Must admit, I’m baffled beyond bafflement the more I learn about the workings of the NHS. Particularly this whole patient safety stuff that is big at the mo. Details circulating on twitter this morning about the latest HSJ money spinning awards [for a full analysis of previous HSJ delights, click here] now combined with the annual Patient Safety Congress.
What confuses me is the content of this congress (concordat/concrap). ‘Making the business case for safety‘ and ‘Preparing for a CQC inspection‘. Eh? Patient safety? Isn’t that about keeping patients, er, safe? Not number crunching and coaching to pass inspections. Serious brain melt stuff.
At the same time, at a more personal level, the Sloven board chair last week reiterated Sloven’s acceptance of the Verita findings and recommendations into LB’s death. One of the reasons the Sloven bigwigs wanted to meet with us apparently was to confirm their “absolute acceptance of every aspect of the Verita report”.
Oh. That’s a bit odd. Why the hell are they wasting public money having a legal team, including barristers, who have tried to narrow down the scope of the inquest then? Why have legal representation at all?
I just don’t get it.
It’s like the music is playing loud and clear, but Sloven, and the NHS, insist on dancing to a different tune.
mydaftlife 
I wonder sometimes whether it is meant to be intrinsically sadistic in terms of propagating a humungous and distorted message publicly in the knowledge that most of the population will know no better than to believe it, while leaving those who really know what is going on feeling further betrayed and isolated.
Or perhaps that is simply a side effect of having a very different public and private face, like the corporate version of a wife beater whose mates think he is such a swell guy.
I am so sorry for what has happened, and for how little we all seem to be able to do about it.
‘Making the business case for safety’ may be necessary to convince some managers that it is worth spending money on keeping patients and staff safe. Because in their little management bubble they have almost lost sight of the fact that the NHS is there for patients. You would gave to prove to them that they would lose more in compensation payments or legal fees than they would save by cutting corners on safety. It’s the only language they understand. Management madness.
I have no idea what the Slovens are up to – unless their insurers or someone require them to have legal representation. Dare say it’s in a written procedure somewhere being followed by someone who doesn’t understand it.
Meanwhile real people in the real world suffer because of their ineptness.