Berwick report on healing the NHS: Patient care 'should be top priority' and 'wilful neglect' should be punished
A major review of NHS patient safety, conducted by US expert Don Berwick, has been published and one of its key recommendations is a new criminal offence for "wilful neglect". Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said he will consider the proposal.
ITV News Medical Editor Lawrence McGinty reports:
Professor Berwick was tasked by Prime Minister David Cameron earlier this year with the root-and-branch safety review of English hospitals.
Some of the recommendations include:
A new criminal offence for 'wilful neglect' should be made law.
Guidelines on how many staff should be on a ward at one time.
Criticising the system of regulation in the NHS as too complex
Professor Don Berwick's report into patient safety said the NHS must:
Recognise the need for wide systemic change.
Abandon blame as a tool and trust the good intentions of staff.
Realise that transparency is essential.
Make sure the staff have pride and joy in their work, not fear.
The NHS should be the "safest in the world", Jeremy Hunt said: "We have got a million more people going through A&E than three years ago and no-one is denying that NHS staff are working extremely hard," Mr Hunt told ITV's Daybreak.
"But that doesn't mean that we can't make the NHS the safest in the world and I think one of the things that is really important when you hear bad stories is also to remember that there are a lot of things that we can be very proud of in the NHS."
The review, involving a team of experts from the UK and US, has examined why some patients needlessly suffer or die in hospital because of errors.
The report comes after the Francis Inquiry into the scandal at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, where between 400 and 1,200 more people died than would normally have been expected, and activists have claimed that there have been too many reports and not enough action.