Too many clinicians and managers are failing to fall in line with a drive to put patient safety at the centre of all the NHS does.

The first hospital I visited as a health journalist was billed as an exemplar of patient safety. Standing in the melee outside the operating theatres I learned that one of their procedures was ensuring everyone on the operating team knew everyone else's name before opening up the patient. Nothing about their strengths and weaknesses as a clinician; nothing about their experience; no understanding of how they would react in an emergency. Just their name. That was "safe surgery".

Since the review of the NHS led by eminent surgeon Lord Darzi in 2008 the NHS has made strong progress on improving safety. But too many trusts still mouth the words "patient safety is our top priority" without demonstrating it in their care.

Yesterday's revelation by the campaign group Action Against Medical Accidents that scores of trusts are routinely failing to comply with safety alerts issued by the National Patient Safety Agency exposes significant system failures. It indicates poor collaboration between managers and clinicians to ensure alerts are propagated and systems overhauled. It shows a corporate inability to distinguish between yet another bureaucratic instruction from the Department of Health and a clinical imperative that will save lives. It uncovers complacent clinicians who are not keeping pace with the latest procedures. Above all it exposes a failure to put the patient at the centre of everything the NHS does.

The full story available from here : NHS arrogance is costing lives | guardian.co.uk

NHS arrogance costing lives?
Nowt new there then!!