Hospital managers and staff in at least ten hospitals across England have fiddled waiting list data and statistics to hide the fact that they were missing Government targets, the Committee of Public Accounts has revealed.
In its response to the 'Inappropriate Adjustments to NHS Waiting Lists' report, published by the Comptroller and Auditor General in January, the Committee examined the extent and causes of the adjustments, how investigations into these practices had been handled and the action taken, as well as the impact on patients and the steps being taken to prevent a recurrence.
Around 6,000 patients were affected by the manipulation of waiting list figures, which saw some trusts offering patients admission during their holiday period, delaying adding patients to waiting lists and altering patient records. According to the Committee, some patients will have experienced prolonged suffering or a worsened condition as a result.
In addition, the Public Accounts Committee found the arrangements for identifying those involved with the fiddling and for taking disciplinary action fell well short of good practice. "In some cases the inquiries were nor rigorous or complete and some of those allegedly responsible were allowed or encouraged to resign during the process," it said.
"Some trusts breached NHS guidelines on agreeing confidentiality deals as part of severance packages, which cost the NHS some £260,000 and in some cases they did not include claw back arrangements when those involved went on to work elsewhere in the NHS," it continued.
The Committee went on to condemn NHS employers that reached confidentiality agreements that prevented the full disclosure of the circumstances to another employer. "The Department should act quickly to outlaw the use of confidentiality agreements and the treasury should remind other public bodies that such agreements are inconsistent with proper accountability for public money," it said.
Other recommendations included:
* Urging the Department to act quickly to introduce a standard format for future investigations and give trusts clearer guidance and a clearer framework for disciplinary action, as well as exploring further the case for much stronger central support, especially in the human resource and legal issues
* Encouraging all NHS employers to carry out thorough pre-enrolment checks on all staff they employ
* Urging the Department to make it mandatory to include clawback arrangements in any future severance package
Speaking about the report, Stuart Marples, chief executive of the Institute of Healthcare Management said: "Audits showed some time ago that a small number of hospitals were inappropriately adjusting their waiting times and action has been taken to deal with this abuse.
"Our own Code of Conduct for Managers, which is being used as the template for a shortly to be introduced NHS-wide management code, makes it clear that whatever pressures managers are facing, such behaviour is unacceptable."
He continued: "The Institute agrees with the Public Accounts Committee that the only way to reduce the time patients must wait to be treated is by increasing the capacity of service."