Hospital trust's waiting list fiddle
Hospital managers were today found guilty of fiddling waiting list figures.
An independent inquiry ruled that health chiefs at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust had "deliberately misrepresented" records to make their performance look better.
The investigation was launched last year after the trust claimed only 10 people waited more than six months for an outpatient appointment between April and December
2002. In fact, around 200 were waiting more than the six month target.
The incident will reignite the debate about NHS targets, which have attracted repeated criticism from doctors. Medics claim hospital managers are under such pressure to hit targets that clinical priorities are distorted.
Today's investigation, carried out by Professor Robert Tinston of Manchester University, claims staff also failed to report trolley waits.
He blamed management at the trust for creating a "difficult atmosphere" where whistle-blowing was discouraged. He found that "lines of responsibility and accountability" at the trust had become blurred.
Today health chiefs promised there would be no repeat of the scandal. Four members of staff were suspended, with one facing disciplinary measures. Three more have since resigned.
Kent and Medway Strategic Health Authority chief executive Candy Morris said: "We promised to make the outcome of the Tinston report public and we are now doing so."
The incident is one of a catalogue in hospitals. Last year it emerged that junior staff at St George's Hospital in Tooting were encouraged by bosses to cover up a backlog of operations. The hospital was also accused of distorting statistics relating to cancelled operations.
