Mistakes and 'mafia-like' culture at NHS Trust (BBC Newsnight, 29 November 2023)

Summary

The first 14 minutes of this programme are focused on a Newsnight investigation into allegations of cover-up, avoidable harm and patient deaths relating to University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust. At the time of broadcast, Sussex Police were investigating 105 claims of alleged medical negligence at the Trust.

Content

This programme features:

• Simon Chilcott, speaking about the death of his son Lewis. You can read more about this in a blog from Simon on the hub here.
• Allegations from anonymous whistle blowers at the Trust, talking about a toxic ‘mafia-like’ culture where safety concerns were ignored. These allegations around a toxic culture were refuted by the Trust in comments to Newsnight.
• Comments from a former neurosurgeon at the Trust, James Akinwunmi, who warned the former Chief Executive, Dame Marianne Griffiths, in 2017 about problems in surgery departments for years around patient safety and avoidable harm.