3 April 2013
UNISON warned last night that the NHS in Scotland cannot be
complacent about avoiding the terrible failings at Mid Staffordshire in
England.
Newsnight Scotland reported on the launch yesterday of a pilot ‘whistleblowers’ phoneline
for health service workers.
The National Confidential Alert Line for NHS staff ( 0800 008 6112 ) is being piloted
for a year.
Examining a range of incidents in Scottish
hospitals, Newsnight also referred to the failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS
Foundation Trust, described as “appalling” by the Francis Inquiry, and asked
whether it could be repeated here.
Matt McLaughlin, UNISON Scotland’s lead officer for nursing,
said that Mid Staffordshire was clearly a very complex situation and that it is
wrong to make direct comparisons with Scotland’s different health system
However, he added: “The fundamental problem for us in Scotland, I
think, relates to staffing levels and to the constant pressure that health
boards are under to save money, to stretch pounds further than they currently
do.
“And that was a fundamental problem in Mid Staffordshire.
“Could it happen in Scotland? Yes, it could.”
See the whole report on BBC iPlayer here
Matt’s interview starts at about 4 minutes into the
programme.
(See also Matt's article on the challenges facing nursing in the April edition of the Socialist Health Association Scotland journal, Healthier Scotland, p15. It is also posted on this blog.
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