Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

News

Department of Health is not interested in improving quality, inquiry is told

BMJ 2011; 342 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d3789 (Published 15 June 2011) Cite this as: BMJ 2011;342:d3789

Rapid Response:

An accepted expedient of public administration

Brian Jarman's comment at the second mid-Staffs inquiry about "public humiliation ... as the system's major quality improvement driver" reminds me of remarks of the Court of Appeal in the cases of Sharon Shoesmith and Rose Gibb (see my personal blog entry). Political pressure to deflect press and public obloquy leads to regulators getting things wrong. Robert Francis has the chance to correct this scapegoating in his review of health regulators.

Competing interests: No competing interests

16 June 2011
D B Double
Consultant Psychiatrist
Norfolk & Waveney Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Lowestoft NR32 1PL