Matt Hancock denies NHS supervisor ban scheme would have prevented Letby killings
Matt Hancock has mentioned Covid brought on him to drop plans that will have allowed NHS managers discovered responsible of significant misconduct to be barred from working within the well being service.
The Government commissioned main barrister Tom Kark KC to design an improved system of accountability for senior executives amid considerations these responsible of misconduct are capable of finding jobs elsewhere within the well being system.
According to the Telegraph, Mr Kark referred to as for a brand new Health Directors’ Standards Council with “the power to disbar managers for serious misconduct”.
While NHS docs are managed by licences awarded by the General Medical Council, no such physique exists for NHS managers.
At the time, the then-Health Secretary Matt Hancock mentioned he may “see the attraction” of such a system, nevertheless, plans to implement the suggestions have been ditched after the Covid pandemic hit, citing the scheme’s complexity.
Following the sentencing of child killer Lucy Letby on Monday, consideration has moved on to the failings of the NHS managers, with hospital chiefs accused of “walking away from life-destroying mistakes”.
Doctors raised considerations with executives after they seen the surprising variety of child deaths on the Countess of Chester Hospital.
This afternoon a senior supervisor accused of “ignoring” considerations about Lucy Letby, and “protecting” her, was suspended from the NHS hospital she now works in.
Alison Kelly was the chief nurse when Ms Letby killed and harm infants underneath her care at her Chester hospital, although had since moved to the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust in Salford.
Despite the failure to introduce a brand new system to bar managers from working within the NHS, Mr Hancock’s spokesperson argued it will not have prevented the Lucy Letby scandal even when applied in 2019.
They mentioned: “This recommendation was still being considered when the pandemic struck and attention was understandably turned to that. The recommendation would be very complex to implement, and sadly would not have stopped these murders, even if it had been in place at the time.”
Ms Kelly is amongst three administrators from Chester who’ve been publicly criticised over the scandal, alongside former medical director Ian Harvey – who’s retired and dwelling in France – and former chief govt Tony Chamber – who till this summer time labored at a hospital in West Sussex.
On Friday Ms Kelly mentioned: “These are truly terrible crimes and I am deeply sorry that this happened to them.
“We owe it to the babies and their families to learn lessons and I will fully cooperate with the independent inquiry announced.”
There have been further considerations that the proposed debarring scheme would make the hiring of NHS managers a lot tougher, as they would want to all be accepted by a centralised register.
Mr Hancock has this night joined these calling for a full statutory inquiry into the affair, saying: “This is without question one of the most monstrous crimes in modern British history.
“What makes it worse is the evidence that some of these evil murders could have been prevented.
“We need an urgent, full statutory inquiry with powers to compel witnesses to attend. It’s so important to fully understand what happened, learn lessons for the NHS and prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again.”
While the Government initially resisted requires a statutory inquiry, which might have authorized powers to summon witnesses, it seems No. 10 might transfer to improve the present unbiased inquiry so it has the power to compel witnesses to seem.