The RCN (24 Feb) said that systemic failures and a lack of leadership resulted in massive failures in patient care at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. Responding to the publication of the independent Inquiry into care provided by Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust January 2005 – March 2009, RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary Dr Peter Carter, said:
“The RCN called for an independent inquiry to understand why patients were so severely let down in Stafford. While we will be looking at the detail of today’s distressing report, it should act as a siren throughout the NHS to show that focusing on process over patients can have tragic results. Patient safety must be the number one priority for NHS boards.
“It was highly inappropriate that the Trust was so firmly focused on becoming a Foundation Trust while failing to deal with pressing issues at hand including getting the right staffing levels and skill mix, ensuring staff were well trained and having proper procedures for acting on problems raised by staff. There are still serious questions to be asked about the role of other organisations in maintaining quality care including the Strategic Health Authority and Primary Care Trust.
“The RCN believes individual examples of poor care are indefensible. However, it cannot be right for one nurse to run a whole nightshift on her own with a bank healthcare assistant. Just as important as numbers is getting the skill mix right – having untrained staff performing advanced duties is an accident waiting to happen. We believe those in charge throughout this terrible period should be held to account.
“We launched our whistle-blowing hotline so that staff could raise concerns over patient care where they work. We are now calling on all political parties to commit to standing up for staff who speak out.”
