Why does no-one challenge consultants?

Viv is recovering. It's going to take a while, but, things are looking up.

However, I do think it is right to consider why she has had such a rough time: it is only by asking such things that we can make the lives of other easier, should they find themselves in a similar situation.

Viv spent five weeks in Bedford Hospital in early 2017. Analysis done by a consultant at another hospital has shown that the cause of this hospitalisation was almost certainly hydrocephalus.

The consultant at Bedford did not consider hydrocephalus as a possibility. Despite it being an observed condition that often accompanies a type of tumour with which she had already been diagnosed (and has since been treated), he insisted her weakness was nothing to do with her tumour but was due to lifestyle issues. Asking her weight, I told him she was 8st 4lb. He said I was lying and that she was nothing like that; and left abruptly. Two days later she was weighed by ward staff who found her to be exactly that.

I complained about his manner informally to ward staff; they shrugged their shoulders and indicated there was nothing they could do. I wrote to the CEO; my letter was ignored. I finally raised a formal complaint through the PALS process; in a somewhat tardy reply to this, the consultant stood his ground and the hospital supported him, even though it was then quite apparent that he had been mistaken.

This, I believe, is a dangerous practice and is possibly causing many deaths and injuries in 'our' NHS. I don't believe it to be unique; I recall an article in the press suggesting a huge number of deaths arise through avoidable mistakes in the NHS.

 No other industry would allow mistakes to be ignored; it would be necessary to hold some form of inquiry to ascertain how to reduce the risk of the problem arising in future. This is basic risk management, taken for granted in aerospace, engineering, finance and IT. Yet in the health sector, it seems, mistakes are not considered to be opportunities for improvement, they are inevitable events, and those affected are just unlucky.

Other staff at the hospital - physios, junior doctors, nurses - were far from convinced with his explanation of her condition. He had failed to check with a consultant at The Lister who had seen Viv just three weeks before she was taken ill; he was wrong about her weight; he was difficult to contact and did not return their calls regarding her condition. They would not, however, challenge or query his opinion. It seemed rather like trying to encourage junior priests to challenge the views of a bishop; indeed, in the way it manages many of its internal affairs than the NHS bears more resemblance to a religious institution than to a modern science-based business.

It is only by being prepared to question everything that we can improve, and the medical professions need to change their centuries-old attitudes and put patient safety before personal and role status.