Gove ‘could not get X-ray for broken foot’
MICHAEL GOVE has been unable to receive treatment for a possible fractured foot because parts of the NHS shut down on the weekends, his wife has revealed.
Sarah Vine, the newspaper columnist, said Mr Gove could not see a doctor during the week because of his busy schedule, and had been left “hobbling around on crutches, chucking down painkillers” due to the lack of Sunday services.
The Justice Secretary hurt his foot on Saturday night after tripping over one of his children’s toys. His wife drove him to a minor injuries unit the next morning.
Despite being told by a nurse that his foot was “probably broken”, he was not able to obtain an X-ray as NHS radiolo- gy departments are closed on Sundays. Ms Vine argues that the incident proves the need for the “reformation” of the NHS that Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, set out last week, which most notably included plans to create seven- day service in all departments. Though she praised NHS staff as people who “work very hard and do an excellent job”, she says her husband “like most people, does not have a spare half-day to sit around awaiting the pleasure of the hospital radiographer”. And she called for all departments to work longer hours.
Her comments came as the British Medical Association ( BMA) hit back at the Health Secretary’s proposals, stating that they amount to a “wholescale attack” on the “precious institution”.
A study by Imperial College London showed patients admitted at weekends are 10 per cent more likely to die, which could result in 3,369 deaths per year.
The BMA argues that the increase is due to funding shortfalls, in areas such as like diagnostics and pathology, instead of the lack of doctors.
It claims all patients, regardless of the severity of their complaint, will be seen in 24 hours, despite a clause in consultant’s contracts that allows them to opt out of non-emergency work during weekends or evenings.