Musgrove Park report on eye operations was not shared with all firms involved

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/oct/17/musgrove-park-hospital-eye-surgeries-taunton-somerset

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The controversy over an NHS hospital’s refusal to publish a disturbing report on flawed eye operations carried out under a private contract deepened after it emerged that it had not even shared the findings with all the companies involved.

Musgrove Park hospital refused to publish a report on the procedures, which left more than half of patients suffering complications, claiming it would open itself up to defamation action if it did so.

A leaked copy of the report, obtained by the Guardian, revealed that some patients felt the operations were rushed and also examined potential problems with equipment and materials although it does not conclude that these are at fault. “No single cause was identified” for the complications suffered, the report said.

Though it refuses to publish the report, the hospital has insisted it would be shared “across the health community” so that lessons could be learned.

But one of the three companies involved, Kestrel Opthalmics, told the Guardian it had not been provided with a copy of the report by the hospital and eventually saw it on a local newspaper website.

The revelation is concerning because it seems to undermine Musgrove claims that it will ensure lessons are learned and highlights the complicated contract entered into.

Musgrove Park drew up a contract with Gloucestershire-based Vanguard Healthcare Solutions to carry out 400 cataract operations. Vanguard subcontracted the provision of surgeons and equipment to another company, The Practice, in Buckinghamshire. It, in turn, subcontracted the supply of some equipment to a third, Dorset-based company, Kestrel Ophthalmics, which supplied the pharmo machine: which breaks up cataracts as well as “hand pieces needed for surgery and the operating fluids and eye drops”.

When initially contacted by the Guardian, a spokesperson said the company had not been given a copy of the report by the hospital so could not comment on it. Later it said it had seen the report, but only on the website of a Somerset newspaper.

A spokeswoman for Musgrove said it did not pass on the report to Kestrel because it did not have a contract with it.

Laurence Vick, a medical negligence lawyer who is working with some of the victims, said he was “very surprised” that Kestrel, as a party to the arrangement, had not received the report. He said the outsourcing was “ill-thought out and lacked transparency”.

The trust’s refusal to publish the report is at odds with the government’s commitment to openness about mistakes following the Mid Staffordshire hospital scandal.

Musgrove’s stance has been criticised by the Royal National Institute of Blind People, local and national politicians. Privately, many leaders within the NHS are aghast that the hospital attempted to keep the report under wraps.