The NHS becomes a political pawn in the run up to the 2010 general election

As a result of the Dr Foster research, the report on Stafford Hospital and a forthcoming general election, the political parties tried to set the agenda on health which was certain to be a talking point in the run up to the 2010 general election.

The Department of Health said that it expects all NHS trusts to comply with safety alerts and to record and action them. As from April 2010 there will be a responsibility on all NHS trusts to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and it will be mandatory to report serious patient safety incidents, improving identification and the monitoring of incidents.

Health Secretary Andy Burnham announced a series of new policies in the House of Commons aimed at helping patients.

These include all trusts being required to screen for MRSA when admitting patients through A&E, as recommended by Dr Stuttaford, and mandatory investigation of all serious incidents and unexpected deaths.

The Conservatives said that they were looking into the whole culture of the NHS and how it could be improved. In particular they argued that the current ‘top-down mismanagement’  has led to the culture within the NHS that ticking boxes and fulfilling targets is more important than giving patients the level of treatment and care that they need.

The Liberal Democrats have proposed setting up local health boards to ensure that NHS managers are directly accountable to their community.

What is certain is that in 2010, as in previous years, and especially in the light of the scandal at Mid Staffordshire, patient safety and hygiene standards within hospitals was a huge topic that had to be addressed.

If the general election campaign also highlighted whether an obsession with targets within the NHS was stifling the ability for managers to focus properly on patient safety, then the health service stands to benefit and can hopefully address the changes to ensure that the conditions found at Stafford Hospital will never be repeated.