Just Being In Hospital Is Far More Dangerous Than Driving

Deaths in NHS hospitals due to viruses contracted in those hospitals are at least as preventable as car deaths and are rising steeply as a cause of death. Based on the analysis below, just being in hospital is many times more dangerous than driving.

Preventable Deaths On The Road

A - Average UK car mileage (2005) 15,872km/annum
B - Vehicles On Uk Roads 25,000,000
C - Vehicle Kilometres Per Annum (A*B) 396,800,000,000km/annum
D - Road Fatalities (2005) 3,201
E - Vehicle Kilometres Per Fatality (C/D) 123,961,262km
F - Average speed on UK roads 50km/hour
G - Hours Driving Per Road Death (E/F) 2,479,225

Source for A. Source for D. B and F are ball park estimates.

Preventable Deaths In Hospital

A - Clostridium difficile on Death Certificates 3,807
B - MRSA On Death Certificate 2,080
C - Low Estimate Of Preventable Deaths In Hospital (A+B) 5,887
D - On NHS Wards (90% of C) 5,298
E - NHS Beds In Use (180,000 at 90% capacity) (2005) 162,000
F - Hours Spent In NHS Beds Per Annum (E*24*365) 1,419,120,000
G - Hours In Hospital Beds Per Death (F/D) 241,060

Source for A, B and D. Source for E.

Conclusion

At least 10 times as many preventable deaths are occurring in hospitals compared to the nation's roads. Resources should be reallocated with this in mind. For example, in 2006/07, Transport For London's budget for road safety is £42m, up from £18m in 2000. I don't believe this is an efficient allocation of public funds.

How MPs Can Help The Environment

As the anti road-pricing petition heads towards 2 million signatures and Labour Transport Minister Douglas Alexander is saying inaction is not an option (Note - that was official policy when Prescott was in charge of transport) I thought it was a good time to ask what are our MPs doing personally about these issues?

The MPs 2005/6 travel expense lists has just come out (I’ve still to set a date for my interview with a lady friend of mine in Prague who was an au pair to a high-spending MP) which is always of interest. Dizzy makes a good point that MPs should car-share more to ease congestion, help the environment and save taxpayers’ money. This could be a cross-party initiative. I decided to do some off-the-cuff pair ups. First of all I thought of Rob Wilson and Martin Salter who are the two MPs for Reading could share cars. Tony Blair and William Hague are also in adjoining seats – by sharing cars they could make a great contribution. Can you suggest any other groups of MPs who could carshare?

Labour - Boldly Going Where No Other Government Has Gone Before

A friend from the Danny Dewsbury campaign who studies history with interest has prepared a post comparing two governments. Cleverly done. Here's the link.

Star Wars v Star Trek

Guido has been using Star Wars comparisons about our wonderful government. I prefer to use Star Trek as an analogy. Labour are boldly going where no government has gone before. I could argue the British citizen subject had more rights under Magna Carta than they do today. Here's two examples of what's happening and why the natives are getting restless.

Road Pricing/Tracking

Yesterday, the 10 Downing Street website was down for a time under the weight of people logging in to sign this petition to oppose the government's intrusive road pricing proposals. The government's proposal is to introduce road pricing. It will mean you have to buy a vehicle tracking device and pay a monthly bill to use it. The upfront cost will be about £200 and in a recent study by the BBC, the lowest monthly bill was £28 for a rural florist and £194 for a delivery driver. On top of this massive increase in tax, you will be tracked. Somebody will know where you are at all times. If you accidentally creep over a speed limit you can expect a top-up with your monthly bill.

Is An Englishman's Castle His Home Any More?

Here's another reason to get angry. Tony Sharp is rightly incensed by the government proposals to have a team of door-knockers visiting your house every year to update your council tax valuations. I smell civil disobedience.

Rewards For Not Being In The System - Part 3234

When I return to the UK, it will make sense for me to buy a car registered on the continent. This car can probably be purchased, taxed, insured and serviced at a cheaper cost on the Continent than in the UK. I imagine that I would be insulated against further road tax rises, escalating British insurance premiums (mainly due to lack of enforcement/action against uninsured drivers) and the annual requirement to have an MOT. I might also benefit from the fact that speed camera traps photos and fixed penalty parking notices that fell from the windscreen and blew away wouldn't be followed up on.

I've always been UK insured, taxed, serviced etc in the past, but the benefits of being outside the system seem much greater - and judging by the number of Polish registered cars I see when I'm in the UK, I'm not alone in making this judgement.