“Very Serious” Patient Safety Concerns At University Hospitals Of Birmingham NHS Trust

An investigation by NHS England into claims of a toxic culture at University Hospitals of Birmingham (UHB) NHS Trust has highlighted “very serious” patient safety issues.

Inquiries were commissioned by the Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board and the local NHS in response to an investigation by BBC Newsnight and BBC West Midlands which had heard from former and current staff at the Trust, who accused it of being toxic and “mafia-like”.

Earlier this year, three major reviews were launched following whistle-blowers alleging that they were punished by Trust management for raising safety issues. Other staff concerns highlighted during those reviews included a shortage of nurses and lack of communication, leading to some haematology patients dying without receiving treatment.

As a result, the Trust has been subject to an investigation into its culture.

Now, the ombudsman is raising serious concerns with the independence and openness of the investigation that is taking place.

Criticism is contained in letters between the ombudsman, the Trust, and NHS England.

The ombudsman, Mr Rob Behrens, wrote that the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman had been excluded from the review process at UHB, leading him to be concerned about the completeness and transparency of the reviews.

Mr Behrens told Newsnight that the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman had investigated two avoidable deaths at the Trust, and that he was so concerned about patient safety issues at UHB that he triggered an “emerging concerns protocol”.

This was the first time the protocol had been used, which allows health regulators to share information about a hospital. It followed an ombudsman investigation in which it was found that death was avoidable, but UHB Trust leadership refused to accept the findings.

Mr Behrens said:

According to the statistics, the ombudsman has received more complaints about UHB in the last three years than about any other Trust.

Birmingham and Solihull Care Board said:

However, the ombudsman responded by saying:

He went on to say:

UHB has responded to provide reassurance that the ombudsman’s concerns have been taken seriously. It said it had been working to arrange further meetings with the ombudsman to agree on how the organisation can work better in the interests of patients and staff.

Comment

For the ombudsman to raise such concerns so publicly, and to enact the emerging concerns protocol for the first time shows how serious the issues are at UHB.

This is deeply concerning.

The ombudsman’s point that patient safety and culture and leadership are intrinsically linked is very true. This is a Trust at which staff have clearly felt unsafe or unable to raise their concerns when it comes to issues at the hospital. If these things cannot be identified and raised, they cannot be rectified, and that obviously means that patients are at risk of the same mistakes and problems happening again.

There are clearly still a lot of issues at this Trust, which has been under intense scrutiny for a while now. It is vital that they listen to feedback and concerns and actually take the steps to make improvements, being open and honest with their investigations and conclusions and clearly set out what will be done to turn things around.