NHS watchdog apologises to doctors for ignoring concerns
AN NHS watchdog has apologised for ignoring doctors’ concerns about patients being put at risk at Scotland’s £842million flagship hospital.
Consultants at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University
Hospital (QEUH) sounded the alarm last May about the levels of overcrowding and staff shortages in its emergency department.
The whistleblowers outlined their concerns that patient safety was being ‘seriously compromised’ in a letter to Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS), saying they had 18 months-worth of evidence to back up their claims.
But instead of asking to see the findings or discuss their concerns, HIS is understood to have opted to speak to senior executives within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC).
The watchdog shut down its probe in August – just three months after being made aware of the issues.
HIS has now admitted its ‘shortcomings’ and has apologised to the 29 doctors involved.
In a letter seen by BBC Scotland, HIS chief executive Robbie Pearson told them: ‘I would like to offer my sincere, unreserved apology for our shortcomings in this matter and the clear distress they caused you all.’
It comes after HIS upheld complaints in January that the doctors were not given the opportunity to air the issues.
A hospital source told BBC Scotland that the investigation ‘seems to have started and ended with HIS asking hospital managers if everything was okay and being assured it was’.
One doctor told BBC Scotland: ‘We offered to share evidence of patient harm.
‘We were shocked that they ignored this and didn’t engage with us as the consultant group raising concerns.’
The watchdog said it would meet again with the consultants.
But A&E doctor Lailah Peel, who is chairman of the British Medical Association Scotland’s Local Negotiating Committees Forum, said yesterday: ‘It is really concerning that it has reached this stage.
‘We are seeing problems in A&E departments across Scotland and the fact consultants have had to escalate their concerns to this level – and have been essentially ignored until this point – is extremely worrying. What is needed now is not just an apology, but real and immediate action to help not just these consultants, but other A&E departments and wider patient safety concerns.’
In January the Mail reported how QEUH, which has been plagued with problems since it opened in 2015, recorded its worst A&E performance on record with fewer than one third of patients seen within the target of four hours.
Scottish Labour health spokesman Jackie Baillie said: ‘We need to see a full culture change across Scotland’s NHS so that clinicians are listened to and patient safety is put first.’
HIS said: ‘We are committed to ensuring that our processes for handling concerns about patient safety are robust.’
NHSGGC said it was ‘committed to improving the patient experience at the QEUH’.
A spokesman added: ‘The emergency department team are involved in hospital-wide plans to support the department by relieving pressures on the front door and improving overall patient safety which remains our top priority.’
‘We need real and immediate action’