Tamworth’s MP Demands More Accountability in the NHS
Christopher Pincher, Member of Parliament for Tamworth, spoke up in favour of transparency and accountability in a House of Commons debate on the NHS last week.
In the debate Mr Pincher called for the Government to examine closely the Francis Report into the Mid Staffordshire hospital scandal and extend the provisions on criminal liability so that “Ministers and former Ministers [can be called] to the witness box to give evidence in defence of those public officials who were claiming that they were only obeying orders and pursuing the policies of their political masters”.
Mr Pincher went on to say that more needs to be done to deliver a deeper “change in culture” within Staffordshire NHS if a real difference is to be seen in care.
Mr Pincher said, “If we are to restore the battered credibility of care in my county, we need to ensure that we put patients, and not the godhead of targets, front and centre. We need to ensure that we recruit, recognise and reward the best people and sack the worst people… We cycle too many bad people through our public services. We need to make sure that when there is wrongdoing; people are punished not in the court of public opinion but in a court of law. If we do that, we can rebuild and restore confidence in our health service in Staffordshire, and we will have a system about which we are prepared to blow the trumpet, not blow the whistle.”
Mr Pincher also raised the specific issue of his constituent Thomas Berry who suffers from spinal muscular atrophy and the failure of the Staffordshire NHS Cluster to address his care package concerns.
