Scots workplace regulators have no remit to ensure legal requirements are being met

AS A former HM Inspector and regulator of the NHS, the reports give serious concerns on the significant and high risks found and on the absence of the legally-required approach to preventing harm to patients, staff and the public across NHS Scotland.

There are similarities with the emerging concerns following the Grenfell Tower fire disaster but the risks in healthcare are generally hidden.

The reports show serious risks across NHS Scotland buildings and facilities. The most serious are probably from poor ventilation systems, structural, and services to operating theatres.

As an example, Ayrshire and Arran’s Crosshouse hospital has had repeated problems but there are others. The main risk is from legionella but there are other infection risks.

Healthcare acquired infections are a major cause of avoidable harm. It resulted in about 50 deaths at an outbreak at the Vale of Leven Hospital.

The deaths and harm are meant to be prevented by complying with health and safety legislation and specifically the COSHH regulations.

NHS Scotland do not comply with these and remarkably, together with the Health and Social Care Directorate, Healthcare Improvement Scotland and their Healthcare Environment Inspectorate, refuse to.

The law on safety is not being implemented, complied with or regulated. The risk of these many avoidable deaths is unregulated. Poor ventilation has the potential to cause a major incident with many very serious infections.

The reports vary greatly in quality and there are no independent checks on their quality and whether they are reliable. They do show structural ROGER LIVERMORE Former HM inspector and NHS regulator and founding member of ASAP-NHS problems which could present a risk to the staff and the public.

It is worth remembering the recent problems with the structure of schools, and other public buildings, with what could have been the disaster at Oxgangs Primary School, Edinburgh, and the death of the schoolgirl Keane Wallis-Bennett at Liberton High School.

The reports mention problems with services to operating theatres, scalding risks, and some fire risk issues. Given that hospitals are a high-hazard and high-risk environment, they are required to work to a very high standard of legal compliance.

This requires them to be inspected by a regulator before serious harm occurs and not to wait till it happens.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) carried out comprehensive inspections of hospitals on the frontline precautions, the management systems and the safety performance in compliance with the law.

In Scotland, we have no healthcare regulators to ensure patient safety and HSE are unable to carry out the role of ensuring compliance with the law and its delivery of safety. With no other regulator, apart from general fire safety, HSE are still the regulators for the safety of staff, patients and the public.

With the problems at the NHS Boards, the absence of NHS Scotland legal compliance or an effective regulator, it looks essential that the matter of maintenance systems and safety of NHS Scotland and their boards is referred back to HSE for effective

action.