Date: 24Feb 2014
SYNOPSIS:
Following the publication of the report of the public inquiry into the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust (centring on the deaths of patients at Stafford Hospital), the banner headline on the front page of The Times bluntly warned: ‘NHS: No one is safe’. The Francis report, painting a shocking picture of the suffering of hundreds of patients whose safety was ignored for the sake of corporate self-interest and cost control, recommends that there should be a fundamental change of culture so that there is a shared commitment to the ideal that patients and their safety should come first. While there is much to admire about Francis’ strategy in proposing a fundamental cultural change, this presentation raises the question whether, with the regulatory environment for patient safety seemingly broken, we should turn to a more technological approach to address the problem? FULL DETAILS
