15.10.12
Greater urgency needed to improve patient safety – National Voices
On the day that Robert Francis QC was due to deliver his report on the failures at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, National Voices has released a report calling for more effective patient safety and care.
The health and social care charity warned that there could be similar failures to those at Mid Staffordshire as the NHS continues “to wait for further instructions” from the Francis report, which has been delayed until January.
It also stated that government reforms are distracting the NHS from care and placing it under pressure to cut back services whilst the hospitals are “failing to keep pace with demand”.
The report recommends a change in the law so that the NHS can overcome “a long-standing and persistent culture of secrecy, cover-up and authoritarian management.”
Finally, the report highlights a need for the NHS to listen more closely to the views of patients and carers and urgent implementation of the Dilnot reforms.
National Voices’ chief executive, Jeremy Taylor, said: “It is three years since failures in Mid Staffordshire came to light; since we heard how some people died unnecessarily and others suffered appalling care and indignities. The second Francis report has been delayed twice yet that shouldn’t stop us learning the lessons from Mid Staffs and other places.”
Mike Farrar, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, added: “We agree with much of what the National Voices report recommends. It is really encouraging to see patients are pushing for many of the things NHS leaders want to see happen.
“It is a shame the Francis Report has been delayed for as long as it has. This is an important report and the NHS needs to hear what it has to say so it can decide what action is necessary. We cannot afford any further delay from the inquiry or the Government once it has received its recommendations.”
The report is at: www.nationalvoices.org.uk/sites/www.nationalvoices.org.uk/files/not_the_francis_report_final.pdf
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