Targets more important than public safety to the NHS
In a shocking discovery, the Health Select Committee stated that the NHS is far more concerned with targets than patient safety and health.
The group said that on too many occasions targets have taken priority over patient safety in the National Health Service and a fear of legal action stopped healthcare workers from reporting poor practice.
The situation is so dire, that medical negligence has become a common problem, with as many as 10% of patients entering the hospital coming into harm’s way. Thus personal injury and clinical mistake claims have now reached over £630 million.
The committee said that although parliament made the ‘redress scheme’ legal three years ago, the NHS has still not introduced the practice and some trusts had “never considered patient safety at all.”
The problem is that health service managers have become obsessed by government-imposed performance targets which meant “safety was pushed aside by other priorities particularly waiting time targets, the need to achieve financial balance and the achievement of foundation status”, the committee reported.
Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of Council at the British Medical Association, said: “This report is a stark reminder of the need for transparency and openness in the NHS. Doctors are committed to raising standards and cutting out avoidable errors.
“But for that to happen, they have to be able to report their concerns in a safe, no-blame environment. At the moment, NHS staff who highlight threats to patient safety are often ignored, bullied, or – worse still – threatened with career termination. We welcome the Health Committee's calls for NHS bodies to work with staff to promote safety.”
Looking at the problem, MPS referred to a medical negligence case where a boy died eight years ago, after drugs were injected into his spine instead of a vein.
As a result, a reform was proposed to prevent such a tragedy from happening again, but changes still have not been made.
The committee commented: “It is totally unacceptable that an identified and simple solution to a catastrophic problem should take so long to be put into practical use.” It stated that it was appalled that the redress scheme has not been put into place.
Negligence case after case
The NHS has had a string of medical negligence cases.
The House of Commons committee heard how one mother has had to fight for the truth, after the doctor kept changing his story about why her daughter had bled to death on the operating table.
Other incidents include patients falling out of beds as they had no bars on them, patients catching viruses due to unclean conditions and medical tools being left inside patient bodies. Roger Goss, of Patient Concern, said these events “will in turn deter people from using the NHS.”
In response, health minister Ann Keen said the recommendations would be carefully considered: “The vast majority of NHS patients experience good quality, safe and effective care and that we are one of the world leaders in the international drive to improve the safety of healthcare.
“However, we acknowledge there is more to do and will continue to strive to make services even safer,” she concluded.
Updated on 8/5/2009