Thinking ahead

The recent Healthcare Commission report on Stafford Hospital was widely reported in the media and was followed by an apology from the secretary of state. The trigger for the investigation was higher than expected hospital mortality for emergency care, estimated at between 400 and 1,200 excess deaths in a three-year period. A central finding of the report was that the most senior surgical doctor in the hospital after 9pm was often junior and inexperienced, and one doctor was responsible for all surgical beds in a large district general hospital. The only senior person on call was the consultant.