Patients are NOT an NHS Priority Says Sir David Nicholson

PATIENTS ARE NOT AN NHS PRIORITY SAYS SIR DAVID NICHOLSON – Sir David Nicholson, the head of the NHS and the man who will not only resign over the Mid-Staffordshire fiasco, where over 1,200 patients needlessly die under his direct control, but is also protected by the Prime Minister; who thinks Sir David is doing a marvelous job.

Image: Associated Press

Yesterday Sir David Nicolson faced a grilling by MP’s over the failings of the NHS to provide a level of care for those that died.

What was astonishing is that Sir David’s only defence appeared to be ignorance as what exactly went on.  It appears, even though he openly admitted that he was not capable of running the NHS, he is still refusing to step down, despite the public calling upon him to either resign or for the government to sack him.

“I put my hands up to that and I was a part of that, but my learning from that was to make sure it doesn’t happen again.’ Sir David, on the Labour Performance Targets

The NHS is there to provide healthcare for the citizens of the UK, but not according to Sir David. His views are that ‘culminated in patients is not at the centre of the way the NHS works’.  To put this into context, the statement would be as ridiculous and short sighted as the chairman of BP saying that Oil wasn’t important to BP’s profit margins.  For many, this simply goes a step further in Sir David showing his contempt for the NHS and the patients it treats.

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Patient and Care Group Call for Prime Minister to Sack Sir David Nicholson

Regardless, Sir David is still insisting that he is the right person to hold the wheel of the good ship NHS and that he is able to reform the service.

The MP’s committing certainly gave Sir David a heavy grilling over his performance and at times Sir David was extremely evasive in his answers and demeanor.

Sir David openly admitted that he had ‘no idea’ about the appalling level of care at Mid-Staffordshire Hospital that cost the lives of over 1,200 people.  He also claimed that he had no access to statistics that revealed the high level of deaths occurring at the Hospital and appeared not even remotely concerned over the huge number of ‘gagging orders’ handed down to staff – he simply said that he personally would have never sanctioned such a action, although it is clear that over 600 such order where given under his watch.

Sir David is once again facing calls from the public and a number of MP’s to step down due to his inability to run the NHS, but again he is adamant that is going to keep his £211,000 a year job and that his is the right man for the job, even though in full admission on his failings that are clear from the statement he made below.

“I had no idea,’ he said. ‘We didn’t see any of the information that would lead you to believe that there was all of this going on in Mid Staffordshire. As shocking as it is, that is the truth.” Sir David Nicholson, Chief Executive NHS

Sir David did go on to say that many of the issues that caused these chain of events could be squarely leveled at the feet of the Labour Party who instigated, during their term governing the country, were responsible for introducing ‘Performance Targets’ that pushed Mid-Staffordshire and its staff to the point of collapse and therefore these targets became the focus of the NHS and not patient care.

Image: Associated Press

Once again, despite all that is coming out of the Health Select Committee meetings, David Cameron is still giving Sir David his full backing and is refusing to sack him.  However pressure is now mounting on the Prime Minister as a petition of over 40 MP’s has so far been signed called for Sir David to either step down voluntarily or by the Prime Minister sacking him.

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David Cameron Refuses to Sack Sir David Nicholson over NHS Scandal

Like anything that goes wrong in government and those who control sections of government there will always be half-truths or no truth at all in order to cover up and protect an individual or a group of ministers.  Surely if a company had experienced 1,200 deaths in what is a relatively short period of time due to neglect, which is clearly the case here, the company directors would be brought up on charges of manslaughter.

The British public is baying for Sir David to step down or for the Prime Minister to sack him and instigate a public inquiry so that the families who lost their loved ones at least have some type of closure to their grief and justice for those who were lost due to the clear failings of Sir David Nicholson.