Social Care News

Staffordshire NHS scandal: key findings and conclusions at a glance

The report into failures at Stafford Hospital, following the public inquiry carried under chairman Robert Francis, was published  on February 6, 2013. It includes 290 recommendations, many of which have implications for the wider NHS.

As well as failings locally, the 1,800-page report says patients and their families were failed by local GPs and MPs; the local primary care trust which oversaw the hospital; the Department of Health and even the Health Commission (although it exposed the hospital's failings it was criticised for not detecting them them earlier or preventing them).

• More detail on the key findings below can be found in a summary on the BBC website.
• A Stafford Hospital Q&A document can also be found on the BBC website.
  

Key findings

1. The hospital's board at the time should take ultimate responsibility - for reacting too slowly to events and failing to appreciate the scale of the problems
2. The local primary care trust, which oversaw the hospital at the time, failed to put in place systems to pick up problems.
3. The regional health authority was too ready to put its faith in the hospital's management when concerns were raised.
   
4. GPs and MPs did not do enough to help people who came to see them.
5. The Department of Health was criticised for being too remote and not putting patients' needs first.
6. The Healthcare Commission was given credit for exposing the problems but the report said it should have detected and prevented problems earlier.

Conclusions

The report cautioned against apportioning individual blame - because the removal of key individuals could risk being seen as a panacea (whereas the failings are more systemic - Francis said the scandal should not be seen as a one-off).

The report called for a "fundamental change" in the culture of the NHS - putting patients' needs first. However it also noted that one factors behind the problems at Stafford Hospital was the 'constant upheaval' in the NHS.

Other recommendations

• It should become a criminal offence to withhold information about poor care or to provide care that results in serious harm.
• Better regulation of managers and healthcare assistants is needed, while the regulation of all care functions should be brought under the umbrella of one organisation (at the moment in England it is spread across two - Monitor and the Care Quality Commission).

For more on this story and related stories:

Five other hospital trusts to be investigated following Stafford Hospital failings