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NHS England Chief Executive, Sir David Nicholson interview published 20 July 2013

An in-depth interview with NHS England chief executive, Sir David Nicholson has been published in The Guardian newspaper .

He discusses among other things: the Keogh review of the 14 hospitals,  publication  of data about surgical outcomes, quality of care and whistleblowers.

During the interview he appeals for balance in perceptions of the NHS:

“The issue in the NHS is always lack of balance.  People operate at different ends of the pendulum, so it’s either all fantastic or all terrible, when in fact both things happen simultaneously. Hospital mortality, for example, is the lowest it’s been since records began – but bad things happen to patients, and sometimes we let them down.”

Sir David says the NHS has become more willing to be open about its mistakes.  While this can be difficult, he argues that transparency is the right way forward.

Read the full article: