NHS 'blame culture' attacked by health committee

by ePolitix

The NHS is putting targets and financial balance sheets ahead of patient safety, MPs have warned.

The Commons health committee said it could not be sure that hospital failures like that in Mid-Staffordshire are not being repeated elsewhere.

And a report on patient safety suggested that the ‘blame culture’ in the NHS must also be “urgently addressed”.

Committee chairman Kevin Barron warned that regulation of NHS hospitals remained weak despite recent scandals.

“We cannot say either way whether there is another Mid-Staffordshire out there,” he said. “It’s difficult to say that it could not happen again.”

MPs recommended that boards and senior management should change their approach so that patient safety becomes the top priority.

Click here to continue reading.

This article was kindly supplied by ePolitix.com, a division of Dods. It provides up-to-the-minute parliamentary news – focusing on events in Westminster.

About these ads