Published 15 July 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2816
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b2816

Letters

Institutional safety problem

Sitting leaders ask you to stand up for safety

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

If junior doctors follow the recommendation of medical leaders and stand up for the safety of patients will they receive support from those leaders?¹

"Staff concerns about safety at Mid Staffordshire trust were ‘lost in a black hole.’"² The evidence suggests that whistleblowers who report concerns are treated no better in the NHS now than at the time of the scandal at Bristol Royal Infirmary.³ Medical leaders are responsible for the culture of silence. To become a medical leader one needs to compromise principles for expediency to meet the demands of politicians (in an organisation or government) with the power to advance or destroy a career. Medical leaders lack moral authority because few of them have taken the risk of speaking out on their way to the top. They are too often complicit in concealment of problems to protect their organisations or political masters.⁴

Fiona Godlee spoke at the conference . . . [Full text of this article]

¹ Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, Shrewsbury SY3 8XQ

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    StumbleUpon    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

Staff concerns at Mid Staffordshire trust were "lost in a black hole"

Adrian O’Dowd
BMJ 2009 338: b2297. [Extract] [Full Text]

Changing the face of whistleblowing

Peter Gooderham
BMJ 2009 338: b2090. [Extract] [Full Text]

Online poll

Find out more here>> and here>>