COVID 19 Whistleblower

A video has been currently circulating produced by a healthworker called Louise Hampton. She is employed by a contractor called Care UK and reports that her hospital was very quiet during the COVID 19 pandemic. This tallies with what I myself have heard from insiders I am still in touch with. She was awarded a certificate of merit for being part of the coronavirus response team, but she has returned it, calling it "a certificate of bollocks!" Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KWfuhe5YhY. This was a brave thing to do because, as I know only too well, the NHS is merciless towards whistleblowers; see the background links below. Predictably, her Trust and contractor authorities have retaliated with typical bureaucratic ferocity. They have placed Ms Hampton under an investigation which is eerily similar to my own discharge from the NHS, see: http://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2013/01/one-year-on.html. The BBC have now got on the case and their own reaction has been equally unsurprising. They have published an article written by somebody called Shayan Sardarizadeh from the BBC's "Anti-disinformation unit". Talk about an Orwellian name! The article is as biased, deceptive and derogatory as the BBC's typical output. Care UK issued a statement: "We are aware of this video, which we consider to be materially inaccurate in a number of ways, and can confirm that a member of staff is subject to investigation. We expect all our colleagues and services to support the work of the NHS in giving the public the right information and support during the pandemic." The article then leans on the fact that Ms Hampton is a QAnon supporter. They call QAnon "...an unfounded rightwing conspiracy theory that says President Trump is waging a secret war against elite Satanic paedophiles in government, business and the media known as the 'Deep State' or 'Cabal'... (They believe) prominent people such as former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will be arrested and executed." The Guardian has recently called QAnon "anti-Semitic"... Of course they have! Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-53948820. I salute my civilian sister for her courage and feel loathing for the management who are persecuting her for her beliefs. I know her career is now in jeopardy and I wish her all the best.

See here for background: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2016/08/nhs-whistblower-branded-too-honest.html.

And: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2014/04/nhs-whistleblower-exonerated.html.

And: https://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2018/07/q-anon-livestream.html.

And: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2019/08/what-has-happened-to-q.html.

The All New Gas Spanner Show

There will shortly be a new programme series beginning on HPANWO Radio. This programme will be called The Gas Spanner and will become the official radio show of the HPWA. It will join the HPANWO Radio programmes list along with The HPANWO Show, Third Rail Radio and The Cry Freedom Show with Lisa. I hope it will become part of the "newspaper of record" for the Hospital Portering Service along with the HPWA and, more obliquely, HPANWO in general. The Gas Spanner will be specifically directed to cover the theme of hospital portering and associated subjects. I know that the prime contributor will always be myself, but I don't intend it to be purely a solo series. If I can bring on guests I will; I'm thinking specifically of MEP&DBP (ret) Trevor Murray who co-hosts Third Rail Radio with me. I don't expect serving hospital porters or NHS civilians to take the risk of being on the show. I'm well aware that being featured anywhere with me could be the kiss of death to somebody's career; but I will never include anybody unless I can totally safeguard their professional life. I am going to start design work on The Gas Spanner and will produce the pilot show as soon as possible.

See here for full details: https://hpanwo-radio.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-gas-spanner-coming-soon.html.

RoboPorter!

This news video has appeared: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c4G6QcrvWY. It has a lot to say about the general issue of automation, which I will not detail here because I do so in this episode of Third Rail Radio, see: https://hpanwo-radio.blogspot.com/2020/08/third-rail-radio-programme-89.html. It starts with the story of "Maxi", a robot in a hospital that performs many of the tasks that are normally the duty of the hospital portering services, such as delivering laboratory specimens, linen and medications. It is the porters' job, not the nurses' as the clip claims. The portering job involves logistics, the movement of anything from anywhere to anywhere. It is something that probably could easily be automated, by the technology of the past, let alone today. So does this mean "RoboPorter" is here to stay? No. Although it is possible, and indeed feasible, that non-patient contact duties could be done by machines, what about the patient contact work? The role of a hospital porter is not just to transport patients, but to embody the human factor. Hospital patients are very often frightened, upset, in pain, angry and vulnerable. Having a human being at the controls of your bed or wheelchair is a very important part of relieving those negative feelings; and therefore the healing process. The word "porter" originates from the Latin portare, meaning "to carry", but the hospital porter acts and counsellor and comforter as well as carrier. Many time, patients will actually confide in a porter more than they will with somebody directly providing clinical interventions. The detachment of the porters' position can allow the patient an intimacy with them that is difficult with somebody who is injecting or stitching them. I heard some of the most incredible stories imaginable from the patients I served during my twenty-three years in hospital portering. How could that necessary element of therapy be reduced to a faceless, soulless automaton attached by a metal hook to the back of your trolley or wheelchair? Therefore I doubt if patient transport will be automated in the foreseeable future. It won't be unless human beings themselves can stripped of their humanity... You have twenty seconds to comply!

See here for background: http://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2016/08/youtube-comment-im-pleased-with.html.

And: http://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2017/11/fantastic-dignity-statement.html.