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An MP is calling for an urgent inquiry into secrecy over medical negligence by paramedics, uncovered in a Sky News investigation.
Shadow public health minister Diane Abbott has written to Health Secretary Andrew Lansley calling for “an urgent inquiry by the Department of Health into potential medical negligence that may affect a number of families across the country”.
The request comes after Sky News revealed last week that the family of seven-year-old Izabelle Easen from Thorne near Doncaster was not told for more than three years that a paramedic had failed to give her treatment which might have saved her life.
Izabelle’s death was one of five cases kept secret from families and found in a handful of anonymised transcripts of paramedic misconduct hearings released by the Health Professions Council under the Freedom of Information Act.
In each of the cases – in Strathclyde, Northumberland, South Yorkshire and West London – 999 patients had died but their families were not told that proceedings were under way against a paramedic involved in their care.
In her letter to Mr Lansley, Diane Abbott said his department should be ensuring patient care and safety.
“As a result of the investigation, one inquest has been opened, a police investigation has been ordered by a procurator fiscal and two other coroners have launched investigations, yet we are still waiting to hear from the Department of Health,” she wrote.
“I am very concerned that this matter has not yet been looked into by the Department of Health, and believe that an urgent investigation is a matter of urgency.”
The fifth victim of secrecy was uncovered last week when Sky News asked the Yorkshire Ambulance Service whether the family of a man who died in 2008 had been informed of paramedic misconduct prior to his death.
The man’s widow, who asked not to be identified, was told for the first time about the negligence 80 minutes after the question was put to the NHS trust’s press office.
The 58-year-old father of three, from Edenthorpe near Doncaster, was suffering from terminal cancer but his widow had not been told that he was a victim of 13 failures by a paramedic.
The Doncaster coroner is now investigating his death and that of Izabelle Easen before deciding whether inquests should be held.
Medico Legal News Source: Sky News
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