The Berwick Report: Let's hear it for the NHS

摘要

You would be forgiven for thinking that we have been here before with the Berwick Report (National Advisory Group on the Safety of Patients in England, 2013). I think we have, but there is nothing wrong with that. Berwick reiterates all that we should be doing in order to ensure that the service is safe and meets the needs of the nation, it conies soon after Sir Bruce Keogh (NHS England, 2013) produced his report into the unusually high death rates at 14 hospitals in England.Berwick holds the NHS in high esteem, he commends the NHS loud and clear, calling on all of us to cherish this unified system of care, just as Keogh commented, the NHS embodies the social conscience of our country. On a weekly basis the NHS positively transforms the lives of millions of people: something we should be proud of, deeply proud. Globally, the NHS is the only healthcare system with a definition of quality that has been enshrined in legislation. And yes, there are times when the NHS falls well short of what patients and the public deserve, and when this happens this is unacceptable.