Matt Hancock has said Covid caused him to drop plans that would have allowed NHS managers found guilty of serious misconduct to be barred from working in the health service.
The Government commissioned leading barrister Tom Kark KC to design an improved system of accountability for senior executives amid concerns those guilty of misconduct are able to find jobs elsewhere in the health system.
According to the Telegraph, Mr Kark called for a new Health Directors’ Standards Council with “the power to disbar managers for serious misconduct”.
While NHS doctors are controlled by licences awarded by the General Medical Council, no such body exists for NHS managers.
At the time, the then-Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he could “see the attraction” of such a system, however, plans to implement the recommendations were ditched after the Covid pandemic hit, citing the scheme’s complexity.
Following the sentencing of baby killer Lucy Letby on Monday, attention has moved on to the failings of the NHS managers, with hospital chiefs accused of “walking away from life-destroying mistakes”.
Doctors raised concerns with executives when they noticed the unexpected number of baby deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
This afternoon a senior manager accused of “ignoring” concerns about Lucy Letby, and “protecting” her, was suspended from the NHS hospital she now works in.
Alison Kelly was the chief nurse when Ms Letby killed and hurt babies under her care at her Chester hospital, though had since moved to the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust in Salford.
Despite the failure to introduce a new system to bar managers from working in the NHS, Mr Hancock’s spokesperson argued it would not have prevented the Lucy Letby scandal even if implemented in 2019.
They said: “This recommendation was still being considered when the pandemic struck and attention was understandably turned to that. The recommendation would be very complex to implement, and sadly would not have stopped these murders, even if it had been in place at the time.”
Ms Kelly is among three directors from Chester who have been publicly criticised over the scandal, alongside former medical director Ian Harvey – who is retired and living in France – and former chief executive Tony Chamber – who until this summer worked at a hospital in West Sussex.
On Friday Ms Kelly said: “These are truly terrible crimes and I am deeply sorry that this happened to them.
“We owe it to the babies and their families to learn lessons and I will fully cooperate with the independent inquiry announced.”
There were additional concerns that the proposed debarring scheme would make the hiring of NHS managers much harder, as they would need to all be approved by a centralised register.
Mr Hancock has this evening joined those calling for a full statutory inquiry into the affair, saying: “This is without question one of the most monstrous crimes in modern British history.
“What makes it worse is the evidence that some of these evil murders could have been prevented.
“We need an urgent, full statutory inquiry with powers to compel witnesses to attend. It’s so important to fully understand what happened, learn lessons for the NHS and prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again.”
While the Government initially resisted calls for a statutory inquiry, which would have legal powers to summon witnesses, it appears No. 10 may move to upgrade the current independent inquiry so it has the ability to compel witnesses to appear.
