United Kingdom: Lib Dems Warn NHS Modernisation Plans Risk Another Major Hospital Scandal

The party says the government's plans to modernise the NHS risk another major hospital scandal. The Liberal Democrats have urged Andy Burnham to stop the "bonfire of patient safety" as part of the government's plans to modernise the NHS. Healthwatch England (HWE), an independent body which represents the views of patients at their local health and social care providers, is set to be scrapped under the NHS Modernisation Bill.

The Health Service Safety Investigation Bureau (HSSIB), which carries out patient safety investigations, is also being abolished. The government says its changes will strip back bureaucracy and improve patient safety. The Lib Dems warned it risks another Stafford Hospital scandal – where years of abuse and neglect led to hundreds of unnecessary patient deaths. A Healthcare Commission report found the scandal – one of the biggest in NHS history – involved at least 400 more deaths than expected between 2005 and 2008.