Tributes are pouring in for Sinead O’Connor, who passed away last week at the age of 56. Many have spoken of her struggles with mental health, and no doubt her son’s tragic death would have taken a huge toll.
A highly gifted singer, she was also known for appearing on American TV in 1992 when she sang Bob Marley’s War and protested the Catholic Church’s silence on abuse committed by those within her ranks by amending the lyrics to “child abuse ‘ to deal with. , then tore up a photo of the then pope.
Her actions sparked outrage around the world, but she stood by it.
She has since been completely vindicated when the full extent of the sexual abuse cover-up became apparent.
I wonder how many people would have shown the same determination to stand up for victims in the face of global libel?
Tributes pour in for Sinead O’Connor (pictured left at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards and right in 2012), who passed away last week at age 56
To me, she typifies the amazing courage I’ve seen in so many of my patients standing up to abusers. Just because you have mental health issues doesn’t mean you can’t be incredibly strong.
How You Can Help Solve the A&E Crisis – Ditch the Drunks!
Being on the frontline of the NHS, A&E needs to address shortcomings down the chain in healthcare. Due to crowds in primary care, for example, people who cannot get an appointment with their GP come through the hospital doors.
Problems with social care prevent patients from being discharged from hospital beds and bottlenecks arise. All of this is beyond the control of the ground staff, who work tirelessly to keep up with the steady stream of patients. However, a report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) warned last week that the experience of people in emergency departments is deteriorating as hospitals struggle to meet increasing demand. Despite the best efforts of the staff, the system is often on its knees.
When I work in these units treating mental health, I see patients who are typically very unwell.
Many have attempted suicide or are battling acute, serious mental illness. What takes them in varies greatly, but they are united by the fact that they need urgent care.
For them, a visit can mean the difference between life and death, and that’s definitely what A&E should be for – people who’ve had an accident or are dealing with an emergency.
Still, I’m amazed how many people turn up who actually have nothing wrong with it.
The biggest offenders are drunk people – much more demanding and disruptive than someone having a heart attack.
Being on the frontline of the NHS, A&E needs to address shortcomings down the chain in healthcare, says Dr Max Pemberton (pictured)
Too many times their friends seem to think the party just moved to Casualty as they scream and dance around their drunk friend.
I remember one night shift in the ER when a woman in her thirties who had been sick started yelling at a nurse to clean it up, while her friend, who had just woken up, complained that he had been hours to see a doctor.
He then started shouting where his shoe was, which judging by how dirty his foot was, he had lost some time ago. It was pandemonium.
When I checked the computer, I counted an incredible 16 patients on the ward whose only reason for being there was alcohol – by which I don’t mean they had fallen drunk and broken their arm or hit their head. I mean 16 people sitting alone in a cubicle or waiting room because they were drunk.
They are ‘treated’ by having intravenous fluids pushed through their veins for several hours to make them sober – meaning a three-hour wait at the reception because these people took the booths.
To make matters worse, most of them had been picked up by an ambulance.
The whole scene was sharply framed by a woman in the end booth who had a miscarriage. Well, that’s what the NHS is for – not to act as some wet nurse for people who drink two bottles of wine and four cocktails and then pass out.
Of course people get drunk, and that’s fine. Inevitably, people sometimes overdo it and end up in the hospital.
Reasonable. But it happens to so many people that services that are already on the verge of being stretched even further.
As I stood there that night, the smell of cider wafting gently from an electric fan, I heard the nurse tell the drunken couple that they were now ready to go – and that’s when the real problem kicked in. “Wait until I tell everyone at work about this on Monday,” the woman told her friend as they both walked out laughing. They were not ashamed. Some people just don’t care.
Therefore, one of the solutions to the emergency room crisis would be to tackle the number of drunks arriving in hospitals, by installing “drunk tanks” in all major cities and towns where they can sit and sober up, leaving hospitals to those who are really sick. . I discussed this idea in an interview for a new book released this week, Conversations on the NHS.
The book talks about the problems facing the NHS and I put forward my drunk-tank theory, suggesting that those using them should also pay for their treatment.
The idea got quite a few reactions, mostly from people who didn’t seem to fully understand what I was arguing for. The concept was proposed by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) in 2013, but seems to have been largely forgotten.
However, the problem with A&E remains – and while this won’t solve it completely, it’s a start, right? It would prevent drunks from clogging our ER cubicles and disrupting care for those who really need it.
And if we charged them a fine of, say, £20 for using the facility, that could also help them get sober.
Time blindness is the latest mental health problem that everyone seems to have. People with diabetes have a hard time understanding the passage of time, but that’s not a formal medical diagnosis. What I find irritating is that people use it as a reason not to try to change, but as an excuse to be late and not be challenged.
Young women are about 80 percent more likely to be injured after falling down stairs than young men.
Why? Researchers have found a possible answer: multitasking. According to a new study that filmed 2,400 adults descending stairs, women were more likely to be engaged in conversation or holding a coffee or bag, which would make it more difficult to grab the railing if they tripped.
This points to a bigger truth: While many people think they’re good at multitasking, they’re not. They are more likely to make mistakes and have accidents.
A better skill to develop is the ability to stay focused, not an easy thing to do when we are constantly bombarded by calls that demand our attention.
As I write this column, I am now putting my phone in another room so as not to be tempted to answer emails or check messages.
Dr Max prescribes… Olive oil
This cupboard staple has long been known to improve heart health, but now a study has shown that eating at least half a teaspoon a day also reduces the risk of dying from dementia by 28 percent.
Why, it’s not entirely clear, although experts believe the antioxidants in olive oil may cross the blood-brain barrier and have a direct effect on cognition.
This cupboard staple (pictured, olive oil) has long been known to improve heart health — but now a study has shown that eating at least half a teaspoon a day also reduces the risk of dying from dementia by 28 percent. reduces