BBC News
By Dr Faye Kirkland, Charles Young, Max Hudson
BBC Panorama
Serious patient safety issues are being buried in confidential hospital reports, BBC Panorama has found.
Freedom of Information requests revealed 111 reports, written by medical royal colleges, which NHS trusts have a duty to share.
Eighty reports were given to the BBC but only 26 had been shared in full with regulators, and 16 published.
The Department of Health would not comment on whether it might change the law to ensure publication. A great disappointment
Since the 2015 Morecambe Bay maternity scandal in which 11 babies and a mother died, NHS Trusts are supposed to publish summaries of external reviews, and share them with the regulator.
Royal Bournemouth Hospital and Poole Hospital (inset) THE proportion of cancer patients starting treatment within two months at the Dorset University Hospitals Trust fell to a record low in February, figures reveal. As NHS performance against the two-month target also reached its lowest level nationally, Macmillan Cancer Support said the latest statistics reveal the enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on cancer services. NHS data shows that at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust, just 71.6 per cent of cancer patients started treatment within 62 days of an urgent GP referral in February. That was down from 78.5 per cent in January, and the lowest rate since records began in 2009.
THE proportion of cancer patients starting treatment within two months at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust fell to a record low in February, figures reveal. As NHS performance against the two-month target also reached its lowest level nationally, Macmillan Cancer Support said the latest statistics reveal the enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on cancer services. NHS data shows that at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, just 57.7% of cancer patients started treatment within 62 days of an urgent GP referral in February. That was down from 69.8% in January, and the lowest rate since records began in 2009. It means 47 patients had waited longer than two months in February, and the trust fell far below the 85% target introduced over a decade ago.