Jeremy Hunt promises doctors will not be sacked for ‘honest mistakes’ that kill patients
2 min read
Doctors and nurses who mistakenly kill patients should not fear being struck off for “honest mistakes,” the Health Secretary will say today.
Jeremy Hunt is set to announce rule changes that will make it more difficult to sack health professionals guilty of manslaughter and will shield them from criminal prosecution.
Mr Hunt has accepted the findings of a review which recommends greater protections for health service staff, suggesting that legal proceedings should only apply in cases of "very poor performance".
The inquiry was launched following the death of six-year-old Jack Adcock who developed sepsis at Leicester Royal Infirmary after being wrongly treated by Hadiza Bawa-Garba.
The trainee paediatrician was later found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter.
The case sparked calls for the doctor’s removal from the profession, but colleagues warned against criminalising clinical errors.
Former president of the Royal College of Surgeons Professor Sir Norman Williams, who led the review, said he wished to see criminal investigations "limited to those rare cases where an individual’s performance is so truly exceptionally bad that it requires a criminal sanction".
Mr Hunt said he wanted the NHS to move "from a blame culture to a learning culture".
The Health Secretary earlier this month admitted that his efforts to improve patient safety had fallen short.
He told the Guardian that despite a five-year push to drive up standards staff were still "terrified" to admit mistakes.
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