Clapping for NHS during pandemic may have been ‘dangerous’, says ombudsman
Rebecca Hilsenrath said ‘no organisation should be beyond constructive criticism’.
Clapping for the NHS during the pandemic may have been “dangerous” because “no organisation can be a national religion”, the health service ombudsman has said.
Rebecca Hilsenrath, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, told The Telegraph that “no organisation should be beyond constructive criticism”.
Ms Hilsenrath has submitted evidence to an investigation into the NHS led by Professor Lord Darzi.
The Telegraph reported that evidence submitted to the investigation showed there were 27,479 complaints about the NHS in England to the ombudsman in 2023/24, with two in three of the hundreds which were fully investigated at least partly upheld.
“Of course, people were enormously grateful for the extraordinary efforts that people in NHS went to during that time, including risking their own personal safety.
“I also know that the national mood has changed since then, and I think it’s incredibly difficult as an NHS worker to consistently read about the failings in your service, and how you’re letting people down.”
The health service ombudsman continued: “There is an argument I have heard that clapping for the NHS during the pandemic was quite a dangerous thing to do … because no organisation can be a national religion, and no organisation should be beyond constructive criticism.
“I don’t think that it is helpful for any organisation to be treated as religion.”
Ms Hilsenrath said there was “a lack of consistency” in the NHS, adding that “the ultimate price for failure is tragedy”.
“When big things go wrong and terrible things happen you get the NHS saying ‘never again’, but actually it’s just not true.
“Being patient-centric lies at the heart of that, because until the NHS listens more with people when things go wrong and before they go wrong, of course, those mistakes will continue to be made.”
Ms Hilsenrath said the regulatory landscape was in “urgent need of reform”, adding there was a “vast amount of duplication”.
She said: “It’s very difficult for regulators in health to speak with a clear and united voice, because there’s just so many of them, and they all have slightly different but overlapping roles.
“The organisations in question, the NHS, tend to get faced by multiple recommendations which all come from different people, and … of course, it’s a grossly inefficient way to run anything.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “The NHS is broken but we are determined to get it back on its feet so it can be there for all of us when we need it.
“We will be honest about the challenges facing the health service and will work to tackle them.
“The independent investigation into the NHS by Lord Darzi is a step towards identifying and solving these problems as we create an NHS fit for the future.”
