Wilful Neglect of Patients to be Made a Criminal Offence

Monday, 6th July 2015

New NHS reforms are set to be introduced that will make it a criminal offence to wilfully neglect patients.

The new law the ‘Criminal Justice and Courts Act, 2015’ which is aimed at ensuring that recent scandals like Mid Staffordshire Hospital are not repeated, will see doctors, nurses and NHS managers receiving jail terms of up to five years if found to be wilfully neglecting or mistreating people in their care.

The government plans to create a new offence of "wilful neglect or mistreatment" for hospital workers to be enforced in the most extreme cases if it is felt that standards of care have fallen short of what is expected.

The exact details of the new law are still to be worked out and then put into consultation; however it is thought they might be similar to those of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, in relation to wilful neglect or ill-treatment of adults who lack capacity, which also currently carries a fine, or imprisonment for a maximum of five years.

This move comes as a result of a report and recommendations by Professor Don Berwick, following his review of patient safety which was commissioned by ministers following the Francis inquiry into the Mid Staffordshire hospital incident. In the report Berwick, a former advisor to Barack Obama recommended new criminal penalties for "leaders who have acted wilfully, recklessly, or with a 'couldn't care less' attitude and whose behaviour causes avoidable death or serious harm".

Commenting on these reforms David Cameron said "The NHS is full of brilliant doctors, nurses and other health workers who dedicate their lives to caring for our loved ones but Mid Staffordshire hospital showed that sometimes the standard of care is not good enough.

"That is why we have taken a number of different steps that will improve patient care and improve how we spot bad practice. Never again will we allow sub-standard care, cruelty or neglect to go unnoticed and unpunished.

"This is not about a hospital worker who makes a mistake, but specific cases where a patient has been neglected or ill-treated. This offence will make clear that neglect is unacceptable and those who do so will feel the full force of the law."

However as expected the news has been received by doctors and senior NHS managers with some nervousness, particularly in relation to possible criminal proceedings. Speaking about this, following the Berwick review Dr Christine Tomkins who represents the Medical Defence Union, commented

"Doctors who are accused of wilfully neglecting patients can already be reported to the General Medical Council and face having their licence revoked if found guilty," "We believe this is adequate for the protection of the public and doubt the additional threat of potential police investigation is necessary or likely to lead to successful prosecutions. If the government decides to take this forward, we will need to look carefully at what it proposes."