Dr Henry Marsh - brain mangler.

[Finless]

Handy Henry Marsh: brain doctor uses DIY drill - Times Online
16 Mar 2008 ... Working in Ukraine has also brought the wastefulness of the NHS into focus for Marsh. Drill bits used in brain surgery that cost the NHS £80 a piece are ...
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article3559282.ece - Similar pages - Note this
More results from www.timesonline.co.uk »


I think I have seen a program about this surgeon before but I don't recollect seeing his exploits in the Ukraine. Perhaps this is just a memory failure? Perhaps I need his services?

What a bloke. What a job. What a weight those decisions he has made, and will have to make, must be.

Also, a big thumbs up to his friend Igor Petrovich in the Ukraine for his efforts.

His comments on the 'drill bits' which, in the NHS are used once and then thrown away (and cost £80 each) perhaps give some indication of the waste within the NHS?

The program returned as its plot line to a chap called Marian (sp?) who successfully had his tumour removed which has cured his epileptic fits.

Some of the scenes were heartbreaking and, because the HM was speaking in English he could pronounce the cold hard facts and let Igor translate them 'sympathetically(ish). Telling grandmother that her granddaughter would be dead within 5 years. That pretty fit girl at the end was told to come back with her mother so there would be someone with her when she was told she'd be 'blind in a few years and dead in 5 years'.

I'm not sure I could cope with the hurt ..........................

Anyway, more power to his cordless drill and a giant's thumbs up to him.

[Neil McLeod]

Yes the drill bits are thrown away. nv-CJD and all that have made it compulsory. Further, increasingly manufacturers of many items are stating "single use only" on their products. So no product liability if reused and hence more sales for the company.

Neil

[Finless]

Originally Posted by Neil McLeod

Yes the drill bits are thrown away. nv-CJD and all that have made it compulsory. Further, increasingly manufacturers of many items are stating "single use only" on their products. So no product liability if reused and hence more sales for the company.

Neil

I didn't realize that sterilizing items didn't remove the risk of transmission.

I thought this was an interesting quote:-

For all its failings, some aspects of the Ukrainian health service compare favourably with the NHS, Marsh said.
At the time of their first meeting, Marsh was a senior surgeon at the specialist Atkinson Morley hospital in Wimbledon, operating on 10-15 patients a week. “I was completely free; I made clinical judgments and was trusted to treat patients to the best of my ability.”
Today, though, their roles have more or less reversed, he said. “Igor is now doing a huge amount of operating, far more than me, while I, as with all senior doctors on the NHS, am struggling under a tsunami of regulation and bureaucracy.”
Working in Ukraine has also brought the wastefulness of the NHS into focus for Marsh. Drill bits used in brain surgery that cost the NHS £80 a piece are thrown away after a single use to help prevent the spread of prion-related diseases such as CJD.
In Petrovich’s practice, a drill bit will be used for up to 10 years, perfectly safely. “We never used to throw them away in the UK,” says Marsh. “They would be sterilised and reused. Now they just end up as landfill, and Igor’s rates of infection are no worse then ours. It’s insane.

[Jay_Benson]

Originally Posted by Neil McLeod

Yes the drill bits are thrown away. nv-CJD and all that have made it compulsory. Further, increasingly manufacturers of many items are stating "single use only" on their products. So no product liability if reused and hence more sales for the company.

Neil

Its the same with condoms - they used to be re-used (honestly they did) but now, thankfully they are single use only (and also a little thinner than previously).

[Finless]

Originally Posted by Jay_Benson

Its the same with condoms - they used to be re-used (honestly they did) but now, thankfully they are single use only (and also a little thinner than previously).

Ananova - World's oldest condom
The world's oldest condom, dating back to 1640, has gone on display at a. The reusable condom dates back to 1640 and is completely intact, as is its orginal ...
www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1870958.html?menu=news.quirkies.sexlife - 10k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this



A modern version?

http://www.myconfinedspace.com/water...harry_hats.jpg