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Doctors’ and nurses’ concerns new ‘wilful neglect’ crime

Wilful neglect of patients is to be made a criminal offence in England and Wales under changes to be brought in by the government this week.

Prime minister David Cameron said health workers found to have mistreated and abused patients would face “the full force of the law”.

A consultation on the appropriate sentencing for such a crime is being carried out over the coming months.

But the BMA junior doctors’ committee co-chair Dr Andrew Collier told the BBC: “[Doctors and nurses] don't need this new climate of fear. They don't need to be concerned that they may be sent to jail. What they need to do is learn from their mistakes and develop their practice.”

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has also expressed concerns. Its chief executive and general secretary, Dr Peter Carter, said: “‎The RCN will never excuse those who wilfully neglect patients and where individual clinicians are guilty then it is absolutely right that they are held to account. However, remedies already exist to tackle staff who are guilty of harming patients and we would question whether a new law is actually required.

“When things go wrong, as well as looking at the actions of an individual clinician, we also need to look at the whole system that surrounds a care failing. Too often, frontline staff are trying to deliver care against a backdrop of intense pressure and woefully inadequate staffing levels.”

A new crime of wilful neglect was among the recommendations of the Berwick review into patient safety following the Mid-Staff enquiry.

Professor Don Berwick, one of the world’s leading experts on care quality and safety, said the new crime was needed to target the worst instances of a “couldn't care less” attitude that led to “wilful or reckless neglect or mistreatment”. But his review said recourse to criminal sanctions should be “extremely rare, and should function primarily as a deterrent”.

Julie Bailey, who founded pressure group Cure the NHS, welcomed the proposal and said: “Now it's time for patients' safety to be a priority.”

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