07.08.13
NHS England to ‘lead the way’ on Berwick recommendations
Medical professionals have welcomed Professor Don Berwick’s review into patient safety, particularly the call for the NHS to change as a system through culture shift.
Jane Cummings, Chief Nursing Officer, welcomed the focus on transparency and learning. She said: “This is all underpinned by having the right staff with the rights skills and knowledge. We are already tackling this through the actions set out in Compassion in Practice and by working with NICE and other key partners such as Health Education England.
“This report demonstrates the passion for patient safety that so many in the NHS have and will be a touchstone for patient safety in the NHS for the next decade or more. NHS England accepts the challenges set in this report and will lead the way in responding.”
Catherine Foot, assistant director of policy at The King’s Fund called it a “strong and insightful report”. She acknowledged that many recommendations echoed the findings of previous reviews and added: “National bodies can help create the right environment for improvement, and effective regulation is an important backstop against failure.
“However, the kinds of change that will make the NHS the safest and most effective health care system in the world, as Don Berwick believes we can achieve, happen within teams and organisations and take commitment on the ground over many years.”
Foot warned that minimum staffing levels “are likely to be too complex for a nationally mandated minimum staff-to-patient ratio to be set” and said indicative staffing ratios could be used to highlight cause for concern.
Niall Dickson, chief executive of the General Medical Council (GMC), said: “The healthcare system in this country, as in many others, has been slow to recognise that safety must be its key organising principle – this important report puts safety first, and, if implemented, will improve care and save lives.”
And National Voices’ policy director, Don Redding, welcomed the emphasis on a culture of care. He called for fundamental standards to apply to “all-round quality” rather than solely minimum safety levels.
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) agreed that cultural change was the most important factor to reduce patient harm.
A statement read: “An emphasis on appropriate staffing levels would also help the NHS cope with the increasing strain it is under due to the inexorable rise in emergency admissions, the increasing proportion of inpatients with dementia and co-morbidities, poor continuity of care, out-of-hours care breakdown and a looming medical workforce crisis.”
NHS Confederation chief executive Mike Farrar commented: “Everyone working in the NHS is committed to ensuring patients experience safe, high quality health care. The findings and recommendations in the Francis report were shocking but we must not let them paralyse us; we must learn and look forwards.”
He called for risk to be indentified, reduced and mitigated, with more action needed to improve safety through culture change.
Sue Covill, director of employment services at the NHS Employers organisation, said the report “contains valuable learning for the NHS and supports an evidence base to improvement”.
She supported the view for change on staffing levels, but cautioned that this must be developed through an evidence base.
But Covill warned that “regulation of healthcare assistants could have unintended consequences that could restrict the flexibility required within the workforce to meet the needs of patients”.
Jackie Smith, chief executive and registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council, supported the recommendation for the NHS to become a learning environment where staff are encouraged to consider concerns.
She added: “We note the recommendation for the introduction of a new criminal offence of wilful or reckless neglect or mistreatment of patients. This is a significant recommendation and we will need time to consider it.”
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