In his introduction to the report Robert Francis QC makes the point that the failure at Mid Staffordshire was “primarily caused by a serious failure on the part of a provider Trust Board. It did not listen sufficiently to its patients and staff or ensure the correction of deficiencies brought to the Trust’s attention. Above all, it failed to tackle an insidious negative culture involving a tolerance of poor standards and a disengagement from managerial and leadership responsibilities.”
The buck stops with the Board, and some of the wide-ranging recommendations set out in the report will have a direct impact on Board composition, conduct and performance.
The Francis report makes challenging reading for commissioners. It is clear that although the successive reforms to the NHS may have amounted to mitigating circumstances, the commissioners, and indeed other interested parties, failed to take adequate steps to prevent the problems at Mid Staffordshire, or to uncover and prevent them from continuing. The report recognises that the system is on the cusp of change but “the experience of Stafford shows an urgent need to rebalance and refocus commissioning into an exercise designed to procure desired standards of service for patients as well as to identify the nature of the service to be provided”.
As Mr Francis QC points out in the report, much has been said about whistleblowing during the Inquiry, and much has been written about it since the Inquiry concluded. It is clear from the report that, while Mid Staffordshire had in place a whistleblowing policy and procedure, it faced serious difficulties in the implementation of that policy.
Robert Francis QC's report today heralds the conclusion of possibly the largest ever public inquiry into the regulation of healthcare in this country. The report is extensive, running to 1782 pages and making 290 recommendations.The findings and recommendations in the report are of fundamental significance not only for the NHS but also beyond.
This Update contains brief details of recent Government publications, legislation, cases and other developments relevant to those involved in health and social care work, which have been published in the last month.
With the final report on the Mid Staffordshire Trust due out on 6 February, it is increasingly important for commissioners to understand the implications generally of this type of issue for them and how their role can assist in early detection and dealing with problems which can arise.
Welcome to the January 2013 edition of Employment Eye our monthly newsletter with information on the latest employment law developments and how they should be implemented.
Diets, detox and developments in employment law have been on the agenda for many this January. It seems unlikely that the government’s ‘one-in two-out’ approach to legislation (effective from this month) will allow any let up this year especially, given the volume of reforms already on the agenda. So, in 2013, the pace of change will be fast, but Julian Hoskins’ tracker of the key changes chalked up for this year will help keep you up to speed.
The European Court of Human Rights has handed down its long awaited decision in four joined cases on religious discrimination in the workplace. The Court reached two opposite conclusions on similar facts relating to the right to wear religious symbols at work; and has also looked at balancing competing rights to religious freedom and equality of sexual orientation. Sarah Michael explains more.
One problem we never have at BB Towers is finding content for our monthly update, and this month is no exception. The Government has been busy publishing details of a major reforms to the TUPE Regulations; the Public Sector Equality Duty is set to change and new guidance is published; the latest employment tribunal statistics are out; and the Court of Appeal has handed down an important decision on discrimination compensation. We also have details of our series of client seminars on ‘lessons learned’ from the Mid Staffordshire Public Inquiry by Robert Francis QC, which is due to report on 6 February 2013.