Patients and Customers

I read somewhere the other day that the National Association of Probation Officers (NAPO) is up in arms about Government plans to contract out - some functions of the probation service.

Now the union may have a point in certain points of detail, but the main thrust of their objection was that - as a matter of principle - probation services must remain within the public sector because only in the public sector would they be 'safe'.

Now I imagine that this kind of 'private bad, public good' mantra - doesn't sit too well  against the backdrop of the inquiry into Mid Staffs NHS Trust.

Where up to 1200 elderly patients lost their lives unnecessarily as a result of poor standards of care - which in many cases amounted to deliberate abuse and neglect.

Now I'm pretty sure that if these deaths had occurred in a private hospital or at a private care home - the solution for some people at least would be to nationalise the institutions involved and bring them all back into the public sector - where patients allegedly are always treated with dignity and respect.

But that's clearly not true as the Mid Staffs inquiry has demonstrated - so the issue of how best to provide such services is much more complicated than some folks would have us believe.

My mother struggled with the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease for years which went undiagnosed for a very long time - even though she was a referred over many months to her local NHS hospital for assessment.

The NHS doctors told my mum that it was 'just her age' and to 'get used to it' - before the family insisted on a referral to a neurology specialist - who diagnosed Parkinson's Disease within 15 minutes of her first visit, which I remember vividly as I was with her at the time.

The lesson that my mum's unfortunate experience taught me was that the NHS does not belong on a pedestal - and the 'public good, private bad' mantra is part of the problem at times - because it shuts down debate and scrutiny.

The key issue for any service - public or private - ought to be how satisfied the customers are with the service they receive, but how does anyone know if no one asks?

Which reminded me of a recent comment by an eminent NHS consultant who  suggested that a new word be found to replace the word patient - as this is derived from a Greek word meaning to 'suffer' or 'endure' - presumably in silence. 

I think that's a splendid idea - I'd rather be a customer than a patient any day of the week.