Information sharing
The NHS Litigation Authority should make more prominent in its publicity an explanation comprehensible to the general public of the limitations of its standards assessments and of the reliance which can be placed on them.
- NHS Resolution's website and annual reports describe the organisation's role as managing clinical and non-clinical claims on behalf of NHS bodies and operating incentive schemes such as the maternity incentive scheme. The website includes a description of the organisation's purpose and scope of its schemes (NHS Resolution website).
- No published evidence has been identified of a specific public-facing explanation of the limitations of the former CRMS standards assessments, as the programme was discontinued rather than continued with improved public explanation.
- NHS Resolution's maternity incentive scheme (MIS) publishes detailed criteria for each of the ten safety actions that trusts must meet, and the results of compliance assessments are published, providing a degree of public transparency about what the standards measure and their limitations (CNST Maternity Incentive Scheme, NHS Resolution).
How was this evidence gathered?
Response
Accepted
Response
AcceptedThe government published "Hard Truths: the Journey to Putting Patients First" (Cm 8777) on 19 November 2013, responding to all 290 recommendations of the Francis Report. This followed an initial response "Patients First and Foremost" in March 2013. Key reforms included a new Chief Inspector of Hospitals, strengthened Care Quality Commission inspection regime, a statutory duty of candour, and the fit and proper person test for NHS directors. Volume 2 (Cm 8754) contains the government's detailed responses to each of the 290 recommendations. See: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7cd486ed915d63cc65d167/34658_Cm_8777_Vol_1_accessible.pdf
Published Evidence
Published assessments of progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Source type badge indicates whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.
Research published 2023 marking ten years since the Francis Report found mixed results. Structural and legislative changes largely delivered (duty of candour, FPPR, CQC overhaul, revalidation, Freedom to Speak Up Guardians). However, cultural change not fully embedded; understaffing, fear of speaking up, and poor complaint handling persist in parts of the NHS.
Government published "Culture Change in the NHS" (Cm 9009) reporting progress on all 290 recommendations. Key achievements: 19 hospitals placed in special measures; those trusts recruited 109 additional doctors and 1,805 additional nurses; 129 board-level changes made; excess avoidable deaths fell by 450 in less than a year.
Government published "Hard Truths: The Journey to Putting Patients First" (Cm 8777) in two volumes. Vol 1 set out new actions; Vol 2 provided detailed response to each of the 290 recommendations. Approximately 204 of 290 recommendations were fully accepted.