A probe has found that 456 people died at Gosport War Memorial Hospital after medics had prescribed too many painkillers for years. An investigation into the issue revealed that patients received “dangerous” amounts of the drugs.
The grieving families are seeking justice, but no doctor has been indicted. In return, the NHS urged its staff to stop the “blame culture” to prevent such incidents from happening again.
Experts believe that the incident could be repeated as health authorities do not have the exact number of deaths at Gosport. Prof Sir Brian Jarman believes that “there really is a desire not to know” the exact number of deaths by the NHS, with many of the whistleblowers being harassed, blacklisted and fired.
Jarman confirmed that the NHS is plagued by a “blame culture”. Grieving families, on the other hand, want to ensure that the mistakes made by a doctor or nurse will not happen again.
Doctors and nurses are concerned that they could get sued or fired if they try to undo the mistakes. Jarman recommends turning the blame culture at NHS into a “learning culture.”
The Death Toll Could Be Higher
The investigation found that the families of patients and whistleblowers were dismissed whenever they tried to point out the malpractice on the wards supervised by Dr. Jane Barton. Investigators believe 200 more patients died at Gosport from 1989 to 2000, but the missing records make it difficult to establish the truth.
The report also found that several nurses first complained about the errors three decades ago, but they were ignored by their supervisors. Investigators found a total “disregard for human life” at the hospital.
Families and other patients were shocked by the findings.
It’s just disgusting, absolutely horrifying that something like that could have happened to so many people,
one patient said.
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