“Safe space” proposals could alter relationships between patients and the NHS – for worse
Published: 7 Dec 2016
Peter Walsh
AvMA Chief Executive Peter Walsh, writing in the HSJ, has warned that whilst protecting staff from inappropriate actions from bad employers is a good thing, preventing patients/families from knowing the full truth would have serious unintended consequences.
You could be forgiven for not realising that the Department of Health is currently consulting on controversial proposals that could turn the relationship between patients and the NHS on its head.
The consultation was published quietly and there has been relatively little publicity about it. The proposals are contained in the consultation a ‘safe space’ in healthcare safety investigations”.
The deadline for responses is 16th December. The reason that it is so controversial is that it is proposed that a so-called ‘safe space’ is created for any patient safety investigations, not just the new national Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB), but also local investigations by NHS trusts about their own incidents.