THE NHS REFORM BLOG

The news of the day is that there have been copycat killings at Stepping Hill Hospital. We warned the government of the lack of preventative measures sometime ago. Dr Foster Intelligence admitted that their statistics are not enough to detect another Harold Shipman. This follows that despite the NHS having one serial killer after another, its policy makers have remained with their head in the sand. 

The diamorphine killers was an article presented in Hospital Doctor sometime ago. It discusses the prevalence of serial killers within the NHS. Of course, the Stepping Hill killings are similar to Beverley Allitt. The surprising thing is that Greater Manchester Police has been investigating. Greater Manchester Police will be used to such serial killers since they failed to prosecute Harold Shipman until it was too late. Shipman Police Blunders by the Telegraph details this. 

Anyhow, Greater Manchester Police struggle to grapple with the recent spate of deaths, few understand that the key to prevention of serial killers is to have better procedures of monitoring and far more accountability. If Dr Foster Intelligence cannot detect Dr Shipman [ as admitted by Professor Brian Jarman], what is the NHS doing to ensure early detection. Of course, a infamous case to illustrate this point is the case of Dr Jane Barton. No one has held her accountable for the premature end to many lives. Watch this report on Jane Barton.