Smiling for the camera, these are staff at the hospital where a dying man was not seen for six hours – posing for a calendar in which they mock waiting times. Stewart Fleming, 37, was left doubled up in agony despite arriving in casualty with a letter from his GP saying he needed immediate attention. After he was finally seen on December 15, he rapidly deteriorated. He died two days after Christmas from a viral illness.
However, she added: ‘Their main job is to be a hospital.’ The calendar was launched at Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, Kent on December 17, and features doctors and nurses dressed up as stars from Fawlty Towers, Baywatch, Open All Hours and Pirates of the Caribbean. In one picture a nurse and two medics pose next to a sign that reads: ‘Waiting time 26.5 seconds!’. In another, a member of staff in a swimsuit clutches a first aid kit and pretends to help a drowning man in a hospital bath. The Medway hospital has previously come under the spotlight for a string of blunders. These include the body of a dead patient being left undiscovered on a toilet for 12 hours, and the case of 31-yearold Peter Cura, who died after Medway medics failed to spot his cancer despite 37 visits to the hospital.
So much for socialized medicine.
