Patients on NHS wards can’t afford prevarication over poor care

Analysis: A good organisational culture can be the vaccine to the virus of cruelty and poor care. NHS hospital chief executives are responsible for delivering it, writes Shaun Lintern

Police are investigating allegations of a criminal assault at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust (Getty)

The shocking revelations emerging from East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust​ will make many people pause and ask how could such things happen in an NHS trust – it’s a question being asked all too often.

Police are investigating the latest allegations of an elderly man being forcibly and inappropriately restrained by nurses and carers. Their actions were apparently filmed by security staff who reported the incident to managers. Staff have been suspended and investigations are ongoing.

We will have to wait until those enquiries are completed before we know exactly what happened but at least one member of staff, a whistleblower who spoke to The Independent, was clear that the video was “horrific”.