‘Er, Jim, you know we said we’d appoint an improvement director for that Trust, down south. You know. The one that was caught out covering up learning disability deaths?’
‘Yes. I remember. How could I forget? That godawful meeting with that service user’s mother. Dreadful, dreadful woman.’
‘Well, it’s been quite a while now and we did sort of suggest it was going to be an urgent action…’
‘Surely we can rope in some herb to do this. Christ. Sloven must have a range of external consultants who can step up for a few weeks. I mean it’s not real work. We just said we’d appoint someone. It doesn’t mean anything…’
‘Well it’s a bit awkward because social media makes this stuff transparent and, to be fair, it has been a few months now. And, er, the trust didn’t investigate hundreds of deaths.’
‘Don’t get sucked in, Jim Junior. A word of advice. If you want a career in this biz, question nothing. Keep your head down. Once you start to engage with patients and their families, you might as well give up. Just ignore them. They disappear. Or become so desperate, it’s easy to bat them away.
And another thing. Monitor won’t exist for much longer. NHS Improvement is the way forward. We are going to shine a beacon on poor practice.
Was there anything else you wanted?’
‘Sorry boss, but we’ve heard that BBC Breakfast are running a feature tomorrow morning. A pretty forthright piece asking what we’ve all done since the Mazars review was published.’
‘FFS.’
Tap tap tap.
‘Get old whatsi, you know… that other improvement director we’ve got. Alan whatsi. And get comms to put out a release. And hold it till end of play so it gets lost in Easter. Bloody pain in the arse stuff.’
[Text in bold added after Monitor announced the appointment of Alan Yates after 6pm the day before Easter weekend.]
mydaftlife 
Excellent. You have the empty rhetoric brigade nailed!
Just watched bbc breakfast report, brilliant! Well done, in keeping up the pressure (I know how draining it is) we are with you all the way.
Brilliant broadcast. Thank you
Lodged formal complaint day before yesterday, am weary and fully aware of additional cost to me.
Have asked pressured care manager repeatedly,for clarification on sons eye watering charges. Received a booklet and had waste of time conversation with finance last year.(booklet beyond me). Busy care manager insists over charging could not happen. Time slipped on..
Long story short, I blew my last gasket when was told by LA finance team that if I thought son overcharged I (me again!) had to send in the proof. Years of it? (Son not on direct payments)
Lodged formal complaint from my bed same day.
I got reply next day, find son currently being over charged by nearly £100 a month and it could be much more. They are checking..
This is not an overcharging issue, it is a long standing cultural issue.
It is about a cultural certainty that can cripple and kill?
………. good guys, go to your manager, and shout ‘ …….no longer up with this will I put’
Spoke to Monitor yesterday: still no sign of an Improvement Director. They allegedly have a list of appropriate persons to approach – just how long does it take to go through a list – 2.5 months and counting. Apparently not interested in my offer to fill in temporarily – too frit! Oh – and I have this in writing – Monitor is not concerned that Mencap deny having an Appointed Governor at Sloven. Did they check with Mencap? Of course not, they just checked with Sloven!
Martin,s care managers simply disappear – not a word from them for months, or even years, then a new one, and never any sort of hand over.
The annual NHS staff survey results are out. Have a guess where Southern are failing. http://www.nhsstaffsurveys.com/Page/1010/Home/NHS-Staff-Survey-2015/
26.03.16 two men arrested by police for suspected manslaughter charges for gross negligence for the death of a girl on a bouncy castle that blew away. Can you see a parallel.