‘BLAME CULTURE’
THE outgoing boss of a crisis-hit health board has fired a parting salvo at the Health Secretary – and accused the Government of short-changing patients.
Brian Houston wrote to Jeane Freeman to say he was quitting as chairman of NHS Lothian.
He also accused the Scottish Government of underfunding the board and failing to treat it with ‘dignity and respect’, and warned there was a ‘blame culture’ within the health service.
Mr Houston is the second senior figure to announce his departure from Scotland’s second largest health board, amid the failure to open on time the new £150 million Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh.
Last night, critics described the hospital crisis as a ‘national emergency’ and called on Ms Freeman to resign.
The new hospital was due to open last July, but this has been delayed until the autumn of this year after problems emerged with the ventilation system in critical care wards. NHS Lothian was put into special measures by the Scottish Government last year, and last month the board’s chief executive, Tim Davison, announced plans to retire.
According to BBC Scotland, Mr Houston’s performance was criticised by the chief executive of NHS Scotland last year. He disagreed with the assessment but it was backed by Ms Freeman, prompting his resignation.
His letter states that Ms Freeman told him to ‘accept accountability’ for delays to the new hospital. Mr Houston said this was a ‘rush to judgment’ before a public inquiry into the delay had even begun, and ‘appears to reflect a desire for blame that is unfair and inappropriate’.
He added NHS Lothian had not been treated with ‘the values of openness and honesty, dignity and respect by some areas of the Scottish Government’.
NHS Lothian is having to make monthly repayments of £1.4 million for the privately built hospital, despite no patients having been treated there.
Mr Houston said underfunding by the Scottish Government, in comparison with other health boards, had compounded its problems. He wrote: ‘Our assessment of the underlying issues and areas of support required have not been heeded and I find your assessment of my performance in this regard to be unfair and inappropriate.
‘Other boards have received tens of millions over and above their allocation, while NHS Lothian has received tens of millions below it.’
He said this left the board suffering from ‘major limitation’.
Ms Freeman said the Scottish Government was now focused on being able to ‘ensure the safe delivery’ of the hospital site.
The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow has also been beset with problems due to water contamination, which has been linked to at least one child’s death. Eighty children may have contracted infections.
Scottish Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs said: ‘So many NHS boards are in special measures – it is hard to describe it as anything but a national emergency. Jeane Freeman must do the right thing and resign, letting someone else get a grip on a worsening problem.’