I recently watched “Panorama: Killed in hospital” (21 Jan 2019) detailing again the tragedy of 450 people having their lives shortened. At least another 200 people were probably similarly affected.
In 2018 the Gosport War Memorial Hospital report was published. It concluded that ‘…there was a disregard for human life and a culture of shortening the lives of a large number of patients by prescribing and administering “dangerous doses” of a hazardous combination of medication not clinically indicated or justified’ (Gosport Independent Panel, 2018, p.vii). The key phrase ‘make comfortable’ was identified in the Panorama programme as being repeatedly used in the medical notes. It was a rather sinister euphemism for hastening the death of a person. Many of the patients affected were actually sent to Gosport for rehabilitation. This situation goes to the heart of some of the aspects of severe dysfunction in the NHS. Evidence showed that nurses and relatives raised concerns over many years. The nurses were intimidated and ‘…felt ostracised’ (p.320). The warnings were ignored by managers, which resulted in the huge number of deaths between 1987 and 2000. People who raise concerns are often ignored across the NHS and in other so-called ‘care’ organisations. The Gosport situation again indicates that the NHS seems to be incapable of learning and improving. Another key dysfunctional cultural characteristic in the NHS is the lack of accountability. This was clearly identified in the Panorama programme.
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