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Welcome to all of our new members and E-members
In a special edition of the weekly news we will be exclusively focused on the findings of the Robert Francis Inquiry into the local failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.
In March 2009 the then regulator of the NHS the Healthcare Commission published the results of an investigation into standards of care at the Trust, describing them as “appalling”. Now widely described as “the worst hospital scandal in over a decade”, the Patients Association has been supporting the local campaign group Cure the NHS in its ongoing campaign for a public inquiry.
To read more the original March 2009 report and its findings click the link below:
http://www.cqc.org.uk/_db/_documents/Investigation_into_Mid_Staffordshire_NHS_Foundation_Trust.pdf
To read our original response click the link below:
http://www.patients-association.org.uk/News/264
Two reviews were commissioned by the Department of Health but Cure the NHS were clear that these would lack the powers and independence necessary to get all the answers. After further campaigning and securing the support of both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties the Government relented in part and announced a further review, but fell short of announcing a full public inquiry:
To read our response to the announcement of the new inquiry click the link below:
http://www.patients-association.com/News/286
As the new inquiry progressed Cure the NHS raised legitimate concerns about how it was being conducted. They reported that witnesses were being given inadequate preparation to take part and it was being conducted largely in secret.
This week the results of the inquiry were published to widespread dismay across the country as it detailed how horrendously patients were failed and how systematically the management of the hospital let concerns about patient care fall to the bottom of their priorities.
To review a timeline of events compiled by the BBC click the link below:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/stoke/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8493000/8493964.stm
This week...
1. Stafford Hospital Inquiry published - staff cared more about targets than patients
2. Key national recommendations
3. What happens next? What can you do to help? Contact your MP!
4. Round up of media coverage
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1. Stafford Hospital Inquiry published - staff cared more about targets than patients
The Robert Francis inquiry into events at Stafford Hospital published its final report on Wednesday with a damning assessment of failures in basic care.
The report points to failings at multiple levels of management with despite the fact that Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust had consistent rises in its ratings, even being made a Foundation Trust by Monitor.
The inquiry heard shocking reports of substandard care in Stafford hospital, including unqualified receptionists having to assess cases in A&E and relatives being forced to wash patients who had been left in soiled sheets, which described a hospital obsessed with meeting targets and cutting costs at the expense of actually looking after patients.
In particular, the report identified a chronic shortage of nurses with staff so overwhelmed by their workload and developing indifferent attitudes to patients in their care.
Mr Francis said that he had “heard so many stories of shocking care. These patients were not simply numbers, they were husbands, wives, sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, grandparents. They were people who entered Stafford Hospital and rightly expected to be well cared for and treated. Instead many suffered horrific experiences that will haunt them and their loved ones for the rest of their lives.”
The inquiry was ordered following a highly critical report by the Healthcare Commission and echoes the earlier criticisms of patient care.
Health Secretary Andy Burnham said that “there can be no excuses for this” and that he was “accepting all of the recommendations in full and will set out a detailed response to parliament”. However he also said that these events “do not reflect the experience of millions of patients that use the NHS every day or the dedication and professionalism of the majority of NHS staff.”
In initial response to the findings of the Robert Francis Inquiry, Patients Association President Claire Rayner said “The patient voice needed to be heard in this way. If it had been listened to in 2005 none of this would have happened. But that voice is still being ignored up and down the country today. Our Helpline still receives accounts like the ones in this report on a daily basis. The scale of problems at Stafford might have been unique but failures in essential nursing care are not. We know we cannot extrapolate from our complaints what is happening in every hospital. We know that many people are very happy with the care that they are getting on the NHS but the number of complaints that we get should not be tolerated by such an important national service. We are worried that we are sleepwalking into a crisis for our elderly population. They are being neglected on an unacceptable scale in our hospitals. We need the public to get behind us and say enough is enough.
“The nursing leadership at Staffordshire was deeply flawed. The director of nursing told the enquiry that she didn’t think it was part of her job to go round the wards. We cannot help but wonder how someone with that view achieved that post and what degree of scrutiny she had from the board.
“We strongly support the recommendations for regulation of senior NHS managers. This is long overdue. Stafford has shown that decisions made by these people can have disastrous consequences. We should ensure that the right people with the right experience are in place. Time after time senior managers walk away unscathed, only to resurface working for the NHS in another capacity. Patients and carers are quite rightly appalled by this.
“Whilst we welcome the announcement of a further inquiry looking at the wider picture in Stafford we continue to call for a public inquiry to ensure that these processes have the necessary powers. People who gave evidence in this inquiry didn’t do so under oath and not everyone involved was forced to appear. The chief executive of Stafford didn’t appear – that is outrageous.”
Patients Association Director Katherine Murphy said “Before we embark on any of the other recommendations in this report, we urgently need to review the work of PALS in trusts and how complaints are handled. Good complaints handling can help the NHS stop early problems spiralling as they did in Stafford. We’ve yet to see any evidence that the NHS handles complaints well on anything like the scale that it needs to. What happened in Stafford should be a wake up call for the government. We hope it reconsiders its relentless drive for trusts to achieve foundation status. We’ve seen here what a disastrous impact this can have on the delivery of care."
The full report is available online and can be accessed by clicking the link below.
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_113018
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2. Key national recommendations
The Robert Francis Inquiry made a total of 18 recommendations for the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, all of which have been accepted in full by the Government. A full list of the recommendation given by Robert Francis can be found in pages 26 – 28 of the Inquiry. Read the key recommendations below with our views:
Recommendation 2: Status as an NHS Foundation Trust is to be reviewed. Status as a Foundation trust is supposed to indicate excellence as an NHS provider. Foundation Trust status should be earned and levels of excellence maintained. How a Foundation Trust can be found to have hosted such a catalogue of failings while maintaining a reputation for excellence makes a mockery of NHS markers of performance. If Mid Staffordshire’s status as an NHS Foundation Trust is not reviewed and kept under scrutiny public confidence and trust in the NHS may be seriously undermined.
Recommendation 9: Executives and non-executive directors are to be held to account with the introduction of uniform professional standards. Health care professionals are subject to strict regulations employed by regulatory bodies that have the power to suspend or permanently prevent individuals from working as health care professionals if they perform below regulatory standards. It is inconsistent and contradictory not to insist that executives and non-executive directors are not held to the same account in the managerial provision of health care.
Recommendation 15: Independent working group set up by the Department of Health to examine and report on the methodologies used to assess hospital performance; Following the uncertainties surrounding the use of comparative mortality statistics in assessing hospital performance an independent working group set up to inspect and report on the methodologies used would create greater clarity and consistency. The independent working group will then be in the best position make recommendations as to how mortality statistics should be collected, analysed and published, both to promote public confidence and understanding of the process, and to assist hospitals in using such statistics.
Recommendation 16: Department of Health should consider instigating an independent examination of the operation of commissioning, supervisory and regulatory bodies in relation to their monitoring role at Stafford hospital with the objective of learning lessons about how failing hospitals are identified. Regulatory bodies are supposed to act as a safety net in identifying hospitals and health care providers that are failing patients. As the first inquiry asked questions of those that were involved at the Trust, this second one must ask questions of those involved nationally. Monitor, the Primary Care Trusts, the Strategic Health Authorities and the Department of Health-all these organisations must be considered. It is vital so valuable lessons can be learned from the failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. Then measures can be put in place to prevent reoccurrences of poor provision of care in other NHS organisations.
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3. What happens next? What can you do to help? Contact your MP!
We continue to support Cure the NHS in calling for a public inquiry but we will also be preparing a submission to the next inquiry into wider failings. Whilst not perfect, we must still make the patient voice heard.
When details are released on the consultation into regulating NHS managers we will need all of our supporters to submit their views-this is an incredibly important issue! We are sure that readers we will be fed up of seeing those responsible for high profile failures walk away without being held to account. We will be working hard to secure the support of other organisations on this issue.
In the meantime we would encourage you to send a letter or email to your local MP on behalf of Cure the NHS and the Patients Association letting them know you support our calls for a public inquiryand expressing any concerns you share with us about the standards of hospital care for too many vulnerable patients.
As always we rely on support and donations from the public. Scroll down to the bottom of this email to find out more details of how you can help get behind the charity as it speaks up for patients and carers across the country.
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How can you help?
The Patients Association is only able to work hard speaking up for patients with the support of our members. Our free E-membership is incredibly important as it allows us to keep you informed about our work and campaigns. Your continued support is crucial for us to be able to continue our work.
Please forward this email to your friends, family and colleagues and encourage them to join as a free E-member at http://www.patients-association.org.uk/Join-Us.
Full membership and donations provide direct support for our work. If you also wish to become a full member for only £10 a year you can now sign-up online at http://patients-association.org.uk/Membership-Subscription or email mailbox@patients-association.com for details. You can make a donation here http://www.patients-association.org.uk/Support-the-PA
You can also show us your support by leaving your comments on our new Twitter page:
http://twitter.com/PatientsAssoc
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