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Hospital lottery
2:59pm Wednesday 17th January 2001
The Sunday Times Good Hospital Guide provides a valuable insight into the postcode lottery of healthcare in the NHS.
A massive disparity between the mortality rate for Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust and the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust suggests that where you come can decide whether you live or die. It follows recent criticism of the basic standard of hygiene on the wards at Barnet by the borough's health watchdog.
It isn't all bad for Barnet and Chase Farm. The trust boasts 150 nurses per 100 beds, among the top ten in the country, and 99 per cent of urgent breast cancer referrals were seen within two weeks of GP referral. The guide also recognised that the multi-million pound redevelopment of Barnet Hospital would make it the most modern district general in the UK.
But these latest figures teach us a sobering lesson. No matter how many state-of-the-art machines we have, it is ultimately the skill of doctors and nurses that is most important in saving lives.
Editor's choice
Treasure Island: The Theatre Royal, Haymarket
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My Mother Said That I Never Should: Pegasus Theatre
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Michael McIntyre: New Theatre, Oxford
One of Sunday’s newspapers reported that Michael McIntyre was on the point of signing a six-figure deal with the BBC and looked in line to succeed to Jonathan Ross’s Saturday night TV slot.
Online guide to Aussie wine
Being someone who works from home I’d have to admit that my tendency to be easily-distracted is not always conducive to being productive.
Deering comes of age for U's
November 18 2008 . . . Oxford United fans may come to remember that date as the day Sam Deering came of age.
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