
Next in our series of ebriefings on the Government’s Green Paper: Transforming public procurement; looking at the Chapter 4 proposal to change the basis of contract awards.
Interestingly, the reports are not easily found on the internet (visit the NHS website) and once found the content is minimal, so whilst it is claimed the NHS is being more open, this might not translate to a meaningful availability of information to patients.
The resource allows patients to compare hospitals in their local area on the basis of 7 factors, including infection control and cleanliness; meeting Care Quality Commission national standards; meeting staffing levels and open and honest reporting. But even if a patient manages to get to this website, all they will have to go on is ‘tick’ symbols, exclamation mark symbols or statements that the information is ‘not available’, which makes up about half of the data.
More detail about the level of reporting can be found on the NHS National Reporting and Learning System website but again it is not the most user-friendly resource.
The Health Secretary says “by publishing this data, we are sending a clear message that we want an open, honest reporting culture throughout the NHS where safety is at the front of everyone’s mind”. Mr Hunt says that 6,000 lives a year could be saved if hospitals were more serious about improving safety. This is a staggering number.
Our experience at Anthony Collins Solicitors is that many clients feel the hospital dismissed their concerns at the time then, when they feel they have no choice but to make a complaint, the NHS refused to accept anything went wrong. Many clients say that if the hospital had just apologised in the first place they would not have felt the need to bring a claim. The failure to report statistics in this report backs up our clients’ concerns.
At Anthony Collins Solicitors we aim to get answers for our clients and secure admissions of liability by the NHS that they did not do enough to care for their patient who put their trust in the system.
If you would like more information about this article, please contact Ann Houghton, Solicitor in the Clinical Negligence department on 0121 212 7478 or ann.houghton@anthonycollins.com.
Next in our series of ebriefings on the Government’s Green Paper: Transforming public procurement; looking at the Chapter 4 proposal to change the basis of contract awards.
The Academies Financial Handbook is updated annually by the Department for Education and the Education and Skills Funding Agency; it contains a number of governance requirements for academy trusts.
Supreme Court publishes key decision for those working in the UK’s gig economy.
The 'Chocolate Snowman Appeal' is an amazing initiative that Anthony Collins Solicitors' (ACS) employees take part in every year.
The Building Safety Bill (the Bill) is said to be the most significant and wide-ranging change to the regulatory environment for higher risk building (HRBs) for over 45 years.
On 4 November 2020, the Restriction of Public Exit Payments Regulations 2020 (the Regulations) came into force; exit payments for the public sector were capped at £95,000.
The case was brought by the Official Receiver who sought disqualification orders under section 6 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 (CDDA 1986) against the seven trustees of Kids Company and its CEO. It illustrates well the tension between the role of a fulltime paid CEO of a large charity and the role of its board as voluntary trustees/directors.
At the end of 2020, The Charity Governance Code was updated or 'refreshed' as it is termed on its website.
Anthony Collins Solicitors is today (Thursday 11 February) revealing the scale of its social impact during 2020.
In their first podcast of this series, current and future trainees will discuss their journey and route to securing a training contract at Anthony Collins Solicitors.
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