Nhs Please Don T Kill Me

When you need the NHS, how can you make sure you get the best possible care? Have you ever thought about what you could do to influence and improve the quality of care you receive when using the NHS? Or do you just turn up hoping that the healthcare professional in front of you diagnoses and treats you accurately and in your best interests? Have you ever walked away from an appointment none the wiser, disappointed, confused or angry? Or worse – have you been mis-diagnosed or had unnecessary treatment? The NHS is something we all rely on. We hope that it will deliver the best possible service when we or our loved ones fall ill. It is regarded as a shining example and world leader in healthcare provision, but, in recent years, its reputation has been severely tarnished. Successive scandals have revealed shocking levels of care, harm, neglect, cover-ups and unnecessary deaths. If these multiple revelations have taught us anything it is that we have to be prepared - and able - to take personal responsibility to influence the quality of care we receive. Either we enable ourselves to rise to this challenge or risk becoming another unfortunate statistic. NHS Please Don't Kill Me! is a guide to help you receive the best possible care. By outlining the prevalent cultural and behavioural issues, it provides readers with essential skills and ideas that could reduce error and potentially save lives. It is an honest, transparent and factual book that reflects the real experiences of many people, including the authors.

This reference identifies and explains the cultural, historical, and topical allusions in the film Monty Python’s Meaning of Life, the Pythons’ third and final original feature as a complete group. In this resource, virtually every allusion and reference that appears in the film is identified and explained —from Britain’s waning Empire through the Winter of Discontent to Margaret Thatcher’s second-term mandate, from playing fields to battle fields, and from accountant pirates to sacred sperm. Organized chronologically by scene, the entries cover literary and metaphoric allusions, symbolisms, names, peoples, and places; as well as the many social, cultural, and historical elements that populate this film, and the Pythons’ work in general.

“He (Briton) is a barbarian, and believes that the customs of his tribe and Island are the laws of nature.” – George Bernard Shaw “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” – Sir Winston Churchill Corroborating the words of George Bernard Shaw, Sir Winston Churchill implied that the average Briton was indeed a moron. Also supporting Churchill’s observation is the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which found that young adults in England are amongst the least literate and numerate in the industrialised world. Mediocre Great England, the latest book by Yinka Bamgbelu, criticizes the legal system in Britain as well as the racism found in its institutions. “The highest reach of injustice is to be deemed just when you are not.” – Plato “Lies are told in criminal cases. Lies are told in civil cases. Lies are told all the time.” – Sir Michael Havers, Attorney General, 1980 “I don’t think anyone will dispute that lots and lots of people are denied justice.” – Sir David Napley The entire book is a letter to Dr Anand Kamath, a 42-year-old dentist who was seemingly and mercilessly hounded to death by white-collar racist thugs. Dr Stephanie Twidale, another dentist, could not spell and could not write legibly, unrelentingly lied under oath. What is the value of an illegible record by a dishonest, semi-illiterate expert? Any legal system, Third World included, which tolerates dishonesty under oath is intellectually flawed and unsafe. Competent administration of the law is an inviolable fundamental right. “This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector.” – Plato

Global warming will either grab your interest or see you running in the opposite direction. But there is another way. It is a truth that is never realized, a truth that cannot surface once buried in the media and in politicians’ singlespeak, and a truth that is tantalizingly beyond your reach. How to Kill an Elephant exposes this truth for all to see, yet this is not a book about global warming; it is a book about human nature exposed for all its inadequacies. It starts with elephants, inexorably being driven to extinction by elephants of our own creation. Where does it finish? That’s for you to decide. Fancy a cane toad sandwich washed down with a cup of tea? Have you ever seen stalactites playing chess? You can expect a deadly serious read with a soupçon of levity and straightforward humour, because life really is too short not to indulge a little.

Jack Mawgan is about to fulfill his ambition to become a qualified paramedic when an incident involving a young Muslim found naked on a Cornish road in broad daylight draws him into the sinister world of 'Extraordinary Rendition'. This campaign was run by the US security services and involved their operatives in torture in their search for information about Al Qaeda's activities. Jack's involvement sets off a chain of events that leads him to the depths of the African interior in pursuit of a self-proclaimed jihadist fomenting rebellion and heavily involved in the drugs trade.

Rachel Haynes survived bowel cancer, not once, but twice. There have been many unexpected consequences … this is her story. Exploring the ups and downs of treatment with sensitivity, humour and brutal honesty, Rachel reflects on the psychological impacts of survival not only on herself but on those who have supported her. Being diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer while bringing up two growing children, holding down a full time job, going through a break-up and having three days to adjust to a life-changing operation is far from ideal. Add to this a short period of remission, a new relationship, followed by an unexpected relapse and the whole thing starting again, and you know you are going to be in for an interesting read.

Barbara Clark is a former nurse, foster carer and mother of two children, one with special needs, and was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in February 2005. During her treatment, she found that there was a drug existing, Herceptin, that would double survival chances for her particular form of cancer from 14%. However, it wasn't available on the NHS and therefore, for Barbara, unaffordable. In the midst of aggressive chemotherapy, Barbara, incredibly, found the strength to fight not just the NHS but the government, and to win the right to be prescribed the drug on the NHS, not just for herself but for thousands of other women. THE FIGHT OF MY LIFE will tell the story behind those headlines. It will tell how she first found her cancer, and what it was that gave her the will to battle on and take on, not just the disease but the authorities who were prepared to let her die for want of a drug. Barbara's reasons for living are her three children, two of whom she fosters and who have special needs: their stories and how they dealt with her cancer will also be central to this an amazing, uplifting, inspiring book. Herceptin has treated Barbara's cancer, but it doesn't guarantee a complete cure - rather, it buys her more time to care for the people who are most precious to her, to help other women and to pursue what she calls her 'passion for life'. THE FIGHT OF MY LIFE is the story of an extraordinary woman and of great human courage in the face of despair.

'I Had a Black Dog says with wit, insight, economy and complete understanding what other books take 300 pages to say. Brilliant and indispensable.' - Stephen Fry 'Finally, a book about depression that isn't a prescriptive self-help manual. Johnston's deftly expresses how lonely and isolating depression can be for sufferers. Poignant and humorous in equal measure.' Sunday Times There are many different breeds of Black Dog affecting millions of people from all walks of life. The Black Dog is an equal opportunity mongrel. It was Winston Churchill who popularized the phrase Black Dog to describe the bouts of depression he experienced for much of his life. Matthew Johnstone, a sufferer himself, has written and illustrated this moving and uplifting insight into what it is like to have a Black Dog as a companion and how he learned to tame it and bring it to heel.