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Regional press news - this story published 15 October 2001

Daily Echo puts the spotlight on NHS

by Patrick Astill

A campaign to draw attention to good and bad in the NHS has been launched by the Southern Daily Echo.

Good performance will be highlighted - but the paper has promised not to shy away from bad aspects of the area's health service.

The paper said that thousands of Hampshire people relied on the area's health service every day and their treatment was usually excellent. But on occasions, patients felt they have been let down.

"Our Health Watch campaign comes after a series of articles and letters telling of the horrors patients experienced at the hands of the local health service," it said.

Recent stories of problems include:

a four-year-old being forced to wait 24 hours without food for an emergency operation on a broken arm;

a teenager having to put up with a distorted mouth while he waited five years for braces to be fitted;

a 12-year-old autistic boy waiting an agonising six months for treatment after appointments were cancelled;

a pensioner's three year wait for a hip operation;

GPs being urged to cancel operations because of pressure on numbers.

There has been good news about Hampshire's NHS though - with trusts praised for performing well and meeting a range of standards set by the Government.

Hard work by hospital staff was also recognised by recent "league table" rankings.

Peter Pitcher, head of the new Patient Advocacy and Liaison Service at Southampton General Hospital, said it was important that patients talked about their experiences within the NHS, both good and bad.

"We've had a think tank at the hospital inviting people to come along and make comments about their experiences as well as people coming in and saying what was not so good.

"I think it's vital because that's the way that we can learn, both from hearing what we do well so we can do more of that, and hearing what is not so good so we can change it."

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