Care Quality Commission: Morecambe Bay Hospitals

Lord Campbell-Savours Excerpts

Thursday 20th June 2013 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

My noble friend raises a key issue, which successive Governments have wrestled with. We all know how life works. Whistleblowers are treated badly because their message is often very uncomfortable. That is why local Healthwatch could potentially be a very important part of the puzzle here, by ensuring that people have a place to go to that they can trust and that can raise concerns without necessarily naming the person who has initiated those concerns.

More and more, we need to encourage providers of care to take ownership of their performance. They have to be candid with themselves and accept criticism where it is laid. Boards of directors have to look systematically and regularly at the complaints made against them—whether rightly or wrongly—to make sure that they are as open as possible with themselves. Only by instilling a culture of that kind can we move forward.

[Lord Campbell-Savours]

My Lords—

[Baroness Northover]

I am afraid we are out of time.