Healthcare scandals in the NHS: crime and punishment

Abstract

The Francis Report into failures of care at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Hospital documented a series of ‘shocking’ systematic failings in healthcare that left patients routinely neglected, humiliated and in pain as the Trust focused on cutting costs and hitting government targets. At present, the criminal law in England plays a limited role in calling healthcare professionals to account for failures in care. Normally, only if a gross error leads to death will a doctor or nurse face the prospect of prosecution. Doctors and nurses caring for patients under the Mental Health Act 1983 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005 may however be prosecuted for wilful neglect of a patient. In the light of the Francis Report, this article considers whether the criminal offence of wilful neglect should be extended to a broader healthcare setting and not confined to mental healthcare.

Patient neglect in healthcare institutions: a systematic review and conceptual model

“…staff avoiding the task). In reflecting upon the Mid-Staffordshire scandal, Alghrani and colleagues [21] demonstrate the importance of this distinction. Although UK ‘medical negligence’ laws are intended to punish cases where patients experience injury through professionals failing to meet their duty of care to patients [49], to date the most severe instances of patient neglect at Mid-Staffordshire remain unpunished.…”

“…Inadequate systems for reporting patient neglect are also identified as being casual factors in instances of poor care [21]. Organisational psychology research has long highlighted the importance of reporting systems for identifying ‘symptoms’ of organisational failure before they become widespread or serious [63].…”

“…being ignored whilst in need, not shown compassion, loss of dignity) neglected by healthcare staff [17-20]. Linking patient neglect to specific metrics of patient harm or clinical outcomes is difficult due to the often complex conditions of patients and their treatment [21]. Furthermore, conducting research is challenging due to the toxicity of the subject (e.g.…”

“…questioning the abilities, motivation and ethics of staff) and a media narrative which seeks to blame rather than understand why poor care occurs [22,23]. However, cases such as the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust scandal, where routine and basic failings in care resulted in up to 1,200 patients deaths between 2005 and 2008, show the catastrophic implications for patient care when neglect becomes systemic across an organisation [21,24]. …”

Planning for an (un)certain future: Choice within English end-of-life care

“…Within the last decade, there have been several public discussions within the popular media about how dying people are cared for, with a perception that the National Health Service fails to provide people with dignity and respect as they die (Alghrani et al, 2011). Not only then is death itself seen as a failure within medical practice, but also medical professionals are portrayed as failing to adequately care for the dying.…”