A report by the Royal College of Surgeons, published today, reveals that children’s NHS operations are being cancelled because of the chaotic introduction of new Government safeguarding regulations. From the report:
Overzealous interpretation of the requirements by NHS Trusts and long delays in the system mean that NHS surgeons cannot move between Trusts quickly enough to deal with rare cases, of which there are many in children, and to cover absences. The RCS is calling for immediate roll out of passport-style arrangements that allow NHS staff who have already received an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check for one Trust to be recognised across the health service. Is the NHS a national service or not?
Since October 2009 the Vetting and Barring Scheme has introduced new standards for checking anyone who works with children, including surgeons. However, many Trusts are insisting that NHS surgeons who have already had an enhanced CRB check go through the same process whenever they work in a different Trust, even though the process can take several months. Some trainee surgeons have had more than 10 separate Criminal Records Bureau checks in two years. Read more here.
Norman Lamb, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary said,
This is a disgrace. The Government has implemented these new regulations without making sure that they will actually work on the ground.
When top surgeons have already been CRB checked, it’s madness to restrict them to one hospital when they are needed all around the country.
Protecting children must always be a top priority, but the situation has descended into complete farce with potentially dire consequences for patients and NHS staff.
Ministers have buried their heads in the sand despite mounting evidence of how badly flawed this system is.
We need a simple but effective system to protect our children. Once you’re CRB checked for one Trust, that should be enough to mean you can work in any hospital.
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5 Comments
I know I shouldn’t laugh, because the implications of this are so serious and especially tragic as they involve children (question – shouldn’t surgeons who operate on anyone under a general anaesthetic have to be vetted – everyone surely in such a situation is a “vulnerable adult” almost by definition!), but I find this all so funny.
This is what governments do, people. Useless people with time on their hands and constituents to please who fart around and sit up new regulations for this, that and the other, totally usurping society’s power and willingness to deal with these sort of things themselves, because of a tiny number of adverse outcomes in the past that have usually, as often as not, been caused by failure of existing government systems.
Why on God’s green earth do we believe that the people who screwed things up in the first place are remotely qualified to put into place mechanisms to stop events happening again. If the only way to defeat this sort of regulation nightmare is civil disobedience, we should be advocating that!
And so the adverse consequences of this horribly illiberal and ill-thought through scheme are starting to filter through as many of us predicted at the time. I refuse to use the phrase “unintended consequences” for this sort of thing any more because opponents were crystal clear how unworkable this was at the time and pointed out how things like this would definitely occur. We were shouted down and ignored.
In this light of the highlighted story, I shudder to think how many children will be suffering and perhaps even dying unnecessarily from this measure that was supposed to protect them.
Shocking. I think Jock has nailed the problem on the head: we (as in citizens generally, not liberals specifically!) let politicians panic us into giving them powers that they then overuse, because if they don’t overuse their powers they can’t justify the fear they whipped up. Maybe we should start imposing evidence-based tests on CRB checks?
Norman Lamb says “Protecting children must always be a top priority”. I agree – if he means protecting children’s welfare should be a top priority, not just protecting children from potential paedophiles. The risk of a surgeon abusing one of his or her patients is so remote compared to the obvious risks of delaying complex operations that surgeons have every right to be offended by this ridiculous rule. The Independent Safeguarding Authority will continue to produce damaging and illiberal policies until it is closed down.
@Mark Reckons: In this light of the highlighted story, I shudder to think how many children will be suffering and perhaps even dying unnecessarily from this measure that was supposed to protect them.
Exactly! And the ISA ignored sensible criticism of its policies, so they are responsible – these are, as you say, not “unintended consequences” but inevitable consequences.
I wonder if any court in the land, let alone public opinion, would condemn a surgeon for putting his medical oath ahead of bureaucratic regulation. Maybe someone should stand up to it, tell the parents, and just get on with it.
i am beginning to come to the conclusion that civil disobedience is probably all we have left!