Patient safety commissioner warns calls for changes are ‘falling on deaf ears’
England’s patient safety commissioner says her calls for changes following failings highlighted in three health scandals are “falling on deaf ears”.
Dr Henrietta Hughes made the comments at a meeting in Westminster on Tuesday of MPs and campaigners of medical scandals.
It comes after Sir Brian Langstaff’s highlighted a decades-long “subtle, pervasive, chilling” cover-up by successive governments and the NHS in the conclusion of his report on the infected blood scandal.
Like the victims of that scandal, those affected by epilepsy drug Valproate, as well as vaginal mesh implants, and the hormone pregnancy test Primodos, are also waiting on the government to implement a redress scheme.
The three campaign groups have already had a combined review. In July 2020, the Cumberlege review found similar failings to the blood scandal: damaging products, poor regulatory decisions, and one government after another refusing to accept wrong had been done.
Dr Henrietta Hughes, England’s patient safety commissioner. Pic: Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)
Baroness Cumberlege recommended financial redress for women left in chronic pain by mesh implants and help for the children of mothers who used Valproate and Primodos during pregnancy, who live with life-changing birth defects.
The report concluded that all these products caused “avoidable harm”.
In February this year, the patient safety commissioner set out her “blueprint” of a redress scheme for victims.
However, Ms Hughes, who attended the First Do No Harm All Parliamentary group meeting, said on Tuesday: “I’m itching to get the changes that are needed, but I feel my words are falling on deaf ears.”
Parents and children claim Primodos – a hormone-based pregnancy test – caused a range of birth defects
Claims have also been launched over damage from epilepsy drug Valproate and vaginal Mesh (pictured)
She added: “I’ve met with politicians who don’t get the right information to keep people safe – information which is held back by officials.”
The government is yet to say whether it will implement her redress plan, but they have recently turned down a request from Primodos campaigners to review the scientific evidence about the drug.
In answer to a question tabled in parliament on 18 April, health minister Maria Caulfield said the government remains “hugely sympathetic to the families who believe that they have suffered as a result of using hormone pregnancy tests”.
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From February: What is epilepsy drug valproate?
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) told Sky News in March that “they are not closing the door” and have “committed to reviewing any new scientific evidence”.
They added: “It’s right that the government is led by scientific evidence and the government’s position remains that, after reviewing the available evidence, it does not support a causal association between the use of hormone pregnancy tests and adverse outcomes in pregnancy.”
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Diana Johnson MP, who campaigned for 14 years for recognition of infected blood victims, said: “It’s depressing to hear the parallels between the infected blood inquiry and the Primodos, Mesh and Valproate scandals.”
She added that even the defensive language used in letters from the department of health had a familiar tone to the correspondence she received over the years.
The most common and frustrating expression used, she said, was: “We are moving at pace.”
Ms Johnson advised MPs and campaigners that to replicate the success of the infected blood cause, they have to “keep pushing” and “never give up”.
She added: “Ken Clarke once described Theresa May as a ‘difficult woman’ and that’s what you have to be – difficult.”
Actor Timothy West has died peacefully in his sleep aged 90, “with his friends and family at the end”.
He was known for many roles in television and the theatre, including popular soaps Coronation Street and EastEnders.
Husband to Prunella Scales – who played Sybil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers – the pair travelled together on UK and overseas canals in the Channel 4 series Great Canal Journeys.
His children Juliet, Samuel and Joseph West said in a statement issued by his agent: “After a long and extraordinary life on and off the stage, our darling father Timothy West died peacefully in his sleep yesterday evening. He was 90 years old.
“Tim was with friends and family at the end. He leaves his wife Prunella Scales, to whom he was married for 61 years, a sister, a daughter, two sons, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. All of us will miss him terribly.
“We would like to thank the incredible NHS staff at St George’s Hospital, Tooting and at Avery Wandsworth for their loving care during his last days.”
The couple married in 1963 and had two sons, actor Samuel and Joseph.
West was previously married to actor Jacqueline Boyer from 1956 to 1961, with whom he had a daughter, Juliet.
West with his wife, Prunella Scales. Pic: Geoff Pugh/Shutterstock
West with his wife at a charity dinner in 1998. Pic: PA
In 1984, West was appointed CBE for his services to drama in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
He was the winner of an RTS television award for his lead role in Churchill And The Generals, released in 1979, according to imdb.com.
In his career, he played Winston Churchill three times, including in The Last Bastion (1984) and in Hiroshima (1995).
West with his son Samuel in 1999. Pic: PA
West was also nominated for best actor in the 1976 BAFTAs for his part as Edward VII in the historical drama.
Four years later, he was nominated in the same category for a number of roles, including as best actor in Crime And Punishment.
West (right) in BBC drama, Last Tango In Halifax. Pic: PA
After a small part as Eric Babbage in Coronation Street in 2013, West appeared in 2014 for the first time as Stan Carter in EastEnders.
He also held other popular TV roles, such as in BBC comedy-drama Last Tango In Halifax.
In the long-running BBC comedy, Not Going Out, he played Geoffrey, the father of Lucy Adams, played by Sally Bretton.
He was the ruthless self-made businessman Bradley Hardacre in comedy-drama Brass, playing the role from 1982 to 1984 before returning for a third series in 1990.
West as King Lear during a 2003 English Touring Theatre production of William Shakespeare’s tragedy. Pic: PA
In 2019, the Bradford-born actor played Private Godfrey in Dad’s Army: The Lost Episodes, a recreation of three missing episodes of the BBC comedy.
His film roles included Commissioner Berthier in The Day Of The Jackal (1973), King Francis in From Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998), and Nazi physician and war criminal Karl Gebhardt in Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973).
He was also a regular performer of Shakespeare, playing Lear in 2002 and 2016.
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The actor performed at the Piccadilly Theatre, with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, and the West End, portraying many classic roles, including Shylock, Falstaff, and Macbeth.
Prior to acting, West attended the John Lyon School and Bristol Grammar School.
He worked as an office furniture salesman and a recording technician before becoming an assistant stage manager at Wimbledon Theatre in 1956.
UK
Man jailed for more than three years for loading illegal streaming services on to Amazon Fire Sticks
A 29-year-old man has been jailed for more than three years for loading illicit TV streaming services onto Amazon Fire Sticks.
Jonathan Edge, from Liverpool, pleaded guilty to three offences under the Fraud Act.
He was sentenced to three years and four months in prison, which included a separate concurrent sentence of two years and three months for accessing and viewing the content he was supplying.
Edge ran a service uploading illegal services to Fire Stick devices in return for cash-in-hand payments at his home, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
He used Facebook advertising and word-of-mouth recommendations to run his operation.
He ignored multiple warnings about the illegal activity, which were referenced by the judge and treated as an aggravating factor in sentencing.
The prosecution was undertaken by the Premier League and supported by several other organisations, including FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft) and Merseyside Police.
Kevin Plumb, Premier League general counsel, said: “The significant sentence handed down to the individual involved once again serves to highlight the severity of his actions.
“We will continue to pursue legal action against those supplying unauthorised access to Premier League football, regardless of the scale or mode of operation. Ignoring warnings to stop only served to make the consequences worse for the individual.”
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Detective Sergeant Steve Frame from Merseyside Police said: “Merseyside Police is committed to working in collaboration to investigate intellectual property theft and we welcome today’s sentence handed to Edge.
“Many people see no harm in illegally streaming TV services but they are wrong, and this outcome should serve as a further warning how seriously such copyright theft continues to be taken.”
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