PM: ''Nicholson must not be a scapegoat''

21 February 2013

The Prime Minister David Cameron has stuck up for the NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson and said he should not be among any "scapegoats" following the Francis report into the appalling quality of care at Stafford Hospital between 2005 and 2009.

Nicholson's head has been called for by many campaigners – and many Publicservice.co.uk readers, with 86 per cent agreeing that he should resign. Nicholson was CEO of the West Midlands Regional Health Authority when up to 1,200 people were dying unnecessarily at the hospital. He is now head of the new NHS Commissioning Board.

"We should not be seeking scapegoats," Cameron said. "To highlight David Nicholson in this way would be seeking a scapegoat. I don't think he should be made a scapegoat. He has properly acknowledged and apologised for the mistakes the regional health authority made when he ran it for that short period of time."

The PM went on: "I am impressed with the grip and grasp he has over the NHS, and his love for it."

The Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg joined in the defence of Nicholson, although with a slight condition.

"I have confidence in him," Clegg said, "but he needs to speak for himself about the period of time during which he was there. My own view is that first he needs to explain, as he has explained, that he was there for 10 months, nothing was brought to his attention to suggest that something was untoward.

"But he totally accepts that the wider culture, which the Francis Report highlights, of an excessive attention on targets and on box ticking rather than actually teaching individuals with dignity got out of hand and needs to be changed and he's been part of the attempt to change that."

Backing the "no scapegoat" approach of Cameron, Clegg added: "My own personal view is suggesting that somehow this can all be solved by pointing the finger at one person misses the point, the key conclusion of the Francis Report is that this is unfortunately a much deeper problem than that, it's actually a bigger culture problem."

Two weeks ago, Unite's national officer for health, Rachael Maskell, said Nicholson was not the person to lead the NHS into the world of patient-focused care, and she said the recommendations of the Francis Report made his position "untenable".

COMMENTS

mm a bit unusual that, the PM is happy to scapegoat people if they are in opposition to him
karen - Nottingham

I doubt if Mr Cameron would come within a hundred miles of coal face NHS workers who are and have been scapegoated in both the Stafford and numerous other care controversies in the NHS!
Nigel Brockbank - Oldham. UK. NHS

Looks like the lunatics are still running the asylum - Just what we need, an incompetant fool running a system that's already in need of TLC
Janine - London

If you went on the telly and said to the people "No top down re-organisation of the NHS" as an election promise and then read on page 4 of the Exec summary of the francis report "A failure to appreciate until recently the risk of disruptive loss of corporate memory and
focus resulting from repeated, multi-level reorganisation" then maybe you wouldn't want waves in your cess-pool, in case thay come your way. No politician of either main Party would want that. Scapegoats are to be found in the clinical staff herds, not the management classes.
Rezine Nicholson - NHS England

This begs the question why some of us think that making one individual a scapegoat will cure all ills in the NHS. The problem is that of the culture over the many years pouring good money after bad. Those so called wonderful targets at getting patients seen within a specified time scale - tampering with the unachievable was always going to cut corners and bring grieve disappointments anxiety and stress for and to many. Wake up we are living in a blame culture one that blames everyone else but himself/herself. Health service changes were long overdue. No government wanting to rock the boat for fear of loosing votes. Now we have the opportunity to make a change some of us want to retain the status quo - continuing to throw money at the problem. The culture within the NHS needs changing and what best time to do so but now that the problems are coming to light. Mr Nicholson has recognised where it all went wrong and who best to fix it but him. He has apologise for his failings and lack of effective monitoring. He should be given the opportunity to put things right - it cannot be done overnight.
v henry - London