Agence France Presse
November 4, 2003
London
ONE of London's leading hospitals
has denied giving preferential treatment to the wife of Singapore's
senior minister Lee Kuan Yew at the behest of British Prime
Minister Tony Blair's office.
Lee's wife Kwa Geok Choo, 82, was rushed to state-run Royal London
Hospital on October 26 when she suffered a stroke, where according
to the former prime minister she was told she'd have to wait hours
for a CT scan, a technique which makes it possible to diagnose
certain diseases earlier and more accurately.
But Lee, who was visiting London at the time, said back in
Singapore last Sunday that the scan was advanced by 4-1/2 hours
after Singapore's ambassador to Britain put in a plea to Downing
Street 90 minutes after Kwa was admitted.
In a statement to AFP received Tuesday, Barts and The London NHS
Trust -- which includes Royal London Hospital, in the capital's
east end -- said it could not discuss individual patients' cases
without their consent.
But it said that "patients are assessed and treated according to
clinical priority -- no patient would be prioritised to the
clinical detriment of other patients."
(Excerpt from
http://www.singapore-window.org/sw03/031104a3.htm)
And here's something from the Daily Telegraph:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2003/11/04/dl0402.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2003/11/04/ixopinion.html