Mixed feelings on new recommendations from CQC into death investigations
- 13.04.2016
- HannahBottomley
- Clinical-negligence, Opinion, Clinical-negligence, Opinion
The recent announcement from the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the regulator responsible for monitoring standards within healthcare, that they will be reviewing how Trusts respond and deal with deaths in mental health, community care and learning disability patients has produced mixed feelings for me.
On the one hand I of course welcome a review of how Trusts investigate patient deaths (particularly deaths of patients who are considered to be among the most vulnerable in our society) and asking how Trusts determine which deaths are to be investigated, but I can’t help but worry that the opportunity to learn lessons as a whole is being missed.
Following the Southern Health Trust scandal, it is clear that there were serious concerns about the number of deaths occurring within this particular group and, of even more concern, the fact that not all deaths were investigated despite clear concerns in care.
It seems to me that there is a clear chance to learn lessons from what happened at Southern Health Trust and I wonder if it not be more appropriate to conduct a review into the implementation of new procedures surely now considered necessary to prevent such a tragedy from happening again?
The death of any individual within a healthcare environment is always a cause for concern as far as I am aware and I feel every family who loses a loved one should be provided with an answer about what has happened.
I believe this is even more important where the individual patient was suffering from a mental health problem or had learning disabilities as there are often multiple factors involved in the death.
The decision-making process regarding whether a death should be investigated needs to be more transparent giving families a clear idea about why someone’s death may not be investigated and allowing the opportunity to consider whether a complaint needs to be pursued to enable to obtain those answers.
I have always felt passionately about representing the families of patients who have died following or during the provision of healthcare and know from experience that transparency is key. I hope that the CQC review is able to achieve real gains in making healthcare safer for those in such vulnerable positions and the processes where an individual has passed away clear and more accessible for their families.
If you have suffered a bereavement of a family member during or following the provision of healthcare and would like more information regarding hospital complaint processes or Inquests contact a member of our specialist Clinical Negligence team on 0161 237 5888.