Launch of full public inquiry into failings at Mid-Staffordshire
NHS Foundation Trust
Health Secretary launches full public inquiry into failings at
Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust
A full public inquiry into the appalling failings in patient
care at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust was announced today
by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley.
Inquiry to begin today will be heard in public
Robust new safeguards for NHS whistleblowers
Move from process-driven targets to a focus on patient
outcomes
The Inquiry, to be chaired by Robert Francis QC, will have the
full statutory force of the Public Inquiries Act 2005 including the
power to compel witnesses to attend and speak under oath. It will
seek to expose how events at the Trust went undetected and
unchallenged for so long by the wider regulatory and supervisory
bodies responsible for monitoring the performance of the Trust.
The Health Secretary announced immediate plans to tackle the
culture of secrecy, fear and bullying among staff at the hospital
identified by previous inquiries, setting out new measures to
strengthen protection for
NHS staff who whistle blow. The measures will both encourage
staff to
raise concerns and ensure that they are listened to when they do
and
include:
reinforcing rights and responsibilities for staff and employers
in
the NHS Constitution;
issuing new guidance to the NHS stating that contracts of
employment
should cover whistle blowing; and
supporting staff that raise concerns.
The Health Secretary also announced that over the coming weeks
he will set out further plans to reform the NHS, addressing issues
at the very heart of problems at Mid-Staffordshire including:
Scrapping targets without clinical justification – so staff
focus on
what matters to patients and not on centrally dictated
processes;
Publishing detailed data about the performance of healthcare
providers - so people can compare services and exercise their
choice;
Giving patients the power to rate hospitals and doctors –
giving
patients a voice so they can hold these services to account;
and
Developing a more effective regulatory and inspection
system.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley:
'Months ago, I promised a full public inquiry into the failing
of Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, if I was ever given the
opportunity to do so. Today I am delivering on that promise. We
know only too well what happened at this hospital – what we need to
know is how and why. A full public inquiry will shed light on
uninvestigated areas and help us to understand and learn from
them.
'The NHS must prioritise the people it serves and listen to the
doctors and nurses who work in it. I have today set out how I
intend to strengthen protection for NHS whistleblowers. Last week
we began to publish more transparent data about the NHS so people
can hold their local services to account. And yesterday I set out
one of the ways we will focus the NHS on improving patient outcomes
by reducing hospital readmissions.
'But this alone is not enough. We need a culture change in the
NHS that puts patients first – an NHS that listens to patients and
responds to their concerns and needs. If patients at Stafford had
been listened to and prioritised over processes and targets these
terrible failings would have been challenged sooner.
'The events at Mid-Staffordshire were a tragic story of targets
being put before clinical judgement and patient care, focusing on
the cost and volume of treatment not the quality. That is why I
want to move away from targets and replace them with measuring what
matter most to patients - their experience of the NHS, the quality
of their care and the outcome of their treatment.'
Robert Francis will aim to provide a final report in March
2011.
Notes to editors
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley announced the public inquiry
into
Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust in a statement to
Parliament
on Wednesday 9 June 2010. The statement will shortly be
available on
www.dh.gov.uk
The Terms of Reference can be found via the link below.
For media enquiries only please contact the Department of Health
press
office on 020 7210 5221.
Robin Gordon-Farleigh
Planning & Strategy
Press Office
Department of Health
Tel: 0207 210 5504
