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Jack Hawkins, whose daughter Harriet tragically died stillborn at Nottingham City Hospital in 2016 due to a series of failures, has spoken out strongly against the refusal of senior clinicians to participate in Donna Ockenden’s review in Nottingham. He described this refusal as “totally unacceptable” and expressed confusion and disapproval over why those clinicians believed it was acceptable to make such a choice. Hawkins further commented, “Having these people forced to attend the health and social care committee would be an interesting day but we suspect meaningless for accountability and safe maternity care.”
Following the findings of the Ockenden review, the government has responded by announcing new plans aimed at enhancing accountability within the NHS. One of the key measures involves compelling past and present NHS staff who decline to cooperate with forthcoming maternity reviews to provide evidence under threat of facing up to two years in prison. This approach is intended to address a culture of silence that the Nottingham investigation uncovered, where despite over 800 staff members giving evidence, many reported being silenced by senior clinicians and hospital management when they raised safety concerns regarding patients.
The Department of Health and Social Care highlighted that the new rules seek to break the entrenched pattern of silence exposed in the Nottingham review. They noted, “These measures are designed to tackle a culture of silence exposed by the Nottingham review, where over 800 staff gave evidence – but many described a culture of being silenced by senior clinicians and hospital bosses when raising concerns around patient safety.” This recognition points towards a broader effort to improve transparency and patient safety within healthcare settings.
In addition to these steps, the government is considering the introduction of the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, commonly referred to as the Hillsborough Law. This legislation aims to enforce greater openness and responsibility among public bodies after major incidents. The bill was originally scheduled for passage in April, coinciding with the 36th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, but its progress has been stalled due to disagreements over a proposed opt-out clause for the security services
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