Poor care has become “perhaps the biggest problem of all facing the NHS”, Mr Hunt claimed in his strongest speech yet on the NHS, almost three months into his tenure as Health Secretary.
He promised that top officials would lose their jobs if care was not good enough, just as they did now if they lost control of finances.
“Accountability must be stretched to the top,” he said.
He promised that top officials would lose their jobs if care was not good enough, just as they did now if they lost control of finances.
“Accountability must be stretched to the top,” he said.
Health campaigners show their anger as under-fire NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson is given vote of confidence by board members
- Board said Sir David was the person 'we wish very strongly' to lead the NHS
- He has faced calls to quit following Stafford Hospital scandal
- Protestors staged silent protest and told of 'disgust' at decision
- Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust may be placed into administration
- It would be first foundation trust to be put under charge of administrators
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Health campaigners stormed out of a meeting of NHS bosses today after under fire chief executive Sir David Nicholson was given a vote of confidence by his board.
A member of the public shouted 'shameful' as Professor Malcolm Grant, chairman of the NHS Commissioning Board, said Sir David was the person 'we wish very strongly' to lead the organisation.
Sir David has faced calls to quit following the publication of the Francis Report into serious failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust between 2005 and 2009.
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| Anger: Health campaigners stormed out of a meeting of NHS bosses today as under fire chief executive Sir David Nicholson was given a vote of confidence by his board |
Regulator Monitor said it was considering the move in order to 'safeguard services' for local patients.
If the move goes ahead, the trust will be the first foundation trust in the country to be put under the charge of special administrators.
The families of patients caught up in the Stafford Hospital scandal staged a protest outside the meeting of NHS bosses today and renewed their calls for the resignation of Sir David.
The campaigners stood in silence outside the meeting in Manchester of the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB), which Sir David heads.
Around a dozen people, who had travelled from Staffordshire, held placards displaying Sir David’s photograph accompanied by the words 'Resign', 'The man with no shame' and 'Too many deaths, no accountability'.
Leading the protest outside was Julie Bailey, who set up the organisation Cure The NHS after her mother, Bella, died at Stafford Hospital in 2007.
Speaking outside the meeting, Mrs Bailey said the families 'simply want a safer NHS'.
She added: 'We campaigned for three years for a public inquiry in the hope that at the end of it we would get accountability and justice for all the loved ones that we have lost.
'We want accountability and safety for everyone in the NHS and we believe that won’t happen until people are held to account.'
She said Sir David was 'not a scapegoat', adding: 'He is the chief executive of the NHS and holds ultimate responsibility for the failings.
'He is paid an awful amount of money to ensure people are safe in hospital. It’s not a difficult thing to do but he seems to have taken the eye off safety and prioritised finances instead.
'We believe that, as he is ultimately responsible for the NHS, he should do the honourable thing and resign immediately.
'It’s disappointing that we’re having to be here, after all this time, trying to hold people to account and get justice.'
She said her message to the NHS board today was: 'How can we start to cure the NHS when the person who was in charge of those failings is now expected to be in charge of putting it right?'
But speaking at the meeting, Sir David defended his position. He said: 'The enemy is complacency that things will be all right in the face of criticism of NHS services.
'What we need to do is absorb the criticism, understand it in a deep way and do something about it.
'I'm very passionate about improving services for patients, I'm very ambitious about the NHS and what that sometimes turns into is intolerance of poor performance which results in the kind of response "Just get it right" when actually we need to be more reflective, think about why people are doing the things they do.'
He said it was important that standards are set in a way patients can understand and help enforce.
'If we had hundreds of thousands of inspectors going round hospitals looking at that, we wouldn't pick up all the poor care that happens.
'Patient safety is the top of the tree. We need zero tolerance of failures of patient safety.'
At the meeting, Prof Grant said he had been 'deeply worried' by speculation in the media about Sir David's future.
He added: 'Over the recent weeks I have reflected on several occasions with David about what has been said in the press.
'I have discussed it personally with each of the directors of the Commissioning Board and I have discussed it collectively with the non-executive directors of the board.
'We have come to a clear view that David Nicholson is the chief executive of the board, he is the person who we wish very strongly to lead a strong executive team on the board.
'He is the person whose command of the detail of the NHS, and his commitment and his passion to its future, we believe to be fundamental to the success of the board.'
The chairman said his statement was a 'statement of strength' and added: 'We look, David, to you to provide us with the leadership as we take through an exceptionally challenging set of changes.'
Robin Bastin, of the campaign group Cure the NHS, was one of those who walked out of the meeting.
Speaking afterwards, he said: 'It's outrageous for him (Sir David) to say he needed to go on running this when he has been responsible for all that has happened.
'He was in charge of the strategic health authority when all this was going on. I'm disgusted.'
So...
What does this man know that keeps him in his job...?
What does this man know that keeps him in his job...?
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