22:02
Tieng Anh Vui
The current bosses of an NHS regulator are set to be summoned by MPs to discuss an alleged cover-up over the deaths of babies at a Cumbria hospital.
On Thursday the Care Quality Commission named the people accused of suppressing a report on its failings over the inspection of Furness General Hospital.
Commons health committee head Stephen Dorrell says he still wants to question the CQC's chief executive and chairman.
But chief executive David Behan has defended his handling of the crisis.
'Difficult circumstances'
More than 30 families have now taken legal action against Furness General - run by Morecambe Bay NHS Trust - in relation to baby and maternal deaths and injuries from 2008.
Health select committee chairman Mr Dorrell said he wanted Mr Behan and CQC chairman David Prior to explain the CQC's failure to respond properly to the deaths to MPs.
The Conservative MP said: "Yet again this week it's been revealed, in the words of David Prior the chairman, to have been not fit for purpose.
"What's important to patients is that the people who are now in charge of the CQC have to demonstrate in public, convincingly and quickly, how they are going to build the effectiveness of this organisation so that it can deliver the regulatory function that we pay for and need."
But Mr Behan told BBC Newsnight he was doing his best in "very difficult circumstances", adding: "I'm demonstrating leadership.
"I've had dozens upon dozens of messages from members of staff who believe I'm acting in an appropriate way and actually creating an open and transparent culture in the CQC and are supportive of what I've been doing. I am part of leading CQC forward."
Mr Behan said the CQC had made its initial decision on naming those accused based on legal advice but admitted: "I think we got that wrong... we're putting that right.
"We said we'd review it, we've listened to the information commissioner and what we're doing is we're being open and transparent in accounting for what we did and that's why we've put these names out."
The CQC said the officials alleged to have been involved were former chief executive Cynthia Bower, her deputy Jill Finney and media manager Anna Jefferson.
They were all said to be present at a meeting where deletion of a critical report was allegedly discussed.
Ms Bower and Ms Jefferson have denied being involved in a cover-up.
Ms Finney has not yet commented. She has had her employment terminated from her new job, chief commercial officer at Nominet which controls the .co.uk web domain, because of the "increasing public scrutiny".
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is to give a speech later on the need to reduce sub-standard care in the NHS in England.
Mr Hunt is expected to say: "I want the NHS to be the world's safest health system. It has all of the tools to do this, and I believe it should aspire to nothing less."
But shadow health secretary Andy Burnham has accused the government of acting too slowly - and has called on Mr Hunt to implement the recommendations of the Francis Report into the Mid-Staffordshire hospital scandal.
Mr Burnham said: "From where we are now, full openness and transparency is the only way for the NHS to go.
"My main message to Jeremy Hunt is this - stop dithering and get on with implementing the key recommendations of the Francis report."
Đăng ký: Tieng Anh Vui
Posted in: 
0 comments:
Post a Comment