Mid Staffs report should mark end of tick box mentality and return of caring ethos to the NHS

The report into Mid Staffordshire health trust seems to have focused very much on the need to punish NHS staff and managers for the failings. This is understandable but it would also be wrong to ignore the underlying factors that have led to the failures of Mid Staffs and beyond in the health service.

Central to the break down in care is the present tick box mentality that has destroyed the caring ethos in our hospitals. Tick the boxes and cover your own backside has become the mantra for those working in the NHS, not care of the patient.

This mentality has developed from ministers handing down dictats based on management theories that view every process performed in the public sector as measurable and akin to a factory conveyor belt. It does not work, not everything is about performance tables.

What the NHS really needs is to stop talking about patient centred care and start making it happen. This should include having one person responsible for individual patients as they pass through the system. This person can ensure the there is continuity of care and importantly that all parties involved are kept fully informed as to what is going on. Accountability and lack of communication are big failings across the NHS. Let's hope this report leads to some real patient centred change

8/2/2013 - Independent letters
                - Metro letters