Medical experts have claimed that NHS staff who are found to be neglecting patients should be prosecuted in light of events such as the Mid Staffordshire scandal.
Investigations from 2009 and 2010 found that between 400 and 1,200 more people died than would have been expected at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.
Researchers from the University of Manchester’s centre for social ethics and policy said the UK should follow the lead of France, where workers can be prosecuted for “gross dereliction of duty”. At present, NHS staff can only face prosecution if a patient dies as a result of a serious error.
Of the Mid Staffordshire scandal, the research team wrote in the Journal of Medical Ethics: “No care was taken to ensure that patients were fed. Basic standards of hygiene were not met, with relatives resorting to taking sheets home to wash.”
They added: “Ill-treatment of a patient requires a deliberate course of conduct. If willful neglect was extended to the wider healthcare setting, liability would only ensue if the healthcare professional was indifferent to his/her patient’s welfare.”
Source: Legal and Medical Magazine
