Bullying of Staff in Liverpool-based NHS Trust
An investigation of the Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust uncovered some shocking findings.
Evidence of medical failure throughout Liverpool-based Trust
Since 2011, there is mounting evidence of medical failure throughout the Trust. This is more than likely due to the oppressive culture of the Liverpool based trust.
During the investigation, one patient revealed that his lung cancer had not been detected by the trust for 4 months. With a case as serious as this, an early diagnosis is essential and the blunder allowed the cancer to progress further than it should have been allowed to.
A statement released by the Trust highlighted that they are now making improvements and have expressed their apologies for not following up on these problems. A number of staff from the Trust are revealed to be under investigation following allegations of medical negligence.
Worrying cases of staff abuse
As with many trusts around the country, the Liverpool based Trust provides health services to hundreds of thousands of patients in the area. This health care is provided both at clinics and at the patients’ homes.
During the investigation of the Trust, it was found that there were serious concerns around understaffing and due to the low staff numbers, the workers in the Trust were often subjected to bullying and harassment by patients and their relatives caused by mounting strains on the services.
In 2013, one particular attack saw a member of staff taken hostage by a family member of a patient. The incident was not investigated fully by the trust at the time.
At the center of the problems, there did not seem to be a clear staffing structure at the Trust and as a result, the management and leadership had disintegrated. The lack of leadership and investigation skills led to a failure to understand the statistics of the deaths that had occurred under the care of the Trust and a lack of understanding of how the deaths had been caused.
The Trust had also failed to investigate the comments of its own workforce, as well as failing to monitor and improve the in-patient healthcare services. These problems caused the Trust to receive two warnings in January 2014 from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Changes have been made
The Trust’s new chief executive, Sue Page has expressed some concern after speaking to staff when she took up her position. She said that it was clear that workers at the Trust knew that things were very wrong. They had become hurt by the way in which the Trust had operated and on behalf of the NHS, she has apologised to the staff for the treatment they had received up to that point.
A public inquiry has been opened to look closely at the Trust. The report suggested that the new management team that has been appointed at the Trust were making the necessary changes to take the organisation forward and to improve the way the Trust operates. The report also recommended for the Trust to attempt to speed up the rate of the change for the staff and patients connected with the organisation.
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