08.03.13
Hunt warns of complacency in NHS
“Coasting can kill”, health secretary Jeremy Hunt is set to warn in a speech to the Nuffield Trust.
He will call for the NHS to strive for excellence and avoid complacency, since it can lead to terrible consequences as the Mid Staffs scandal shows. There is a need to challenge low aspirations and do more than simply avoid failure, he will urge.
Hunt will say: “Imagine for a moment that the main objective for our Olympic athletes was not to win but to ‘not come last’. How many gold medals would we have won then?
“It sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? But today I want to suggest that too much of the NHS is focused on doing just that. Not on achieving world-class levels of excellence – the gold medals of healthcare – but meeting minimum standards, the equivalent of ‘not coming last’.
“Coasting can kill. Not straight away, but over time as complacency sets in, organisations look inwards, standards drop and then suddenly, something gives.
“The lesson of Mid Staffs is surely that we need to understand why they fail in the first place – which means tackling mediocrity and low expectations before they turn into failure and tragedy.”
Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary said: “It's no good for ministers to blame hospitals and staff when it is they who have thrown the whole system into chaos with a huge reorganisation, which has siphoned £3bn out of frontline care.
“That is why so many hospitals do not have adequate staffing levels, as identified by the Care Quality Commission. Ministers need to start supporting the front-line and stop denigrating dedicated staff who are doing their best in the impossible circumstances created by this government.”
Dr Peter Carter, chief executive & general secretary of the RCN said: “Our members will agree that all hospitals should be aiming for excellence, but this requires investment and leadership.
“Frontline staff want to work in excellent hospitals, but they need the proper support to be able to do this. Team GB’s fantastic success is down to a combination of ambition supported by proper investment and resources, and this needs to be emulated in the NHS.”
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