Seeking accountability #Mazars #SouthernHealth
**Jan 2016 update** The Mazars report was published after lunch on December 17th once Parliament was in recess. Please still take time to contact your MP and ask them questions 1 and 3. Thanks
The continual delays, and Southern Health attempts to discredit the content, while we wait for NHS England to publish the Mazars report have been well documented over the past week. See this, this, this and this from Sara, this from Chris, this and this from Kara, this, this and this from me (George) and this from Andy McNicoll.
In the naive belief that the report would be published promptly we held off any comment here. This well-intentioned restraint now seems somewhat misinformed. So we’re now asking #JusticeforLB’ers to take action.
We would like everyone to contact their MP and ask them:
- If they are aware of the Mazars report
- If they will apply pressure on NHS England to publish it, and
- If they will commit to reading it, debating it and understanding the implications for their constituents of its contents.
To quote Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State for Health, in Parliament last week: Nor should we pretend that this is a result of the wrong culture at just one NHS trust. There is an urgent need to improve the investigation of, and learning from, the estimated 200 avoidable deaths we have every week across the system.
Many of you contacted your MPs when we were petitioning them about the LBBill, so you might like to remind them of that! You can write to your MP via the WriteToThem website (it’ll even tell you who your MP is if you’re not sure) and you could also tweet your MP and ask them for their help.
If you are local to Southern Health, that is if you live in Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire or Southampton, we are asking you to contact your MP, but also to contact the Trust Governors. You can see who your local Governor is on the Southern Health website here. This is what a Governor does:
The general duties of the Council of Governors are to hold the Non-Executive Directors individually and collectively to account for the performance of the Board of Directors; and to represent the interests of the Members of our Trust as a whole and the interests of the public.
As ever in a culture of transparency and openness, there is no information on how to contact a Governor directly so you must contact them via Southern Health on governors@southernhealth.nhs.uk, or by post at: Corporate Governance Office, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, Room 23, Sterne 7, Tatchbury Mount, Southampton, SO40 2RZ.
Councillor Pope, an independent councillor for Redbridge Ward in Southampton, has been in touch with us and he has shared what he said to the Governors. You might like to pose a similar query, feel free to use this as a template, or adapt it yourself:
I request that the Council of Governors works with directors and the relevant Nominations and Appointments committees to conduct an investigation as to how and why the draft minutes of the 1st December 2015 Trust Board Meeting stated that the Performance Director responded that there were “no major concerns” when challenged by a Non-Executive Director on SIRIs, as quoted:
8.15. Jon Allen, Non-Executive Director, enquired as to whether there were any Serious Incidents Requiring Investigation (SIRIs) that should be brought to the Board’s attention. Chris Gordon confirmed that there were currently no major concerns but that the SIRIs reported still required to be fully investigated. Della Warren referred to paragraph 27.5 which indicated an increase in the number of falls and suggested that this be the subject of a ‘deep dive’ by the Quality & Safety Committee. Sandra Grant noted that the Service Performance & Transformation Committee had noted the increased number of falls and sought assurance as to whether this was linked to staffing levels. She assured members that this was regularly reviewed by the Director of Nursing & Allied Health Professionals and reported to the Quality & Safety Committee.
I would also appreciate a statement from the Trust as to whether the Chief Executive, the Trust Board and Council of Governors supports the view minuted.
As this issue is now of national importance, and has drawn the attention of the Health Secretary and Parliament, I and the residents, patients, carers and families of Southampton would appreciate an urgent response, preferably by the end of this week.
We look forward to seeing what responses you get.
I want accountability for this injustice….my son is in an ATU…because local NHS didn’t know what to do with him..3 years of failings lead to him being sectioned miles away from home. After on,y 2 weeks inside ATU was dx with ASD/ADHD, why didn’t the local NHS recognise this..not bothered that’s why. I will fight for all those locked up with autism..2016 we will visit, pester, campaine, visit, write, bother, lobby…everything in our power to show the country what’s going on with failings for autistic people.
I will contact , TV papers social media…everyone will know soon what outrageous care our young people are receiving…
[…] had that effect. We share it with you here, with no further comment other than a request to please take the time to write to your MP and public representatives to ensure that the Mazars Report is not brushed under the carpet. Many […]