a happier place where they can be free of pain and worry. Thank you for listening</span>Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-76937495594317158872012-07-10T06:41:00.002+01:002012-07-10T06:41:36.923+01:00Liverpool Care Pathway<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCYOfgSNojB2OKICJLTUsn-t9U12Y4nGeLTbJh2CUn85aM_2-x3GLP0AMiJwfJtHPtwhz-qDYWGJIdIlShIhwTrSXBgd7pv3Iz1hqiQh6fZp5REFFQ95L4Ul0Hj5XpMRLdd5wZk-d9wHI/s1600/elderly-patient.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCYOfgSNojB2OKICJLTUsn-t9U12Y4nGeLTbJh2CUn85aM_2-x3GLP0AMiJwfJtHPtwhz-qDYWGJIdIlShIhwTrSXBgd7pv3Iz1hqiQh6fZp5REFFQ95L4Ul0Hj5XpMRLdd5wZk-d9wHI/s320/elderly-patient.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I'm aware of the enormous concern that the Liverpool Care Pathway is causing to family and friends of those who are terminally ill. A recent <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2161869/Top-doctors-chilling-claim-The-NHS-kills-130-000-elderly-patients-year.html" target="_blank">article</a> in the Daily Mail has now brought the matter to a wider audience. Read some of the comments added to this <a href="http://hospitalnotes.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/liverpool-care-pathway.html?showComment=1341898705584" target="_blank">post</a> of mine. Heartbreaking doesn't begin to describe it.Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com49tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-52683500163208013932012-06-18T07:57:00.001+01:002012-06-18T07:57:36.212+01:00More mush<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPOhtgodZtS2I1_Xi1DWainTZCXwTQVluVAQlB9J6w_m6vC-cNqNFA_l1OKOYdRw4ctr_o28xTqeFbais2qKrssa8eqA-GkJr5k8ETzFq-iS9nAnjboyxY-GBZ2BZeli4MdYUhDGKfmnU/s1600/DSCF0443+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPOhtgodZtS2I1_Xi1DWainTZCXwTQVluVAQlB9J6w_m6vC-cNqNFA_l1OKOYdRw4ctr_o28xTqeFbais2qKrssa8eqA-GkJr5k8ETzFq-iS9nAnjboyxY-GBZ2BZeli4MdYUhDGKfmnU/s320/DSCF0443+(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I simply couldn't resist sharing this culinary delight with you. This came straight after a four-hour operation. If anything could push recovery into reverse gear, this plate of food could do it. So much hospital food is just mush without texture and now, thanks to healthy eating guidelines, flavour. With lower salt, sugar and fat guidelines, most hospital food now tastes even worse than it looks. Sick people need tailored nutrition and high-quality ingredients. Your car wouldn't function if you put unfiltered chip fat or whale oil in its petrol tank... the human body isn't any different.Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-71569468659523998642012-06-15T17:04:00.000+01:002012-06-15T17:21:05.921+01:00<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl5tebF4TWXdvAZU1NSiX_HyoSMm9aHp-3RzTS41qiaFTrcrY_wtTinF4D3alfGjiFEYYQSwGshJuLs9Plor1lHTMvTHDwVCc_UT9YeILYI5r4mg_n5VBPPW6-D0DMyZ9En3EU8GZ8IuI/s1600/Martha2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl5tebF4TWXdvAZU1NSiX_HyoSMm9aHp-3RzTS41qiaFTrcrY_wtTinF4D3alfGjiFEYYQSwGshJuLs9Plor1lHTMvTHDwVCc_UT9YeILYI5r4mg_n5VBPPW6-D0DMyZ9En3EU8GZ8IuI/s320/Martha2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
What is it about officialdom that can’t bear criticism or even the merest hint of publicity? Take Argyll and Bute Council, in Scotland. This bastion of bureaucracy has ordered nine-year-old Martha Payne to stop blogging about the school dinners she eats at her school in Lochgilphead, Argyll.<br />
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The mighty council appears to be afraid that a little nine-year-old girl might cause it a few problems. Martha runs a blog called <a href="http://neverseconds.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Never Seconds</a> where each day she takes a snap of her school dinner, writes a bit about it and reflects on her day. Now, I for one think it’s brilliant that a nine year old is writing a blog, learning to use a digital camera, uploading it to the Internet and sharing her world with everyone. It’s precisely the sort of skills we pay teachers to impart to our young ones.<br />
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Martha raises money from her blog for Mary's Meals, a charity which runs school feeding projects in communities around the world where poverty and hunger prevent children from gaining an education. So not only is she a computer whizz, she’s got a great heart and sense of civic duty.<br />
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But the council decided to stamp all over Martha. Argyll and Bute Council said it "wholly refutes the unwarranted attacks on its schools catering service" and then made the ridiculous statement that national headlines had led catering staff "to fear for their jobs". Well. perhaps they'd better pull their fingers out and buck their ideas up a bit.<br />
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In a statement officials said: "The council has directly avoided any criticism of anyone involved in the NeverSeconds blog for obvious reasons, despite a strongly held view that the information presented in it misrepresented the options and choices available to pupils, however this escalation means we had to act to protect staff from the distress and harm it was causing."<br />
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They had to act to protect their staff from the distress and harm caused by a nine year old? Are these people mentally ill? What sort of madness is that?<br />
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"In particular, the photographic images uploaded appear to only represent a fraction of the choices available to pupils, so a decision has been made by the council to stop photos being taken in the school canteen.<br />
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"There have been discussions between senior council staff and Martha's father. However, despite an acknowledgement that the media coverage has produced these unwarranted attacks, he intimated that he would continue with the blog.<br />
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"The council has had no complaints for the last two years about the quality of school meals other than one from the Payne family received on 6 June and there have been no changes to the service on offer since the introduction of the blog."<br />
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So, the heavy hand of the unions prompted the pen pushers to cut Martha off at the knees because it might upset a few cooks. Her pictures are unwarranted attacks on a bunch of turkey twizzler reheaters. Oh grow a pair and get real! The school, by the way, was very supportive of Martha.<br />
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Now thanks to an Internet uproar, the idiots at the council have reversed their ridiculous decision and Martha’s website has raised £20,000 for a very good cause. I doubt any of the school cooks are genuinely fearing for their jobs (although it looks as if they ought to) and this whole episode just goes to show what a bunch of complete and pathetic arses we have running some of our local councils. I experienced something similar when I was writing my blog in hospital and I doubt whether it would now be possible to do what I did. Institutions like councils and hospitals are becoming so risk averse that even a little criticism cannot be tolerated. This lack of free speech is the sort of thing that Leveson should be investigating instead of running an extended psychotherapy session for has-been politicians.<br />
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Over to you, my noble Lord.Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-50499780102872213652012-06-11T11:05:00.001+01:002012-06-11T17:09:23.688+01:00Yuk!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu27XpcLa6-BELwraFcv09BiJkvilGvIL50PJmCHNpk0Gz3lpKDz1-Z4JP7kOhcj4yaxDvvlVdVAtQy46fkTt5d6jIgb5KKU5TdDuBKTIeX8p5ahaNyON14TP4tWK43-3u4qYooqxcUlk/s1600/Yuk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu27XpcLa6-BELwraFcv09BiJkvilGvIL50PJmCHNpk0Gz3lpKDz1-Z4JP7kOhcj4yaxDvvlVdVAtQy46fkTt5d6jIgb5KKU5TdDuBKTIeX8p5ahaNyON14TP4tWK43-3u4qYooqxcUlk/s400/Yuk.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
I still can't bear to look at this image of what was called a 'bacon chop'. It certainly should have been for the chop but this was seriously served as a piece of protein during my ten-week hospital stay. It flies in the face of all the nutrition advice that the NHS propaganda machine pumps out. I doubt if anyone audits the quality of the meals, as the people doing the auditing don't have to eat this crap. If this food was fed to the hospital management it would be changed immediately. Many hospitals do serve good food, but it's normally in the staff canteen. This tells us much about the NHS.Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-52048445512518927742012-06-06T09:06:00.003+01:002012-06-06T09:06:51.411+01:00Dish of the Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1XRRm9G5Urc-FfBqvW5hR_CJT9MvyxpbNzZhaHuJtRpyFAIkJXMkgQGvdHhRTT0WFy0WjKOLBzTGGXUzPhCPHuMxTxPfYgNYBlnz1pnrGld33Fuh0e4SDqG8fVOoN_ZjDdYINRozXbfg/s1600/2012-02-07+12.08.29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1XRRm9G5Urc-FfBqvW5hR_CJT9MvyxpbNzZhaHuJtRpyFAIkJXMkgQGvdHhRTT0WFy0WjKOLBzTGGXUzPhCPHuMxTxPfYgNYBlnz1pnrGld33Fuh0e4SDqG8fVOoN_ZjDdYINRozXbfg/s320/2012-02-07+12.08.29.jpg" width="302" /></a></div>
This was one of the meals served up during my most recent stay in hospital. I don't have words to describe it, unfortunately.Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-71722531790549788202012-06-05T17:24:00.002+01:002012-06-05T17:24:54.192+01:00Sandwich scandal<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEB5p7mh9LONIyMpfz7vUXiPw81ge1NCbQ-3pqla2VJFE9vB5O5JA-ShLII_Bsa61iD9D4FOO4vW_PBlcwW0OjVsczxxLeCu2Th5PqaXvDIqCpQnL4E_ODTlKgB84xyxyqM5qgYLJnkh0/s1600/Sandwich.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEB5p7mh9LONIyMpfz7vUXiPw81ge1NCbQ-3pqla2VJFE9vB5O5JA-ShLII_Bsa61iD9D4FOO4vW_PBlcwW0OjVsczxxLeCu2Th5PqaXvDIqCpQnL4E_ODTlKgB84xyxyqM5qgYLJnkh0/s320/Sandwich.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Whoever put this little delight together clearly had an NVQ Level 2 in Spread Technology but had obviously flunked their NVQ Level 1 on Stuffings. This is the sort of rubbish that's supposed to nourish one very sick person for at least one of their daily meals during a hospital stay. The even bigger scandal is that these pathetic snacks when ordered 'out of hours' if, say, a patient misses a meal while being x-rayed or operated on, can cost up to £35 in a PFI hospital. That's what you call earning a crust.Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-5687735144655441862012-06-05T16:46:00.002+01:002012-06-05T16:48:26.870+01:00The battle continues<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpE0yIaD-dXS_KAFL9yryEbk3tSpYAUEvr1gdwalsshnSP17gj7PnYMrxm_03MBQO4ytWTMjTWDwYxQ4iHsPhSYKV_Gcu3nXvWPb4bcRwSqYUt0VUUkkNpOsElKaDhe3pXZDgyqsI-euo/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpE0yIaD-dXS_KAFL9yryEbk3tSpYAUEvr1gdwalsshnSP17gj7PnYMrxm_03MBQO4ytWTMjTWDwYxQ4iHsPhSYKV_Gcu3nXvWPb4bcRwSqYUt0VUUkkNpOsElKaDhe3pXZDgyqsI-euo/s320/photo.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meal from my last visit. Can you guess what it is?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Well that
was a slightly longer break than I had intended! For those of you still
subscribed to my blog I’d like to welcome me back. I know that sounds a bit
strange but I really do have a few good excuses for not having written. The main
excuse was another stay in hospital to have a large lump of ironmongery removed
from my leg now that my femur has knitted itself back together. Unfortunately this
was followed by another bone infection and a six-week course of antibiotics.
Touch wood, I’m back on the mend and feeling quite a bit better.<br />
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While I’ve
been away I’ve noticed that absolutely nothing has changed concerning the dire
quality of hospital food. In fact, the awful stuff I was fed during my last hospital stay was every bit as bad as the last... and possibly worse. Long-time visitors to the blog will recall that I
made a documentary for Channel 4’s Dispatches a year or so ago and as a result
the petition I set up calling on the Secretary of State for Health, Andrew
Lansley, to do something hasn’t even received an acknowledgement. Despite 4,000
people taking the trouble to sign the petition, the man in charge of the NHS
hasn’t even so much as raised an eyebrow.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So what are
we to do? Is there any point fighting on trying to get hospital food improved?
Well, I think there is. I may be out of hospital and hopefully I won’t taste
that awful food again for some time, but plenty of sick and frail people are
still relying on meals that cost less than £1 to produce. For many it’s their
only source of nutrition and their recovery is being impeded. I need to think
of some new ways of tackling this subject and would really appreciate any
suggestions that you might have.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So if anyone’s
still reading, please fire up my indignation and help me with some ideas of how
I can bring the truly shocking aspect of the NHS to the attention of the wider
public.<o:p></o:p></div>Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-70305038799946571912011-10-13T10:30:00.000+01:002011-10-13T10:30:07.199+01:00Too late, minister<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi74eJY1pFVhC_hctdWp9wj0F8kp7SYG0e9gpm7f3SdN6v51ObdAVHCf4SQ0m8z6mgAACF1eYA4VWQ4-HB-i1NyC0zoh7rVD3CHyRD8_2lUre5QBj4acPOYi5luqr4ZmNL2FvsKX8TBU-k/s1600/lansley_1400202c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi74eJY1pFVhC_hctdWp9wj0F8kp7SYG0e9gpm7f3SdN6v51ObdAVHCf4SQ0m8z6mgAACF1eYA4VWQ4-HB-i1NyC0zoh7rVD3CHyRD8_2lUre5QBj4acPOYi5luqr4ZmNL2FvsKX8TBU-k/s320/lansley_1400202c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Andrew Lansley, the Secretary of State for Health, is all over the media today criticising findings by the Care Quality Commission that has found 20% of NHS hospitals mistreating the elderly and failing to feed and hydrate patients properly. The minister speaks as if it's a bit of a shock to him.<br />
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And yet, last February I made a film for Channel 4's Dispatches that highlighted this problem. After the programme was shown I sent the minister a petition signed by 4000 people asking him to do something about the issue. I did not receive even the courtesy of a reply from Mr Lansley. And yet, today, the minister claims he wants to encourage whistleblowers and to stop patients being starved when in the care of the NHS. Incredible.<br />
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Only now that the minister's position is threatened is he willing to do anything. It's shameful behaviour.Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-67313027992483766092011-08-31T17:38:00.001+01:002011-08-31T17:47:29.695+01:00On yer bike!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_VtvHlXBObfpy-GDcRBk79YjoFyJAPpxwBhIprkDfE6tbiQasqcHVy6UNhL8tiHS0blM-Rdzoj__5lsJWtFDMTbg9LwjF7PNwfaf4oWwIfQRIEK91q-CYb5qlLW5u0sADXS1MpXA_nio/s1600/article-0-0DA47D8300000578-367_468x411.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_VtvHlXBObfpy-GDcRBk79YjoFyJAPpxwBhIprkDfE6tbiQasqcHVy6UNhL8tiHS0blM-Rdzoj__5lsJWtFDMTbg9LwjF7PNwfaf4oWwIfQRIEK91q-CYb5qlLW5u0sADXS1MpXA_nio/s320/article-0-0DA47D8300000578-367_468x411.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Yesterday I was watching a rerun of Francesco’s Italy, a charming programme following the journey of Francesco da Mosta around his home country. Last night he reached Naples. The busy streets were packed with mopeds and pushbikes. No one was wearing a crash helmet and often there were three to a bike or even young children riding on the crossbar of the pushbikes. As far as I could tell, no one was injured and the population of Naples hasn’t been decimated by this cavalier attitude to road safety.<br />
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Contrast this with the news that a father of a two-year-old boy was fined £200 for carrying his son on a crossbar seat on his bicycle in Burton, Staffordshire. The seat was bolted to the crossbar and further fastened using duct tape. The child was wearing a cycle helmet. Ghulam Murtza was handed a fixed-penalty notice by a police officer for the offence which he duly ripped up and threw on the floor in disgust. He was then handed another fixed penalty notice for littering.<br />
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Technically Ghulam was in the wrong as, according to the Highway Code, the bicycle hadn’t been adapted to carry a passenger, although one could argue that as the seat was bolted to the cycle frame, it was an adaptation. At court Ghulam was fined £100 for the cycling offence, £85 costs and the pathetic £15 victim surcharge that automatically gets slapped on any fine in this country, just so a bunch of quangocrats can enjoy fat pensions and gilded salaries by pretending to care about crime.<br />
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Meanwhile, cycling groups throughout the country are supportive of people being able to carry children on bicycles, as we’re all supposed to be going green and reducing our carbon footprints by using cars less.<br />
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However, the most chilling aspect of the story for me was the Orwellian weaselspeak from Chief Inspector Phil Fortun, commander of East Staffordshire Local Policing Team, which covers Burton. He said: 'It is our duty to protect people and ensure the safety of the communities we serve.<br />
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‘The bicycle was not made to carry a child in that way and officers took action to protect the young child from potential injury or worse, should the bike have been involved in a collision. The bike's owner was well-meaning in his efforts, but misguided with regards to the safety of himself and his son. Road safety is a priority for Staffordshire Police and we will continue to take the necessary action to keep all road users safe.’<br />
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They're only doing it to keep us safe. They could have had a quiet word with Ghulam if they really felt it was their business, but no... far easier to get the fixed-penalty ticket book out.<br />
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Makes you proud to be British, doesn’t it? Which way is Naples?Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-83867219220879856372011-08-17T10:24:00.003+01:002011-08-17T10:57:33.223+01:00Make your mind up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ8SLXj4XS6BhGdpRdCdT7clngwLv_PIzJTm4WAcKzp9zbj6uJLTxs0kocmiyjmfGLtUP387TOgIhMPeGyCLoCInr1sY8fVuv5em5OdIdMTH6BhnJ947p64q_cOVCmUJAO2pMa0nn_aM8/s1600/facebook+login.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ8SLXj4XS6BhGdpRdCdT7clngwLv_PIzJTm4WAcKzp9zbj6uJLTxs0kocmiyjmfGLtUP387TOgIhMPeGyCLoCInr1sY8fVuv5em5OdIdMTH6BhnJ947p64q_cOVCmUJAO2pMa0nn_aM8/s400/facebook+login.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Barely more than a week ago the liberal-minded citizens of Hampstead and other leafy enclaves of progressive thinking were demanding that rubber bullets and tear gas be used to quell rioters and stop total anarchy sweeping the nation. Fast forward a week and some 3000 miscreants have been arrested and hauled up before the beak. Exemplary sentences are being handed down in order to show how serious society takes the matter of civil disorder. The courts have been sitting around the clock and magistrates have discovered that they do in fact have a backbone if the Department of Justice tells them they can impose tough sentences.<br />
<br />
The latest hardline sentence to be handed down from the Crown Courts is a prison term of four years for two boneheaded youths who posted details of a riot they wanted to start, using Facebook. The riot which never happened thanks to the apathy of the good people of Northwich, was advertised on Facebook by the two youths with a time and a place for the mayhem being suggested. The two chaps who clearly are a little bit short changed in the intelligence department didn't even disguise their identity and so plod was able to track them down after members of the public became alarmed at a mob uprising in the commuter belt of Cheshire.<br />
<br />
So now the two young men are starting a four-year sentence for inciting riot and already the good people of Hampstead are wringing their hands and muttering that the courts have been too harsh and that this is wholly disproportionate. The depressing thing is the inability of the liberal elite to make the connection with their softness and unwillingness to make examples of wrongdoers with the riots that broke out a week before. They seem totally unable to connect the two. It's no wonder we have so many problems when the great and the good that still largely run this country are so prone to panic and so quick to reverse their hardline views once the moment of danger has passed. No wonder our young people are confused about what behaviour is and isn't acceptable.Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-13987660052693177582011-08-12T10:58:00.003+01:002011-08-12T20:09:54.669+01:00Yobbery knows no age or class<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_wTFMsqgUNYRqYsfXpTVJFS-XzARK4txuL0buO-jp7tQXVe1ZAhB7B_XdtIbWgNXSESdKSvgroeLI7t8WaCqPlqZBLqEfBmSgk6n8S5ujVsf5L3eg5M3lThjO77D-werx98fxoTPrYEM/s1600/OldLady.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_wTFMsqgUNYRqYsfXpTVJFS-XzARK4txuL0buO-jp7tQXVe1ZAhB7B_XdtIbWgNXSESdKSvgroeLI7t8WaCqPlqZBLqEfBmSgk6n8S5ujVsf5L3eg5M3lThjO77D-werx98fxoTPrYEM/s1600/OldLady.jpg" /></a></div>
There's a marvellous <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peteroborne/100100708/the-moral-decay-of-our-society-is-as-bad-at-the-top-as-the-bottom/">piece</a> in today's Telegraph by Peter Oborne pointing out how moral decay has set in to our society at its so-called top end as much as at the bottom. The article perfectly captures the sod-you attitude that seems to pervade our sick society. I got a taste of this for myself on Wednesday during a routine visit to the hospital...<br />
<br />
I was due for an appointment at my local hospital's physiotherapy department. Fortunately there's a car park for people who are disabled and who can't walk very far to get to the hospital. As you'd expect, many of the people who visit the hospital are disabled and have a disabled parking badge. They vary in the severity of their disability and the demand for spaces is high. For this reason I set off early and arrived with at least 35 minutes to spare before my appointment.<br />
<br />
I joined the queue of cars waiting for a space and turned my engine off. A couple of minutes later a car drove past me and the car in front and took a space that was being vacated. As you can imagine, I was incensed. I wasn't bothered about waiting I was just really angry that someone should jump the queue... let's face it, until recently, jumping a queue is just about the worst thing you can do in Britain.<br />
<br />
I got out of my car and walked with some effort over to the car driver who had just stuck two fingers up at the rest of us waiting for a space.<br />
<br />
"Excuse me... What do you think you're doing?" I asked the rather prim and austere-looking woman who was doing her utmost to avoid my gaze as she rooted around for a wheelchair in the back of her car.<br />
<br />
"I'm late for my mother's appointment," she said as if that was some sort of an explanation. I looked at the woman to try to see whether it was worth reasoning with her. She wasn't tattoed or pierced; she didn't look like she was a member of the much maligned underclass. She was (and I'd bet at least £200 on this) a retired school teacher in her late 50s.<br />
<br />
"We're all waiting for a space and we all have appointments," I said.<br />
<br />
"Well I had nowhere to park and I was blocking the road waiting for a space," she reasoned with a hefty helping of irritation in her voice.<br />
<br />
I tried to explain that what she'd done was unfair and she just huffed and puffed and kept repeating that she was late and hadn't been willing to wait in the queue. I got nowhere with her and, in the end, just told her she was no better than a rioter.<br />
<br />
"Oh get over it!" she snapped at me before marching off, pushing her mother in a wheelchair that she'd just pulled out from the car.<br />
<br />
That woman was the epitome of the nasty, snarling and snappy middle class sense of entitlement that's every bit as ugly and selfish as the looters of London. Is it any wonder that the young look at the selfish ways of some of the baby boomer generation and take their cue from them?Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-67181542691545187962011-08-09T09:34:00.007+01:002011-08-09T16:18:52.821+01:00Time for change<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMDEd2pFxMJ1dIipdk3X_N3Ghc1j0Bd4yZxXOQnTxAu-nGBsf0q9449Tws9_1G5CsxLwnXJt5mSCHiMx-i5I2EaanF_Tgre9LtDNqArqHkurvl3Dfbum2xd86cDYiNNpeMVS9GARGKleo/s1600/looter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMDEd2pFxMJ1dIipdk3X_N3Ghc1j0Bd4yZxXOQnTxAu-nGBsf0q9449Tws9_1G5CsxLwnXJt5mSCHiMx-i5I2EaanF_Tgre9LtDNqArqHkurvl3Dfbum2xd86cDYiNNpeMVS9GARGKleo/s400/looter.jpg" width="395" /></a></div>
Last night’s rioting in London and elsewhere in the UK was truly shocking. It wasn’t just shocking to see the devastation, the burning buildings and the total lack of public order, but it was shocking to see kids as young as 10 motivated to get out on to the streets to steal things as shallow as a new pair of trainers, a bigger plasma tv or the latest smartphone. Is that really the pinnacle of this generation’s aspirations? To get their hands on some tacky gadgetry! Is that what it’s worth smashing up your community for?<br />
<br />
What really concerns me is the potential for further unrest and violence. If this is what these very young individuals are capable of at such a young age, what on earth are they going to be doing in ten years’ time? Ten years during which they will have gained little or no meaningful education, virtually no engagement with their communities and zero prospect of employment. This is surely a social menace waiting to happen.<br />
<br />
And how has it come to this? How have we managed to create a society where pockets of people have no interest or respect for the place they live? How have we managed to produce a generation that’s happy to defile its own doorstep?<br />
<br />
Part of the problem must surely be the chronic overcrowding of our cities; the transient populations and the breakneck speed of immigration that mean successive waves of newcomers have had little time to put down sustainable roots. We live in an age where many people don’t know their neighbours and have little wish to do so. The tyranny of multiculturalism which has created ghettos rather than communities may have been well-meaning, but the failure to create a cohesive society where everyone speaks a single language and shares a common standard of ethics and behaviour has brought us to the point where our streets are burning, shops are being looted and the vast silent majority is afraid to venture out from behind their heavily barred and locked front doors. This is no way to live. Something has to change.<br />
<br />
We now need leaders with vision, optimism and hope. People who can take their snouts out of the trough for more than five minutes and who can help us build a more decent place in which to live; where those with courtesy and concern for their communities are rewarded and encouraged. It’s surely time for change.Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-47015364236323506682011-08-03T07:58:00.004+01:002011-08-03T14:22:06.083+01:00Total bull<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBmU7aGtgv3m-noz5DmoJf1DY_2XeM9U6sHj5JWen5vtYkkDpa6ekM8ZpcQ6I2WiZRjW_SswQzDgv4Q0cPKR990zAh9r7Ydkw-cBYxZNkljQ2XK-lZDowaPOTTF6Xtr2fQ0PcNgl7xv2o/s1600/bull50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBmU7aGtgv3m-noz5DmoJf1DY_2XeM9U6sHj5JWen5vtYkkDpa6ekM8ZpcQ6I2WiZRjW_SswQzDgv4Q0cPKR990zAh9r7Ydkw-cBYxZNkljQ2XK-lZDowaPOTTF6Xtr2fQ0PcNgl7xv2o/s400/bull50.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Long-time readers will know that I have a healthy disrespect for authority and an intolerance to bullying and overbearing officialdom. Imagine then how much I enjoyed receiving this from my friend Sam.<br />
<br />
A Drugs Enforcement Administration officer stopped by at a ranch in Texas and talked with an old rancher.<br />
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He told the rancher: "I need to inspect your ranch for illegally grown drugs."<br />
<br />
The rancher replied: "Okay… but whatever you do don't go in that field over there," as he pointed to the field behind the officer.<br />
<br />
The DEA official verbally exploded and screamed: "Mister… I have the authority of the Federal Government with me!"<br />
<br />
He reached into his rear trouser pocket and removed his badge and shoved it under the rancher’s nose.<br />
<br />
"See this badge? This badge means I’m allowed to go wherever I want… on any land I like! No questions asked or answers given! Have I made myself absolutely clear? Do you understand?"<br />
<br />
The rancher nodded politely, apologized, and went about his chores.<br />
<br />
A short time later the old rancher heard some loud screams. He looked up, and saw the DEA officer running for his life and being chased by the rancher's big Santa Gertrudis bull.<br />
<br />
With every step the bull was gaining ground on the officer, and it seemed likely that the official would be gored before he reached safety. The officer was clearly terrified.<br />
<br />
The rancher threw down his tools, ran to the fence and yelled at the top of his lungs…<br />
<br />
"Your badge! Show him your BADGE!"Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-49040058178129664272011-08-02T10:43:00.011+01:002011-08-02T12:40:43.355+01:00Get a life!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPNf1cXNeLWujb7GPQLN-TXVxjJLg-RQvc28VLGPBy2zuiX8Ter2PnQ6sAuXkVDLWrqtv1sQOyBtpjPLavtRUB_2teWZzfMWz0-yp9m9TweNuhAGXcLlo0R6ryCb2vk4bIw04TGuLWN0k/s1600/TopGear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPNf1cXNeLWujb7GPQLN-TXVxjJLg-RQvc28VLGPBy2zuiX8Ter2PnQ6sAuXkVDLWrqtv1sQOyBtpjPLavtRUB_2teWZzfMWz0-yp9m9TweNuhAGXcLlo0R6ryCb2vk4bIw04TGuLWN0k/s400/TopGear.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Another day… and yet another slagging-off <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2021387/Top-Gear-presenters-drive-trouble--time-using-disabled-parking-bays.html">story</a> about the BBC’s Top Gear motoring tv programme, courtesy of The Daily Mail. Now, I know Jeremy Clarkson can be a boorish buffoon at times but he’s undeniably funny and a breath of fresh air in the stultifying tyranny of political correctness that we’re subjected to in this country. Since when did people start having their funny bones removed? Has the whole country lost its sense of humour?<br />
<br />
The latest nonsense from the Top Gear knockers involves the latest episode of the show, which was screened on Sunday evening. Presenters James May and Jeremy Clarkson were testing electric cars and in a very informative feature explained many of the drawbacks of these ridiculously impractical milk floats. Part of the film showed the evil pair discussing their findings. But rather than parking in normal parking bays, the diabolical duo parked in spaces reserved for disabled people - causing 'a storm of protest' from disabled motoring groups who said it was 'typical' of Clarkson.<br />
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Cue the demented rantings of complete nitwits with a humour bypass castigating ‘the evil Clarkson’. According to The Daily Mail: "It was as they stepped out of their cars - with Clarkson and May even standing on top of a disabled road marking - that shocked viewers realised they had parked in disabled bays."<br />
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Now the Mail doesn’t make it clear how many of these viewers were shocked, or how much medical attention they required following such a heinous crime. I'm more likely to believe that some bone idle journalist noticed the faux pas and decided to call up some professional offence takers who would supply a suitable quote to beat Clarkson with. The Mail clearly has it in for the overgrown schoolboy.<br />
<br />
Clearly having sucked on a very unripe lemon, Jim Rawlings, of Disabled Motoring UK, was quoted in the article saying that he was sure that Clarkson 'wouldn't have cared' about parking up in a disabled bay. He said: ‘I'm sure the last thing on Jeremy Clarkson's mind was that he was parked in a disabled bay.’<br />
<br />
Yes, Jim… and you’d know exactly what was going on in Jezza’s head, wouldn’t you?<br />
<br />
He went on to say: 'The abuse of non-disabled people parking in disabled bays is rife, and with people like Jeremy Clarkson and James May doing this other motorists will just think they can just park wherever they like.<br />
<br />
'People who are patently not disabled, like Clarkson and May, obviously didn't have a passing care that a disabled person might have needed those spaces.<br />
<br />
'I'm sure Jeremy Clarkson especially would not feel contrite about parking in a disabled bay - it shows a lack of feeling and care and a total lack of compassion.'<br />
<br />
Peter Lyne, of the Disabled Motorists Foundation, said it was 'extremely frustrating' watching non-disabled people park in disabled parking bays.<br />
<br />
Clearly both Peter and Jim aren’t getting out often enough in their Motability chariots; certainly not often enough to get a reasonable perspective on life.<br />
<br />
A Top Gear spokesman said: "Top Gear does not condone the misuse of disabled parking bays. The programme had permission from the owners of the car park to use the bays for a short period of time to enable filming to take place unhindered, and members of the production team were with the cars at all times. There were other disabled spaces available, and of course had anyone needed to park in one of the spaces occupied by Top Gear, we would have moved immediately."<br />
<br />
Technically, I am a disabled motorist (although I don’t feel the need to belong to Disabled Motoring UK or the Disabled Motorist’s Foundation in order to drive my car) and I found the Top Gear item hugely amusing and wasn't offended in the slightest. Shame on The Daily Mail for this nonsensical piece of 'journalism' and as for the disabled motorists... they haven’t got a leg to stand on!Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-47467031955568066792011-08-01T10:30:00.002+01:002011-08-01T10:30:25.385+01:00Hello again<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqvchWA9mLhoaS7IE0TIS9-Lpd78DXlAKWPtw0bBL8YMDmeqZPcaWTz0dIzB78K8cngXrfQ-aTl4TW4HpZoIiPoVL9ZILCKkWgIOTv3ULnlDyb72h7C-lESLJfjBOhT4YAjrDxUCy9XuA/s1600/MarkSFX2_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqvchWA9mLhoaS7IE0TIS9-Lpd78DXlAKWPtw0bBL8YMDmeqZPcaWTz0dIzB78K8cngXrfQ-aTl4TW4HpZoIiPoVL9ZILCKkWgIOTv3ULnlDyb72h7C-lESLJfjBOhT4YAjrDxUCy9XuA/s200/MarkSFX2_1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Thank you for the lovely messages asking me to post again and to give you an update on how I'm faring. Things are going pretty well on the health front. My broken leg has finally fused and is now a single piece after two years of being 'non union'... I presume I can expect it to go on strike fairly soon now that it is 'union'.<br />
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The bad news is that I've lost nearly five centimetres of my leg left which means that I now walk round in circles unless I wear my special shoes to level me up. Now the long slog back to work begins. I am hoping to make another tv programme but these things take such an unbelievably long time to commission and arrange but I'm hoping something will turn up. In the meantime I need to turn my efforts to getting back to my writing and broadcasting work. It's not the easiest sector to get back into, particularly in the depths of stagflation, but I'm hopeful.<br />
<br />
As far as the hospital food campaign goes, I managed to collect just over 4000 signatures for my petition which was sent to the Health Secretary. Unfortunately no reply from the government even though they've had it for five months. I suppose that tells us how important nutrition is to the people who manage our health service. It's probably time for me to embarrass the Health Secretary but I thought I'd wait until he started his holidays. Doesn't do any harm to keep them on their toes once they've departed for the beach.<br />
<br />
I'll let you know what happens.Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-80070354262394454982011-05-26T10:28:00.000+01:002011-05-26T10:28:07.178+01:00Hang your heads in shame!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3JrJTnfVS6gXGttLnSN8lRzH_jrQWAc4gl_eUm9npREZIjmrTcVp2FyvyoQStC1VbJ6PdaEJBnYmXeqLbChfJXqW_50kSRLvWoOIfA905bX71cg_zPeQMGie1Iqm6NTELfrIsh-Abdm8/s1600/patient.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3JrJTnfVS6gXGttLnSN8lRzH_jrQWAc4gl_eUm9npREZIjmrTcVp2FyvyoQStC1VbJ6PdaEJBnYmXeqLbChfJXqW_50kSRLvWoOIfA905bX71cg_zPeQMGie1Iqm6NTELfrIsh-Abdm8/s320/patient.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Anyone who's spent more than a couple of days in a modern British hospital will recognise the symptoms: the stench of unemptied bedpans, the emergency buzzers deliberately left out of reach, the unfilled drinking water jugs and the moans of patients who have gone too long without pain relief. I make no apology for saying this. I know that not all hospitals are the same, but there's too much of a pattern of familiarity running through a report released today that says elderly patients are having to have water prescribed because staff aren't ensuring their patients are adequately hydrated. This is a scandal. There's no other word for it. And to all those doctors from the BMA complaining about the government's plans to improve the health service... you should be ashamed of yourselves. Not content with taking telephone number salaries and treating your patients like Medieval serfs, you spend your time blocking basic improvements to patient care while the people you're supposed to heal are dying of thirst. Physician heal thyself!Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-63062366824545143732011-05-05T17:22:00.000+01:002011-05-05T17:22:27.233+01:00Hospital breakfast American style<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVIfyThyphenhypheneERQgqO2PbswY2qxYndUaoUo1sD4H_Jvss_mPght060emoR3tyQybRaJCWaImEnVLSOzncWjlafRFdvWSQvd8tUxTZSjuW5znFP7jmI-zFbrorqLJVM-2c8ZIZOq9Bgtsr2Ak/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVIfyThyphenhypheneERQgqO2PbswY2qxYndUaoUo1sD4H_Jvss_mPght060emoR3tyQybRaJCWaImEnVLSOzncWjlafRFdvWSQvd8tUxTZSjuW5znFP7jmI-zFbrorqLJVM-2c8ZIZOq9Bgtsr2Ak/s400/photo.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looks fairly healthy and well presented</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-1784355423123213542011-03-23T17:58:00.003+00:002011-03-23T18:14:11.075+00:00Nanny goes to work<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh68BFCXAVo2l3nQ1pmbteNT0UhU80vd4wfMz0XXpCNs2vjUlWPOeuGOZWy1EHTkwoTazpBbe87rkAqu_DPmglxR6UUYabAPAb8oCoNjELUUu5_RjCRVguuliFbgLlSMjaKny0z3UiHQys/s1600/Canteen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh68BFCXAVo2l3nQ1pmbteNT0UhU80vd4wfMz0XXpCNs2vjUlWPOeuGOZWy1EHTkwoTazpBbe87rkAqu_DPmglxR6UUYabAPAb8oCoNjELUUu5_RjCRVguuliFbgLlSMjaKny0z3UiHQys/s400/Canteen.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Quick! Hide your lunchbox. The boss is coming. Put that donut down and pull the reserve apple out of your desk drawer.<br />
<br />
Sounds like some sort of Orwellian nightmare, doesn’t it? However, this sort of thing could be happening to you at work if the coalition government gets its way. Despite pledging to butt out of our business and roll back the nanny state, it appears that our politicians have been hijacked by the usual bunch of self-serving busybodies who infest the third sector these days.<br />
<br />
Under the sinister sounding Health at Work Network, companies and other organisations are being urged to sign up to ‘guidelines’ to help employees get fitter. The actual words used are: ‘help employers use the workplace to improve the health of their employees’ and ‘help people at work lead healthier lifestyles’. These days the word ‘help’ is pregnant with threat and euphemism.<br />
<br />
So, as well as managing your work, your line manager could soon be responsible for monitoring the food you eat, the alcohol you drink or even whether you smoke. These guidelines, as with all government guidelines, are there to change people’s behaviour. But if companies don’t enforce these guidelines vigorously enough, the government menacingly hints that laws could be introduced to make sure that we’re all poked and prodded into doing physical jerks and never sampling a bacon sandwich ever again.<br />
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If you think it sounds far fetched, you only have to look east, in the direction of Japan. There the government has charged companies with making sure that employees lose weight and get fit. Companies that fail to literally slim down their workforce face fines and sanctions. Presumably all employees are weighed weekly, in much the same way that a farmer might weigh his cows to gauge when they're ready for slaughter. Well, now it’s about to happen here.<br />
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So what sort of things could we expect from this nonsense? Free gyms in the workplace? Possibly... but far more likely we’ll see cheaper options such as workplace vending machines stocked with apples and mineral water rather than Cola and crisps. Expect to see limits on the amount of alcohol served at the company Christmas party or even physical fitness playing a part in your annual performance appraisal. For instance, the proposals call on companies to offer ‘responsibly-sized portions’ in works’ canteens. Only government can make the word ‘responsible’ sound sinister.<br />
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How on earth have we arrived at the situation where the government is now poking its corporate nose into the grown-up relationship between employer and employee? We already have companies laying down government inspired rules on things like jokes in the workplace or other behaviour in the office, and it’s about to get worse. Perhaps we’ll soon have a government sponsored spook in every office in much the same way that the SS had a man on every U-boat during the war.<br />
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All I can say is... thank goodness I’m freelance.Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-89034510500732687742011-03-21T17:22:00.001+00:002011-03-21T17:22:34.964+00:00The figures speak for themselves<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Prisoners get more money spent on their meals than NHS hospital patients, shocking figures have revealed. The average prison meal costs £2.10 but cutbacks mean some NHS hospitals allocate as little as £3 per person a day - just £1 a meal.<br />
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Figures suggest the food budgets overall have dropped by as much as 62 per cent at hospitals in England compared with five years ago. The NHS spends around half a billion pounds on catering every year, but it has been hit by a welter of complaints about poor-quality food and malnutrition, especially among the elderly. Around one in five trusts has reduced spending on food since 2004-05, with 36 out of 191 cutting back, according to figures analysed from NHS Information Centre data.<br />
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At least 20 trusts spend less than £5 a day feeding each patient, with St George's Hospital, south London, spending least - just £1.04 on each meal or £3.11 a day. It used to spend £6.67 a day, but a spokesman said the figure did not include snacks or late meal requests. Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust spends £1.11 per meal.<br />
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The biggest percentage drop in spending took place at the Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in West Sussex, where there has been a 62 per cent drop over the past five years. The amount spent per day went down from £10.97 in 2004-05 to £4.11 last year. A hospital spokesman said the cash only covered the cost of providing three main meals and a drink.<br />
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There was a 61 per cent cut at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospital, down from £23.67 to £9.06 per patient per day and at Ealing Hospital, London, down from £10.37 to £4 last year.<br />
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Roger Goss, co-director of Patient Concern, said the problem would only get worse as hospital struggle to make efficiency savings. He said: 'Hospital food is a disaster. Each hospital is allowed to decide how much it spends but the Department of Health should set a minimum amount and ringfence the budget.' A spokesman for the British Association of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (BAPEN), said it was 'outrageous' that NHS hospital patients fared worse at mealtimes than criminals. She said: 'Nutrition care in hospitals is about more than just the food quality, and not enough is being spent on it.'<br />
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She said screening, assessment and support were all vital, as patients needed to be treated as individuals and where necessary given help to eat the food put in front of them. We're wasting money in the long run because of a failure to get these policies right. This isn't a new problem, there have been disjointed attempts to address it but the problem remains that it's an easy target for the finance team,' she added.<br />
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TV chef Lloyd Grossman, who headed a £40million revamp of NHS menus in 2000 that was shelved after he quit five years later, revealed last month that he was blocked by a 'chronic lack of common sense'. The former presenter of BBC's Masterchef, who was not paid for his involvement in the initiative, said patients were suffering unnecessarily because of poor hospital food. He was continually frustrated in his efforts to get healthy and tasty recipes into hospitals and blamed lack of political willpower.<br />
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The Daily Mail's Dignity for the Elderly campaign has repeatedly highlighted abuses caused by underfeeding and poor nursing practice in hospitals and care homes.<br />
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A spokesman for the Department of Health said: 'It is important that patients are fed well so their health improves. Hospitals make their own decisions about their food and therefore, over time, the amount spent will differ between hospitals. Patients must not be left without enough to eat or drink. The Care Quality Commission has tough enforcement powers for cases where proper standards are not being met.'<br />
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© Daily MailTraction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-83299262976753830902011-03-15T10:45:00.001+00:002011-03-15T10:45:49.641+00:00That's one way to make them take notice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A patient who took controversial hospital caterers to court has won a £200 compensation payment. Michael Cooper branded Medirest’s meals a “disgrace” and said he would not have fed them to pigs after a 14-day stay in Southampton General Hospital. Instead he defied the pain from a knee operation to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in the canteen racking up a £200 bill. When Mr Cooper left hospital he asked Medirest to reimburse him but the firm refused.<br />
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So the 59-year-old from Millbrook launched a county court case and won a legal judgement ordering the contract catering company to pay him back the money. Now Mr Cooper hopes other unhappy hospital diners will follow his lead and force catering and health bosses to take action to improve the food. But Medirest bosses dispute Mr Cooper’s claims and say they did not defend the case because “the relevant personnel” did not receive the court papers until after the deadline for response – despite Mr Cooper delivering them by hand a fortnight earlier.<br />
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Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust (SUHT) awarded private company, Medirest, the five-year £17m contract in 2009, to supply meals that are pre-prepared in St Albans, Hertfordshire and then steamed in microwaves in ward kitchens. Hospital bosses insisted that a four-week action plan early last year had improved standards. But disgusted at the food offered to him in October, retired lorry driver Mr Cooper made the trip down to the canteen every mealtime.<br />
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Mr Cooper, who is due to return to hospital for another operation in 12 weeks, said: “If I had pigs I wouldn’t even feed them the hospital food I was given. I would have rather starved than eat anything they served up for me. It is a disgrace.<br />
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“I’m not looking forward to going in again but I have told my wife to get the rolls and sandwiches ready because I will not eat what they have to offer.”<br />
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After serving the Southampton County Court papers to Medirest himself last month, the company failed to respond. Now the court has ordered the company to pay Mr Cooper the full £200 he had claimed.<br />
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Mr Cooper said: “I hope I have started something here and that other people might follow in my footsteps. If Medirest gets a flurry of people claiming against them I am sure they will be forced to take action.”<br />
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Medirest claims that the latest survey revealed more than 70 per cent of patients were very satisfied with the food. A spokesman said: “We dispute Mr Cooper’s claim and had the relevant Medirest personnel been aware of the claim being issued we would have taken the necessary steps to defend this. However, on the basis that the judgement has been entered we will abide by the court’s decision in this particular case.”<br />
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© Southern Daily EchoTraction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-26014543297709504042011-03-09T16:15:00.002+00:002011-03-09T16:30:39.084+00:00Out of sight, out of their minds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Those nasty smelly things that really make many of us sick have decided to ban displays of cigarettes. Yes, MPs have decided that we need to have temptation put out of our way by hiding fags. As I've said before, I'm not a smoker but these knee-jerk reactions that result in banning anything that offends or could be a bit dangerous leaves me feeling really uneasy.<br />
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Cigarettes are still legal. The government doesn't have the balls to ban them because it's too addicted to the taxes they raise. However, the government has decided to ban smoking in enclosed spaces and is now going to ban displays of cigarette packets by making shops keep the evil weed under the counter. Experts believe this will stop people smoking.<br />
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Let's think about this logically, shall we? Illegal drugs aren't displayed or even available for sale anywhere legally and yet drug consumption has risen exponentially for the past four decades. So how will hiding cigarettes help stop smoking? Won't it just make them even more exciting and mysterious to kids?<br />
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By all means, let's discourage smoking which is, after all, a disgusting, smelly and unhealthy pastime. But where does all this banning end? How about alcohol? What about meat? Should we ban butter? Where do we stop?<br />
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If we carry on like this there won't be any displays in shops and everything will be under the counter. Shopping is soon going to be as mad and hilarious as the Two Ronnies sketch involving fork handles. We'll have to play charades to get what we want. Won't someone treat us like grown-ups?Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-81312702201626095672011-03-02T11:00:00.004+00:002011-03-02T12:57:01.603+00:00Ihre papieren, bitte<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The country may be in the grip of a fierce recession as public services are being cut back to the bone, but thank goodness there are some frontline public sector workers out there still carrying out vital work. For example, the brave council wardens and officers of Essex Police who are planning random inspections and roadblocks across the county to look for evidence of illicit cigarette use. They will even hunt for cigarette butts in the ashtrays and smell the air inside vehicles in order to clamp down on people smoking in commercial vehicles..<br />
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When the Health Act was introduced in 2006, workers were banned from smoking in their company cars. Vehicles used primarily for business purposes by more than one person must be smoke-free zones. Anyone caught breaking the law faces a £50 fixed penalty fine or a possible court conviction, which carries a £200 fine. The culprits’ employers will also be informed and also be heavily fined.<br />
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Chris Kitchen, acting head of environmental services at Tendring District Council in Essex said: “Police together with council officers will be stopping lorries, vans, company cars and public transport vehicles on the highway. We have noticed that people are smoking in commercial vehicles where in fact it's banned and we will be looking for evidence that people have been smoking." He added: "We will be looking for ashtrays and whether the vehicle smells of smoke."<br />
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Ian Wilkins, environmental officer at Tendring District Council, explained that the scheme was intended to raise awareness of the law. He said: "When the new legislation came into force on July 1 2007, it became illegal to smoke in virtually all enclosed public places and public and work vehicles.<br />
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"I think it is fair to say that most people understood the rules when it came to public buildings, but there was some confusion over the rules about smoking in vehicles. We will use the month of March to carry out inspections, offer advice and generally try and make sure people are aware of and compliant with the legislation. This is primarily about raising awareness but, if we feel the case is appropriate, we will take action where contraventions are observed."<br />
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The scheme which is being carried out throughout March has been organised to coincide with National No Smoking Day which takes place on March 9.<br />
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I'm not a smoker but this sort of thing makes my blood run cold. How long before we hear those words: "Halt! Ihre papieren, bitte"?Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-26977627092177117042011-02-28T15:11:00.003+00:002011-02-28T15:42:12.511+00:00Jurassic thinking<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The idea that, one day, dinosaurs might roam the earth again is no longer fiction. Step forward Bob Crow, leader of the RMT trade union. Mr Crow has suggested that we can deal with the UK’s budget deficit by putting a 1p tax on every email sent in the UK. That way we can avoid making any pubic sector workers redundant, including no doubt our highly efficient and very courteous railway workers.<br />
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The man’s a genius - an absolute bloody genius! That crafty little plan is going to be just the ticket for promoting inward investment and increasing business communication. It’s amazing how Mr Crow hasn’t managed to become prime minister. Why the hell didn’t anyone else think of that idea? It makes you realise that he’s really worth the £95,000 a year he’s paid, up a mere 12% on last year.<br />
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In other news, drivers could soon be required to employ a man in with a red flag to walk in front of their cars in a bid to cut road accidents.Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835152205968344114.post-67851684198577675802011-02-28T07:34:00.003+00:002011-02-28T07:36:03.353+00:00Dying to get home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Tonight's Dispatches exposes the heartbreaking way that elderly folk are being denied the dignity and peace of dying at home, surrounded by loved ones and the things that are familiar to them. The shocking undercover footage of elderly patients being treated with cruelty and disdain will break your heart.<br />
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Death is the last taboo in our society and yet it is something we must all face. We strive to live a good life and yet some people are being denied a good death. Despite government promises to allow everyone the right to choose to die at home, half of primary care trusts are still not providing the 24-hour nursing care required to make that a possibility.<br />
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Channel 4’s Dispatches uncovered the case of 80-year-old Ken Rasheed, who spent his last days in East Surrey Hospital with Parkinson’s and pneumonia. Nursing staff seemed to have no idea he was close to death, and are filmed telling him off for not swallowing his pills – even though he was so ill he could only swallow them with yoghurt rather than water.<br />
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One nurse is filmed telling him impatiently: ‘This is a busy ward; [other] people need some care as well’, as her colleagues callously discuss the impact of spending cuts while leaning over Mr Rasheed to change him. To make things worse, he contracted E.coli and septicaemia while on the ward. He eventually died in hospital – despite wanting to die at home in front of a Manchester United game or a cricket match.<br />
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Dispatches, Secret NHS Diaries is on at 8pm tonight on Channel 4.Traction Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130413914192627361noreply@blogger.com15