Britain has launched plans for a rapid response clinical agency aimed at stopping potential serial killers like Dr Harold Shipman, who authorities believe may have murdered up to 300 patients.
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| Harold Shipman may have murdered up to 300 patients |
The National Clinical Assessment Authority (NCAA), which will start work in April, is designed to intervene rapidly when complaints and suspicions emerge about a family doctor or practice, Health Minister Mr John Denham said.
The launch of the new body follows a report last week, which said that family doctor Harold Shipman, may have killed up to 297 of the patients in his care over more than two decades.
Shipman, dubbed `Dr Death' by the tabloids, was jailed for life last year for murdering 15 elderly women patients with lethal injections. The murder toll estimated in the government report would put Shipman among the world's most prolific mass killers in recent history.
The NCAA is a new approach to the problem of poorly performing doctors, Mr Denham said in a statement. "Instead of waiting until a problem becomes a scandal or a disaster, instead of allowing out of date procedures to grind on while patients are at risk, the NCAA will spot problems early."
Critics of the plans, including some of the relatives of Harold Shipman's dead patients, said the NCAA would still rely on patients sounding the alarm - making it less effective.
"I can't see how a lot of people who were affected by the devastation that Shipman caused would be helped by this," said Ms Jane Ashton-Hibbert, whose grandmother died under Shipman's care. "You can't ask patients to police doctors," she said.
A national database will be set up to monitor death rates and incidents where treatment goes badly wrong.
Reuters