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How long is long enough to conclude that government-run health care invariably fails patients? As the U.K.’s National Health Service approaches its 78th birthday, Britons are reacting to the latest tragic results of turning doctors into bureaucrats. Eleanor Hayward and Poppy Koronka report for the Times of London: More than 500 babies and mothers died or suffered serious harm caused by systemic failures and “cruel” care in the largest maternity scandal in NHS history, a report has found, as bosses have been
threatened with jail if they refuse to co-operate in future. The review of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) by the senior midwife Donna Ockenden found the board and leaders knew of failing maternity services for more than a decade but turned a blind eye, deeming it “too difficult” to address. It seems that it remains difficult to address because a sort of dystopian deep state refuses to help uncover the depths of this horror. The Times reports: After the review, which involved more
than 2,500 families in cases from 2012 to last year, the government said doctors and NHS managers could be jailed for up to two years if they refused to co-operate with maternity investigations in future. Ockenden revealed that nearly half of the 66 senior directors at NUH refused to give evidence to her review, which began in 2022, or respond to questions about their role.
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