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Report shows progress on recommendations to improve patient safety

Tuesday, 6 December 2016

A report providing an update on the work of Department of Health and Social Care to address the recommendations of a major UK report on patient safety will go to Tynwald this month. 

In 2010 Robert Francis QC was appointed to hold a public inquiry into serious failings at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust in England. A report setting out the inquiry’s findings was published in 2013 and included 290 recommendations. 

Given the seriousness and magnitude of the findings of the ‘Francis Report’, that same year the then Minister for Health, David Anderson, commissioned a review to see which of Francis’ 290 recommendations were applicable to the Isle of Man’s health services. Led by Michael Coleman MLC, the review determined that 233 of the recommendations were in scope, with the remaining 57 representing issues only relevant to the NHS in England. 

The report to this month’s sitting of Tynwald shows that the Department has made progress in a number of areas, but with more work still to do. 

Minister for Health and Social Care, Kate Beecroft MHK, said:

'I have made it clear that patient safety remains a top priority for the Department of Health and Social Care. This report details the important work of the Department to implement the lessons learned from the appalling failings of care at Mid Staffordshire in England. 

'It is clear that progress is being made and I commend our workforce for all of their efforts to deliver change. This report allows us to take stock of our progress to date, but there is more work to do and we must ensure that we maintain momentum.' 

Areas of progress outlined in the report include: 

  • The new National Health and Care Service Act 2016 which, amongst other measures, will enable the Department to develop a Charter to set out the rights, expectations and obligations of patients and care providers
  • Independent external peer reviews of the Island’s health services by the West Midlands Quality Review Service
  • Efforts to improve public engagement, such as the community roadshows at the start of 2016
  • A new focus on separating commissioning from service delivery
  • The development of a core set of values for the Department and a new development plan for the organisation. 

Areas for further work include: examining the potential for additional regulation of health and care services, which the Minister is reviewing as a priority; strengthening patient and public scrutiny of services such as widening the remit of the Health Services Consultative Committee; and the creation of a single complaints scheme for the Department as part of the National Health and Care Service Act 2016.

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