By Bill Heaney
The curtains of secrecy, denial and cover-up of concerns about the leadership and culture at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde were finally drawn back in the Scottish Parliament today.
Today’s Healthcare Improvement Scotland report into emergency departments across the health board area which includes West Dunbartonshire and Helensburgh was described as “devastating”.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar told MSPs: “Corridor care was normalised, and repeated concerns from front-line accident and emergency staff were ignored.
“Worse still, staff were bullied and silenced, and patient care was compromised, often with devastating consequences.”
He asked: “Does John Swinney think that that is acceptable?”
The First Minister replied: “I do not think that the practice that Mr Sarwar recounts is acceptable. That is why Healthcare Improvement Scotland has responded to the concerns that were expressed by the clinicians.
“I acknowledge the sustained questioning that Mr Sarwar has led on the leadership of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
“As he will know, new leadership is in place that is committed to addressing all the questions that are raised in the report.
Jann Gardner, the new Health Board CEO, the now departed chair John Brown and retired Chief Executive Jane Grant.
“Professor Jann Gardner, the new chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, has publicly indicated her commitment to addressing the recommendations ‘at pace and scale’ to ensure that the issues are properly addressed.”
Anas Sarwar said: “I have been raising concerns for years with successive Scottish National Party health secretaries and First Ministers, but here we are again. This is just the latest report, after 29 doctors raised concerns almost two years ago. The report exposes serious issues around the culture of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and follows the same pattern: patient safety is being compromised; staff are being ignored, bullied and silenced; and when staff blow the whistle, management denies their claims, intimidates them and attempts a cover-up. Staff describe the working environment as ‘brutal’ and ‘inhumane’, and they talk of ‘moral distress’ or of being ‘haunted’ by some patient experiences, leading to harm.
“They say that: ‘It’s a constant battle to keep patients and staff safe’ and that “there is no support from management’.
“After years of warnings and hollow claims of lessons learned, why is the SNP Government allowing that rotten—and, at times, fatal—culture to continue?”
The First Minister replied: “We do not accept it. We do not see it as acceptable in any way, nor are we resigned to it. That is why Healthcare Improvement Scotland went in and undertook that investigation. It is why the leadership of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said today that those issues will be addressed ‘at pace’ and with urgency.
“Let me use this platform to make it abundantly clear to every health board in the country that the culture that is referred to by Healthcare Improvement Scotland is completely and utterly unacceptable.
“In general, Scotland has a formidable record on improvements to patient safety. Indeed, our patient safety programme is very highly regarded internationally because of the work that it involves.
“However, the quality and strength of that patient safety programme will be undermined if there is not a culture of accepting the need to tackle the behaviour that the Healthcare Improvement Scotland report highlights.
“Mr Sarwar has my assurance that, in my communication and that of the health secretary to health boards, we are making it clear that the contents of that report are unacceptable and must be addressed by health boards around the country.”
Anas Sarwar replied: “The problem is that patients and staff have heard that before, and the culture continues. The report highlights the ‘unacceptable normalisation’ of corridor care and the patients stuck in ambulances outside accident and emergency departments.
“Two thirds of staff who were surveyed felt patients ‘rarely’ or ‘never’ received appropriate and timely care.”
Anas Sarwar pictured campaigning for justice with Kimberley Darroch, mother of ten year old Milly Main who died of an infection at the Royal Children’s Hospital on the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus, which serves West Dunbartonshire.
He added: “The most stark is the infection scandal that cost lives. At every turn, patients, parents and staff have fought for answers but have been frustrated by a rotten culture of cover-up. In 2019, the holding of a public inquiry was agreed, but the culture continues. The board was put into special measures, but the culture continues. It was the first NHS board in Scotland to be investigated for corporate homicide, but the culture continues.
“As the latest report shows, patients are still being put at risk by a failing health board that has been empowered time and time again by the SNP Government. It appears that the SNP Government is more interested in protecting managers and institutions than in protecting patients and staff. What will it take for that to change?”
Mr Swinney said he did not accept that characterisation of the Government’s approach.
He added: “If that were the case, there would not be an inquiry into Scottish hospitals’ performance, and there would not have been a Healthcare Improvement Scotland analysis of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
“Those are two examples of the Government being prepared to honestly confront acute difficulties in our health service. I would expect that to be the case, and I give Mr Sarwar and the Parliament the assurance that that will always be the case under my leadership. We will confront difficulties openly and honestly to improve the experience of patients.
“Mr Sarwar said that there has been a normalisation of corridor care. Let me make it clear to the Parliament that I do not accept that—rather, I will not tolerate it.
“I will not normalise corridor care. I do not think that it is a good idea to have corridor care. We have to address issues such as improving the flow of patients through hospitals so that we avoid corridor care.
“Mr Sarwar also said that patients are routinely denied appropriate and timely care. I accept that there will be failings in the health service, but I do not think that that is a fair characterisation of the NHS.
“Many people experience formidably high-quality, professional and loving care from the NHS, and I want to make sure that that is everybody’s experience.”
- All this is reminiscent of West Dunbartonshire Council where, The Democrat revealed last week, a disabled member of staff was victimised and bulled and his application for compensation was disgracefully dragged out for ten years. The legal costs and compensation to the victim have been estimated at around £1 million, which will require to be met from the public purse. Editor
Top of page picture: Ten year old Milly Main, who died of an infection at the Royal Children’s Hospital, which covers West Dunbartonshire, pictured with her mother, Kimberley Darroch