Urgent need to turn hospital care around - Bruce Whitehead

Poor conditions, underpaid professionals, often with degree qualifications, and of course Brexit have stripped away nursing resources. And the Royal College of Nursing Scotland warns that “corridor care” has become normalised.

Bruce Whitehead

It’s the same story across public services; policing is dangerously under-resourced too, amid an upsurge in ASB – antisocial behaviour – which unchecked can lead to serious criminality. Defence ministers are resigning en masse after failing to secure money to meet increased global threats.

Meanwhile governments are bullied by business-friendly media out of raising revenue from those who can afford it – wealthy businesses and individuals with un-earned income – to pay for these essential services.

It’s a grim outlook for hospital care if we fail to turn things around; this week Private Eye magazine revealed how similar nursing shortages and chronic underfunding were behind unexplained deaths of babies at Countess of Chester Hospital ten years ago.

Since Lucy Letby was convicted, fresh evidence suggests poor neonatal care management and nursing shortages are strong contributing factors for the deaths. Instead, consultants suspended Letby, who lodged a formal grievance; that much was revealed to the jury. But the judge inexplicably refused to tell them that she in fact won her case and was re-instated. The investigating expert, Dr Chris Green said of the consultants: “I was disgusted by their behaviour. It is likely that they lied.”

But they continued to target her, the court hearing that Dr Ravi Jayaram had emailed colleagues claiming he had caught her harming a baby. It’s since emerged that in fact his email told how she had asked him for help and advice.

How long will it be until Scottish nursing shortages tempt managers of failing units to blame staff instead of shortages?