1st July, 2011
Richard Horton
Editor
The Lancet
32 Jamestown Road
London NW1 7BY, UK
By email: richard.horton@lancet.com
Dear Mr Horton
We
are perplexed by the campaign that The Lancet is waging against GOSH
and its management team. It is easy to claim the moral high ground in
tragic or emotive cases, such as the absolutely tragic death of a child;
sadly, it seems it is also all too easy to ignore facts in order to
develop a case that does not hold water.
We wonder why the Lancet
has decided to repeat, unchallenged, the personal views of a small
minority of consultants. All other articles in the Lancet focus on
providing an evidence base for health care. So why is the Editor
prepared to repeat allegations about GOSH in the complete absence of
evidence? Like every organization, we have individual members of staff
who are unhappy, either because they have a personal agenda, or because
they are being challenged by change necessary for continuous
improvement. The managerial, financial and clinical governance of this
Trust are continually the subject of extensive external scrutiny;
rightly so. No concerns have been raised in that process. We have a
long tradition of welcoming external peer review, and there exist
several recent examples.
The Trust is engaged in a process of
modernization and transformation, and has invested heavily in this
programme. GOSH has become a leader in paediatric patient safety and its
Zero Harm programme, initiated and led by our CEO and supported by the
Board, is recognised as innovative and progressive. Yet The Lancet
fails to acknowledge this in its pursuit of a resignation based on
innuendo and presumed truths.
This Trust has many staff whose
views are not represented by the quotes presented in your journal.
Indeed, The Lancet admits that the disaffected are a minority amongst
the consultants. Moreover, consultants represent only <7% of the
GOSH workforce, every member of which is expected to be committed to
high quality care for children.
We do not dismiss the anxieties of
this small minority and indeed there has been a meeting with those who
raised the issues, which was described by both sides as ‘useful’. We
have invited every member of staff to raise any concerns they have by
either the recognized management structure, directly with us, via a
dedicated electronic reporting system or via an independent
non-executive director. What is clear is that the vast majority of our
staff remains mystified by the allegations made. If The Lancet took the
trouble of coming to speak to staff and patients then perhaps a
different story would emerge. The Lancet editor appears only to have
selective evidence.
We invite The Lancet editorial team to visit
GOSH to hear directly from the full range of staff and to see the way we
are transforming health care for children. We aim at continuous
improvement, clinical excellence and the safety of children, in an
atmosphere of openness and transparency.
Yours sincerely,
Baroness Blackstone, Chair
Dr Jane Collins, Chief Executive
Professor Martin Elliott, Co-Medical Director
Liz Morgan, Chief Nurse
Yvonne Brown, Non-Executive Director
Professor Andy Copp, Non-Executive Director
Andrew Fane, Non-Executive Director
Claire Newton, Chief Finance Officer
Dr Barbara Buckley, Co-Medical Director
Fiona Dalton, Deputy Chief Executive
Mary MacLeod, OBE, Non-Executive Director
Charles Tilley, Non-Executive Director
Contact information:
GOSH-ICH Press Office: 020 7239 3125
Email: Coxs@gosh.nhs.uk
For genuine and urgent out of hours call speak to switchboard on 020 7405 9200
