Aug 16 2007
A Hospital trust writes about all the overseers it has to deal with
The Chairman of a Hospital trust has sent me a list of 94 different bodies and officials who "have an oversight role" in the case of a hospital.
The list includes necessary ones like the General Medical Council, the Department of Health and the auditors.
The fact that it runs to 94 does make you ask can anyone run an organisation for 94 different bosses, and how can the government ensure no needless overlap and no gaps in supervision when so many are involved?
It also leads on to ask how effective all this regulation is, when nationwide in 2005 almost 6000 patients died with?? MRSA or c.difficile caught in hospital mentioned on the death certificate.
We are not short of regulators and overseers in these services, but sometimes we are short of that combination of commonsense and effective use of resources to solve problems like hospital infections. ??When did you last see a Regulator at work with a cloth and some disinfectant?
John Redwood has been the Member of Parliament for Wokingham since 1987. First attending Kent College, Canterbury, he graduated from Magdalen College...
