JR Porters' Strike Update

It is now a month since the porters of the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford elected to go on strike due to unacceptable changes in pay and shift patterns, see here for essential background: http://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/100-of-porters-vote-to-strike.html. So far no action has taken place. There have been strike dates announced but the actions have been called off. This has happened three times now; the latest being one that was due to start at 10 PM last night for forty-eight hours. My "insider" (qv) says there have been some worrying developments. According to him the strike action has been blocked by the regional office of UNISON. They say that this is not a "trade dispute", whatever the hell that means. I dropped out of trade unionism for ideological reasons, but still take an interest in it, at least as it relates to the National Health Service, and believe it can do some good. I don't see how UNISON can command strikers to stand down when their own members voted for strike action in a ballot UNISON organized itself; not only voted for it, but did so completely unanimously within a membership pool of almost a hundred. The JRH porters are risking everything over this action and their decision should be respected and taken very seriously. Bear in mind that this is information that I've only heard from a single source, but this kind of thing could be interpreted as a betrayal. People leave trade unions over matters like this, in fact shortly after I started in portering there was a split within the department itself. The main trade union of the NHS ancillary staff in those days was NUPE, the National Union of Public Employees, but the theatre porters defected to COHSE, the Confederation Of Health Service Employees. In 1993 both of those unions merged, along with the admin union NALGO, the National Association of Local Government Officers, to form UNISON. What porters have joined together porters can put asunder. If UNISON really do pull the rug out from under this strike will some of the porters move over to another union? Or will they form their own organization dedicated to this specific dispute? At the moment there is another in an ongoing series of "consultations" with management. There's also talk of referring the case to arbitration. I can guess exactly how the porters are feeling. This delay and indecision can be frightening and demoralizing. It might tempt them to accept a damaging compromise from Carillion that they would otherwise never consider. I hope not. We'll see; I'll post further updates as and when they occur. 

Paper Mask- full movie Online

Somebody has done the world an enormous disservice of uploading the entire film of Paper Mask to YouTube, exactly as I feared somebody would. It's obviously in the public domain now. I was hoping it had vanished forever, but it's popped up again like a bad smell,

See here for the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BgBoaCQr20.

The film tells the story of a hospital porter who steals the identity of a dead doctor and impersonates him. I'm only posting a link because some people are curious to watch it. If you choose to click it, don't blame me afterwards!

See here for background: http://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/paper-mask-online.html.

Alyson Dunlop on Hospital Ghosts

Supernatural Magazine has recently published a very interesting article which confirms some of my own observations. Alyson Dunlop, a Scottish paranormal researcher and radio show host relates her experiences of being in the Western Infirmary in Glasgow for major surgery last year. She saw an apparition of a teenage boy and a cloud of "smoky mist". She also encountered a departed family friend. During a second admission she was kept next door to a room with an old woman in it who was being treated as terminal. She witnessed a frightening dark entity in the vicinity of the room, as if this was a Grim Reaper type character who knew the old woman's time was almost up and was waiting to take her away. Alyson prayed to the angels and she reports that they chased the dark entity away. The old lady made a miraculous recovery. I myself have seen miracles in my hospital quite a few times. One that sticks in my mind is a case from the delivery suite in which a mother was expecting twins but was told one of them had died; this was confirmed by Doppler ultrasound scan. However both babies were born alive and well. Alyson asked the nurses and they told her that there had been a similar incident that they'd witnessed in the course of their duties. She wonders if a dark entity is haunting that ward, and that maybe the operating theatres are haunted too, see: http://supernaturalmagazine.com/articles/hospital-ghosts. I've found that supernatural occurrences in hospitals are extremely common, perhaps because of the amount of pain, fear and death you find within their walls, see background links below for more details. Hospital staff are sometimes quite willing to discuss it privately if they know they're in the presence of somebody who will take them seriously. Other than that it is something of an "open secret". Near-death experiences and contact with deceased patients by staff is another frequent occurrence, see Dr Mitchell Gibson; however for reasons I go into in the background links, such phenomena are very hard to scientifically prove. However, as the saying goes, absence of evidence does not equal evidence of absence.

See here for background: http://hpanwo.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/hospital-ghosts.html.

And: http://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/hospital-worker-sees-ghost.html.

And: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/proof-of-life-after-death.html.

100% of Porters vote to Strike

See here for essential background: http://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/jr-porters-ballot-for-strike.html.
The ballot is over and every single one of the porters who voted has favoured strike action, see: http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/13373593.Porters_at_the_John_Radcliffe_Hospital_vote_for_strike_action/. My "insider" (q.v.) has told me that the atmosphere is very tense at the hospital right now. Two UNISON stewards and a convener have been suspended because they're accused of "bullying" management. A likely story! At the same time one of the new "operational managers" has made himself very unpopular by continuously checking the porters' portable dispatch devices to check that they haven't been deleting tasks from them. He also keeps butting into conversations demanding to know what the porters are talking about. Of course the ultimate victim in this chain of decrepitude will be the patient. Hospital management seem to be doing everything they can to prevent the hospital functioning. There was a meeting today, but apparently not much was achieved. We still don't know when the first day's strike will be. I do hope it will be a day I'll be available so I can join the picket line myself.

Dennis Thwaites RIP

It has come to my attention that one of the Britons killed in the attack in Sousse, Tunisia on Friday was a former hospital porter. Dennis Thwaites, who also had a career as a footballer with Birmingham City FC, died alongside his wife Elaine. They came from Blackpool and were having a lovely holiday when the incident happened. They were initially reported as injured, but this was later found to be inaccurate, see: http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/ex-birmingham-city-player-denis-thwaites-9551698. I know there's a lot of speculation right now about exactly what took place. Who really committed this crime and why? But whatever the answer, Mr and Mrs Thwaites were still innocent people who were murdered. Rest in peace, Brother Porter. Dennis Thwaites, on eternal duty. 

"Hospital Worker" sees Ghost

Hospitals are often very haunted places; probably due to the amount of fear, suffering and death within their walls. Psychically-sensitive people like Dr Mitchell Gibson has had regular encounters with spirits of the deceased, see: http://hpanwo.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/hospital-ghosts.html. It's been reported that a member of staff at the Leeds General Infirmary has recorded evidence of a ghost. Andrew Milburn was texting his girlfriend just before going on duty for his nightshift last Friday. He took a picture of what he saw as an empty corridor near the children's ward and when the picture came out it showed an ethereal human figure on it. The spectre is translucent and semi-formed and appears to show a girl or small woman walking swiftly towards the left hand wall of the passage. She is wearing a long dress that looks old-fashioned in style; it could even be an 1800's nurses' uniform. The LGI dates back to the 19th century, although a lot of rebuilding has been done on the main site during the hospital's history. I suspect this is a fake. There are even mobile apps available that allow you to instantly create false ghost photos. Why would Mr Milburn be taking a photo at all there? It's strictly against regulations; in fact all personal devices have to be switched off while you're on duty and/or on site. He claims he saw nothing unusual at the time; then why did he take the shot in the first place? That being said however, his colleagues at the LGI have related experiences that are possibly paranormal, as most staff at most hospitals do; I wouldn't like to entirely discount the notion that a ghost is currently patrolling the corridors there. I just doubt that this image counts as evidence. What bugs me most about this news story is that it keeps referring to Milburn as a "hospital worker"; what the hell does that mean? If he were a doctor or nurse would he be so described? I have an awful feeling that he is actually a porter and is ashamed to admit it. This I find very frustrating and sad, see here for details: http://hpanwo.blogspot.co.uk/2007/12/dont-tell-em-were-porters.html.

Happy St Theo's Day 2015

On behalf of every serving Hospital Porter, every former Hospital Porter, and everybody else who loves, appreciates and supports us, with all the Pride and Dignity of my Extremely Proud and Dignified Brother and Sister Porters, I'd like to wish all my friends and readers, a very happy St Theo's Day.

See here for background: http://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/st-theos-day-2015-fliers.html.