An unusual letter from King's College Hospital

[spark67]

I also received this letter from kings, and they saved my life last year, and i still get excellent care. i recently raised over ?1000 for the same charity whilst doing the london to Brighton bike ride this year, i contacted them to see if they would publicize it on their website with a link to the just giving page as they have done with others but nothing appeared and to this day had no acknowledgment of the fact they received the money, not looking for thanks but would be nice to have a letter i could post online to thank those who donated.

as a former cancer patient the idea did creep into my head that i was targeted with this letter as a former patient thinking i might feel obliged to donate ( getting cynical in my old age) but thankfully that doesn't seem the case going by other posts

[expat]

Odd I am a current patient of Kings and have received no letter

[PeckhamRose]

Do consider the members thing above in my earlier post.

As for money saving and being greener, I have constantly told them that they do NOT need to waste money and paper by - when they write me with a copy of the letter my consultants send to the doctor - attaching another sheet of paper telling me what they are doing. They could print that bit on the back of the letter.

Or better still EMAIL ME the letter!

Until they stop this nonsense and the CE is paid less than the obscene sum he's paid now (and the BBC has to get its knuckles rapped over its stars' fees, when so many hospital managers and CEs and so on are paid extremely high figures) then I won't give them a penny, except my time while I have it.

[buggie]

Am surprised so many people are surprised NHS hospitals appeal for charitable donations - Great Ormond Street are hugely blatent about this (to the point where I've had people assume I must work there as where else in London do children go for hospital care!) and thus earn an amazing amount to bump up what they get from the government/private patients (and get every celeb visiting/xmas pressies from Hamleys for their patients).

Would be very surpised if half of all SCBU (special care baby unit) patients were there due to dehydration - when I did student placements prematurity was the overriding reason. However, the SCBU unit is split into several different rooms (intensive care/high dependancy/nursery) and it could be that in the nursery room (babies needing least intensive treatment) that babies in there were being treated for dehydration. The ?1000 a day figure would be for babies needing the highest level of care.

The Avastin costs ?21,000 per patient and in studies added less than 3 months to patients lives avastin - while it could be argued that for an extra 12 wks of life anything that extends life has some worth, would be interested to see what quality of life it offered patients - especially with it giving them such a short reprive.

There was an interesting doc on telly the other year about how NICE works - seems they spend their life stuck between a rock and a hard place, is very easy for the media/others to be critical but strangely they never seem so critical of the drug companies who make humdinging profits off the back of these drugs.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Well apart from most of his waking hours of course, making many difficult decisions. What a stupid thing to say

Now why would that be Steve? Apart from blatant, easily provable fraud. Or maybe you aren't privvy to all the facts? But working on the basis you are correct, it should be easy to take the matter further

[PeckhamRose]

..

[dulwichmum]

I too received this letter. Kings is a great local resource and an international flagship in many areas, but I think that these letters are a disgrace.

Hospital managers and Consultants are incredibly well paid (are they prepared to take a pay cut?) and we pay tax, which finances the NHS, despite the fact that we also have private healthcare. Yes the hospitals may well be in financial trouble - aren't we all. Are we to expect letters from the local state funded schools, the council and the police force next?

I shall give Mr Cameron a feel of my pointy elbows at the next available opportunity (stomps foot)!

The Chief Executive of Kings needs to look around, does he think that the whole of Lambeth and Southwark is immune to recession? Well, I am clearly, but the rest of you - schlepping down to Iceland in your leggings for your chicken tikka lasagne - you know who you are...

[Ladymuck]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Well apart from most of his waking hours of

> course, making many difficult decisions. What a

> stupid thing to say

Sean!!!!! I understood SteveT's comment as meaning that the CE wouldn't donate a great deal in terms of dosh. And as for spending "...most of his waking hours of course, making many difficult decisions...", the CE would hardly be donating this as, presumably, he would be highly paid for such work (and judging by PR's ealier comment this would indeed appear to be the case).

[SeanMacGabhann]

Steve's point was that if Kings need money they could take it off their Chief Exec

[dulwichmum]

No Sean, I don't think it was Steve's point. Chief Execs get paid very well for their time.

[Ladymuck]

Was it? Well I didn't see it like that at all.

But then...pea brain...

[Ladymuck]

Ooops cross-post...my post in response to Sean's.

Agree with DM though.

[SeanMacGabhann]

DM - that's the point. They get paid very well - in Steve's view probably too much (Steve, correct me if i'm wrong)

Otherwise I'm not sure what IS meant by

Either the CE does donate some of his salary in which case, spurious allegation

Or he doesn't, but how would we know that and why make the assumption that he doesn't? It's not a generous thought, at best

[Ladymuck]

Sean, I honestly believe that, on this occasion, you are reading too much into a simple comment. SteveT does say: "...I wonder...", he's not stating it as a fact...he just...well..."wonders"...

It's not a "generous thought" I'll grant you that at least;-).

[Ladymuck]

PS: perhaps I should clarify the matter with the CE when I speak to him face to face! (Will he tell me the truth though?) LOL!

[SeanMacGabhann]

Well we can all "wonder" spurious and mean things about people, out loud in a public forum.. it's just not very nice is it.

It's a bit disingenuous to suggest some of that mud won't stick

[expat]

I wpnder why they went with US equipment maybe it was better....

[dulwichmum]

Lovely Sean,

I think that it is naive to believe that the Chief Exec of Kings considers fund-raising as anything other than an income stream to the organisation he runs. The previous Chief Exec of Kings came from industry, and went back to industry when he left. I remember his red sports car. Derek Smith is now the MD of London Underground I think.

This chap will not be running the trust because of his social conscience.

[SeanMacGabhann]

he may or may not be - what difference does that make to the allegation?

[dulwichmum]

I don't understand why you are so keen to assume that the Chief Exec of Kings give charitable donations to the trust.

[expat]

> keen to assume that the Chief Exec of Kings give charitable donations to the trust.

Why are people so keen to assume he does not?

[SeanMacGabhann]

I'm not keen to assume it at all. I could care less whether he has or hasn't - but why make the assumption that he hasn't? What possible motivation is there?

[dulwichmum]

I just think that fundraising is part of their business model. From what I know of these people, they could just as easily be running a supermarket.;-)

[SeanMacGabhann]

So what?

[intexasatthe moment]

As Ladymuck said

they have, after all, used data from patients' medical records to send them unsolicited mailings in pursuit of charitable donations.

My 90 year old mum ( recent patient ,and sorry to say did not receive very good treatment ) also got one .

She was distinctly upset by it and felt vulnerable that information about her recent in patient status was being used for non medical purposes .