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thomas davison

Hospital hired me to fiddle death figures: Expert claims NHS ordered cover-up

Sandra Haynes Kirkbright hired due to concerns over high number of deaths
The Trust was scoring one of the highest mortality rates in the country
She claims patient care was as bad as at scandal-hit Stafford Hospital
Bosses offered to double her salary to �54,000 a year to distort death rates
She refused but said others were breaking 'every rule in the book'
Allegations have been denied by the Royal Wolverhampton Hospital

By Paul Bentley

PUBLISHED: 22:02, 1 March 2013 | UPDATED: 01:03, 2 March 2013

A whistleblower claimed last night that she was hired by an NHS hospital to fiddle its shocking death rates.

As hundreds of patients died needlessly, Sandra Haynes Kirkbright says she was headhunted by hospital bosses and asked to 'fix' the figures.

She claims 'every rule in the book' was broken to try to improve mortality rates � without saving lives.

The data recorder says she was suspended after refusing to take part in a cover-up, and even claims she was ordered not to put her concerns in writing in case they reached the Press.

The astonishing allegations � which are denied by the hospital � have emerged days after the chief executive of another NHS Trust, in Bolton, was forced aside over a possible cover-up of high death rates.

Experts have warned similar incidents could be happening in hospitals across the country.

The fresh allegations are yet another blow for NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson, who refuses to resign despite widespread condemnation from MPs, doctors and patients since last month�s damning Mid Staffordshire report.

Mrs Haynes Kirkbright was hired by the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust as a �health coder�, an administrative role which involves recording data detailing patients� care in hospitals.

Coders do not need medical qualifications, leading critics to argue that they have disproportionate power to affect how hospitals are seen to be performing.

Mrs Haynes Kirkbright, from Texas, said she was approached following concerns over the shocking number of weekend deaths, which had contributed to the Trust scoring one of the highest mortality rates in the country.
Astonishing allegations: Mrs Haynes Kirkbright said she was hired by the Royal Wolverhampton Hospital (pictured) to 'fix' mortality rates

Astonishing allegations: Mrs Haynes Kirkbright said she was hired by the Royal Wolverhampton Hospital (pictured) to 'fix' mortality rates
Damning: Mrs Haynes Kirkbright added that patient care at Wolverhampton was as bad or worse as at scandal-hit Stafford Hospital (pictured)

Damning: Mrs Haynes Kirkbright added that patient care at Wolverhampton was as bad or worse as at scandal-hit Stafford Hospital (pictured)

She said she �wouldn�t even send a dog� to Royal Wolverhampton Hospital and claims patient care was as bad or worse as at scandal-hit Stafford Hospital, where as many as 1,200 patients died needlessly.

But instead of making efforts to improve care, bosses at the Trust were convinced that the high death rate could be �fixed� by fiddling statistics, she said.

Now even doctors don't trust their own hospitals: Study finds nearly 40% of health service workers would not recommend own workplace to friends or family

She claimed they offered to almost double her salary to �54,000 a year to distort mortality figures, mistakenly believing she had been doing the same at her former employer, Stafford.

�They wanted me to fix it. But they didn�t want me to fix it properly,� she said.

She took the job in October 2011 � but said that when she realised what hospital bosses wanted her to do, she refused. However, she claimed others at the Trust were �breaking every rule in the book�.
The allegations are another blow for NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson (pictured)

The allegations are another blow for NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson (pictured)

For example, recording that a patient was being treated by the palliative care team means their death, effectively, does not alter the mortality rate, because it is classed as unavoidable.

She claims the Trust used any excuse to code patients� deaths as unavoidable, even if they were never seen by palliative care doctors.

The Trust angrily denies this claim � yet between 2009 and 2011, Wolverhampton�s death rate dropped by 13 per cent, from very worrying levels to the national average.

This coincided with the number of deaths recorded as �palliative care� soaring from 2.19 per cent to 20.3 per cent, about double the national average.

The whistleblower said the Trust also hired an independent company in 2011 to advise coders on how to make deaths count for less on the mortality score � yet said she made sure this was not acted on.

And she also claims she accused bosses of fraud as the Trust was making money by charging the local Primary Care Trust for expensive procedures they had not done.

In response, she says a senior figure warned her not to put allegations in writing because �the Press can get hold of it through Freedom of Information�.

After four months at the Trust, Mrs Haynes Kirkbright was suspended for alleged bullying and harassment � which she denies. She says the real reason she was suspended was to silence her.

She is still suspended pending a disciplinary hearing, but decided to speak out despite fearing the repercussions.

The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust strenuously denied Mrs Haynes Kirkbright�s allegations.
Protest: People gather calling for NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson to resign

Protest: People gather calling for NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson to resign

Chief executive David Loughton said �every Trust in the country looked to Mid Staffs� at the time to learn how to reduce death rates � but denied hiring Mrs Haynes Kirkbright to �fiddle� death rates.

�We categorically deny the allegations,� he said. �The suggestion of any wrongdoing is simply not true. Improvements in the hospital�s mortality rates have been audited and independently verified.�

The Trust admitted, however, they had been coding against national guidelines, but said they corrected this as soon as they became aware of the mistake.

The Trust added that it was �categorically false� to suggest palliative care patients had been coded incorrectly to alter overall death rates. They explained the fall by saying 200 fewer patients had died.

2Anne · Joined: 04 May 2008 Posts: 399 Location: Norfolk

As long as the NHS hires third world doctors and nurses there will be thousands of un-necassary deaths .
These people are simply not up to care standards and never will be. A doctor I know told me that a Libyan doctor was given a post at Addenbrookes and was so poor that she was only allowed to work with another doctor. She should have been sacked but oh no-the employment legislation kept her in post. Her salary was paid and she was useless and dangerous.
Some of these hospitals highlighted for their death rates are staffed almost exclusively by Asian doctors but no one dare say so.
Not only are these Asians callous and incompetent but they are racist and do not care a toss about their white patients.
We can thank the Con/Labour govts for this situation. We need to train our own doctors and nurses and return to previous high standards.

thomas davison · Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 7:58 pm Post subject:

Whitehall mandarins 'neutered' final Mid-Staffs report into 1,200 hospital deaths 'to protect the head of the NHS'

Criticisms of Sir David Nicholson omitted from Francis report, expert says
'I think it probably has the effect of protecting him,' Professor Brian Jarman
'Man with no shame' continues to refuse to resign over Stafford scandal
Sir David was in charge of body that failed to spot horrific standards of care

By Martin Robinson

PUBLISHED: 08:23, 4 March 2013 | UPDATED: 09:42, 4 March 2013

Pressure: Sir David Nicolson

Pressure: Sir David Nicholson was in charge of the regional health authority responsible for Mid Staffs when 'the appalling and unnecessary suffering of people' took place - but will not resign

Civil servants 'neutered' the Francis report into 1,200 deaths at the Mid Staffordshire hospital trust to protect the Head of the NHS over his role in Britain�s worst-ever health scandal, an expert said today.

Professor Brian Jarman, who was a key figure in highlighting sky-high death rates at Stafford, said the final version of the �13million report was 'muted' and failed to mention criticisms of Sir David Nicholson given in evidence.

Sir David, dubbed the man with no shame, is under huge pressure to leave his role after presiding over the Mid Staffordshire scandal.

Many MPs, relatives of the 1,200 dead and health service professionals believe patient care will not improve under his leadership, but the NHS chief executive maintains there is no chance he will resign.

Robert Francis QC's damning 1,782 page report shocked Britain after it found �failures at every level� which led to the scandal, while not a single nurse or doctor has been disciplined or struck-off.

Patients at Stafford Hospital were left lying in their own urine and excrement for days, forced to drink water from vases, given the wrong medication or sent home with life-threatening conditions.

'I feel the final report was muted. The 2010 report and the closing submissions to the Francis inquiry were much clearer with regards to the evidence,' Professor Jarman told the Daily Telegraph.

'You have to remember that the final version of these inquiries are written up by Department of Health officials. They neutered it.