http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/mid-staffs-inquiry-how-a-10year-coverup-was-uncovered-8484075.html
"They were failed by a system which ignored the warning signs and put corporate self-interest and cost control ahead of patients and safety.”
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| Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust Report |
A scathing indictment of a
system and culture which, sadly, is not limited to Mid Staffordshire
NHS Trust. Already we have the statement that another eight hospitals
in 5 other NHS Trusts are to be investigated as a matter of urgency.
There are without doubt other hospitals which should be subjected to
scrutiny, and their performance and shortcomings exposed.
Of course this is not to
say that all hospitals in all Trusts are providing inadequate or
incompetent standards of service for their patients. There are some,
perhaps many hospitals where the standards of care are beyond
reproach, From my own experiences of the NHS, it would be impossible
to fault the medical and other staff and their standards of
treatment.
However, even one case of
appalling standards or negligent treatment in our NHS service, is one
case too many.
For some time, under both
the present government and the previous administration, there has
been the criticism from many people that the NHS has become an
organisation which places control of costs and pursuit of targets, as
the primary objective, not the care and medical well being of
patients. Clinical and medical decisions are being made on the basis
of cost rather than medical necessity where accountants have become
the medical decision makers.
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| Robert Francis QC |
The criticism, despite
vehement rejection by successive ministers of health and government
politicians generally it seems was completely correct, as now we have
Robert Francis QC sating exactly the same thing in his report into
Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust. Neither this government or any other
former minister can continue to deny the fact.
Other worrying factors
appear to remain unanswered.
.Why did medical staff
fail to notice the condition of patients?
.Were there no daily
Doctors rounds of wards?
.Did doctors not notice
the condition of their patients?
.Why has there been
little, if any, disciplinary action?
Why are the senior
management figures still in situ?
Why have there been no
criminal prosecutions?
.Why were patients
relatives and friends or the “whistle blowers” ignored?
Almost as soon as the
report was published, the usual suspects were trotting out the worn
age old cliché that “Lessons will be learned so that the same
circumstances will never arise again”. We all know however that
these conditions will arise again unless the underlying philosophy,
so abundant in government and some trusts is changed to restore
medical rather than financial control to the operation of our
hospitals.
For the approximately 1200
people who have died as a result of this negligence, incompetence,
abuse and appalling management, it is too late. However, there are
many in other locations today, where similar conditions exist and
there could be others in the future, unless action is taken now.
It seems to me that there
are grounds for bringing criminal charges against individual, and
organisations in respect of their action or inaction's in this matter.
Change the philosophy,
discipline individuals, prosecute those responsible.
Our society should demand
no less for the protection of patients and the NHS.
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