Accountability and Transparency in the NHS
Debate between Rosie Cooper and Phillip Lee(11 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Dr Lee
I must get on, I am afraid. I do apologise.
The point I am trying to make is that a certain culture prevails, and into that culture, or environment, the last Administration introduced targets. I do not suggest for one second that the last Administration thought those targets would lead to the type of care that was provided at Mid Staffordshire, but I am not surprised that there were adverse consequences, and I think Opposition Members should reflect on that.
The final thing that I want to say about culture and competence concerns politicians. The right hon. Member for Leigh said that I would not want politicians to interfere in day-to-day care. Of course I would not, but I would like politicians to take responsibility for the service. Let me give an example. There are only about 250 acute trusts in the country, and not that many mortality figures have to be looked at in each trust. It could be done on a monthly basis. However, I am told that it was not done by Secretaries of State in the last Administration. Why? If I were the Secretary of State, the one thing I would want to look at would be clinical outcomes in hospitals. If that is beyond Secretaries of State, one is prompted to ask why they are in post. If those figures had been looked at earlier enough, we might not be having this debate.
Competence and the right culture are only possible with transparency. That is the most important aspect of this whole issue.