- Woman left
waiting for air supply. Jean Waters of
Hornsea has been left gasping for
breath after being kept waiting for a vital delivery of oxygen supplies from Air
Products, the company that has taken over the service after the Department of
Health privatised it at the start of this month. She had to call Air Products
three times before eventually being told it could be up to three weeks before
she had a delivery. She has suffered from a chronic lung infection for 13 years,
and fears that without oxygen she will be hospitalised. The company blamed the
delay on a higher volume of calls than it had expected. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of Hull Daily Mail 16 February 2006
- Chemist slams
firm in oxygen supply crisis. Patients in
Cumbria with breathing
difficulties have been left without oxygen for up to three days after the
service supplying them was privatised. In the past doctors and pharmacists
worked together to provide oxygen supplies to patients. But the Department of
Health privatised the service nationally on February 1st, handing over the role
to big regional companies. In Cumbria Air Products have been unable to keep up
with the demand and supplies have not been delivered in time, with one Carlisle
patient arriving at a pharmacy blue in the face after being unable to contact
the company for three days. Another patient was told his supplies could take up
to six days to arrive, rather than the previous maximum of four hours. Peter
Walton of the North Cumbrian Pharmaceutical committee said patients were
suffering significant distress and that Air Products was operating according to
the terms of its contract rather than meeting patients' needs in any
circumstance. He said pharmacists were irritated at having to step in and cover
the company's failings. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of North West News & Star 16 February 2006
- The health of thousands of NHS patients could be at risk and one woman is
reported to have died as a result of problems with the privatisation earlier
this month of the NHS home oxygen supply service. Robert Booth
Friday
February 17, 2006 The Guardian
- Dead: after eight
hour wait for oxygen. The husband of Alice Broderick, the 63 year old woman
from
Carlisle who died while waiting for oxygen to be delivered by private
company Air Products that has run the service since it was privatised at the
beginning of February, has said he feels let down. He said: "It was too late for
Alice. I can't say for definite whether she would have survived if she had got
the oxygen sooner but I'll never know now. The new system wants changing - why
couldn't they just have brought a bottle of oxygen over from the hospital
? It makes no sense." He also asked why the delivery man from Air
Products only set off from Lancaster - 70 miles away from Carlisle - at 8.30pm,
after the urgent need for oxygen was reported to the company at 1.45pm. Carlisle
MP Eric Martlew blamed the new system for Alice Broderick's death. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of
North West News & Star 17 February 2006
- Thousands
threatened by oxygen shortage. A woman has died and thousands of people with
breathing difficulties are at risk after the breakdown of a newly privatised
system to provide oxygen supplies to patients at home. Previously local
pharmacists, working with GPs, arranged oxygen deliveries, but the service was
privatised from the start of February and put in the hands of four multinational
companies - Air Products, Allied Oxycare/
Medigas, Linde and BOC. Air Products and Allied Oxycare/
Medigas admit that they have been overwhelmed and have been unable to
deliver all emergency orders within the target of four hours. Since the
privatisation, which affects England and Wales, health trusts and boards have
been flooded with complaints that people have been unable to contact the private
suppliers. Patients have been told that the problem could continue for as long
as two months while the new system beds in. In
Carlisle
Alice Broderick died
while waiting for an emergency delivery of oxygen ordered by a doctor. The
oxygen took almost nine hours to arrive. At 1.45pm the doctor requested an
urgent oxygen delivery. The delivery was the responsibility of Air Products, an
American multinational that has the contract for Wales and large areas of
England. By 7.30pm, when Mrs Broderick stopped breathing, the oxygen had not yet
arrived. She was rushed to hospital by ambulance but died at 9.30pm. Mr
Broderick returned home at 10.30pm to find that a delivery of oxygen had just
been left. Although Mrs Broderick lived only 200 yards from Cumberland Hospital
in Carlisle, the oxygen had travelled from an Air Products depot 70 miles away.
Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of Times 17 February 2006
- The 'bespoke
care' that cut off patients' oxygen supplies. The privatisation of oxygen
supplies was announced by the government in July last year, accompanied by
claims that it would offer a more efficient and cheaper service that would
provide patients with round-the-clock expert care. Jane Kennedy, the Public
Health Minister, said that the multi-million pound contracts with four large
companies would pull together a fragmented service. The reform was intended to
allow patients more mobility with lighter NHS-subsidised equipment, keeping them
close to home and out of hospital, in line with government efforts to steer
patients away from secondary care. The government said the privatised system
would make savings on the £600m the NHS spends each year on acute hospital
admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which accounts for more
than 10% of hospital visits. While the Department of Health estimated that
60,000 people would need the service, it has no official figure and demand was
far higher than the companies had expected. The Times says: "The Government's
decision to contract out the service has brought unforeseen chaos to the
system." Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of Times 17 February 2006
- One of Britain's leading charities for people with severe learning
disabilities has been accused of abusing some of the most vulnerable people
under its care, The Observer can reveal. An employee of United Response, which
runs more than 100 care homes across England looking after people with learning
disabilities, turned whistle-blower to report on 'appalling' events he alleges
he witnessed at the company's Gombards care home in Welwyn Garden City,
Hertfordshire. Two senior members of staff at the home have been suspended,
although the company claims this is unrelated to accusations of abuse.
Sunday
February 19, 2006 The Observer
- GPs told to
abandon private supply of oxygen. Doctors have been advised to abandon the
newly privatised supply service and revert to an old system to ensure that more
lives were not put at risk. The chaos surrounding the introduction of the
privatised service forced officials to ask pharmacists to take back their
patients for fear of a spiralling death toll. Alice Broderick, from
Carlisle,
died after waiting nine hours for an emergency oxygen delivery. Relatives of
another woman in Lincolnshire said that her death had been a result of
difficulties in obtaining her regular oxygen supply, and it has been suggested
that a death in Wales was also hastened by supply problems. Pharmacy leaders
described the situation as shambolic and said that many chemists were now out of
stock after the government's decision to end their £18 million contract. They
said that the government had ignored numerous warnings of the chaos that would
ensue if the supply systems were suddenly switched. They also questioned the
decision to introduce the scheme during the winter months, when oxygen use was
at its most intense. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of Times
18 February 2006
- Second patient
dies following oxygen switch. A second woman has died after chaos in the
system to supply oxygen at home, which was switched to private companies at the
beginning of the month. Moira Brady, 72, from Spalding,
Lincs, had to go to
hospital when supplies failed to arrive. She needed three bottles of oxygen a
week, but her husband had been unable to get through by telephone to the
supplying company, Air Products, to find out when her oxygen would arrive. The
day after she died he received a call about a delivery the following day. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of
Telegraph 20 February 2006
- Starved of our
oxygen. The privatisation of oxygen supplies has left patients in
Derbyshire
struggling. Clive Wildsmith (76), who needs oxygen for 18 hours a day but has
been unable to get through to Air Products, his new supplier, said: "I'm
absolutely livid about it. It's a complete mess. People are in quite a panic."
Another patient is unable to be discharged from hospital due to lack of
supplies. The government says oxygen is still available from pharmacists as a
transitional measure, but Andrew Foskett, of Duffield Pharmacy, says he only has
six cylinders left and he had to "beg, steal or borrow" to get them. He said:
"The Government simply said they were going to stop the contract on February 1
and didn't liaise with us or ask for our help." He also says he knows of one
case where a patient was hospitalised for lack of supplies. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of Derbyshire EveningTelegraph 20 February 2006
-
Oxygen requests
flood pharmacy. Patients who need life-saving oxygen have flooded a
Sheffield pharmacy with urgent requests for help after problems with deliveries
since a private firm took over the contract. Around 70 patients with breathing
difficulties contacted Wicker Pharmacy in Sheffield when they could not get gas
cylinders from their new privatised supplier, Air Products UK. Although
pharmacies are no longer responsible they have been willing to step in and fill
in the gaps in the service. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of
Sheffield Star 21 February 2006
-
Oxygen contract:
crisis talks at DoH over failures. Companies responsible for supplying
oxygen to patients at home have been called into the Department of Health for
crisis talks. The private providers have been 'overwhelmed' by demand since
taking over the contract at the start of this month, a DoH spokesperson
admitted. North
Cumbria primary care trusts have launched an investigation into
the death of Alice Broderick, 63, who died two weeks ago after waiting more than
six hours for oxygen ordered from Air Products. Another of the companies, Allied
Respiratory, said the poor handling of the transition had left its contract
'unserviceable'. It blamed the DoH for the way it handled the transition, in
cutting off supplies from the pharmacies which previously provided oxygen.
Meanwhile pharmacists, who supplied oxygen before the contract was privatised,
have slammed the handling of the transfer. Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating
Committee chief executive Sue Sharpe said that in many areas the transfer had
been "utterly chaotic". Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of Health Service Journal 23 February 2006
- Investigation
into oxygen tragedy. The case of a 63-year-old Carlisle grandmother who died
after waiting eight hours for an emergency oxygen supply is to be investigated
by north
Cumbria's coroner. In a highly unusual move, the coroner has opened an
inquest into the tragedy after initially believing it was a straightforward
natural death. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of North
West News & Star 23 February 2006
- GPs passed buck
for home oxygen chaos. GPs are being blamed for the chaos over the home
oxygen service, but are being forced to administer a system that was never
designed for, or piloted in, general practice. As part of the privatisation of
oxygen supply from the start of February, new Home Oxygen Order Forms (HOOFs)
were developed to be used by specialist oxygen assessment teams. However, GPs
were asked to complete them when it became clear PCTs had failed to set such
teams up. A Home Oxygen Service spokeswoman said: "The problem has been that
companies have been inundated with forms wrongly filled out by GPs." But Prof
Peter Calverley, vice-chairman of the British Thoracic Society home oxygen
committee, said he had warned the DoH months ago about potential problems and
said: "These forms were never designed to be filled in by GPs. I don't blame any
GP for looking at that form and thinking: 'What
?'"
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Doctor Update 23 February 2006
- DoH climbdown on
home oxygen scrips. Problems with the new privatised home oxygen service
continue three months after its launch. The DoH had planned to stop GPs
prescribing oxygen in February. Now the DoH has said that GPs will be able to
keep prescribing oxygen indefinitely. Gloucestershire GP Mike Thomas, a hospital
practitioner in respiratory medicine at Stroud Hospital, said: "The situation is
total chaos - patients are still waiting months for concentrators and
replacement cylinders. Just last week I had to ring our PCT pharmaceutical
adviser about a patient who had been waiting two months for a concentrator. He
must have put a rocket up the supplier because she got one within 24 hours, but
it's been mayhem." Manchester GP Steve Gaduzo said: "The initial changeover was
a disaster and we've still got some problems with [oxygen supplier] Air
Products. Now we're handwriting FP10s, as our practice software upgrade has
removed oxygen because we're not supposed to be prescribing it any more."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Doctor
Update 21 April 2006
- Oxygen deadline
put back. The Government has pushed back the deadline for ending
prescribing of oxygen cylinders. Oxygen was originally to have been removed
from the drug tariff at the end of July, but pharmacists will now continue to
be reimbursed for cylinders for the foreseeable future. Transferring patients
from local pharmacists to centralised oxygen providers earlier this year led
to a meltdown with new suppliers unable to cope with demand.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Pulse 16 June 2006
- Patients forced
to wait for oxygen. Patients with breathing difficulties have been
confined to their homes because of delays delivering portable
oxygen cylinders, many being housebound for
up to eight days. Users say the cylinders are vital because they provide them
with up to eight hours of oxygen - enough to go to the shops or visit family
and friends. Air Products, which supplies cylinders to hundreds of people
across
Leicestershire, said delays were caused by high levels of demand, brought
on by the recent hot weather. The company took over the home oxygen service
from GPs and pharmacists in February. Health officials said the situation
improved after pharmacists and doctors resumed control of delivery of
supplies.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Leicester
Mercury 3 August 2006
- Oxygen shortage
'robs my freedom'. When private firms took over the home oxygen supply
service for 60,000 patients in February, it was accepted there were some
"teething" problems. But, six months on, some patients say they are still not
receiving the oxygen they desperately need. Kathy Dobbin, 51, says that
because she is now without a portable oxygen supply, she is effectively a
prisoner in her own home. Kathy needs four cylinders a month, which gives her
about 100 hours of oxygen, and had no problems for seven years - even being
able to go on holiday. But since the move to private sector suppliers, Kathy
has encountered problems. There have been delivery delays, and when the oxygen
has arrived, there has not been enough. She says the new supplier also uses
different sized oxygen cylinders, which are much heavier and harder for her to
carry. She said: "They had nothing smaller so I accepted it, and tried it for
a few weeks alongside my old treatment. But I got a rash up my back and
couldn't even walk 100 yards halfway down my street. It has changed my life
completely because I haven't got the oxygen that I need to go out. It has
taken away all flexibility and freedom of choice." The National Pharmacy
Association said it had received a number of reports from its members about
other patients not being able to get ambulatory cylinders.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of BBC Online 14
August 2006. See also Kathy Dobbin's website
Walking with Oxygen Campaign
- Mums fear as
oxygen supplier is switched. 35-year old mother Helen Armstrong relies on
oxygen 24 hours a day due to severe asthma
and a hole in her heart. But since private provider Allied Respiratory took
over the contract she hasn't received the vital gas and has to rely on small
cylinders from the local pharmacy, where she was already picking up her
cylinders before the company took over. Since the contract changed in
February, and despite constant calls from her husband, Mrs Armstrong is still
awaiting her oxygen.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Portsmouth
News 15 August 2006 [Hampshire]
- GPs to get help
over home oxygen fiasco. GPs are to
receive guidance to help them counter continuing problems with the home oxygen
delivery service - six months after it was privatised. Additionally, the
deadline for ending FP10 prescribing of oxygen cylinders has been pushed back
yet again. Oxygen was to be removed from the drug tariff at the end of July,
but will continue to be prescribed into 2007.
Loughborough GP Dr Dermot Ryan said: "Some of our patients are still
experiencing severe delays, with one patient getting a new excuse from [the
supplier] every day."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Doctor
Update 22 August 2006
-
Terminally ill man says oxygen firm is forcing him into debt.
A terminally ill
Southampton man is being driven into debt because he can't afford to pay
for the electricity that keeps him alive. Housebound Robert Fenton needs to
breathe from a respirator for at least 15 hours a day to stay alive. Under a
contract with the NHS, oxygen suppliers Allied Respiratory should pay for all
the electricity used by the machine, about £425 a year. However, since
February Mr Fenton has received only £31 from the company, throwing the
55-year-old into hundreds of pounds of debt. Mr Fenton, who suffers from
terminal emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), says
unless the company pays up he will be forced to an early death. Allied
Respiratory took over the supply of respirators to NHS patients in the
south-east when the service was privatised in February of this year. A letter
from the company to Mr Fenton states: "Patients are entitled to be refunded
for the electricity that their concentrator machines consume. We calculate the
amount to refund based on meter readings which are taken when the machine is
serviced by our engineer, which is every six months." However, no engineer has
visited Mr Fenton's home in Portswood Road, and only two payments have been
made to him - one for £6 and another for £25. "The situation is ridiculous,"
he said. "I have been told by the company that I am only using the respirator
for two hours a day. I only wish that were true - but if it was I would be
dead. I am prescribed at least 15 hours a day but sometimes I need it for the
whole 24 hours. Allied are putting themselves above the word of a consultant -
it's complete corporate arrogance. It seems to me they are hoping I will die
before they have to pay the bill."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Hampshire
News 23 November 2006
- Millions wasted
in oxygen fiasco. The Government's botched reforms of home oxygen
provision have wasted millions of pounds of NHS cash, a Pulse investigation
reveals. The chaotic transfer from pharmacist to private provision has sent
costs spiralling as GPs have resorted to ordering cylinders under expensive
emergency arrangements. Primary care organisations are facing overspends on
home oxygen averaging £210,000 for the current financial year - with some up
to four times over budget. GPs warned trusts would claw back cash from
prescribing budgets. And they angrily rejected accusations that they were to
blame for the chaos, after leading supplier Air Products claimed 25 per cent
of all ordering forms had been filled out inaccurately. One GP who wanted to
remain anonymous said: 'This is obvious cobblers and Air Products must be
killing themselves laughing at the pillocks who negotiated this deal. This is
not a local problem but a national disgrace.' All 35 PCOs that provided
information to Pulse predicted substantial overspends - equivalent to £37m if
our figures were extrapolated across England and Wales. Cornwall PCT alone is
predicting a £1.2m overspend on a £380,000 budget. Costs have soared because
of the expense of running dual systems during the chaos of the handover, in
which several patients died, as well as too much use of cylinders rather than
concentrators and high charges for emergency ordering. GPs said there had also
been a failure to set up assessment centres under the new system - with some
patients being prescribed oxygen unnecessarily. Air Products claimed the
Government had seriously underestimated demand for oxygen, which had been 25
per cent higher than forecast. But the company, which held six of the original
12 regional supply contracts in England, has seen its South-West contract
shifted to BOC. Dr Peter Fellows, chair of the GPC prescribing subcommittee,
said: 'Any overspend is a matter of serious concern to us. The PCTs expected
to save money under this system [but] pharmacists did a lot of work that was
essentially unpaid. These big commercial organisations are not going to do
work for free.' Sandra Gidley, a Liberal Democrat health spokesperson and
member of the Commons health select committee, said an inquiry might be
needed: 'The Government seem hell bent on large contracts, which they claim
make efficiency savings. They don't.' The Department of Health said it had
expected extra costs from 'variations in supplier prices' and that there had
been 79,000 patients using the service, compared with projections of 60,000. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Pulse 21 December 2006
-
Privatisation
rethink due. A Pulse leading article says: "The NHS is counting the cost
of another ill-conceived Government initiative this week, after a Pulse
investigation revealed millions had been wasted on the switch to
private provision for home oxygen. The story
has a familiar ring, with the Department of Health's enthusiastic embrace of
all things private sector already landing the NHS
with hefty debts over PFI
and independent
treatment centres. GPs will also be asking how much has been spent on
Evercare and other such schemes that, like the oxygen switch, were supposed to
improve efficiency. There may well be good reasons for wanting to broaden the
range of providers, but ministers too often give the impression of charging
ahead out of blind dogma, with no planning and piloting. Surely it is time to
pull back on privatisation and think hard about what it is all trying to
achieve. 2006 has been a memorable year for general practice, but
unfortunately for mostly the wrong reasons… 2006 marked a tipping point. It
was the year private provision of NHS GP services went from theory to reality.
General practice is changing. Few would say for the better." Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Pulse 21 December 2006
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