Thursday, January 11, 2007

Safety changes 'neglected by GPs'

There is concern for patient safety

Reforms to improve the quality and safety of NHS care are not hitting home in GP surgeries,
says a report from the National Audit Office.

It says many have not implemented 'clinical governance' systems found elsewhere in the health service.

Edward Leigh MP, chairman of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, said the current shake-up of primary care trusts should address this.

Health Minister Lord Hunt said a new 'quality framework' for GPs would help.
This once again shows that patient safety is still too far down the NHS agenda

Clinical governance was first introduced in 1998 as a way to drive improvements in the care offered by hospitals, GP practices and pharmacies.
No reporting

In a survey of GPs, three quarters admitted that they did not report "adverse incidents" - events which either did or might have caused harm to patients - to the National Patient Safety Agency, a central plank of clinical governance.

Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, said: "Good clinical governance is essential if patients and the public are to have greater confidence in the NHS.

"Whilst Primary Care Trusts have made good progress in getting structures and processes in place, there has been less progress in actually implementing the fundamental components of clinical governance, particularly patient and public involvement."

Mr Leigh said: "Many primary care organisations have demonstrated limited progress in implementing the Department of Health's clinical governance agenda.

"This once again shows that patient safety is still too far down the NHS agenda.

"Most NHS organisations that provide or commission primary healthcare services have systems and processes in place to give assurance that the services provided by GPs, pharmacists and others are safe and of good quality.

"But that is a fat lot of good when they all too often fail to apply these systems and processes in practice."

 IF THIS REPORT IS 100% FACTUAL THEN THE NEW "CARE CLOSER TO HOME" SYSTEM BEING PILOTED BY LORD WARNER & HIS BAND OF ASSOCIATES IS JUST NOT SAFE AND WE SHOULD ALWAYS, ALWAYS CHOOSE OUR LOCAL HOSPITAL WHICH IS A CLINICALY SAFE ENVIRONMENT, LETS PUT IT INTO PERSPECTIVE, YOU HAVE A TREATMENT DONE AT HOME & AN ERROR IS MADE (YOU COULD BE UNAWARE AS A PATIENT) AND IS NOT REPORTED THROUGH THE CLINICAL GOVERNANCE SYSTEM AND THERE ARE COMPLICATIONS OF SOME SORT.......................WHY WAS THIS NOT REPORTED?, WHO TAKES THE BLAME?
SO IN ESSENCE CHOOSE YOUR HOSPITAL NOT YOUR HOME OR G.P  SURGERY FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY