60 Seconds 60 Seconds

4 BREAKING NEWS 24/7 AT WWW.BRISTOLPOST.CO.UK @BRISTOLPOST BRISTOLPOST Friday to Sunday, January 31 to February 2, 2014 Friday to Sunday, January 31 to February 2, 2014 BREAKING NEWS 24/7 AT WWW.BRISTOLPOST.CO.UK @BRISTOLPOST BRISTOLPOST 5 EPB-E01-S2 EPB-E01-S2 60 SECONDS WEATHER MP withdraws support for bill amendment sponsored by HOSPITAL ‘HAS STILL NOT LEARNED GBRISTOL MP Charlotte Leslie has withdrawn was discussing a new screening for people her support for a controversial proposal to ban when they entered the country, which could HIV patients from coming to the UK. uncover illnesses such as Hepatitis B or HIV. Ms Leslie told the Bristol Post that she was She said: “It was a complete oversight on my deeply sorry if she caused any offence and behalf. I did not read the small print, the lesson said it was entirely her fault for not reading the has been learnt and I will never do that again. GMedical negligence small print on the amendment, which was “I know people with the illness can feel they lawyer Laurence Vick introduced by Dr Phillip Lee, the Conservative are stigmatised and can feel very isolated so w w w. c r w i n d o w s . c o . u k LESSON FROM THE HEART SCANDAL’ MP for Bracknell. She was one of 17 I’m sorry if I have caused any offence. Conservative MPs who had backed the plans, “Once I realised what the amendment was Today’s Weather from that.” proposed for the new Immigration Bill. actually saying I did try and have my name Ms Leslie said she thought the amendment withdrawn but I was told it was too late.” Overcast for much of the day with light rain in the Louis Emanuel S e a n’s hearing was the second of six inquests at which Mr Vick is morning, this turning heavy and persistent later. Near- [email protected] gale force southerly winds. Max temp 6-9C (43-48F). representing families of children Tonight, heavy showers. Min temp 0-3C (32-37F). who died following care at the chil- d re n’s hospital. Last year he rep- Today TOP medical negligence law- resented the family of seven-year-old yer believes there are “par- Luke Jenkins, who also died follow- allels”between recent ing complex heart surgery. BRISTOL HEART SCANDAL deaths at Bristol Children’s In her verdict Avon coroner Maria Hospital and the Bristol Voisin concluded there was no neg- GTHE Bristol heart inquiry looked at surgery Aheart scandal of the 1990s. lect, although she said there were at Bristol Royal Infirmary between 1984 and Laurence Vick, who repres- “lost opportunities”in the 1995, and found that between 1991 and ented dozens of families in after-care of Sean, who died 1995, as many as 35 more children cases which led to the Bris- of a brain haemorrhage in aged under one died following tol heart inquiry, drew March 2012 after suffer- open heart surgery than would comparisons outside ing a cardiac arrest on have been expected. court last week at the Ward 32 of the hospital The figure of 35 was taken end of four-year-old following complex from the earlier General Sean Turner’s inquest. Fontan heart surgery. Medical Council charges High tides against the surgeons James Plymouth ............................ 0550 1818 Yesterday he told the Both hearings Weston-s-Mare................... 0653 1919 Bristol Post the trust touched on low staffing Wisheart, right, and Janardan which runs the hospital levels –flagged up in a Dhasmana, below, and former Information supplied by Lighting-up did not appear to have Care Quality Commission chief executive John Roylance, below right. 1707 0751 learned from its mistakes. report in 2012 –and a lack of a However, extrapolating from the data and But Robert Woolley, chief executive ‘high dependency unit’on Ward 32. case notes reviewed during the inquiry, Mr Tomorrow’s Weather of University Hospitals Bristol NHS The after-care on Ward 32, where GLaurence Vick talks to the press after the inquest of Sean Turner, inset left Picture: Simon Galloway Vick estimated that 171 children died as a It looks set to be bright with sunny spells, but there Foundation Trust, said parallels both Sean and Luke were looked after, direct result of the Bristol scandal. will be scattered blustery showers, some with a risk were “we a k ”and repeated the cor- came under heavy scrutiny. provide him with basic care”. parallels. It is clear that complaints staffing shortages over the period Mr Vick was joint lead of thunder and hail. Strong south-westerly winds. oner’s conclusions that there was no The trust which runs the hospital He added that ward staffing levels were made by members of staff that when Sean and Luke died were an solicitor to the 300 members Max temp 5-8C (41-46F). Min temp 2-5C (36-41F). failure in basic care at the hospital. has repeatedly insisted that changes were regularly reviewed. were reported to the CQC in 2012. example of lessons not learned, as of the Bristol Heart Children Sunday Monday Tuesday Mr Vick said in both the original have been made to the ward since the However, Mr Vick and his team at “We don’t know anything about was a tendency not to listen to whistle Action Group at the landmark scandal and the recent deaths, hos- CQC report and the deaths of Sean Michelmores solicitors say they are those complaints –we do know there bl owe r s. public inquiry. He said the pital units were not “fully prepared” and Luke. dealing with ten legal claims in total – were ten expressions of concern to He said: “The CQC report recorded GMC and public inquiries for the complex surgery and Mr Woolley said the trust “f u l ly fatal and non-fatal –against the hos- the trust (over staffing levels) made. ten internal expressions of concern effectively ignored those he after-care arrangements. He said understands”the after-care needs of pital and have received more enquir- “That strikes a chord with the old in the seven months prior to the calls the ‘forgotten families’, Max temp 7- 10C Max temp 7- 10C Max temp 7- 10C recommendations made after the re- children who have had heart surgery, ies since recent inquests. era at Bristol. If there were valid inspection in November 2012. where children survived surgery but (45-50F). Min temp (45-50F). Min temp (45-50F). Min temp 3-6C (37-43F). 2-5C (36-41F). 3-6C (37-43F). port had not always been implemen- adding that in Sean’s case the coroner He said at a press conference out- concerns they should have been acted “I think that is diabolical. If those were severely brain damaged, and therefore ted, adding: “Here we are 13 years “specifically said that the evidence side court after Sean’s inquest: “We upon.” on the inside were concerned then regarded as statistical successes because Tomorrow on and we still haven’t learned did not demonstrate a failure to are in a different era but there are Mr Vick told the Po s t yesterday that the trust should have acted, because they were not recognised in mortality while they failed to act on that in- f i g u re s . formation, children were being Inquiry chairman Sir Ian placed at further risk.” Kennedy QC said in his report HOSPITAL CHIEF EXECUTIVE ROBERT WOOLLEY REJECTS LAWYER’S CRITICISMS He said in the 90s surgeons had that surgeons were able to been portrayed as the main culprits, cover up high death rates by PARALLELS with events in the Congenital heart services in the much as we may wish it were not the funded staffing level when whereas the main concern this time claiming they were on a “1990s leading to the Kennedy NHS are demonstrably among the case - carry a recognised level appropriate. We actively around was the after-care. “learning curve”. He added Inquiry are weak. The children’s the best in the world and of risk for the children we are encourage staff to report low staff- He said: “In both instances, the that their powerful positions congenital heart services in Bristol independent comparison trying to help. ing incidents so we can improve units were not fully prepared for the both on the wards and at are run by different clinical among the children’s We fully understand our responsiveness to unexpected, complexity of the surgery they were management level meant no one professionals, undertaking different heart surgery centres the after-care short-term absence, such as when undertaking and the subsequent care was able to question them. procedures, in a different, in England shows requirements of a team member calls in sick. requirements. I don’t want to be The report said: “This is an account of a dedicated children’s hospital and that Bristol’s results children who have The CQC report in 2012 noted alarmist but there is the fact that hospital where there was a club culture, an UK Today in a markedly different NHS give no cause for undergone cardiac that there had been 10 incidents Kennedy made those recommenda- imbalance of power, with too much control Max °C °F °C °F where the focus of providers, concern. This was surgery and in the reported on the children's cardiac tions and central to those was to in the hands of a few individuals.” Aberdeen .............Rain 5 41 Jersey ..................Rain 8 46 commissioners and regulators on true in 2012 before case of Sean ward over a seven-month period.

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