Social care watchdogs merger will risk lives claims Healthcare Commission
In a startlingly forthright submission to a parliamentary committee, Sir Ian Kennedy, chair of the Healthcare Commission, all but called for the merger to be aborted because it would set back the development of a culture of safety.
The labour government has proposed a three-way merger of the Healthcare Commission, the Commission for Social Care Inspection and Mental Health Act Commission to strengthen regulation and save £60m ($118.5m).
However, the wind-up costs have been estimated to be £140m and the reforms have been opposed by all three existing bodies.
Sir Ian, the former chairman of the government inquiry into the scandal of children’s heart surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, said “The reasons for the bill are unclear, the costs are high, the distraction is very considerable and the risk of harm to patients is significant.”
In a stark warning to the labour government, he added: “If one patient dies whose death could have been avoided because of the distraction of the search for the ideal regulatory structure, the public will have been ill served by this proposed legislation.”
Norman Lamb, Liberal Democrat health spokesman, described it as “a devastating condemnation of the proposal”.
“The government would be well advised to take this seriously and think again about whether they can justify this. This sense of perpetual reorganisation drives health professionals and the public crazy.”
In his submission, Sir Ian argued the rationale for the reorganisation was unsound, claimed alternative models for reform had not been explored, and the extra powers for regulators “sounded impressive” but were impractical.
Less than four years after the existing organisations were founded, Sir Ian said we were entering an unnecessary “period of flux”.
“Managers will be organising ‘away days’ and locked in meetings over organisational design … instead of meeting the accelerating demands and expectations of patients.”
