Cardiac surgery report must be published to restore confidence – McGuigan

A leaked report into staff culture at the cardiac surgery unit at the Belfast Royal Victoria Hospital needs to be published to restore confidence, the chairman of Stormont’s Health Committee has said.

Philip McGuigan also said he was concerned about reports from unions that issues exposed in the report about the behaviour of surgeons may be replicated in other healthcare settings.

The findings of the independent external review, which were first reported by UTV, are said to have included an intolerable working environment and a pattern of consistently poor behaviour within the unit.

During a meeting of the Stormont Health Committee last week, it was said that the report contained allegations of bullying of junior staff by more senior staff, surgeons working from home and the throwing of medical instruments during operations.

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has said the types of behaviour detailed in the report “bring shame on our health service”.

He has said he is holding the Belfast Trust’s senior management accountable for its response to the report and is finalising a series of departmental interventions.

Mr McGuigan told the BBC Sunday Politics programme that the report had led to “very many public trust issues”.

“As a member of the Health Committee, we need to see the report.

“We are told there are recommendations and an action plan contained within the report, I think for proper scrutiny and to restore public trust, what we need to see is the report in the first instance published so we can interrogate the recommendations for restoring public trust in this issue.”

Mr Nesbitt has said he wants to place the report in the library of the Northern Ireland Assembly, but is currently receiving legal advice.

Mr McGuigan said: “People need to have confidence that when they go to a hospital or any health setting that they are being looked after properly.

“This report has exposed very serious failings within the cardiac surgery unit and that absolutely needs to be addressed to ensure the public have confidence moving forward.”

He added: “Everybody here in the North has a right to have confidence in all public healthcare settings, this report has exposed very serious concerns about that particular unit and the public do need to see trust restored.

“I think that can only happen when we have full transparency, when we see the report, we see the recommendations, we see the action plans and we can hear from the trust themselves how they intend the put the situation right.”

He added: “I think in the interests of transparency the first thing that needs to happen is the report needs to be published.

The Sinn Fein MLA said he has not seen the report.

He said: “The other concerning thing that has come out is that unions are saying this isn’t an isolated issue, that junior staff, that nurses have been subject to harassment and bullying in other healthcare settings and that is very concerning for us all.

“This behaviour would be completely inappropriate in any work environment but more so in an environment where patient safety has to be absolutely paramount.

“We expect staff to have patient safety uppermost in their mind but we also expect them to treat their work colleagues with respect.”