This is the February 2003 update to our first Press Release that included the headlines:
NHSCare.info now has some more headlines you may wish to follow up:
... an amnesty, until the end of 2003, for NHS Doctors and Staff to declare known cases in which medical records, such as discharge letters and consultants reports, were falsified to support a patient being discharged into a care home not qualifying for free continuing care. ... without the NHS staff involved risking criminal prosecution and/or reprimand by the BMA.
You may have heard about the recent case of an innocent woman being wrongly jailed for the cot death of her child - it took two years for the husband to get access to his own son's medical records and provide the evidence to free her. Secrecy and falsification of medical records seem to be at the heart of the main story on this site. Robin has direct experience of this and is now releasing relevant information on the Medical Records Page
Details, not yet public on NHSCare.info, have been passed exclusively to a national newspaper who has already run the NHSCare.info story in several issues, including one with three pages on the subject. We have details of other cases, including those being discussed with the police, available for those investigative journalists who wish to "dig a little deeper".
"Minister of Health, Jacqui Smith, answer on Wednesday 15 January 2003 ..."
"...the possibility that officers who adopt or implement them are personally liable for 'misfeasance in public office'".
- then, if you are a journalist, call Robin Lovelock on 01344 620775.
From our first Press Release on www.NHSCare.info ....
This press release was supplied by Robin Lovelock, whose mother, Eve Lovelock, moved from an NHS Hospital to a BUPA Nursing Home on 18th November 2002. It was only by pure luck that he heard a BBC radio 4 News headline, then was given a newspaper cutting explaining that 360,000 old people had been cheated into selling their homes to pay for their nursing home. He saw mention of MP Paul Burstow and rapidly found his web site, and made contact with James Sandbach, the full time researcher for Paul. Robin was lucky in the timing, and in have written up his mothers 2 year care history. He was put in contact with Derek Cole who has been able to provide expert legal advice to Robin and several other people in similar situations. However, there is no way that Derek could cope with the deluge of work related to the countless families who might soon know they have a claim to make.
Robin has set up web site www.NHSCare.info with the help of Derek Cole. It provides whatever free practical advice can be supplied to those who realize that this subject applies to them and their family. It may also assist those, such as staff within the NHS, Social Services, local and central government, who need to make the right decisions in a timely manner.
Why is Robin trying to create some publicity ?
First because he thinks it is "the right thing to do" - it seems there are hundreds of thousands of families who could claim back money that is lawfully theirs. They can decide who best to give this money: family, charities or "the local authority". Many others need to know how best to take future decisions related to care.
Secondly because he believes it will help "oil the wheels" within his own local region, if this whole subject is "common knowledge". It will be more difficult for politicians to "sit on the fence", perhaps claiming ignorance of how the law stands on this.