‘Stop scandals to improve our NHS’

I WOULD agree with one comment made by letter writer Chris Chambers (Sentinel, April 1).

That is that the NHS needs to improve and this can only begin with complaints being taken seriously to stop these scandals happening within our public-funded health service.

When lives are being lost because no-one in management listens, then something needs to be done.

The buck stops with NHS managers, who seem to be unaware of who actually pays their salaries.

The maternity scandal at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust was going on for years. One parent, who was on the receiving end of this tragedy, said on TV that he was tired of not being listened to and had given up.

The scandal at Stafford also happened because patients

were not listened to by managers.

It is shocking that the media seems to deal with these scandals rather than hospital managers.

I accept that NHS staff are only human and that mistakes can happen.

It is the blatant refusal to listen to patients’ complaints that concerns me.

Good, dedicated NHS staff deserve to be paid well.

It is those who are in the job for the wrong reasons who need to be dismissed. Yet, they never are, until something happens which attracts media attention.

There is a saying that one bad apple spoils the whole bunch.

People who look after patients have a great deal of power over ill and vulnerable people.

When those who abuse that power are not dealt with by NHS managers, is it any wonder that we continually have these scandals?

Good, caring NHS staff need to be valued and if they were paid thousands per week, that would not be an issue as far as I am concerned.

But they also need to report any NHS employee who abuses their position of trust.

Until that happens, these NHS scandals will continue.

As previously stated, the NHS should be accountable to those who fund it.

S CLARKE BLURTON