Long road to regain trust

TRUST is the word at the heart of the scandal at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.

For many that trust has been lost, plain and simple.

It defies belief that after all the problems highlighted at the hospital and, more to the point, after all the heartache suffered by a number of families, that only three months ago mothers and babies at Furness General Hospital are still being put at risk.

Enough is enough.

Members of the public continue to praise the staff who are working day and night at Furness General Hospital to try to provide the best possible patient care.

But there is something seriously wrong, somewhere in the organisation, if previous warnings have gone unheeded.

Sir David Henshaw’s appointment as chairman to guide the hospitals’ recovery is to be welcomed.

It is long overdue that there was a fresh perspective on what has been going wrong and, crucially, what needs to be put right.

The forthcoming appointments of a turnaround director and interim chief operating officer are also steps in the right direction.

The problem with Furness General Hospital for many is that once trust has been lost it is a long, hard, road to win that back.

And only by being open, admitting all its mistakes, and having a transparent plan to put them right, can those in charge expect to even start that journey.