New SNP care home tsar presided over scandal of ‘doctored’ NHS waiting times
THE man appointed to shape care services in Scotland was previously embroiled in a scandal over patient waiting times.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon last week unveiled a major review of the future of adult care services as a key plank of her parliamentary programme following concerns over standards.
She announced that Derek Feeley, the former chief executive of NHS Scotland, would chair the farreaching review.
However, last night critics raised concerns over Mr Feeley’s controversial past. In 2013 he quit the top NHS job after a row over waiting lists being manipulated to meet SNP targets. Mr Feeley was caught putting pressure on Scotland’s watchdog to water down a report on the scandal.
He then took a senior position in a US-based organisation which courted controversy by telling the NHS to monitor employees’ moods with emojis and marbles.
Earlier this year Mr Feeley returned to Scotland and in July became an adviser to an NHS trust in England – a job which he will combine with his latest position reviewing care services.
Donald Cameron, Scottish Conservative health spokesman, said the review appeared to be off to a ‘stuttering start’ adding: ‘Any review must fully explore the issues but it already appears the SNP government is running into difficulties in terms of the person they’ve appointed to chair this. All too often the SNP government announces a big review, only to find the reality of delivering improvements much harder to carry out.’
Miss Sturgeon last week unveiled Mr Feeley as chairman of a major adult care services review, including plans for a National Care Service. It will consider how care is currently funded and run.
But its job is not to investigate how nearly 2,000 elderly care home residents in Scotland died after catching Covid-19.
Mr Feeley quit as chief executive of NHS Scotland after NHS Lothian manipulated patient waiting times to meet targets.
It marked people as ‘unavailable’ if they refused to travel to England for treatment which paused the clock, making it appear promises on waiting lists were being kept.
Freedom of Information requests revealed a report on the issue by watchdog Audit Scotland was ‘watered down’ after Mr Feeley asked for changes to it.
Soon afterwards Mr Feeley, who was summoned before MSPs to answer questions about the scandal, resigned – reportedly retaining a public sector pension worth £1.1 million.
He joined the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), a not-forprofit-organisation which in 2019 had net assets worth £77.5 million.
In 2018, The Scottish Mail on Sunday revealed NHS Lanarkshire paid the institute £145 a head for staff to learn how to feel joy at work. It suggested monitoring ‘joy levels’ by asking employees to tick a happy or sad emoji, or to drop blue or sand-coloured marbles in a jar to mark a good or bad day.
In January, Mr Feeley announced he was stepping down from IHI after seven years with the organisation to return to Scotland.
On July 1, East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) announced he had joined it as an advisor to the board and executive. Mr Feeley said then: ‘If there’s one role I relish now that I’ve stepped down from the IHI, it is to continue my work with ELFT’.
However, he has now taken on the second role.
The Scottish Government put the cost of the care review at about £80,000 to £120,000 and said Mr Feeley’s fee would come from within that, adding: ‘The exact amount will be determined depending on the time Mr Feeley commits to the review.’
Speaking about his latest appointment this week, Mr Feeley said: ‘We have a broad remit that touches on every part of the social care landscape; from the experience of those using and working in the system to how it should be funded and regulated.’
Dr Donald Macaskill, chief executive of Scottish Care, which represents independent care providers, said it was ‘sad that it has taken a global pandemic to highlight the faults in our social care system’.
He added: ‘I am pleased to see the establishment of the Independent Review and the independent care sector looks forward to working with the Review group. Their’s is not an easy task.’
Yesterday the Scottish Government declined to comment.
‘Sad a pandemic has highlighted care faults’