Obviously wrong at
care cause to wonder whether they have been given the full story about their deaths. If there is any foundation to them at all, even if in only a tiny minority of cases, it would call for a thorough overhaul of the QEUH’S practices and procedures, and for managerial and ministerial heads to roll.
But it is almost as troubling that it is being alleged that medical staff should feel they have to approach politicians, rather than speaking publicly on the matter. The apparent reluctance – to put it mildly – of the hospital’s management to embrace the transparency that should be central to public institutions is deeply concerning; if there are measures being taken to conceal the facts, and intimidate staff who would bring them to light, that is a major scandal.
The First Minister, who said she would look into these claims as “a matter of urgency”, is no doubt right to claim that sacking health board leaders will not “change overnight the practice in a hospital”. But that’s not a reason to fail to do so if serious deficiencies are found.
And the same applies, naturally, to all those involved in oversight, including successive health ministers. Ms Sturgeon’s “urgency” seems – after six years of failing to deal with these constant complaints despite earlier damning reviews – altogether too leisurely. Those criticisms, unfortunately, cannot really be dodged. Ministers must ultimately carry the can.
Given the government’s record, it’s not clear even that sacking the health board and taking direct control would improve matters enough; denial and obfuscation are notable shortcomings at ministerial level, too. But at the very least, the government’s urgent consideration should include immediately appointing an independent interim leadership team, similar to the Assurance and Advisory Group set up to turn around NHS Tayside a few years ago.
QEUH is one of the largest acute hospital campuses in Europe. It serves more than 40 per cent of Scotland’s population. And something is very obviously wrong with its operation. It must be remedied at once.