FORBIDDEN TO REST IN BED...
Isn't it shocking to read about the multitiple sclerosis sufferer who has been FORCED by the NHS to sleep in a chair for six years?
Lorraine Wolstenholme has not been able to get into bed since her local NHS trust banned nurses from lifting her out of her chair in case they were injured. Mrs Wolstenholme, who is 5ft 3in and weighs less than nine stone, has been forced to sleep in a reclining chair her family bought for her. The case was revealed at the High Court yesterday, where Mrs Wolstenholme has lodged a judicial review against the local primary care trust and the council. Mrs Wolstenholme, 51, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1995 and had been provided with nurses to lift her. But in June 2002 the Milton Keynes NHS Primary Care Trust withdrew the service because of health and safety legislation, saying three of its staff had been injured trying to lift the patient. (Bet they put in big claims) The trust said Mrs Wolstenholme's MS caused spasms which made her "hazardous" to its staff.
This is lunacy. The poor woman has enough to deal with without the pc brigade ensuring that nurses will not lift her into bed where she can get proper rest. I say shame on the National Health Service Trust concerned. Is THIS service "the envy of the world", really?
David Vance
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Reader Comments (3)
Strange story.
David -
Yet another story of infantilism and emasculation by the state.
Two things jump out here. First is the morally corrupting influence of 'elf n safety rules, which lead supposed health professionals to effectively abandon a stricken woman at a certain point. And let's be clear, when rules condition people to abandon the helpless, those rules are morally corrupting and ought to be ignored done away with.
The second point comes up time and time again for me - where is her family?! Do they think their responsibility to their mother/wife/sister is overwritten because Mrs Wolstenholme is known to the local PCT? Yes, I think they must. They think they've paid their taxes and can pass on total responsibility for her care to the state, which they probably still don't realise is not her friend.
Very odd story. Most NHS staff would never put in claims like that unless there was some other underlying cause to use this H&S law to lean on. Something else has happened and we are not being given all the facts.
As for being forced for 6 years to sleep in a chair - her family ought to be utterly ashamed of themselves. They buy her a chair but would allow her to suffer so horribly to put in a claim? Good grief.