Not my words, but those of Cynthia Bower who was in charge of the health authority that oversaw Stafford Hospital between 2008 to 2008.
BBC NEWS It may only be her first day in office, but already Cynthia Bower has found herself under attack from all sides.
Her appointment as head of England's new health super regulator, the Care Quality Commission, was questioned by the Tories last month.
And, as she formally takes up the reins, she finds her role being branded an "April fools joke" by patients.
The watchdog said patients had needlessly died because of the poor care and criticised the failure of local health organisations to spot and tackle the problems.
Ms Bower says she was notified of concerns over high death rates in April 2007 and launched an investigation immediately.
This involved bringing together managers from the trust and four others where concerns had been highlighted as well as senior people from within the health authority.
With the help of Birmingham University experts they analysed data and case notes, but eventually concluded over a year later that there were no systematic problems.
"The Healthcare Commission has access to information and resources that we as the health authority just didn't.
"They had patients coming to them with complaints. We didn't. They have much more resources to analyse the data they collected.
"We are all indebted to them for the job they have done."
Ms Bower believes she has learnt from the experience and it has made it clear that if concerns are raised you have to "act as early as possible" and "share information".
"It is important we make quality of care a priority and that is what I will do as regulator. We will be tough and we will put patients first."
And it is this emphasis on the patient that she believes is going to define the future of health in the 21st century.
Despite the negativity which has surrounded her appointment, it seems clear Ms Bower aims to hit the ground running.
Yes and the further the better!
BBC NEWS It may only be her first day in office, but already Cynthia Bower has found herself under attack from all sides.
Her appointment as head of England's new health super regulator, the Care Quality Commission, was questioned by the Tories last month.
And, as she formally takes up the reins, she finds her role being branded an "April fools joke" by patients.
The watchdog said patients had needlessly died because of the poor care and criticised the failure of local health organisations to spot and tackle the problems.
Ms Bower says she was notified of concerns over high death rates in April 2007 and launched an investigation immediately.
This involved bringing together managers from the trust and four others where concerns had been highlighted as well as senior people from within the health authority.
With the help of Birmingham University experts they analysed data and case notes, but eventually concluded over a year later that there were no systematic problems.
"The Healthcare Commission has access to information and resources that we as the health authority just didn't.
"They had patients coming to them with complaints. We didn't. They have much more resources to analyse the data they collected.
"We are all indebted to them for the job they have done."
Ms Bower believes she has learnt from the experience and it has made it clear that if concerns are raised you have to "act as early as possible" and "share information".
"It is important we make quality of care a priority and that is what I will do as regulator. We will be tough and we will put patients first."
And it is this emphasis on the patient that she believes is going to define the future of health in the 21st century.
Despite the negativity which has surrounded her appointment, it seems clear Ms Bower aims to hit the ground running.
Yes and the further the better!
"When they discover the centre of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it." Bernard Bailey
Angus
Angus Dei on all and sundry
NHS Behind the headlines
Angus Dei politico
No comments:
Post a Comment