Standards at Stafford Hospital may be happening elsewhere, BMA hears
The pressures experienced by Stafford Hospital, which led to patients dying needlessly, could be happening elsewhere in the NHS, doctors warned.
A damning Healthcare Commission report published in March condemned “appalling” and “shocking” standards of care at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. Inspectors found accident & emergency reception staff being forced to assess patients and a lack of nursing staff which contributed to poor patient care.
Yesterday, doctors attending the British Medical Association’s annual conference in Liverpool voted unanimously in favour of a motion saying they were “seriously concerned” that other hospitals could be experiencing similar problems. The motion said doctors deplored “trusts being driven by perverse competitive targets” as they try to achieve foundation trust status – a supposed marked of excellence.
Dr George Rae, a GP and chairman of the north-eastern regional BMA council, said one of the main reasons for such problems was the Government’s drive to introduce market reforms, which create competition in the NHS.
“To really compete in the hospital sector you have to become a foundation trust and, of course, the main reason why Mid Staffordshire was cutting costs was to eliminate its debt as its top priority was the achievement of foundation trust status.
“The pressures at Mid Staffs are present up and down England – the risks are elsewhere. If we deliver healthcare in a culture, a system driven by financial imperative and targets with the requirement to ensure the books have been balanced; if the system is making it such that you have almost got to put the health of the budget ahead of the health and care of the patient, then this is what will happen.”
Dr Rae called for an end to the “culture of anxiety” and fear which prevented NHS staff raising concerns about care. Between 400 and 1,200 more people died than would have been expected in a three-year period at Mid Staffs, with the poorest examples of care at Stafford.
Dr Mary McCarthy, of the West Midlands, said: “The concentration on targets distorts clinical care and the pressure by trusts to keep patients out of hospital may not be clinically safe. We have fewer beds per 100,000 population than anywhere else in Europe by a long way – 388 here, compared to 640 in Belgium, 720 in France and 870 in Germany.”
