Mistakes made as Stafford Hospital nurses investigated
Blunders were made by the nursing regulator on investigations into 17 former nurses at Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust, whose cases formed part of the Francis inquiry, it is claimed.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council looked into suspected bad practice by the nurses, but dropped the disciplinary hearings at an early stage. In a damning new report, the Professional Standards Authority said it had 'serious concerns' the 'wrong decisions' may have been made by the NMC. A series of errors was revealed, some of which could have put patients at risk, according to the report.
It is published as the new boss of the NHS today warned the traditional way some services are delivered 'no longer makes much sense'. Simon Stevens, a former private health firm executive, started his new job as chief executive of NHS England today. He said pressure on the health service is 'intensifying' and that the traditional 'partitioning' of services is no longer fit for purpose.
The NMC, responsible for regulating 673,000 nurses and midwives in the UK, has previously been accused of failing to protect patients and admitted 'substantial failings' in the past. The latest were shown up in an audit of 100 cases dealt with by the NMC's disciplinary committee. They included 19 nurses who worked at Mid Staffordshire, 17 of them related to poor care covered by the inquiries by Robert Francis QC.
In nine of the Mid Staffordshire cases the PSA said there was no evidence of a risk assessment ever being carried out by the NMC and that it did not investigate concerns or carry out proper investigations to find out more information from sources such as the coroner, the trust or the inquiry itself.
In one instance, a case was closed on the basis there were no complaints about the nurse, despite there being two complaints 'clearly on the NMC file'. In another example, no attempt was made to get evidence from patients. The PSA, which oversees health regulators, said: "Either the wrong decision was made or was based on unsound or inadequate reasons."
The report acknowledged there had been some improvements under a new management team at the NMC, but outlines a number of areas where the organisation is still failing.
The PSA said: "We were disappointed that the NMC's internal review (in July 2013) of its handling of cases that involved registrants employed by Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust did not identify a number of serious issues."
The report said errors were serious given public concern over poor care at Mid Staffordshire. NMC chief executive Jackie Smith said the report acknowledged the organisation had made some progress. However Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, described the findings as 'deeply worrying'.
