Firstly I am not going to rehash the content of the report which is being closely read by many more wiser than I. However, suffice to say it has provoked a great deal of comment and consternation in equal measure. I want to draw a rather strange connection (possibly) between the report and the utterances of Chris Huhne the ex cabinet minister who is currently being mauled by the media for various reasons not least being found guilty of perverting the course of justice.
The fall from grace (as its strangely known) of a public figure is always it seems enjoyed in a kind of perverse way by all of us. It's a bit like watching a train crash in very slow motion as all becomes unravelled, and the moment comes when the person involved has to make their statement, and exit in a dignified manner amongst the wreckage of their career and in this case public scrutiny of their private life.
I was most interested however, by the choice of language in his statement outside court.
He refferred to his need to accept responsibility for "something that happened ten years ago". Carefully chosen words that attempt to provide a distance and also remove a sense of ownership. Note , not something "that I did" but rather "something that happened".
Neat eh?
Almost a sort of admission but also a sense of not being personally responsible. So how does this connect to the Francis report? Well the events of the debacle that ensued in Stafford have been distilled to a pernicous and inhumane culture of an organisation that became obsessed with pursuing financial targets and in that process endangered the people it served by not providing a service that met their needs. Now many erudite verdicts are being delivered by many commentators and there are calls for resignations, and many protestations that targets should never have resulted in such a situation. Those who now provide this rational commentary are in part those who drove a culture began many years ago where the "business" of health became a reality.
So my question is really were the events of Stafford something that "happened" as if by chance or rather something "we did" by looking the other way distracted by the lure of the rewards offered and deaf to the cries of both patients and families?
