Accountability, part two

I have recently posted commenting on the scandal at Stafford hospital and the fact that the three individuals who occupied the post of Chief Executive over the relevant years have not only escaped the consequences but have suffered no block to their further careers.

No CE can act alone however, and the rest of the managerial board will have supported his actions.

Let’s have a look at who some of these people are, and where they are now.

Jan Harry was the Trust’s Director of Nursing from 1998 to 2006. She it was who told the Trust Chairman that axing 52 Nursing posts “would not harm patient care” She told the Mid Staffs enquiry that “It was not her job to monitor standards on the wards” and she had “no major concerns about the care provided” This is pure denial. As a nurse she can not possibly have been unaware of the likely consequences of staff cuts or of the situation on the wards. She chose to ignore these and fall in behind the CE, presumably in the interests of her own self advancement. Since leaving Stafford in 2006 she has worked in Dudley, and then Salisbury though she left there in 2009. She now seems to have gone to ground.

Helen Moss was her successor. In the years after 2006 she made no improvement to Stafford and, like her predecessor, toed the line. She is now with NHS East Midlands running the Leaders Development Placement Programme. Apparently Dr Moss will be responsible for “planning training and organising the numbers of nurses needed in trusts across Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.” Perhaps while they are at it they could appoint Gary Glitter to run their child protection service.

Toni Brisby was Chairman of the Trust and has been allowed to quietly resign without censure. The same is true of Dr Val Suarez, who was Medical Director and has now gone back to being a jobbing pathologist, for the time being at least.

You might wonder what, if anything, it takes to actually get a Manager sacked. Well according to this article doing a good job, and pressing for things to be done correctly will do it.