British Healthcare System Fails Citizens

[egeefay]

7/7 victims forced to pay for operations

Survivor who will have to go to Thailand for surgery says pledge on fast-track NHS care has been broken

Sarah Sims

Sunday October 1, 2006

The Observer

A woman who received horrific injuries in the 7 July London terrorist attack has received so little government support for her treatment that she is travelling to Bangkok to pay for it herself. Beverli Rhodes, 45, a mother-of-four, was injured in the Russell Square underground explosion, receiving significant facial injuries. More than a year on, and after her insurance company said that her health policy did not cover terror attacks, she will travel for jaw realignment surgery in Thailand where the procedure is cheaper.

Rhodes has now set up the London Bombing Foundation because of what she says is the government's repeated failure to provide urgent and long-term medical care for 7 July survivors. Two weeks ago a Home Office report, Lessons Learned, revealed a catalogue of errors in dealing with the victims in the aftermath of the attacks.

'We were supposed to be made an NHS priority, but only a handful of specific survivors with extreme injuries have been fast-tracked,' she said. 'A bomb does not discriminate, yet the rest of us have been discriminated against by the government and we've been unable to get the medical and psychological treatment promised because the government has failed to action this at NHS level.'

After a year of waiting on NHS lists, many survivors are being forced to borrow thousands of pounds to pay for urgent private treatment. 'We're using our savings, cashing in our life insurance policies, remortgaging homes, selling cars or borrowing from friends and family to pay for the health care promised by the government,' Rhodes said.

Around 10 survivors so far have received hospital treatment in Bangkok and another 40 are on the list. One survivor, quoted a price of £100,000 for private treatment in the UK, is being charged £7,000 for the same procedures in Bangkok after three hospitals in Thailand offered survivors significant discounts.

Rhodes faces medical costs of around £20,000, yet so far she has received only £1,000 from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. 'We were assured of full compensation by the first anniversary,' she claims. 'But, like hundreds of survivors, we've only received an interim payment from the authority and no guarantee of when to expect a full pay-out.'

She has been awarded grants of around £3,000 from the London Bombings Relief Charity Fund, soon to be disbanded.

Rhodes was travelling on the tube to work when the bombs struck. She was knocked unconscious, damaging her jaw, which is still out of alignment, and dislodging several teeth. But instead of being fast-tracked up the NHS waiting list, she was forced to spend £10,000 on treatment for her jaw and facial injuries after discovering that her two private health care policies did not cover terrorism. 'I can fall down the stairs and be covered, but not be in a bomb attack,' she said.

Survivors are mounting a legal case against the government to claim for medical costs. Rhodes plans to complete her treatment in Thailand, where hospitals accept patients without a doctor's referral, but she needs to raise a further £10,000 to cover scans, neurological tests and surgery.

Although the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which dealt with the victims of the 7 July attacks, said that the government made no guarantee to fast-track treatment because the NHS treats all people on the basis of need, Rhodes says that is not the case. Since the attacks, she says she has participated in seven meetings with senior ministers at the Home Office.

'The assurances were all verbal. The meetings were recorded, but the survivors have never been allowed to hear or receive copies of the transcripts,' she said. At the last meeting, held three weeks after the anniversary of the attacks, the Home Secretary, John Reid, announced an end to any further discussions.

'We were so angry and upset that the government were deserting us when we still had not received the support promised,' said Rhodes. 'Many of us broke down in tears knowing how many survivors are still struggling from day to day.

'Marriages are falling apart, homes are breaking up and many are losing their jobs - many can barely cope. Everyone suffers survivors' guilt.'

Rhodes has also been diagnosed with extreme post-traumatic stress disorder. 'I wasn't sleeping at night, I couldn't eat properly because of my injuries and I couldn't concentrate on my work.'

A Culture, Media and Sport department spokesman admitted that more could have been done to support the victims: 'Those injured in the 7/7 attacks have had to not only deal with the immediate pain of their injuries but also the long-term effects on their lives. More could have been done to support all of those caught up in the attacks.'

A Home Office spokesman said the government was committed by law to provide whatever money was needed to settle all claims connected with 7 July.

Edited October 1, 2006 by egeefay