Memory is useful only if you consult it

doi:10.1136/bmj.39500.481481.1F

BMJ 2008;336:462-463 (1 March), doi:10.1136/bmj.39500.481481.1F

Letters

Quality failures in the NHS

Memory is useful only if you consult it

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

With reference to Ham’s editorial,¹ NHS policy is oftendesigned to benefit the interests of those in government andis consequently inconsistent, haphazard, and not holistic inits approach. The recent approach to hospital acquired infectionsums this up, as a deep clean is preferred to tackling someof the root causes. The dangerous impact of targets is ignoredas government ideology must be pursued at any cost,² even thisis to the detriment of patients. A useful memory would alsobe better built up if those in control actually listened tocriticism coming from below, rather than ignoring and suppressingit.

There is no room for anyone else leading other than those whoare commanding and controlling the Department of Health, hencethe talk of leadership at a board and clinical level is empty.For a system to improve its quality via the use of memory, somescope must . . . [Full text of this article]

Benjamin Dean, senior house officer

¹ Oxford

djdeeno1979@yahoo.co.uk