Making them count

摘要

Too few nurses, too poorly trained; receptionists rather than medical staff assessing arrivals at A&E; high rates of infection by the superbug Clostridium difficile; at least 400 more patient deaths than expected in just three years. A tale of a single disastrously managed institution, and yet the failings of Stafford Hospital, which were first picked up by the Healthcare Commission in 2007 and made public in a report on March 17th, have triggered apologies right up the political ladder. "On behalf of the government and the nhs I would like to apologise to the patients and families of patients," said the health secretary, Alan Johnson. The following day the prime minister, Gordon Brown joined in: "We do apologise to all those people who have suffered," he told Parliament, adding the usual bromide that it "should never be allowed to happen again".