BMJ 2014;348:g5 doi: 10.1136/bmj.g5 (Published 2 January 2014)

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NEWS Healthcare leaders call for end to criticism of NHS in 2014 Zosia Kmietowicz BMJ

Leaders of organisations representing frontline NHS staff in England have called for “a new page to be turned” as 2014 begins, by focusing on making the NHS fit for the future rather than on the mistakes of the past. In a letter to the Guardian the nine organisations say that the high quality care provided by the NHS to millions of people every day often got lost in headlines in 2013 over failures of the service.1 While these failures must be dealt with, says the letter, it is time to move on.

The letter quotes Don Berwick, president emeritus and senior fellow of the US Institute for Healthcare Improvement, who published a review last August into patient safety, how the NHS could move to “zero harm” in the wake of two reports on failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.2 As Berwick said, part of tackling the failures highlighted in the NHS meant leaving “‘fear, blame, recrimination and demoralisation’ behind, and going forward with energy and optimism,” says the letter. Signatories include Mark Porter, the BMA’s chairman of council, Chris Hopson, chief executive of the Foundation Trust Network, Richard Thompson, president of the Royal College of Physicians, and Maureen Baker, chairwoman of the Royal College of General Practitioners. They say that “a more measured view of how the NHS is performing” was needed.

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They add, “We must strike the right balance between recognising the extraordinary achievements that NHS staff deliver every day and the need for improvement highlighted by the Francis report [of the inquiry into Mid Staffordshire]. Rather than looking back to the failures of the past, we now need to devote our time and energy meeting the very real challenges we face to secure a sustainable NHS for the future.” In a separate move Liam Fox, a Conservative MP and a former shadow health secretary, called on Prime Minister David Cameron to end the ringfencing that protects the NHS budget. In an interview with the Times Fox said that the idea that money could end the problems of the NHS had been “tested to destruction” and that even with massive investment Britain still lagged behind other countries.3 1 2 3

Hopson C, Porter M, Mann C, Tee M, Gray P, Baker M, et al. A new year must herald a new start for the NHS. Guardian , 1 Jan 2014. www.theguardian.com/society/2013/dec/ 31/new-year-herald-new-start-nhs Hawkes N. Serious errors and neglect in the NHS should be a criminal offence, says safety expert. BMJ 2013;347:f4973. Savage M. Don’t spare NHS, top Tory Liam Fox tells Cameron. Times , 2 Jan 2014. www. thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article3963395.ece.

Cite this as: BMJ 2014;348:g5 © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2014

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Healthcare leaders call for end to criticism of NHS in 2014.

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