NHS: Medical Competence and Skill

Lord Bhatia Excerpts

Wednesday 7th January 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bhatia (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Parekh, for raising this issue and giving us an opportunity to discuss it. The NHS is a burning and most important issue in the minds of citizens. It is one that will be foremost in the minds of everyone when voting in May this year. People will vote for the political party that assures them that the NHS is safe in its hands. I declare my interest in this issue as my daughter is a GP in London and her daughter is also training in the medical field.

We all come with our different experiences—mine are positive—when we meet the NHS in the front line either with our GPs or when we end up in an NHS hospital and see the devoted, skilful and competent work of the professionals who provide humane and concerned care to cure you as soon as possible. Over the past few years, I have been a patient at a hospital. I have seen how I was diagnosed, treated and brought back to good health. The same applies to the GPs who take enormous care to treat you for your minor and major health issues. There is always enough time for you at the GP, who ultimately becomes a good friend, with care and concern for your well-being. To me, at the age of 60, the annual flu jab is a great blessing.

Very recently, I was admitted to hospital for a serious heart condition. Having been treated and discharged from the hospital, after a few days I received a letter from yet another NHS facility asking me to come to its rehab centre, which would help me build up my muscles and teach me to walk, breathe and do exercises once a week. The professionalism of the staff at this rehab facility is, for want of a better word, exceptional.

I therefore fully support the question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Parekh. The Government should not only maintain but improve the level of our NHS manpower. New scientific discoveries are coming on stream all the time. Medical professionals must be given the opportunity, time and resources constantly to update and improve their skills.

In conclusion, I shall quote from the briefing pack from the House of Lords Library dated 7 January 2015. These are positive policy statements that should be followed. First:

“No system can be 100% failsafe and where a failure does occur there needs to be a system-wide response with three key objectives: safeguarding patients; ensuring the continued provision of services to the population; and securing rapid improvements to the quality of care at the failing provider”.

Secondly,

“Healthcare professionals and clinical teams, their ethos, values and behaviours, will remain the first line of defence in safeguarding quality; the leadership within organisations who provide care remains ultimately responsible for the quality of care being delivered by their organisation, across all service lines”.

Thirdly,

“Getting the right staff with the right skills to care for our patients all the time is not something that can be mandated or secured nationally. Providers and commissioners, working together in partnership, listening to their staff and patients, are responsible and will make these expectations a reality. As national organisations we pledge to play our part in securing the staffing capacity and capability you need to care for your patients”.

Finally,

“Our National Health Service and public health services’ first priority must be the public that we serve. It is the commitment, professionalism and dedication of the NHS and public health staff that can make the greatest difference in providing high quality services and care for patients and their families”.