One element of this case is disturbingly predictable: the discovery that whistleblowers seem to have been stifled
Yet there have been more than 100 such investigations into NHS failures since the first modern healthcare inquiry in 1969. This equates to about two each year. They keep coming up with similar conclusions that expose the dangers of defensive management, dire communication, disempowered staff and patients, systemic inertia and silenced whistle-blowers – as seen again in this distressing case.
That inquiry 54 years ago – into abuse of people with learning disabilities held at Ely psychiatric hospital in Cardiff – stressed the need for staff to raise concerns “without fear of victimisation”. Health secretary Richard Crossman said the “odious and alarming” targeting of whistle-blowing nurses was “the biggest single deficiency” exposed by the probe.
Yet it is like Groundhog Day: nothing seems to change the toxic culture that corrodes the NHS with often fatal consequences. Victims tend to be elderly, disabled or women, reflecting blinkered attitudes that plague society. Last year saw publication of a damning final report into the Shrewsbury maternity scandal, where 201 babies and nine mothers may have needlessly died and many infants left with serious disabilities.
There has been protective legislation introduced for health whistle-blowers. There have been demands for more accountability from a succession of politicians; the longest-serving health minister Jeremy Hunt even wrote a book showing how trusts destroy those raising concerns in their dismal efforts to evade accountability. Yet the medical bureaucracy clings to hierarchies and fails to mimic sectors that put safety at their heart.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Lucy Letby: Hospital bosses were misled, former chair claimsThe former chair of the NHS trust where Lucy Letby worked believes the board was 'misled'.
Read more »
Hospital boss accused of shutting Lucy Letby concerns takes £1.5m NHS pensionTony Chambers bought a Grade II-listed home in Greater Manchester a year before leaving the Countess
Read more »
Head of Lucy Letby's hospital left NHS with £1.5m pension potTony Chambers was chief executive of the Countess of Chester Hospital
Read more »
Lucy Letby: How could the NHS stop a future killer within?It is very hard to 'think the unthinkable' about our colleagues, says a leading public health expert.
Read more »
Childhood friend of Lucy Letby insists 'bubbly' baby killer is innocentShe is one of many friends who support Lucy Letby.
Read more »