Cllr Robin bemoans ‘corporate duty of candour’ NHS plans

Blaine Robin, the Conservative councillor for the Kursaal ward, has spoken out against Health Department plans to make nurses legally bound to inform patients of treatment errors.

It was revealed in the Nursing Times last week that as part of the ‘corporate duty of candour’ proposed in the government’s coalition agreement, nurses could be forced to tell patients when they have made mistakes during treatment.

Cllr Robin (left) said: “Where is our society going with this? Nurses are not the only professionals that make errors.

“Sometimes it is the nurses that cover or correct for the errors made by other professionals.

“These types of proposals could drive people from the caring professions rather than raise standards.

“Furthermore, what other professionals should be included in this error reporting to patients? Doctors, Psychologists, Pharmacists, Radiologists, Physiotherapists, Social Workers, Health Care Assistants, Domestic workers to name a few?

“There are also Receptionists, Ward Clerks, Hospital Porters, Occupational Therapists, Phlebotomists, Radiologists, Chiropodists all of whom are capable of making errors.

“If the proposal is going to be fair all professionals should be expected to report their errors to patients. Everybody should be accountable not just nurses.

“I believe that if these measures are about the inadequacies NHS complaints system as a result of malpractice then I believe something should be done to improve the situation.

“There are three or four stages involved in the current complaints system.

“Some unresolved complaints can take four years to come to a conclusion. Each stage prevents ‘Joe Bloggs’ from referring to the original problem from a previous stage.

“For me this is the big problem that the Department of Health needs to deal with.”

Tags: Cllr Blaine Robin, Coalition, Department of Health, NHS, Nurses, Southend