Labour sending leaflets to Cancer Sufferers

[Jordy]

Quite easily the lowest point yet of the Labour Party, truly disgusting and inappropriate.

LABOUR has become embroiled in a row about the use of personal data after sending cancer patients alarmist mailshots saying their lives could be at risk under a Conservative government. Cards addressed to sufferers by name warn that a Labour guarantee to see a cancer specialist within two weeks would be scrapped by the Tories. Labour claims the Conservatives would also do away with the right to be treated within 18 weeks.

Cancer patients who received the personalised cards, sent with a message from a breast cancer survivor praising her treatment under Labour, said they were “disgusted and shocked”, and feared that the party may have had access to confidential health data.

And here's the opinion of people they were sent to...

- In the Labour constituency of Sherwood, Nottinghamshire, two of a group of eight women friends received the breast cancer card. They are the only two to have undergone cancer treatment. One of them, Phyllis Delik, 80, described it as “callous” and “despicable”. The second woman, Shirley Foreman, 58, who received the card a fortnight after undergoing surgery, said: “It is bad taste after what I have been through.”

- In the marginal east London constituency of Poplar and Limehouse, the card was sent to a 44-year-old television producer who had a potentially cancerous lump that turned out to be a cyst. She appeared to be the only person who received the mailshot among 50 neighbours. She said: “It’s crude and insensitive.”

- A card was sent to a woman who has died of breast cancer. Her 33-year-old husband was so upset that he sent a message to the Facebook page of Diane Dwelly, the woman whose case is featured in the mailshot, accusing her of being a pawn for the Labour party.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle7094308.ece

Truly despicable, it's very questionable how they obtained such data and very insensitive to say the least. Especially as some were send out to terminal sufferers of cancer and even dead people with their unfortunate widower receiving the card. And of course the card is full of lies when the Conservatives would allow more drugs for Cancer Sufferers to become available which Labour currently blocks as too expensive, they will also increase funding too.

How low are Labour willing to go? Sending leaflets to prisoners next saying "We let you out!" ?

[alexxxxx]

wow that is dreadful

[Catzsy]

Well I am not sure if the claim is true or not but that is just plain dirty tactics and I would think breaches the data protection act and patient confidentiality.

[Fez]

We'll be seeing even dirtier tricks in the coming weeks. Labour won't go hung without a last shot at the bigtime.

[jrh2002]

How can labour say this after the story of the woman not getting her cancer drugs she was promised? This is a disgusting thing to do so lets hope heads will roll :@ of course some poor junior minister will get the blame for lack of judgement, removed from their job only to come back in a much better position in 18 months time...... scapegoat anyone? With all our medical records now online this would be easy.

It seems the liberals are also very angered by this and its not just a tory thing. Dirty vile lot :@ Somebody high up must of authorised this and I believe this would have been actioned from the very top


http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...ds-vince-cable

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politi...10/8614075.stm

[-:Undertaker:-]

Well I am not sure if the claim is true or not but that is just plain dirty tactics and I would think breaches the data protection act and patient confidentiality.

So 250,000 people are lying and the Labour Party is telling the truth?

Of course it is true and its dirty politics.

[Jordy]

How can labour say this after the story of the woman not getting her cancer drugs she was promised? This is a disgusting thing to do so lets hope heads will roll :@ of course some poor junior minister will get the blame for lack of judgement, removed from their job only to come back in a much better position in 18 months time...... scapegoat anyone? With all our medical records now online this would be easy.

Chances are there will be a scapegoat seeing as people are rightly demanding an apology.

You raise an interesting point about medical records seeing as last week it was uncovered despite Labour's promise to keep confidential data in the UK it is now unsecurely being processed in India;
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...y-the-NHS.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/lif...cle7086816.ece
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/he...-to-India.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...edges-not.html

I wonder if the two could be connected?

Then of course we have the issue of Donor Cards today where they've "lost" data on details on what organs are not to be removed on certain people?
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/i...iew/full/89027
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8614058.stm
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...JNsfwD9F0EBLO1
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-...01004215598925

The NHS Computer system was also a disaster, scrapped in last December (which was the good move) but the ridiculously ambitious project was over four years behind and billions of pounds over budget, most of that has now been wasted;
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle6946336.ece

One in four denied the latest cancer drugs because they're too expensive;
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle4499847.ece

Note worthy however that the Tories will pay for these cancer drugs;
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8603240.stm

We also had the neglected patients at the Staffordshire hospital where around 400 people are believed to of died as a result of all these ridiculous targets
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/s...re/8575283.stm

So then, what is the best party for the NHS?

[Catzsy]

So 250,000 people are lying and the Labour Party is telling the truth?

Of course it is true and its dirty politics.

No need to be so sarky. I didn't have time to read the whole lot. Thanks

[Tintinnabulate]

No need to be so sarky. I didn't have time to read the whole lot. Thanks

Always best to replyu after reading the whole article to avoid confusion such as this one .

Anyway, hmmm, how they made the mistake of sending it to a dead person is just confusing. I wonder when the letters were processed and when the woman died.