Watchdog condemns NHS 'culture of cover-up'

Hospitals accused of concealing evidence of poor care

- Denis Campbell

Hospitals are cynically burying evidence about poor care in a “coverup culture” that leads to avoidable deaths and families being denied the truth about their loved ones, the NHS ombudsman for England has warned.

Ministers, NHS leaders and hospital boards are doing too little to end victimisation of staff who turn whistleblower, he added.

In an interview with the Guardian as he prepares to step down after seven years in the post , Rob Behrens also claimed many parts of the NHS still put “reputation management” ahead of being open with relatives who had lost a loved one because of medical negligence.

Behrens said that while the NHS was staffed by “brilliant people” working under intense pressures, too often his investigations into patients’ complaints ha d revealed cover-ups, “including the altering of care plans and the disappearance of crucial documents after patients have died and robust denial in the face of documentary evidence ”.

He urged ministers to overhaul the way the NHS deals with complaints, to make it more honest and accountable, and how the array of regulatory bodies scrutinise it.