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C

Speech

David Cameron: An NHS information revolut ion to save lives

David Cameron, Tuesday, April 14 2009

“We don’t need to detail what happened here again. We have all read

the stories – shocking and distressing in equal measure. We have all

seen the pictures – with unacceptable standards of care.

“We have all looked at the tribute wall – a reflection of the deep pain

still felt by friends and family. But we cannot let the headlines of last

month turn into a shrug of the shoulders today.

“We need to understand why this happened and see what we need to

do to make sure it never happens again. It’s clear that alongside

management failures there are some failures which blight the whole system. The first is Labour’s culture oftop-down targets and tick-box adherence. With their targets and bureaucratic control, Labour have actually

created a system that forces NHS staff to follow rules that can actively cause harm to the health of

patients.

“The second is the ‘closed culture’ within our hospitals. There’s too little information available to the public

about the problems that exist – meaning problems can be hushed up, brushed under the carpet and not

exposed until it’s far too late.

“If we want to help stop something like this from happening again, we need to act on both fronts. That

means scrapping all those centrally-imposed process targets that distort clinical judgements and make theNHS answer to politicians. And it means opening up the NHS with a genuine information revolution – a

revolution that puts power in the hands of people, makes doctors respond to patients and genuinely saves

lives.

“How can we do that? With an approach so obvious, you’ll be astonished it doesn’t already happen.

“We’ll measure those things that people really care about: how long will my Dad survive if he gets cancer,

what happens after my initial treatment, how does a hospital do on issues like infections? We will collect

patients’ views on all aspects of their care via a simple questionnaire. And we will allow patients to give

immediate feedback to hospitals about any bad care they have endured. We’ll compile all this informationin a meaningful and accessible way that can be easily understood and let every patient compare and

contrast different care providers. And we’ll then let patients, with their GPs, pick precisely where they want

to be treated.

“I have given an explanation of why I believe this tragedy unfolded. And I have explained how we can help

prevent this from ever happening again. But I also know that this is little consolation to the patients and

relatives that have been so hurt and distressed by what has happened here. They have a right to make their

evidence known. They deserve to have their voices heard. That’s why today, I’m calling on this Government

to launch a proper public inquiry into what happened here. Not another review that is limited in scope,

lacking in independence, and devoid of public input. A proper, full-scale, root-and-branch look into what

went wrong. Then, and only then, may those who suffered here begin to properly heal.”

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