There was no cover-up of threats to patient safety when an inspection report at Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital was controversially shelved, a review has concluded.
However, an independent review group set up in the wake of criticism which followed the revelations says important changes are needed to improve the future management of inspection and scrutiny of older people’s care in Scotland’s hospitals.
The group said the original report’s scrapping followed a meeting between a team from NHS Tayside, including chief executive Gerry Marr and senior figures at Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) at Ninewells on November 1.
The decision not to publish was made the next day.
The report said “none” of three themes identified communication, leadership and accountability were “as strong as (they) should have been”.
Six key recommendations have now been made to HIS.
The Courier revealed details of the original ditched report, which described 35 people as being left on trolleys and wheelchairs in corridors of ward 15 while waiting to be treated.
That number was factually disputed by NHS Tayside and dropped from the final publication, which amalgamated a second unannounced visit which took place four months after the original inspection.
Dr Frances Dow, who headed up the review team, said: “We found no evidence of any attempt to ‘cover up’ a threat or danger to patient safety in this inspection process.”
NHS Tayside chairman Sandy Watson said: “We believe that the publication of this report will reassure our patients and their families that all our staff are committed to providing a safe and caring environment for our patients.”
Dr Denise Coia, chairwoman of HIS, said the original report was not published because its draft “contained some content that we believed would have been unfair to NHS Tayside”.
A Scottish Government spokesman added: “HIS has already taken steps to improve its inspection and scrutiny processes and has published an action plan to address directly the recommendations of this independent review.”
However, Labour said the independent review team did not press hard enough on how big an influence Mr Marr had over HIS.
Health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: “This review simply doesn’t answer the key question of whether it was right or appropriate for the chief executive of NHS Tayside to be involved in a meeting which discussed a report into his flagship hospital, when he also sits on the board of the inspection body.”
Dundee-based MSP Jenny Marra called the document “a whitewash” which “tries to mask the basic facts.”