Killer hospitals

So now we know. While the complacent leftie luvvies were lauding the NHS in the Olympic opening ceremony, our worst hospitals were killing thousands of people.

The innocents were slaughtered and the crowds cheered.

Of course the mortality numbers were available to managers and to those further up the chain. But they did nothing.

And where were the local GP’s while their local hospitals were killing their patients?

Tweeters are excoriating Andy Burnham. But he’s no longer the point. (Though Professor Sir Brian Jarman, of Imperial College, says Burnham presided over a “denial machine”, ignoring data on high NHS death rates. But Burnham’s still not the point.)

The big question is: what will Jeremy Hunt do to start saving lives?

What he should not do is hang around for a few more months to give his officials time to craft an answer. Radical improvements are needed at those hospitals and they are needed now. He has to be decisive, and also swift.

Happily for Mr Hunt, this moral imperative coincides with political advantage. Don’t waste time pinning blame, just make sure the clean up is swift and decisive, and as the election approaches Mr Hunt will be able to contrast the government’s action with Labour’s pussyfooting. Make sure that the numbers tell the story.

(By the way, it’s taken the BBC over 12 hours to catch up with this huge scandal. BBC bias or BBC incompetence?)