Hyndburn’s MP has defended staff at under fire East Lancashire hospitals – after the Prime Minister said heads could roll if standards do not improve.
Prime Minister David Cameron has warned bosses at East Lancashire Hospitals Trust after it was criticised in the Keough review into above average death rates.
But Graham Jones said failures in the NHS were not the fault of staff and claimed the Conservatives’ record on the issue was ‘shameful’.
He said: “The recent Keough review contained a challenging but accurate picture of care standards and failings at 14 NHS trusts. We must, however, remember that the problems identified in these hospitals are not typical of the NHS or of the care given by NHS staff.
"We should seek to learn from this report and not use it to tarnish the many doctors, nurses and NHS staff who look after us in our NHS. The vast majority of doctors and nurses working in the NHS perform to a very high standard day in, day out – but everyone in the country will be worried that some hospitals are letting people down.”
The Keough report placed the trust, which runs Accrington Victoria, Royal Blackburn and Burnley Hospitals, in special measures and identified improvements in care were urgently needed.
On a visit to Darwen last week, David Cameron answered questions about the problems facing the Trust.
Darwen MP Jake Berry told the Observer the Prime Minister had highlighted the need for improvements in the wake of the report.
He said: “The Prime Minister was quite clear when he said the local management at East Lancashire Hospitals Trust have got to succeed in improving standards or they will be replaced. However, I am pleased that he stated that there are also many good points about our local NHS Trust – the numbers of doctors and nurses is up and there are more frontline staff.
“I agree with the Prime Minister that you need to have good management and you need to make good decisions to make the NHS efficient. That’s what the special measures are all about. The managers have to succeed or they have to be replaced.”
In the report the Trust was criticised for inadequate staffing levels at weekends and for some staff ‘talking down’ to patients.
East Lancashire Hospitals Trust declined to respond to Mr Cameron’s comments.
Following the publication of the Keough review, trust bosses said they welcomed the report’s findings and robust plans were in place to address the issues identified.
Chairman Hazel Harding CBE and Lynn Wissett, chief nurse and deputy chief executive, also announced their retirements from the trust.
